If you are driving on the 405 Freeway in California, it may be hard to miss the huge billboard featuring the picture of a girl nicknamed "Bubblehead" who is displaying a text message that calls upon motorists to refrain from texting while driving.

As texting while driving has led to many a number of automobile accidents across United States, billboards like this are quickly becoming ubiquitous. In addition to Bubblehead, celebrities like Oprah Winfrey have helped to disseminate warnings of this kind far and wide.

Bubblehead is the creation of artist Mike McNeilly, who has painted murals in major U.S. cities on issues ranging from violence to the environment. The character has been used for over a decade in street art, graffiti and commercial billboards as a kind of public service spokesperson, and she now joins the growing movement to eliminate texting while driving.

According to reports, a driver is 23 times more likely to get into a car accident while driving and texting. Some of the analysts have gone a step further to say that texting while driving is more hazardous than driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Another analysis says when a driver texts while driving, the reaction time will decrease by over 35 percent. In addition to texting, dialing is dangerous while driving. Drivers are six times as likely to get into a car accident while dialing a number into their cellular devices, according to statistics. It is mainly because while texting, steering capability goes down by 90 percent.

In the meantime, car makers and telephone operators are rolling out features to prevent drivers from texting while driving. Their efforts seem to be better than the legislation that government is being persuaded to enact, according to experts.

For an instance, T-Mobile (News - Alert) "DriveSmart" service disables phones in moving vehicles by sensing rapid movement between cell towers. Once the vehicle is on the road for 10 seconds, the service sends all calls to voicemail with a message explaining the person is driving.

The most worrying fact is that teenagers are a majority among those who met with accidents because of the distraction caused by texting. Most of them are in the age group of 16 and 21, the largest texting demographic.

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