1 - car
1 - driver
1 - cell phone
1 - cell phone call (for an alternative spice replace with a text message)
Put the first three ingredients together, start the car and head on down the highway. Set the speed for at least 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. Oh, don't forget to turn on the radio or CD player.
Okay, now that everything is set, hmm, I know call or text someone! That's the idea - what a wonderful tool. You never have to be out of touch. Call that girl friend or your wife or parents. No sense letting all this time behind the wheel be wasted.
Bam!!!
Huh? Where did that car come from? How come they stopped?
Can you say distracted?
I know, I know, all of us do use a cell phone at times while we are driving, but seriously, do you really think that you are aware enough of everything going on around you when you do? I doubt it.
I remember in high school when I was in Driver's Education, Mr. Davis, the instructor, would constantly remind everyone that you should always keep your eyes moving. Never only look straight ahead. A driver needs to know not only what's in front of them, but behind and to each side. You never know when the person beside you decides that they need to be in your lane or that someone is closing the gap behind you much too quickly or that someone is backing out of a driveway to the side of you. Don't look in any one place for more than five seconds!!! That seemed to be his personal mantra. And not a bad one - it has served me well and kept me out of trouble on a number of occasions! Just ask Mrs. B. about our drive back on 85 from the Renaissance Festival a couple of years ago.
So, I have a question for you, how can you pay attention to your driving while chatting on a cell phone, waving your hands around, or worse yet, texting someone (which I have witnessed on numerous occasions driving home at night after work) ? Seriously, how can you watch where you're going if you are trying to key in a text message? The answer is you can't. No wonder there are so many accidents around here. I'm not saying that texting or chatting on a cell phone is the cause of all the accidents - it isn't. But, a lot of people drive really badly around here already (following too closely, passing where you shouldn't, speeding, rapid lane changes - the list goes on) and using a cell phone only makes matters worse.
On more occasions that I can count I have passed someone in the morning, during the day and at night coming home from work that is simply oblivious to what is going on around them. Driving 20 miles per hour below the speed limit in the left hand lane seems to be a favorite of some. Others are swerving in and out of traffic like they think are some type of IRL legend, all the while talking on a cell phone. Dumb, just plain dumb. And the thing I hate most about this is that it endangers me, my family and a lot of other people that I do not even know. So what's the answer?
Pretty obvious, isn't it? Turn off your cell phone, pay attention to where you are and drive safely! I think that it is high time for our state representatives to pass a law that bans talking, or texting, on a cell phone while driving. The legislature needs to step up to the plate and ban these devices while driving like New York and a number of other states have. Then if it is so important that you can't wait to chat to your girl friend about your new do, then pull over so you don't get a ticket and chat, but off the road and away from me!
I even have the perfect road sign to inform our pious and upstanding citizens that they shouldn't be talking on their cell phones on the highways and streets. What do you think? Think they might get the message?
If you have a better idea, please let me know.
By the way, for the uninitiated (which I was before I met Mrs. B.) IRL stands for Indy Racing League.
5 comments:
I would gladly give up my cell phone will driving privledges if it meant everyone else had to, too.
It is SO DAMN SCARY! And, really, really, really, annoying.
So, Friday, I was at a stop sign at Olive Branch and Hwy 98. I wanted to turn left onto 98.
There was a lot of traffic coming in both directions; going straight, turning, etc.
Finally, a break in traffic; the only car keeping me from going was a lady going west on 98 wanting to turn left onto Olive Branch. So, since I wanted to turn west onto 98 from my stop sign at Olive Branch, I had to yield to her.
And she sat there. And sat. And sat.
She was actually sitting there TEXTING on her damn cell phone!
I honked at her and waved at her to go. She gave me that bland look like, "What the hell is YOUR problem!"
I told Mr. B that, only because I know better, did I not get out of my car and go over and kick some fat you know what ass.
Gets me steamed just thinking about it!
Yes, you did tell me and that was part of the reason I decided to post this blog.
And on the way home tonight what do I see, but a Raleigh city police person with a cell phone glued to his ear. How can this person be alert to what is going on around him if he is talking on a cell phone?
Hopefully the legislature will pass a law banning cell phones soon!
SIGH!
i am so guilty of doing both (talking and texting).
and i admit it too.
and just so you know (not that it is any defense), i can text without looking at my phone. i know where all the keys are, and how many times to press which ones... but i suppose it'd be best if i kept both eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel. especially with a baby in the back seat! (i actually try to NOT use the phone when he is in the car. but sometimes, i just have to...)
now...i can't read an incoming text without looking at the phone. i can just send them without looking at them.
I use the phone while in the car, too. I usually call Amy for a quick chat while I'm driving out the parking lot, but try to keep it to a minimum.
Ana, I think the idiots are the ones that have their heads down looking at their cell phone for fairly significant stretchs of time while the cars moving. Not the occasional users like us that try to keep it to a minimum.
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