Distracted Driving

I made some silly driving-related mistakes in my youth, from driving with a suspended license (suspending for ignoring too many speeding tickets) to driving too fast in a snow storm (I once slid into an embankment at 15 MPH and, despite the moderate speed, still managed to flip the car over, Dukes-of-Hazard style.) Yes, with age comes maturity, experience and wisdom, and that's why insurance premiums get cheaper as we get older.

I've also learned -- the hard way -- how important it is to stay completely focused on the road at all times, with no exceptions.

About 18 years ago, when I was living in Queens, NY, I got into a minor fender bender which was totally my fault. I was distracted. I was trying to change the radio station on my car stereo, and ended up rear ending a minivan. I had taken my eyes off the road for the briefest of moments, yet it was long enough to precipitate an accident. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The accident would have dinged my driving record, and possibly caused my insurance premium to rise. However, no police report was filed. After pulling over, the driver of the minivan handed me $10 and took off. He probably either had no driver license, no insurance, or both.

My mistake didn't cost me much, but every day, people all over the world pay a much higher price for their distracted driving. Here's a powerful (and graphic) public service ad from the United Kingdom. The video serves as an extremely compelling argument against distracted driving (warning: the content of the following clip is very graphic. It contains scenes from a fictitious yet very realistic traffic accident.):



I watched the above clip on YouTube, and found the following comment from someone else who watched it:

"...I can watch the road while i text.. i have to glance away the same way u do when you change the radio station...."

In my opinion, the video needs to air in the USA during shows like American Idol and all those so called reality TV shows.

NBC's Today Show had the courage to tell everyone to watch the above clip, even though for some folks it may be hard to watch. Here's The Today Show's take on it:

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Don't Idle Next to Monstrous Tractor Trailers At Traffic Lights!

Yesterday, I witnessed a very ugly and senseless car accident. Thankfully, no one got hurt, but it was still very ugly to watch. I also learned a very valuable lesson from a very smart driver.

I was in the far right lane of a 4-lane road, a few cars back from a traffic light ahead. To my left was a lady in a Toyota Camry. To her left was one of the biggest tractor trailers I've ever seen. The cabin was so high off the ground that the driver was almost eye-to-eye with the traffic light, no exaggeration.

Now, this lady -- I will refer to her as Ms. Camry from now on -- was waiting for the traffic light to turn green like everyone else, except she was idling next to me, which was about 3-4 car lengths from the car in front of her. In other words, there was a huge gap between Ms. Camry, who was next to me, and the car in front of her, which was a green Cadillac (Mr. Cadi) sedan waiting at the light. Mr. Cadi was idling in pole position at the light, right next to the tractor section of the massive tractor trailer (Monster TT.) Ms. Camry had positioned herself to the right of, and next to the rear wheels of, the Monster TT. I realize that my description of this scene may not be adequate to get the right picture in your head, so I put together a quick diagram (see Figure A at the top left of this entry.)

OK, so as soon as the light turned green, another very strange thing happened: Ms Camry started blaring her horn repeatedly, as if trying to get someone's attention. I scanned the scene and saw nothing that would justify her repeated honking. I was beginning to think that Ms. Camry was playing with a few toys in the attic.


Then I saw what she was honking at. Monster TT had started to turn into the lane next him, but the driver hadn't bothered to check if there was a car in that spot. Carelessly, the driver of the truck began turning into the lane to the right of him, and -- you guessed it -- he struck the side of Mr. Cadi's car, in the left-front quarter panel (see Figure B to the right.)

The very wise Ms. Camry had seen the accident coming. That's why she had been idling a few cars lengths behind Mr. Cadi, and it's also why she had been honking her horn in earnest when the truck started moving. What else could she do? Prior to the accident, she probably wanted to step out of her car and warn the truck driver, but then she probably thought, "but he's a professional. He's not going to do anything stupid like turn into the next lane without checking first." Unfortunately for Mr. Cadi, her worst fears came true.

You would think that a driver of such a massive vehicle would have more sense. Aren't these folks trained to avoid such accidents? I know what he was trying to do: e was trying to get over to the right side of the road so that he could enter the parking lot of a Wawa store. But he was very stupid for assuming that the lane next to him would be empty.


Back in the early 90's, I witnessed a terrible tractor trailer accident on my way back from Ohio. A similar truck inadvertently force a car off the interstate and into a deep ravine. The truck driver wasn't aware that he had just caused a serious accident. A number of drivers on the highway signaled him to stop, which he eventually did. My friend and I pulled over to check on the accident victims. They were fine, but very rattled. There was a look in their eyes: it was the look of stark realization that they'd come as close as anyone can get to meeting their maker. Their car was totaled. They refused our help, and insisted that we leave them alone. They may have thought that our intention was to try and take advantage of their fractured and vulnerable state and do something evil like rob them, or worse. They were shaking with fear and had gone into total defense mode. They said they'd be OK, so after offering assistance one more time, we left them and called for help. I felt bad for them, because the car was full of household items and many items looked damaged.

So, yeah: I've learned to stay as far away from tractor trailers as possible when I'm driving. It doesn't matter if I'm on the highway or on a local road, I either downshift and pass them or I stay behind them in an adjacent lane. I NEVER driver next to them. And now, thanks to Ms. Camry, I've learned to avoid idling next to one at a traffic light.

I've also leaned to avoid driving directly behind big trucks. Trucks often kick up stones and other hard road debris that tend to hit my windshield with force, which on more than one occasion has resulted in an annoying chip in my glass (and, of course, the chip seems to always end up in my functional field of view!) But there's another far more serious reason for avoiding the rear of a big truck while driving: trailers tend to have massive wheels and beds set high in the air, so if you end up smashing into the back end of one of these monsters, the trailer's extremely solid bed will likely make contact with your windshield instead of the front end of your car (see image to the left.) So, instead of your airbags deploying and you surviving, your car's front end could slide under the trailer's rear, and you could easily lose your head, literally. "Underride accidents" are not uncommon, despite the fact that modern trucks are required to have safety bumpers installed. The unfortunate truth is that many older tractor trailers don't have underride additions, and these add-on bumpers often collapse when they make contact with another vehicle.



I hope the careless driver who ruined Mr. Cadi's day got a heavy suspension and a fine for his nonsense. He needs a serious reminder of just how responsible one must be to drive a 20 ton commercial vehicle. I don't mean to be negative, but large vehicles should only be entrusted to the most professional drivers.

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The Right Choice Got Me Two Traffic Tickets

The other day I was cruising down a local boulevard, a three-lane road that's peppered with traffic lights. I was on my way to a supermarket to do some food shopping, so I wasn't in any kind of hurry.

I came upon an extremely busy intersection, an intersection that just happens to be famous for being one of the most dangerous intersection in the country, due to the number of accidents that happen there. It's 4 lanes of traffic, with a local and express lane for each direction. If you've never driven on this boulevard before, turning onto this road from an intersecting one can be very confusing and very hazardous. Drivers often end up turning into the wrong lane, and then have to deal with driving up a road where everyone else driving in the opposite direction. It's sound ugly and scary, and it is. When you add lots of impatient drivers trying to get home during rush hour to the mix, it a recipe for disaster.

I was not new to this intersection, so I knew how to handle it. Whenever I reach this intersection and the traffic light has just turned green, I generally slow down a little and cross it without a hitch. If I'm not sure if the traffic light is about to turn yellow, I take it easy and start slowing down a good distance from the light, so that I don't have to worry about hesitating or stopping hard and possibly causing an accident.

I was very close to passing through the traffic light when an extremely aggressive driver showed up on my tail, seemingly out of nowhere. He was tailgating me hard, and I have no tolerance for tailgaters. My plan was to go through the traffic light, change lanes, then pull up next to him and give him a lesson on why it's really stupid to tailgate. At that point, the traffic light turned yellow, and I eased through the intersection. To my surprise, the aggressive tailgater slammed on his brakes, and came to a complete stop. He slammed his brakes so hard that a small plume of smoke rose from his tires, and there was a loud screech.

Then it was time for surprise #2: a police van turned onto the boulevard behind me, and pulled me over. I was cool, because I had done nothing wrong. I released my seat belt, reached over to the glove compartment and retrieved my driver license and vehicle registration. Just trying to be efficient. A police officer came to the driver-side window and asked, "Didn't you see the traffic light?"

"Oh, I know all about that traffic light. It had just turned yellow when the front of my car passed through the intersection," I replied.

"License and registration," she demanded.

"Sure," I answered, and handed her my documents.

"OK. Wait here," she grunted.

When the police officer returned, she gave me two tickets: one for running a red light, and another for driving without a seat belt. As you might have already guessed, I was outraged.

"First of all, the light was yellow. Second, I was wearing my belt. I took it off to get my driver documents," I said firmly, without yelling.

"If you get another ticket from the traffic camera system, you can ignore it. Just pay the ticket I gave you," she advised as she simultaneously ignored my protests.

And at that, the police officer turned and walked back to the police van before I could get another word in. I switched on my interior light to examine the tickets further, at which point I heard a short blast from the siren of the police van. It was the cops telling me to move along. Lovely.

My instincts prompted me to get out of my car and confront the officers in the van, but then I ran through a number of possible outcomes in my head, and decided that temperance was the better choice of action. I turned off my hazards, and made my to the supermarket.

I will be fighting both tickets, of course. I'm good at it. The last time I was in traffic court, it was to fight a ticket given to me for making a right turn at a red light at an intersection that doesn't allow it. My defense was that the No Turn On Red sign was blocked by a bus so I wasn't able to see it. It was the truth. I took a few pictures with my digital camera to support my case. I had to stand and wait at a street corner for a few minutes for bus to show up, so that I could show the before and after shots, but it was summer so I didn't mind. I won the case, easily.

In my opinion, I made the right choice by going through the yellow light. If I had decided to brake instead, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I would have been involved in an accident. The accident would have resulted in:

• Costly repairs: I have comprehensive insurance coverage, but I would still have to pay a deductible.
  
  
• Ruined vehicle history report: my car has never been involved in an accident, which adds to it's resale value. An accident would have been noted on my car's vehicle history report (CarFax, AutoCheck, etc.)
  
  
• Higher insurance premium: my car insurance premium would go up, no doubt.
  
  
• Serious injuries, or death: the accident could have caused a multi-car pileup, which could cause serious injuries and perhaps even cause a fatality or two.
  

So, readers, I ask you: what would you have done? stopped hard and let the tailgater slam into your rear causing a serious accident, or cruised through what was clearly a yellow light?

So here's the funny part. I posted the above story to a popular Internet forum where all kinds of police officers (county, state, etc.) hang out. Most cops wrote that I should just go to court and let a judge decide. I was OK with those responses. But one police officer actually posted that if he had been in my shoes, he would have stopped at the light and let the accident happen. He wrote that he would have preferred that because it might have resulted in a generous insurance settlement. Yep: I guess there's one in every bunch. A sickening example of just how perversely litigious our society has become.

Comments are always welcome and appreciated.

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Don't Forget To Ask Your Agent About A Good-Student Discount

Hard to believe that it's "back to school" season again. In this deep recession we're in, parents will be looking to save money as much as they can on college expenses. One often overlooked way to save on car insurance is the good-student discount that many insurance companies offer. However, like most discounts, your agent probably won't volunteer the savings information. You have to ask for it.

Good-student discounts can be significant. Here's a clip from a recent WSJ article:

"...don't be shy about touting your child's grades to your insurer. Most companies offer "good student" discounts. For instance, State Farm takes 9% to 35% off a premium, depending on the student's gender and whether he or she is kept on the policy as an occasional driver or is at school..."

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The Police Should Always Lead by Example

Earlier today, I was driving home from the supermarket and happened to pull up next to a police car at a traffic light. The cop driving the car was yapping on a cell phone. His windows were rolled up so I couldn't hear what he was talking about, but I assumed it wasn't a serious call, because he was doing a lot of laughing and smiling. When the light turned green, I noticed that this cop was still talking on his phone, while driving. I gave him a you-should-know-better look, then made a turn, which took me away from the police car and down a road near my home.

A few seconds later, I looked into my rear-view mirror to find that the same police car was now tailgating me. The officer hadn't done anything to signal me to stop. He was just following me very closely. I immediately recognized the game he was playing, so instead of driving to my place, I circled the block a number of times, being very careful not to make any driving-related mistakes. The officer followed, patiently and intimidatingly. Tired of this game, I parked in a parking lot far from my front door, and waited for him to make his move. Of course, he couldn't do anything, since I did nothing wrong, so he took off.

I do not regret giving that police officer that look.

For some years now, I've been hoping that cops get a lot more serious about cracking down on people chatting on the cell phones while driving, but based on my own anecdotal experience, it doesn't look like I'm gonna' get my wish. Yep: it's time to write a letter to the Mayor.

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How Driving Distracted can Affect the Lives of Others

With the rush-rush-rush mentality most people have these days, it's no surprise that more and more people are driving while distracted. Eating, talking or texting on a mobile phone, making adjustments to the radio, talking with passengers -- all take a driver's focus off of the road. Driver inattention is a leading factor in many crashes. I'd like to share a couple of stories with you, so that you'll be a little more aware of how driving while distracted can affect the lives of others. If this prevents one accident, it will be worth it to me.

In May of 2002, my aunt Sandra was coming home from a late shift at the local convenience store. It was a little before 7 in the morning, and all she wanted was to get home, take a hot shower, grab a bite to eat, and get some sleep. Suddenly, her car was hit head-on at nearly 60 miles per hour. She was killed instantly. Her car was hit with such force that the transmission was nearly in the back seat. The other driver was in intensive care for two weeks, and when he finally left the hospital there were careless driving charges waiting for him. He admitted that he'd been on the phone, arguing with his wife, when the accident happened. The state of Georgia suspended his license for six months, and that's it.

My uncle was both grief-stricken and furious. How could the other driver's only punishment for causing a fatality be losing his license for six months? He refused to let it stand, and brought a civil suit against the other driver. My uncle prevailed in court, and was awarded a judgment of $550,000. To date, he has collected less than $25,000 of that money.

Distracted drivers cause more than 26% of all traffic fatalities. Here are some other important facts on driving while distracted:

• Distracted driving is the #1 killer of American teens. While alcohol-related crashes among teens have dropped, the number of teen-related traffic fatalities remains unchanged, because distracted driving is on the rise. (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance Study and NHTSA study)
  
  
• According to a national survey of teen drivers, over 90% say that they don't drink and drive. However, that same nine out of 10 say they've seen passengers distracting the driver, or witnessed a driver talking on the phone.
  
  
• Brain power used while driving decreases by 40% when a driver listens to conversation or music.(Carnegie-Mellon University study)
  
  
• More than 80% of drivers admit to hazardous behavior such as steering with their feet or knees, shaving, applying make-up, or changing clothes while driving. (Nationwide Mutual Insurance survey)
  
  
• Driving distracted can slow reaction time as much as, if not more than, being drunk. A University of Utah study reports that a driver on a cell phone is just as impaired as a driver with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 (the legal limit in most states).
  
  
• Over the past few years, almost every state has passed some sort of legislation against distracted driving. New Jersey is considering a law that would mandate the same penalty for cell phone use as they would for a drunk driver that caused a fatal crash.
  

Of course nothing will bring my aunt back, but if these tougher laws can prevent one more family from going through the pain that my family has experienced, I'm all for it.

While not as traumatic as my uncle's story, I have also had a run-in with a distracted driver. About two months ago, I was in a grocery store parking lot when my car was hit in the driver's side door by a man who was backing up. Thankfully I wasn't hurt, but my car was damaged pretty badly. He obviously wasn't paying attention to his driving, and I believe it was because of text messaging, because after I called the police, he was texting back and forth the whole time -- even AFTER the officers arrived! The officer asked him if he'd been texting while driving. I'm not sure why he would admit to text messaging while he was driving. I believe he was just nervous, and blurted it out without thinking. I was livid, but rather than get angry at him I decided to let the insurance companies handle it. As it turns out, that was a mistake. The other driver didn't have insurance! I found out through a letter from his insurance company that he'd let his coverage lapse. My husband and I paid $700 out of our own pockets for the repairs, because we didn't have uninsured motorist coverage. We definitely do now, though.

Distracted drivers contribute to tens of thousands of crashes, and thousands of fatalities each year. Many of these accidents, including the one that took my aunt's life, could have been avoided if the driver had given their undivided attention to the road. E-mail, text messaging, that phone call, changing the station on the radio- that can all wait until the next time you stop. Please, for your own safety and that of the motorists around you, pay attention to the road, and drive safely.

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