It's well-known among workplace safety geeks that one of the most frequent hazards employees encounter on a daily basis involves driving a vehicle. This includes not only risk for those who drive for a living, as well as those with incidental driving in the course of work, but everyone who drives to and from work.

Standard rules of the road emphasize giving your full attention to driving and also watching out for the other guy. With the advent of cell phones came a unique distraction drivers grapple with—talking on cell phones. Now, compound the physical acrobatics of texting while negotiating the highways and byways and the degree of risk increases substantially.

Most everybody's heard of somebody or were themselves actually involved in an accident where the statement "it happened quick" describes the event. Keep that in mind when thinking about hand-held devices and decreased reaction time.

If you haven’t already added a “no texting while driving” clause to your driving policy at work, it’s a no-brainer to do so. If you need motivation to make it a priority, read “Texting can be Lethal,” a blog entry from Lynch Ryan that makes a convincing call to action.