It started with not being able to talk on the phone while driving. I was peeved, mostly because I was quite good at shooting the sh*t with my friends whilst parallel parking, but then I watched my mom back into my car while holding that Blackberry to her ear and I realized that law was a good thing.

Now, lawmakers are taking things to another level, with many states implementing laws to ban texting while driving.

For us avid texters, this may seem like a conspiracy against us, but when you see the possible consequences of making plans for the night while doing 65 down the highway, it might make you think twice.

Britain recently released a public service announcement showing the dangers of texting while driving. Disturbing is a major understatement; this video is extremely graphic and, well, really freaking disturbing. If you are squeamish, we wouldn’t recommend watching it, unless you want to throw up on your laptop. The PSA is chock full of blood, broken bones and, inevitably, death.

Does it scare the bejeezus out of me? Um, YES.
Does it make me want to stop texting while driving? Well, I don’t know.

While it definitely opened my eyes (and brought my bagel and cream cheese back up), I couldn’t help but wonder if this kind of ‘realistic’ graphic nature is really necessary to get the point across. I mean, it’s really over-the-top to the point that it’s almost unbelievable.

It is certainly effective and leaves an impression, but is scaring the sh*t out of people really the only way to get the point across?

What do you think? Is there a better way?