Trooper Candice Bershears from the Kansas Highway Patrol recently spoke on distracted driving at the PCA lecture Jan. 26 in the Black Box Theater.

Distracted driving can lead to extreme consequences, such as a death or a very large fine.

Speaking with others in the car can be a huge distraction and not only is it threatening the driver, but everybody else around. There could be a child on the street or just someone, but if they aren’t paying attention to the road, the driver is a danger to everybody.

As Trooper Bershears stated, “It only takes five seconds to drive the same length of a football field.”

So, if a driver looks down at his/her phone for five seconds, the car can cover the same distance as a football field. It’s not just teenagers that are guilty; adults also are part of the problem.

Bershears shared that as many 71 percent of teens admit they have either sent a text or watched the current driver at the time send a text.

She also said that relying too much on a navigation system is also a distraction and cause of deaths.