All too often, distracted drivers cause car accidents in Ohio. In the age of handheld electronics, many distractions can take a driver's focus off the road, and it only takes a second or two for an accident to happen when a driver is distracted.

Increasingly, people are becoming aware of how dangerous driving while distracted can be. However, not everyone who is involved in an accident is fortunate enough to survive and learn a lesson from it. With that in mind, a University of Cincinnati student who survived a distracted driving accident is trying to share the lessons she has learned with other drivers.

According to a recent story by WLWT, the 21-year-old student was driving in her Chevy Malibu, when she decided to change songs on her MP3 player. When she looked up after hitting the "next" button on her iPod, she was heading directly towards an oncoming pickup truck. Seconds after looking down to change a song, the vehicles collided head on.

Thankfully, the 21-year-old driver and the occupants of the pickup truck were all wearing their seatbelts. Almost miraculously, all three people involved in the collision were able to go home later that night with minor injuries. However, firefighters needed to use heavy equipment to pull the 21-year-old woman from the wreckage of her Malibu.

She received a ticket for causing an accident and driving to the left of the centerline, but many people involved in similar head-on collisions do not live to tell the tale. As a caution to other drivers, this accident survivor warns people to wear their safety belts, pay attention to the road and not to look down because it does not take long for a distraction to turn into a serious accident.

Source: WLWT.com, "UC Student Spreads Safety Message After Surviving Crash," Aug. 18, 2011