Just a couple of days before the end of last year, a woman inexplicably slammed her car into the back of a North Carolina Department of Transportation dump truck parked on the shoulder of a highway about 250 miles east of Charlotte, near the coast.

The road was dry that afternoon and the sky was clear. Yet for some reason, the woman ran into a parked dump truck off to the side of a straight stretch of four-lane highway. Authorities aren't yet positive, but they believe distracted driving played an important role in this fatal car accident.

The woman was killed, but no one else was hurt in the crash.

This terrible tragedy is yet another example of the dangers of distracted driving that is taking more and more lives every day. North Carolina Highway Patrol officials now say they believe that one day, distracted driving will be the leading cause of death on our state's highways, passing drunk driving.

Investigators looking into the accident in Swansboro say phone records indicate the woman was using her cell phone shortly before her Nissan Sentra skidded and then rammed the truck at about 45 mph.

A reporter happened upon the scene shortly after rescue workers had pulled the woman from her crushed car. A woman who had witnessed the crash had stopped and prayed with the young driver as she was trying to hold onto to her life.

The accident was a terrible way for a life to end, no doubt. But at least the tragedy wasn't multiplied by other victims, as is so often the case with distracted driving.

The reporter noted that when distracted drivers are pulled over by law enforcement officials, they're able to walk straight lines and balance on one foot. They don't reek of alcohol or smell of marijuana. Their dangerous driving is instead the result of simply not paying attention to the road, to the traffic, to their vehicle and to their own safety and the safety of other motorists.

Please put your phone down while driving and leave it down until you turn your vehicle off.

Source: JDNews.com: "Distracted driving: a serious problem with a simple solution," Mike McHugh, Jan. 8, 2012