Stop Driving While Texting, Phoning

It seems a daily occurrence lately when one hears about a vehicle accident – car, bus, train – where an accident occurred because someone was talking on his or her cell phone and/or texting while driving.

I am tired of driving behind or next to someone who is driving 50 miles per hour on a 65 mph stretch of freeway because they have one hand on the wheel, the other on their phone/BlackBerry, their eyes not on the road, and their vehicle not clearly in their lane.

Some communities are making it illegal to talk on a cell phone (unless it’s hands free) or to text while driving. This is a worthless endeavor, since the person has to be caught in the act, and really won’t prevent anyone from not doing it while there isn’t a police car driving right nearby.

Cell phones and BlackBerries are nice tools that can help people become more efficient in their jobs and stay in touch, but really, one CAN put them down for a while. There is no excuse for someone whose job is a train or bus driver to be texting – it’s just not part of their job. People who travel by car for their jobs should either check their messages before they leave or wait until they can stop their car.

Maybe what we need for cell phones and BlackBerries is something like what we do for young kids when driving in a car – strap them into the back seat while we are driving. I am just kidding, of course, but if people can’t keep cell phones out of their hands for more than a few minutes, then maybe someone has to force it out of their hands.

By the way, if you’re so busy that you can’t put down that cell phone or BlackBerry down while you’re driving, you are a slave to technology and you need to get a real life. Seriously.


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