SUV Flips After Driver's Cellphone Glance, Cops Say

A Wednesday afternoon accident in Tampa serves as a cautionary tale for those who think it’s OK to check out their cellphones while behind the wheel.

The Tampa Police Department released photographs of the crashed vehicle Wednesday afternoon. Police say the driver, who has not been identified, was traveling on Orleans Avenue around 1 p.m. when the crash occurred.

The woman, “looked down at her phone ‘for a second,’” the agency wrote on Facebook. “She was fortunate to walk away from this crash with minor injuries.”

Distracted driving was responsible for 3,154 motor vehicle crash deaths in 2013, according to the Distraction.gov, the federal government’s website dedicated to combating the dangerous habit. The government describes distracted driving as any activity that takes motorists’ attention away from the road, such as using a cell phone, texting, talking to passengers, using a GPS or even eating or drinking.

To learn more about distracted driving and how to prevent it, visit Distraction.gov online.

In Florida, it is against the law to text while driving.

It is unclear if the woman involved in Wednesday’s crash was texting, but she did tell officers she was on the phone, department spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

Photos courtesy of the Tampa Police Department