Texting, scrolling through social media, or even making a quick phone call while driving are widely banned around the world for a good reason: they keep you eyes off the road, and your focus elsewhere.
When driving a vehicle, even a split second distraction at the wrong time can kill.
We have all seen the safety warnings reminding us to keep our eyes on the road, yet drivers keep finding shockingly dangerous ways to stay glued to their screens.
Just when you think you have heard the absolute worst of distracted driving, modern smartphones prove that digital distraction has reached horrifying new extremes, as drivers continue to find shockingly creative ways to gamble with their lives and the lives of everyone else on the asphalt.
Among the most unbelievable things people are getting caught doing behind the wheel is streaming porn on their phones while speeding down the highway.
In Utah, a woman caused a fatal car crash because she was too busy watching porn while driving, authorities say.
Multiple outlets report that 44-year-old California woman was charged in Utah's 4th District Court with automobile homicide, a second-degree felony, in connection with the deadly June 12 crash.
That nightmare scenario happened on Interstate 15 in Utah, resulting in a devastating multi-vehicle wreck that took an innocent life.
According to charging documents, the woman named Christine Chao was behind the wheel of her blue SUV cruising down I-15. Ahead of her, traffic had appropriately slowed down for an active highway construction zone.
Chao, however, didn't have her eyes on the road.
Her eyes were fixed elsewhere. Glued to the smartphone screen, she failed to slow down at all. She slammed straight into the back of a white sedan without ever applying her brakes.
The severe force of the impact launched the white sedan into another SUV driving directly in front of it, sending all three vehicles veering wildly off the highway.
Utah Highway Patrol officers at the scene noted a terrifying detail, and confirmed there were zero skid marks on the road.
In other words, Chao simply never looked up to see the stopped cars in front of her.
While Chao admitted guilt to responding officers right away, the true reason behind her gross negligence only came out after police secured a search warrant for her cell phone.
Forensic investigators discovered that she had accessed the explicit website XVIDEOS less than two minutes before the impact occurred.
"An examination of the phone pursuant to the warrant showed that (Chao) had accessed the website xvideos.com less than two minutes before the crash occurred. This website is commonly used to view pornographic videos," charging documents state.
The tragic price of this unthinkable distraction was paid by 66-year-old Scott LaVar Lichfield, who was riding as a passenger in the backseat of the white sedan Chao hit. He suffered severe head trauma in the crash and tragically did not survive.
His loss is a heartbreaking reminder of the human lives destroyed by irresponsible behavior.
Lichfield had just celebrated his 39th wedding anniversary with his wife the day before the crash.
Remembered by his family as a gentle, devoted soul, he leaves behind his wife, five children, and multiple grandchildren who knew him as "Papa" or "Pop Pop". His family recalled how much he loved reading to his grandkids, playing chess, building Legos, and playing Santa Claus for local children every winter, even wearing a bright red coat to keep the magic alive.
Instead of enjoying his retirement years with his family, Lichfield was taken in a second because a driver could not wait to put her phone away. Chao has now been officially charged with automobile homicide, making this case a sobering cautionary tale.
A car is a multi-ton machine, and treating it like a living room entertainment center can destroy innocent lives in the blink of an eye.
