What is wrong with people addicted to their devices? I was driving behind someone today who could not put down their phone for anything. They were swerving all over the road and I even had to hit the horn twice to let them know the light had changed colors. Did this person actually think that they were driving well?
So then I pulled up next to them thinking I would find a young person who didn’t know better, I found an older woman and maybe this is my judgmental side, but I thought surely an older person would be aware of the dangers of distracted driving. I made the motion with my hand like a phone and motioned to put it down. It was not a pleasant gesture and I am sure the woman got the message I was sending her. She gave me a disgruntled face and drove off.
The CDC says that nine people are killed every day from distracted driving which is defined as anything that takes your concentration off of the road.
According to the National Driving Safety Council in 2011, 23% of all accidents included cell phones. Do people realize that the minimum amount of time that your attention is taken away is 5 seconds just to send LOL (Laugh Out Loud). Have you ever actually looked at a clock and waited until 5 seconds passed. That is actually a lot of time.
The main problem is that most people think that they are the good drivers and have no issue texting, talking, or even surfing the web while they are driving. Many states have passed laws against mobile use. “10 states plus DC forbid all drivers from using handheld phones. 32 states forbid novice drivers from using cellphone use, and 39 states plus DC forbid all texting.” http://(http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com/texting-and-driving-stats
Education is the only way that we will be able to change anything. As parents we have to set the example. Nothing is so important that it cannot wait until we get to a spot where we can communicate safely. Speak with your children about how a simple LOL is less than 5 seconds and can distract them from driving and worse hurt themselves or someone else.
Join a campaign to stop the texting and driving or install one of the many applications on your device that do not allow for communication once you are driving. If everyone does thier part, we will be able to control a situation that doesn’t need to be present.
