“There’s a stigma about drunk driving, we need that same stigma for using the phone while driving and texting and Snapchat and Facetime,” he said.

Neumann agreed that people don’t think of using your phone while driving as a crime.

“You know if you’ve had three beers, maybe I shouldn’t drive. Nobody says, ‘I’ve got my phone, maybe I shouldn’t drive.'"

But ultimately, the solution comes down to personal choice, Pabst said.

“It’s a matter of taking a personal stand and saying, ‘No, I’m not going to do this,’” Pabst said.

Sometimes, people can be motivated through other personal stories. The DOT has a YouTube and social media campaign spreading the personal stories of individuals injured by distracted driving. Pabst gave an example of a video on the site of a girl who looked down to change a song on her phone and crashed into a truck, leading to massive injuries requiring the removal of part of her skull.

There’s also a lighter side to the media campaign, he said, where super villain character “The Distractor” educates drivers about the dangers of phones, food and operating a GPS while in transit.

“What we have to do in Wisconsin is realize yes, this is a serious business that we’re talking about, people’s lives are at stake,” Pabst said. “We need to control our impulse to use a phone.”

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