I’ve been driving a lot for work lately (in my white Chevy Colorado, a company vehicle that doesn’t quite suit my tastes, but hey, I’m not complaining). Sometimes I’ll find myself in a town two to five hours away, gearing up for another day of testing concrete. As the work day winds to a close, I pop in my car and start up a podcast before hitting the highway.

My internal radar is increasingly noticing the number of car crashes on Colorado’s main highways. It seems each week I pass more and more blinding blue and red lights followed by disgruntled people staring at their wrecked cars.

The main cause? That little friend resting in your pocket, middle compartment, or dashboard. Yep, your cell phone. If the majority of drivers made the choice to take their phones and put them on do not disturb while driving, I am sure the number of car crashes would decrease dramatically. The U.S. Department of Transportation states that “Drivers who are texting can be more than 20 times more likely to crash than non-distracted drivers.” (USDOT). This is pretty weighty news and recently it feels like it’s getting worse. If Elon Musk and the thinkers at Google don’t come up with some sort of “autonomous” solution fast, we could be in for increasingly dangerous situations on highways, not to mention more absurd amounts of time lost due to onlooker slowdown.

Long story short, put the phone down. Your pals can wait a little bit.