The connection between hit-run and texting

A 101.7/WGOG listener to our traffic reports has noticed an increasing number of hit-run accidents reported by the highway patrol … and wonders if there could be a correlation between drivers who text and the numbers of hit-run cases.  Not necessarily, in the view of state troopers.  Their spokesman, Lance Corp. Joe Hovis, says troopers find that there are a variety of reasons why some drivers don’t stay at the scene once an accident occurs.  Sometimes they realize they are driving under suspension or are wanted on other charges by law enforcement.  Still, there have been a number of serious cases of hit-and-run recently in the Upstate, and Hovis reminds the driving public that it’s against the law to leave the scene of an accident—especially if another person is injured.  There’s the moral and legal obligation to render aid to someone injured.  All of this is also a reminder that, all across South Carolina, texting while driving is illegal.  To text a message, three skills are required:  visual, physical, and cognitive.  The lack of any one of those three can lead to an accident.