Talk to them. Don’t lecture, talk. Have a heart-to-heart discussion about the dangers and the consequences of texting or talking without hands-free while driving. If the driver is your child, be a parent, not a friend, no matter the age. Please continue to encourage them every time they get into a car to not text and drive. If you get a call without your child using a hands-free device or a text, ask them if they are driving. If they say yes, don’t respond or tell them you will hang up until they are safe to talk. Keep up the pressure. It doesn’t matter how angry they may get; at least they’ll be alive and uninjured. Someday they will thank you.
If you find yourself as a passenger in a car driven by someone texting or behaving in another distracted manner, calmly ask them to put down their phone, stop the distracting activity, and keep their eyes on the road. You would be better off having them stop and let you out where it is safe than to risk your life at the hands of a distracted driver. It might cost you a taxi or Uber ride to your destination, but at least you would be safe. Asking them to pull over at the next opportunity to let you out might make an impression and stop them from texting.