Falls students learn to "thnk b4 u txt"

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) - News 4 and CW23 have implemented a campaign to make people aware of the dangers of texting and driving.

One part of the campaign, called "Thnk b4 u txt", is designed to show high school students the dangers of distracted driving.

For those in the media who are sometimes given heartbreaking stories to report on, none are more difficult for a reporter than telling the tragic story of a life cut short, particularly when it's clear that it could have been prevented. Reporters would rather not have to share those stories, but they don't seem to be decreasing.

>> Learn more about "Thnk b4 u txt" here

While more than 5,000 people die every year to to crashes from texting while driving, over 500,000 people are injured. With the help of local law enforcement and an auto part shop that donated what's left of a car, News 4 took our message to those who need to hear it the most: teenagers.

Many students at Niagara Falls High School were wearing face paint to resemble a dead person. It's part of a drinking and driving initiative. But after watching a small ten minute piece we put together on texting and driving, they now have something else to think about the next time they get behind the wheel of a car.

In the report, a person says, "And I thought, 'That looks like AJ's car.' And I started to continue out of the plaza and to go up my street and I turned around and went and parked in the plaza and his license plate number kept going through my head. It's DMC 6969. So I got out of the car and I went over to see if that was the license plate number, and it was."