Being involved in a distracted driving crash has the potential to turn your life upside down. Plenty of academic research as well as legislative exploration has dug into the issue of distracted driving as it is a serious and pervasive problem across not just California but the United States.

Every day, distracted driving plays into more than 1200 injuries in the United States and up to 8 fatalities, according to research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texting while operating a vehicle is not the only dangerous distraction even though it is the one that gets the most press.

A new study conducted by the Auto Insurance Center identifies the texts that individuals tend to be sending right before they are involved in an accident. More than 2000 drivers were surveyed in this study about their in-car texting behaviors. The study looked at the importance of the message, generational differences, most common messages and how frequently the driver sent texts while operating the car. They also analyzed 21 final text messages sent just prior to crashes.

The most common reason cited by individuals for texting behind the wheel was pressure to reply quickly to someone they cared about, followed by making plans and not wanting to take too long to respond to someone. Only 8% of the messages sent, according to respondents, were extremely or very important. Otherwise they were classified largely as somewhat important or not particularly important. Three of the common phrases that tended to appear over and over again in the analysis of the final text messages included “I’ll be dead”, “I love you” and “Driving drunk”. A dangerous combination of drinking and driving as well as distracted driving could lead to fatal accidents and significant injuries. If you or someone you know has recently been injured in a distracted driving accident, you need to consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer.