SWAMPSCOTT – It was impossible to pull my car over, but the question was easy: “Who is your favorite Red Sox player?”Just as soon as I could text “Jacoby Ellsbury,” I slammed into the car in front.Thankfully, the only thing bruised in the resulting collision was ego: It occurred in a computer simulation as part of Distractology 101, a program offered to high school students (and curious reporters) last year by Arbella Insurance Agency and Benevento Insurance Agency, in Swampscott.While technology can present distractions to a driver, it can also be used as a tool for law enforcement and civilians to prosecute and even prevent unsafe driving.”That cell phone, which can be the instrument of distraction, will probably be the best piece of evidence in the prosecution against you,” Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in an interview Thursday.We all have similar stories: driver with cell phone; confusion; screeching brakes, honking horns.”In this country, we’re experiencing an epidemic of distracted driving,” Blodgett said. “I see it every day, and I think it’s everywhere, I see it everywhere, and think it’s a real problem.”Indeed, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or electronic devices while driving at any given time during the day, according to a 2011 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) survey.But more than 3,300 people were killed in 2011 and 387,000 people were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver, according to the NHTSA on the website www.distraction.gov.The traffic safety administration reported that cell phones were involved in 350 fatal crashes in the US in 2011.But the National Safety Council concluded this number was under-reported. In a May 7 report, the council reviewed 180 fatal crashes from 2009 to 2011 where evidence from families of the deceased, media reports and professional referrals indicated drivers were using cell phones. Even in crashes when the driver admitted to using a cell phone, only 50 percent of crashes were recorded as cell-phone “affected” by the traffic safety administration in 2011, according to the safety council report.Based on the risk and prevalence of cell phones, the safety council estimates that a quarter of all crashes involve cell phone use.The highway safety administration is particularly concerned about texting and driving.The administration identifies three main types of distractions related to driving. These are manual, or taking your hands off the wheel; visual, or taking your eyes off the road; and cognitive, or taking your mind off driving.”Because text messaging requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarming distraction,” the website reads.Legislators have responded by banning texting while driving in 41 states (including Massachusetts), the District of Columbia and Guam.A local problem, tooAnd when there is suspicion that texting while driving has caused injuries or death, local prosecutors are willing to press charges.An Essex County jury convicted 18-year-old Aaron Deveau, of Haverhill, in June 2012 of motor-vehicle homicide and negligent operation of a motor vehicle while texting in the Feb. 2011 head-on collision that killed one and seriously injured another. A judge sentenced Deveau to 2 ? years in jail, the maximum sentence under the statute, with one year to be served.It was the first case in the country where a teen was convicted and sentenced to jail time for motor-vehicle homicide and personal injury due to negligent operation as a result of texting, Blodgett said.More locally, Steffany Barbanti, 25, of Saugus, allegedly told a friend she was texting when she hit an 81-year-old man on Central Street in Saugus and killed him. She then allegedly fled the scene. Police have charged her with leaving the scene of an accident causing personal injury or death. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.Angela Okonkwo, 37, of Lynn, was charged with motor-vehicle homicide b