I just sat behind a jeep that was sitting behind an SUV at a
red light. Actually it was a red light
that turned green and then turned red again before any of us moved.
You see, the SUV driver never moved, even though the light
was green. The jeep driver never blew
her horn but did at one point throw up her hands in desperation. I didn't want to blow my horn either because
I didn't want the jeep driver to misinterpret my toot.
So we all sat there.
And then finally when the light turned green for the second
time, the jeep driver blew her horn and the SUV driver raised up her head and
then VERY slowly pulled through the intersection.
The jeep driver turned right and I followed the SUV driver
through the intersection. At the next
intersection, I was able to pull up beside her.
What I saw was a middle-aged woman busy on her smart phone. I can only assume she was texting.
Now I try and not jump to conclusions but I'm pretty sure
that she missed that first green light because she was busy texting or reading
an e-mail or on Facebook or something.
And if that isn't "distracted driving," I don't know what is.
Monday of this week I was driving to Nashville and was
almost there when I fell behind a car in the left lane that was going probably
20 miles per hour below the speed limit.
This was a part of I-40 that was undergoing a lot of construction with
concrete barriers leaving only a narrow pathway.
When I finally was able to pull around him, passing him on
the right (is that a confession?), I could see clearly that he was busy texting
on his phone.
Are these people crazy?
Let's forget for a moment that it is against the law. In the case of the lady in the SUV, it was at
least disrespectful (and they get mad at me for riding my bike on a country
lane). On I-40 near Nashville, it was dangerous.
And don't get me started on teenagers. Our youngest drivers not only think they're
invincible but they think they are already great drivers. Give me a blue-haired geriatrician behind the
wheel of a lead sled any time instead of a teenager with a cell phone.
A 2010 National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration report stated that "driver
distraction was the cause of 18 percent of all fatal crashes." A
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study found that "text
messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted."
Arguing against texting while
driving is a lot like arguing about global warming. Everybody that does it thinks it is safe just
like too many people that don't live near a vanishing glacier imagine that our
weather patterns are simply a normal weather cycle.
The laws of the state might be argued but the "Law of
Common Sense" seems beyond argument.
Like Forrest said, "stupid is as stupid does."
Perhaps a small consolation is that the driver was stopped at a light when she was oblivious to the world around her. I taught a motor control course some time ago at Arizona State (top destination for snowbirds, who are regularly made fun of by the younger generation) and the topic was reaction time. I asked the students to raise their hands (and keep them held high) in response to the following: while driving, have you ever: talked on the phone? opened a bag of chips or other food, changed a CD, reached for something on the seat next to you, engaged in a heated conversation, texted, put on make up, or do some other action? By the end all hands in the class were raised. My comment: "Your reaction time is worse than any of the snowbirds you complain about. Snowbirds have the experience to anticipate and prepare for traffic and use that to compensate for their slowed reaction time." The point was made but not sure how many took it home!
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