Rhode Island State Police Sergeant Gregory Cunningham was getting graphic.

Standing on the Barrington High School auditorium stage, Sgt. Cunningham told the students in the audience about a fatal car accident scene he had processed recently.

He told students about the disturbing smells at the crash scene. He told them about the sounds. And he told them what it was like for him to have to fish around inside the mangled car searching for the deceased driver's cell phone.

Sgt. Cunningham said information on cell phones often helps police officers piece together what happened prior to crashes. And often, he said, it is a text message or a selfie or an email that is to blame for pulling a driver's attention away from the roadway for that brief, tragic moment.

"If you are a driver, no matter how good a driver you are, if you text and drive, you will eventually crash," Sgt. Cunningham said. "You are playing with fire, and you will eventually get burned."

The message from Sgt. Cunningham — as well as the advice from Barrington Police Chief John LaCross and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin — seemed to reach the captive audience of Barrington students during the "It Can Wait" presentation on Thursday morning, March 3.

For the last four years, the attorney general's office has worked to educate students across the state on the dangers of distracted driving. And during the last four years, the message during the presentations has shifted slightly, from don't text and drive to this year's warnings about snapping selfies, posting pics and surfing the internet.

"People are not just texting behind the wheel — they are taking selfies, checking email, and, perhaps most shocking, even viewing and recording videos," said Mr. Kilmartin. "The good news is that peer influence can have a tremendous impact on drivers' behaviors, which is why it's critical to teach young drivers the message that no post, message, email or photo is worth a life… It Can Wait."

Chief LaCross said young drivers are not the only ones who are distracted by their cell phones. He said he has posted a sticky note on his car's dashboard, reminding him to refrain from checking a text or answering a call. He also asked students to go into their phones' settings and make their text alerts silent.

"Please, don't drive and use a cell phone," he said.

Following the presentation, a number of Barrington High School students signed a pledge to drive safely.

What people do while they're driving

According to data recently released by AT&T, 62 percent of drivers keep their smartphones within reach while driving — nearly four in 10 smartphone users tap into social media while driving, three in 10 surf the net, and one in 10 video chat while driving. Smartphone activities people admitted to doing while driving:

• Texting — 61 percent

• Email — 33 percent

• Surf the net — 28 percent

• Facebook — 27 percent

• Snapping selfies — 17 percent

• Twitter — 14 percent

• Instagram — 14 percent

• Shoot a video — 12 percent

• Snapchat — 11 percent

• Video chat — 10 percent