Henry Daily Herald

Special Photo Commissioners and Henry County Police Department’s Traffic Unit proclaimed Wednesday as No Text on Board Day to encourage citizens to pledge never to send text messages while driving.

McDONOUGH — Henry County commissioners are sending a strong message this week: Texting while driving can be deadly.

National statistics show that in 2010, the last year for which data is available, 3,092 people were killed in crashes and an estimated additional 416,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver. With these figures in mind, commissioners proclaimed Wednesday No Text on Board Day in Henry County, encouraging residents to pledge never to send text messages while driving. The action was taken during a commission meeting Monday.

Commission Chairman Elizabeth “B.J.” Mathis pointed to national statistics indicating that texting drivers are 23 times more likely to be involved in an accident. State officials are in the process of forming a commission on teen driving to address this and other issues, she said.

County spokeswoman Julie Hoover-Ernst said that Georgia and many other states have passed laws prohibiting texting while driving and that legislators made it illegal for teens to use their phones at all while behind the wheel of a vehicle. Still, many people continue to text while driving even if they know the risks, she said.

“Henry County also sees numerous accidents that are related to distracted driving caused by such actions as texting,” said Hoover-Ernst. “The purpose of the proclamation is to continue to educate citizens about the dangers of texting while driving and to share the simple, yet vital message that no text is so urgent that it is worth diverting attention from the road and risking lives in the process.”

For more information, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org. To take the no-texting pledge, visit www.distraction.gov.