If you are driving while you are reading this ? with the power vested in me as the publisher of this newspaper I order you to; just put the paper down, pull over to the side of the road and then finish reading it. Nothing in this newspaper is important enough for you to risk your life over, or the lives of others.
If you are like me, you have witnessed other drivers who have done everything from read a book while doing 80 on the Interstate to negotiate a completely unfolded roadmap and steer at the same time, apply a full day”s makeup while driving to work, and enjoy a two-fisted lunch of a burger in one hand and fries in the other while driving with their knees.
In reality, not very many of us would be able to prove total innocence of the charge of “driving while distracted.” My wife gets nervous every time I take a CD out of the car-player while I”m driving. I place the plastic case in one hand and the disk in the other and try to get the hole in the CD over the raised area in the center of the case. She”s right; I shouldn”t do that while driving down the highway. What”s your offense?
The one I”m having trouble dealing with is people typing text messages on their cell phone while driving. Shoot, I can barely type while sitting in my comfortable office chair with both hands on a full-sized keyboard. How can anyone thumb in messages while driving 55 miles an hour, or faster? The better question is: Why would a person risk their life to send a text message?
Many cities and states, California included, have passed laws prohibiting the use of handheld cell phones while driving a vehicle. Unfortunately, it hasn”t stopped people from doing it, just like speeding laws haven”t stopped people from driving too fast. Hopefully, it has cut down on the number of people who drive while distracted with a cell phone at their ear or with thumbs on the keyboard, though.
Now, the U.S. Transportation Department is taking aim at the problem of distracted drivers. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last week said, “Distracted driving is an epidemic and it seems to be getting worse every year.” Nearly 6,000 people were killed last year in crashes related to distracted driving.
At last week”s two-day summit meeting on the issue, Chicago resident Greg Zaffke said, “I have nightmares about the last moments of my mother”s life.” A driver, who was applying fingernail polish at the time, at 50-mph, rear-ended the motorcycle Zaffke”s mother was riding.
Here in California, a commuter train engineer missed a stop signal because he was texting a friend. That accident led to 25 deaths and over 100 people injured.
Several members of Congress have submitted the Alert Act which would federally “ban truck and car and operators of mass transit from texting while driving.”
It”s needed legislation. But it will need to somehow be enforced. Plus, we should all come to our senses and be more careful while behind the wheel of a multi-thousand-pound projectile moving at a fast rate of speed. Let”s wake up. We”re not Mr. or Mrs. Invincible.
Gary Dickson is the editor and publisher of the record-Bee. He can be contacted at gdickson@record-bee.com or 263-5636, ext. 24.
