A hard-hitting road safety advertisement highlighting the dangers of texting and driving has been released.

A Piece of the Rock, as part of the Drive for Change campaign, produced the public safety advertisement which was filmed and directed by Bermudian film-maker Marq Rodriguez.

It features a mother driving while texting with her baby in the back seat of the car and the tragic consequences that follow.

The ad, sponsored by the Motor Insurance Fund, highlights the prevalence of texting and other forms of distracted driving in Bermuda.

Shari-Lynn Pringle, the campaign director for A Piece of the Rock, said: “We have been particularly alarmed by the usage of mobile phones while driving by parents accompanied by young children.”

According to the National Safety Council in the United States, mobile phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes annually.

The council said that texting while driving was six times more likely to cause an accident than driving under the influence of alcohol.

A Piece for the Rock produced another road-safety advert last September aimed at creating road-safety awareness among 16 to 20-year-olds.

Both are available to view on A Piece of the Rock’s Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages and will be showing in cinemas and on local TV.