When your phone rings while you are driving, do you answer it, or do you stay focused on driving? What about when you are listening to the radio or a cd? Today, there are so many different kinds of gadgets and electronic devices that it is any wonder that we don t just get into motor vehicle accidents left and right. Between ringing cell phones, music blasting through speakers and kids screaming in the backseat exactly how focused are other drivers on the roadway?
Being distracted is the worst thing that can happen when we are trying to keep our eyes and our thoughts on the road. There is nothing worse than getting into an accident with someone else who was too busy checking their most recent email on their Blackberry versus keeping both hands on the steering wheel where they should be. Due to the increased number of people who are crowding the roadways each and every day, it suddenly becomes even more important to make sure that you are paying attention while driving...and the cops aren t taking any nonsense.
My own father has been the subject of the recent crackdown on people who have been caught by police officers using their cell phones while driving. So, why are cell phones considered a type of distraction while driving? Imagine receiving a phone call while you are driving in the middle of rush hour traffic that something unfortunate has happened to someone you love. How would this information affect your driving?Would you veer off the road because you are so distraught or would you book it in order to get to wherever your loved one is? Now consider what would have happened if you hadn t answered your phone. What would happen? Nothing. You would likely continue driving and would reach your final destination safely only to then realize, once you were totally stopped and parked that there was something wrong.
Cell phones are distracting because in order to talk to someone, you inevitably have to look at your cell phone even if it is for a second or two to dial the number or find a phone number in the phone book. Additionally, there are some people who will actually sit there and send emails while they are sitting in traffic. Even if you are sitting in traffic and aren t moving, if you are texting and looking down at your phone to do it, this means that you are not looking at the roadway.
Recently, I was stopped behind another driver, and when the light turned green for them to move forward, they didn t move. After waiting another second behind them (and with a long line of traffic behind me), I honked at them to pay attention. And when they made the left turn into traffic, I could see that they had been playing with their phone. Unbelievable. Granted, when the driver was using her cell phone, they weren t moving; but when the light turned green from red, they had no idea because they were so engrossed in what they were doing with their cell phone!