AKRON, Ohio _ It can happen in an instant.
You're pulling out of your driveway, or you're approaching an intersection, or you're coasting down a highway when your phone dings and vibrates. You reach down to check the notification _ it'll only be a second, you tell yourself _ and you find yourself drifting out of your lane or forgetting to brake.
Sometimes the results are harmless. Other times, they're deadly.
That was the message of a virtual reality experience presented to Akron Children's Hospital employees and patients on Thursday. Participants wore helmets and glasses that showed a series of scenarios depicting the results of distracted driving.
Most ended with a heavy push of the brakes, avoiding cars and schoolchildren, but the last scenario put viewers in the driver's seat as they ran through a stop sign and were struck by an oncoming vehicle.
"That was very intense," Holly Pupino, a hospital spokeswoman, said after sitting through the simulation. "The flying glass, the fear _ my heart is still beating out of my chest."
Pupino joined a list of other employees and community members who took a pledge not to be distracted by phones while driving.
The event was hosted as a partnership between Akron Children's and AT&T.
Steve Kristan, director of external affairs for AT&T Ohio, said the goal of the "It Can Wait" campaign is to show people how much danger there is in texting while driving.
"It's dangerous. We all know it's dangerous," he said. "If you look at the statistics, 70 percent of adults admit to using their phones while driving. We think it's higher than that."
State Rep. Greta Johnson and Akron police Officer Lauri Natko, who attended the event, admitted they're guilty of using their phones while driving.
"As a police officer, I enforce the law," Natko said, "but I have texted while driving."
Johnson said she's guilty because she uses her phone during her commute from Akron to Columbus, Ohio, for work.
"You think, 'I can read this' or 'I can look at this,' but it's unsafe," she said. "It's hard to be disconnected during a commute like mine, but it's putting my life and the lives of everyone on the road at risk."
