A middle-aged woman drives her late-model sedan through the four-way stop without so much as touching the brake pedal. She’s too busy chatting on her cell phone to worry about such details. A teenaged girl slows down but still rolls through another stop sign; her attention is focused on the application of eye makeup. A guy in a jacked-up 4WD pickup rounds the 10-mph curve at four times that speed, apparently anxious to get…somewhere else?
As I see these incidents repeated over and over on a daily basis, it occurs to me that we have “progressed” to the point where driving an automobile is simply an activity which occurs while we’re doing something else, physically and/or mentally. If driving was a musical genre, it would be “elevator music,” something takes takes place in the background, only dimly perceived in our subconcious, if at all.
How many times have you driven across the town where you live, taking a familiar route, and upon arrival at your destination cannot remember a single detail about the trip?
It’s a wonder any of us survive.
[This post has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my 17-year old niece got her full driver’s license last Friday! Absolutely nothing.]
Eric, it would be hard to estimate how many accidents I’ve covered and/or assisted at over the years … but it’s a lot.
Driver inattention, for the most part. Due to a variety of reasons, the driver was distracted from what should have been his/her primary focus.
It wouldn’t solve the problem entirely, but I would like to see something go through the legislature in Austin that would penalize drivers on cell phones while their vehicles are in motion. Too many people are focused on, “Hey, how ya’ doin’?” rather than, “Hey, what’s the speed limit?”
Yes, more laws — that’s the answer.
I read an interesting article on the phenomenon of not remembering a single detail for some period of time (I do this all the time going to the ranch). The researchers found that that it always happens on a route that is very familiar and doesn’t require any extra-ordinary decisions to navigate. IOW, you stop where you’re supposed to stop, turn where you’re supposed to turn, etc. The surprising thing is that they found it wasn’t dangerous at all…presented with a ‘problem’ in the route (like a MEN WORKING sign), everything kicked in smoothly. I know it sounds silly, but our brains are better than we give them credit for.
Which has nothing to do with teenagers driving, or behind-the-wheel idiocy.
For most people, cell phones (or other distractions) and driving don’t mix too well.
Consumer Reports ran a study awhile back which substantiates that.
With more dashboard-mounted navigation systems and laptop “mobile offices”, I think the problem is going to get worse.
We don’t particularly need more laws…..just enforce the ones we have, aggresively. I’m afraid that mundane traffic enforcement is not a high priority in Midland.
In Dallas, you could count on seeing radar enforcement often enough on most major streets to make you think twice about speeding. I know….I got my one and only speeding ticket on Walnut Hill Ln.
Scott and Wallace, I respectfully disagree. While we do have a number of traffic ordinances in place – and they could do with better enforcement – many were enacted before cell phones became so incredibly common.
Society is ever-changing, and the presence of technology in our lives is ever-growing. I would rather see a new law in the books that addresses these changes, and perhaps head-off someone getting maimed or killed … whether it’s the person talking on the phone, or someone in the vehicle they just rear-ended due to their inattention.
Will a law make the problem go away? No, of course not … just as long-established speed limits don’t stop everyone from speeding. But wouldn’t it be worth having a cell phone law if we could reduce accidents/injuries/fatalities a little?
No, not IMHO. Easily distracted people (“idiots”) will be easily distracted whether they have a phone or not. As you note, there are now freaking laptops built into the dashboard — are we going to legislate that? DVD players, too? Books-on-tape? Those scratch-pad thingies that hang off the dashboard?
I exaggerate, of course, but I honestly don’t want to give the cops another reason to stop me. We’ve got a criminalization mindset in this country that needs to cease and desist. I use my phone all the time in the car (salesman, ya know) and I’ve never come close to having an accident because of it. I’m not bragging, of course, just saying — they can be used judiciously and safely.
But if you want to lower the incidence of cell-phone use in cars, tie an economic incentive to it somehow. Say, optional non-disconnectable cell-jammers installed by your insurance company for $50 and a 10% annual discount. There ya go — a bidness plan.
I noticed that in my own driving. I was listening to a very involved book-on-tape. When it got through a particularly engaging part, I realized that I couldn’t remember anything about the road while it had been playing. I stopped the tape, and I don’t listen to that type of thing while I’m driving anymore.
It’s funny – the safer we make our cars, the more dangerously we seem to drive them.