Be assured that this is not being written from the driver’s seat of my vehicle at red lights and slow cruises during the morning commute. Boring as it may sound, I am writing this on my laptop, at my desk, in my home office. Like I said, boring. But it’s safe.
Texting and driving has been on my mind a lot lately and I’ve been planning on writing about it for quite a while but then deadlines would loom and it would get pushed down the list. But every single day when I am driving, and I drive a lot, I see it. I see you with your Blackberry, your Iphone, your Android and more, in your hand while you are attempting to drive. I say attempting as it becomes obvious even when I don’t have the luxury of being right beside you and witnessing you typing away, hoping you will look up and take in the dirty look I am giving you (yeah I do that).
Most culprits driving while texting aren’t even hiding it anymore. I actually think that they ‘think’ it’s ‘safer’ to hold their phone up high in their line of sight at the windshield…yeah, you’re right, they aren’t thinking at all. And there are those that you can spot very easily from behind or even when they are behind you if you use your mirror. Head down, eyes down even more, delayed reaction to changes in the traffic flow. Super easy to figure out what they are doing.
Here’s the kicker, they are adults. Most of them are grown adults, older professionals, moms and more. It’s not all teens and young adults. The ones we want to blame everything on and point the free finger at that isn’t busy texting.
I can bore you with statistics that most don’t think apply to them, like this one from the Virginia Tech Driving Institute which revealed that those who resort to texting while driving are 23 times more likely to meet with an accident. You can read more here .
And then there’s that popular belief that it’s the teenagers doing most of the texting and driving which took a hit when Pew Research Centre shared that 47% of adults were texting as compared to 34% of teenagers.
What can’t wait? What is so important that it can’t wait a few minutes? We live in a day and age where attention spans are shorter than ever due to the advanced technology of the internet and social media, and no one seems to have time for much, yet there’s time to text while driving.
I would love if someone would leave a comment and explain why they feel they must text and drive but the chances of that are slim I’m sure.
If I can leave you with anything, I hope it’s an awareness that what you are doing is not okay, just for a minute or just this one time. Would you want someone driving distracted while your child is getting on the school bus or walking to school or driving the car beside you? Think about that the next time your fingers get the urge to tap and pull over or wait until you get to your destination. It can wait. I promise!
We all know it’s illegal and as well, we know the police have a lot of other things to do but I think we can all chip in with some good old-fashioned PEER pressure as well as making the choice to not text and drive as an example for our kids. We have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, right?
That is my all time high for pet peeves! Besides kids not being in car seats! I actually “at a red light” got out of my car and walked to the car behind me…..because she was texting while driving, almost ran into the back of me 4 different times! And had 3 kids in the car, NO SEAT BELTS, NO CAR SEATS FOR THE TWO LITTLE ONE!!! I COULDN’T BELIEVE MY EYES! ((((her window was down…i reached in……grabbed her cell phone right out of her hand……and threw it across the street into the deep ditch on the other side of us!))) it scared the daylights out of her when i stared yelling at her, before she could yell back…..i just pulled out my badge!! And she lived on the corner of the street with the red light we were sitting at!! I don’t think she will be doing that anytime soon, or maybe she will. But it cost her a $500.00 fancy phone that day, and child endangerment charges X 3!!
Texting and drivings deaths are very close to the drinking and driving death rates, and texting while driving and having a minor accident is actually HIGHER than drinking and driving and then causing a minor accident!
People are risk takers, I get it. But, don’t put others at risk with your behavior. If you’re driving, drive. There’s nothing so important that it’s worth risking anyone’s well-being or life based on the stupidity of texting while driving.
I sometimes see people texting while driving in my way to work. I try to stay away from those cars because I know how dangerous it is to keep your eyes off the road. I cannot imagine what is so important that you are willing to put your life in danger.
I’m so glad to hear that readers feel the same way! What is going to be done to stop the texting and driving. It’s not at the top of the list of the police and often hard to catch. I say peer pressure all the way!!!!
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Lola
TWD is absolutely maddening. Just yesterday I had to slam the brakes for a teen cyclist that blew through a stop sign. Had it been a different driver texting…A life cut short.
Even the longest Ottawa commute during the busiest time is less than an hour. If it’s THAT important, people will call you. And if you’re a super hero, they don’t use texts to summon you :-O
WELL SAID Jo!