A recent study showing the dangers of texting while driving came $25,000 too late for one University student.

The Virginia Tech study says texting increases the risk of collision 23 times, a much higher risk than previously estimated.

Omar Lewis, a junior from Snellville, totaled his car a few months ago.

“I was driving and texting, going like 45 miles per hour,” he said. When the driver in front of him put on the breaks, Lewis didn’t have time to stop.

“I was like, ‘Oh crap!’ But there was nothing I could really do about it. It totaled his car, too.”

Unfortunately for Lewis, the car he hit carried its engine in the back, meaning his collision caused the most damage possible to both cars.

“It was pretty bad. I didn’t have the best luck,” he said. “It really was the worst car I could hit.”

No one was sent to the hospital after Lewis’s accident, but stories like these contributed to the Georgia Highway Safety Association’s decision to support an outright ban on text messaging while driving.

“More and more states, I think 18 states including D.C., have an explicit ban on texting,” said Kara Mesic, representative for GHSA. “The issue of legislating was challenging because of the enforcement issue. People have to actually think there’s a chance of getting caught.”

University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said he didn’t think such a law would change drivers’ behaviors.

“All it does is create an opportunity for people to be held accountable,” he said. “I would hope each individual would see, maybe they’ve had a near mishap or something, and that be the lesson they learned to make them stop doing it.”

Williamson said, although there is no outright ban on using cell phones while driving, if a person causes an accident while using their phone they can be charged with a crime.

“When you’ll start seeing it, is if there’s an accident and there’s a serious injury or death involved and law enforcement will subpoena that person’s phone records,” Williamson said.

“If someone died, I could see that being the foundation for some kind of vehicular homicide charge. It could be a big deal for some people,” he said.

Before it comes to that, Williamson said he hopes anti-texting campaigns, such as advertisements put out by GHSA, will convince people to change their behaviors.

One such video, produced by students in Gwent, Wales, has received global attention for its graphic portrayal of an accident caused by texting and inspired some American organizations to follow suit.

The video shows a group of teenage girls distracted by their cell phones, drifting into a lane of oncoming traffic. Several of the girls die in a storm of shattered glass and blood.

Lewis said he’d seen the video and hopes it will save people from going through accidents like his.

“It makes it really realistic for you,” he said. “If that doesn’t wake you up, I don’t know what will. That easily could have been you and your friends.”

Lewis said the government should continue to promote these kinds of messages, but should stop short of banning texting.

“I think it’s the driver’s responsibility to know the risk they’re taking,” he said. “I don’t text while driving any more, but who am I to tell other people they can’t?”