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The other day I got an email from a friend of mine. It was short and to the point, and he closed it by saying "im driving so i should go." Yes, you read that right. He was driving and emailing at the same time. Now, this friend of mine has a crackberry, er, blackberry, which I sometimes think he'd lay his life on the line for. So I'm used to getting emails from him in strange places and at odd times. But this one really took the cake.
It seems like every time another car almost hits me, or runs a red light, or cuts me off on the highway, I look over at the driver and they are concentrating on something other than driving. Yapping on his/her cellphone, scarfing down a burrito, TEXTING (!) their best friend about "OMG OMG DID YOU HEAR SHAWN AND KATHY BROKE UP OMG", doing their make-up, shaving (no lie, I've seen it), you name it. Or it's winter, and they are peeking through the three inch-square patch of windsheild that they bothered to scrape free of ice.
Honestly, what text message could be so important that you can't wait to get where you are going to respond!? Are you afraid your friends will disown you if you don't respond within 2 minutes? God knows the drivers in this city are bad enough without that to distract them.
Look, I'm not saying I'm perfect. Yeah, I talk on my phone sometimes when I drive, more than I should. But what really gets me is that people drive around like Evel Knievel while they're busy chatting away and blissfully unaware of what goes on around them. The least you can do is move over to the slow lane, drive at a sane speed, stay in your lane, and avoid making any drastic maneuvers. It's in your best interest, after all the question insurance companies all ask you these days when you file a claim over an accident is "Were you on your cell phone?" They are not asking that for their health. "Oh, yes. I was chatting away with my friend Betsy whilst bombing down Belmont Hill doing 95 and testing my new car's slalom abilities. Why do you ask?" isn't going to look so good for you.
You are not going to feel good answering that question after you've hurt or killed someone as a result of your inattention. Cars are dangerous objects and their operation is not something to be taken lightly!
Readers have left 8 comments.  1. Sandra KLDid you hear that Big Dig Tunnels are now being wired for cell phone use. It's like they are promoting people to be talking and driving in traffic at the same time. Crazy/ 2. MLowell4Eva It's people like you who get us (Boston) ranked THIRD in the worst driving ranking. 3. Guest User WE need more bad drivers 4. Mike123 On this website, this is sort of a sobering message...as in BUZZ KILL. 5. Sully I believe in major accidents, they do try to subpoena the cell phone logs to see if the person was on the phone at the time of the accident. So be careful out there people! 6. Guest User Sully, do you mean we should be careful not to get caught and get subpoenaed, or do you mean we should be careful for these idiot drivers? ![[smiley=think]](http://www.unleashyouranger.com/components/com_jreactions/custom/templates/simple/smileys/smiley_think.gif) 7. Guest User Cell phone is nothing. can we ban eating and doing make up while driving? 8. Cat Cat Happy They drive so slow and get on the shoulder. At least New Jersey has a law that forbids it. But since when would people obey without a cop around? One car swerved on the NJ Turnpike and nearly hit me, and guess what? She was on the phone! That really gets me. |
