Still Think It's OK To Text While Driving? Maybe You Should Watch This

Morning Edition today takes a look at the huge online interest in a very graphic public service announcement produced in the U.K. about the dangers of texting while driving.

We'll include the video, which has been viewed on YouTube about 5 million times in recent months, in this post. It's down below and we should warn you that while those are actors in the film, it is quite graphic. The fictional account shows what happens when a teen driver who is texting sets off a chain reaction crash. Four characters in the film are killed.

There's been quite a bit of attention paid to the video in recent days.

The New York Times writes that "though the Welsh video has clearly struck a chord, some safety advocates maintain that blood and gore is not the best way to stop drivers from doing something that is legal in most states."

But USA TODAY's Drive On blog explains that the Gwent, South Wales, police department "pulled together the video with filmmaker Peter Watkins-Hughes" -- and that the Gwent police chief thinks all drivers should see it.

Here is the video. Again, we have to warn you that it is graphic:

For even more about the dangers of texting while driving, click here.