Mesquite is passing out blue thumb guards to remind people not to text while driving.
The city has joined AT&T Inc.'s nationwide movement It Can Wait to get people to think twice before getting behind the wheel and texting. The campaign asks drivers to sign a pledge to never text and drive.
A recent AT&T survey found that 75 percent of teenagers said texting and driving was common among their friends and peers. But Mesquite said the problem is not limited to teen drivers.
"This message is not teen-specific," city spokesman Wayne Larson said. "Most people think driving and texting has to do with teenagers. No, this applies to everybody -- teenagers, adults, everyone."
People who drive and text are 23 times more likely to get in a crash, Mesquite said.
Mesquite resident Chelesta Becker said she used to text and drive until another driver hit her a month ago.
"Since that day, I don't text while I'm driving," she said. "I don't talk on the phone while I'm driving. I pull off to the side of the road if a text comes. You can always wait for the reply, but a life, you can never wait for. You can never get it back."
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Becker said she thinks the driver who swiped her was distracted.
"She was on her cellphone -- whether she was talking or texting on it -- either way," she said. "It was all totaled because someone couldn't wait two seconds or three seconds to stop and pull off to the side of the road and text somebody back."
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