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:
Labels: distracted_driving
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posted by FedPrimeRate.com | 10/29/2009 12:36:00 PM
6 Comments:
Most people can't walk and chew gum at the same time...let alone text while driving. I used to be a huge fan on individual liberties, until a good friend was severely injured by someone talking on a cell phone, smoking and drinking a soda at the same time. Our eyes can't function that fast, nor our brains process what is happening. Great article.
> Our eyes can't function that fast...
Right, but the arrogance of youth makes our teen drivers think that they can handle the multitasking. That's why forcing young drivers to watch graphic video clips like this one should be mandatory across the country, IMO. For most kids, having that little talk about it with their parents isn't enough.
As for the bus driver who was caught on camera texting while driving a bus, and got into an accident as a result (see the Today Show video clip above): I hope he got fired the same day.
Making watching anything mandatory never gave good results. In my scholl all girls had to watch a few movies about abortion, and i must say these were VERY graphic.
Some of these girl did hae to face that problem later on, and chose abortion after all, but remembering those movies made the whole process much harder for them, and they were on the line of disorder.
Such movies don't sole the problem, they only make us feel worse.
anWonderful article. I really like your laid back and comfortable style.I agree 100% with your analysis of distracted drivers. Very scary!
I concentrate on what I do. When my friend send text messages to me, drivesafe.ly mobile application respond to them with a message that I am not in a position to see his or her message.
Thanks for sharing nice information.
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