SANFORD — When students at a Sanford High School assembly Monday were asked if they sent and read text messages on their phones when driving, some hands went up. They were thanked for being honest.

When the students were asked if their parents texted while driving, more hands shot into the air.

Then, when the assembly was over, they were asked if they wanted to sign a pledge against texting and driving. Many did.

But will they refrain, or was this a “spur of the moment” pledge, taken after hearing the grim statistics and seeing a poignant video about teens whose lives changed – or were prematurely ended – because of a text message?

Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap says the pledge does work.

“They tend to remember that,” he said.

These days, texting and driving, reading Facebook or looking at emails is pretty common.

According to a survey conducted by AT&T, a company that led the charge against the practice and has since been joined by all major cell phone companies, 97 percent of teens surveyed said texting while driving is dangerous.

Even so, about 61 percent said they look at their phone while driving, and 43 percent said they were doing texting while driving, according to AT&T Regional Vice President Owen Smith, who joined Dunlap for the assembly.

“We’re seeing a sharp increase with high-speed crashes – with no braking, no skid marks in the road,” said Dunlap. “It’s like driving blindfolded.”

“The number one highway safety issue is texting and driving – which is 10 times more prevalent than driving drunk,” he said.

Smith pointed out that society has come to look at drunk driving as “not a cool thing to do.” He and others hope that sentiment transfers to the practice of texting while driving.

Texting and driving is a violation under Maine’s motor vehicle laws, carrying a minimum $250 fine for a first offense. A second offense carries a $500 penalty within a three-year period and a 30-day license suspension, and there are lengthier suspensions for more infractions.

Rep. Anne Marie Mastraccio and Sen. Roger Katz sponsored a bill in the last legislative session to prohibit holding cell phones while driving, but it didn’t pass. Mastraccio said the current texting law is hard to enforce, as drivers can deny they were texting or reading a text and say they were talking on their phones instead – which is not illegal.

Dunlap almost didn’t come to Sanford for the presentation Monday. But the Old Town resident said a recent accident there, in which a boy riding his bike to school was clipped by a car, changed his mind. The boy wasn’t hurt, but the person who hit him was texting.

“The simplest thing you can do is commit to yourself that you’re not going to kill yourself, your friends or your family” by texting and driving, he said.

“Do you want to be the driver that kills a little kid because you wouldn’t put your (expletive) phone down for five minutes?” Dunlap continued. “Yes, I swore in school. It’s that important.”

Students didn’t linger after signing the pledge, as they were on their way to the next class.

One did speak briefly, however, as he hurried down the corridor.

Will you text and drive?, Jacob Record was asked.

“Never,” he replied.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.