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Driven to Distraction

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Not surprisingly, I'm stiff and sore the day after being rear-ended yesterday. But I'm counting my blessings. This could have been so much worse!

I know it has been said a million time, but I'd still like to remind everyone to PAY ATTENTION WHEN DRIVING.

This woman was retrieving a fallen backpack, and stopped watching the road. And she slammed right into my car.

I can't tell you how many near-accidents I witness, where the offending driver is sending text messages. Heavens to Betsy, people! If you message is so stinkin' important, pull over for fifteen seconds, and give that message your full attention.

I'll also take a moment to say that people who insist that this is a "teen problem" aren't paying attention. Most of the offending texting drivers (and phone yakkers) that I see on the roads are in their twenties and thirties. If you're justifying this behavior because you think you have so much driving experience, you're lying to yourself.

Distracted driving is dangerous, no matter what the driver's age.
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Christine said…
I'm not endorsing it by any means, but I think the younger ones are MORE accustomed to multi-tasking than the older folks. There needs to be a universal symbol for "put your *&$%ing phone away and DRIVE!" Add the extra hazard of the dingy drivers of Berkeley and you've got a real danger on your hands!
7:42 AM
Anonymous said…
Monster, MONSTER pet peeve of mine. My hubby is HORRIBLE about this and we get into arguments in the car over it. NOTHING is so important that you have to SURF THE WEB while driving. UGH. Let *me* drive if that Facebook update is so darned important. *eyeroll*

Kaaren
9:02 AM
Debbie said…
Oh my goodness, I'm glad you are alright. Being a school bus driver I see it all on the road. And they don't seem to be able to see my big yellow bus,either. We had an inservice where our driver trainer shuffled a deck of cards and asked me to put them in suits while she timed me. It took me 25 seconds. She then shuffled the cards again and asked me to put them in suits. As soon as I started she started asking me questions that required more than one word answers. It took me almost 3 minutes to put the cards in their correct suit. She said, "This is what happens when you talk or text on your cell phone while driving. It was quite an eye opener.
10:08 AM
Anonymous said…
Yeah, anything that takes your mind off the road, either texting or on the phone or any other intentional distraction is a soapbox of mine, but not the SUV in front of us that swerved all over the road on I65 at Cave City and the next thing you see is the silhouette of an arched cat on the passenger side's headrest. Soapboxland, especially after I was on the phone, thinking it was clear to go across the unmarked RR tracks in a curve lined with trees in Laurens, SC and there was the train blowing his horn at me. Hope you feel better tomorrow. The day after an accident is always a stiff thing! Glad you weren't injured!!! MoWizLiz
10:27 AM
kurious jo said…
Our community lost a few really good people due to DYT. Up here in WA & OR they made it illegal. It's sad that common sense needs to be mandated but regardless, it's a good thing.
5:57 PM
Lisa said…
Driving while texting *is* illegal in California, but that doesn't stop anyone.
9:59 AM
Meredith said…
They just outlawed texting while driving here, with some very stiff fines to back it up. I was lucky to walk away from an accident where both cars were totaled after the offending driver ran a red light at *45* miles an hour because he was trying to read a map to get to a golf course. There are all kinds of ways to distract ourselves. I wonder if the real problem isn't our own feeling of invincibility, not imagining it could ever be us, so we take those little momentary risks that could cost us and others everything.

Sending healing wishes for your neck...
12:24 PM
Eliza said…
It's not illegal in SC -- I wish it was. Love the cartoon of the harmonica holder for text msging!
4:32 PM
Anonymous said…
vehicles could all have jamming devices installed at factory, and disabling the device would be equivalent to DUI.
hope you're feeling better, both of you.
3:47 AM
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