Cell phones are great because they let us talk, text, and surf the internet wherever we want without the limitation of a cord having to be plugged into a wall. But with that power comes a responsibility to be conscious about when and where we should be using our phones, and not everyone is careful as they should be.
Texting and driving is a huge issue and has actually become one of the leading causes of distracted driver-related accidents. But a new dangerous trend of distracted driving has been steadily increasing , one which sees people live stream themselves while sitting behind the wheel.
When someone is live streaming their afternoon drive, their mind, eyes, and hands are no longer on the wheel or the road.
All of their attention is being given to their recording as they focus on how they look, how many views the live stream is getting, and whatever comments are popping up on the screen as they continue filming. It’s distracted driving at its finest, and it’s immensely dangerous.
A video of a woman flipping her car while live streaming to her Facebook account has recently gone viral.
The video sees a young Australian woman take her Facebook friends along for the ride as she drives her car through town, singing casually and occasionally looking down at her screen as more people pop in to watch the live stream.
One person even comments, “Eyes on the road” after she looks at her phone one too many times.
However, the otherwise unremarkable video takes a turn for the worst when the woman suddenly crashes her car.
She screams as she thrashes behind the wheel before the vehicle eventually settles to a stop, now upside down and sitting on its roof on the road.
The live stream comments change from pleasantries to disbelief as viewers remark on her crash, asking if she’s okay, and expressing their shock at having witnessed it all live.
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The video was uploaded to Twitter on September 4 where it quickly spread and went viral.
As of writing, it currently has over 4.2 million views and thousands of comments from people who are largely of the opinion that the driver doesn’t deserve any sympathy for putting herself in such a dangerous situation.
“Darwinism at work,” one user wrote. “The great bit is that there is evidence publicly available of her idiocy so the legal team will make mincemeat of her. Good. Idiocy should be punished.”
Others shared the video in a plea to stop people from putting themselves in similarly dangerous situations for the sake of Facebook Live.
Then there were those who were a little suspicious of the whole thing, and definitely had some questions.
As it turns out, those skeptics were right to be reluctant to believe the clip.
According to The Guardian , this video is actually of an actor pretending to crash her car as part of a new ABC web series, “Content.” It focuses on this character named Lucy and her determination to gain viral fame by any means necessary, which mostly amounts to her filming every second of her life for her slowly growing fan following.
Someone on Twitter even shared a behind-the-scenes video that shows how the stunt was done.
As you can see, it was a stationary car that was professionally flipped, but with the right editing and a bit of dramatic acting on the part of the pink-haired woman, this scene looked totally realistic.
The seven-part narrative series was officially released on Wednesday and is already pretty popular.
Of course, that’s likely all due to the publicity boost the “flip girl” video offered, after so many people were fooled into believing they were watching an actual person flip their car onto its roof.
According to show co-director Daley Pearson, the entire premise is based on how much time he personally spends on his phone:
“If I was to die and whatever god there was gave me stats on my life, I’m pretty sure I would be shocked to find out how much of the relationships with people I love the most were lived through phones.”
h/t: The Guardian