Distracted Driving: Here, Then Gone

It’s your morning commute. You pull up to a stoplight; casually glance to the left where the driver’s gripping a cell phone in one hand and wildly hand-gesturing with the other, as if they were some crazed band conductor.

Scary… I know, right, but only until you peer right to witness that driver with a breakfast sandwich in one hand and a blistering cup of coffee in the other. And the picture in your rearview mirror offers no consolation: The driver is busy lathering on a week’s worth of make-up, complete with blush and brush. And these activities don’t change with the light, and in fact, only get worse.

Your morning commute has now turned into a prayer vigil for those guilty of navigation through distraction. And it’s not just one societal group; they come in all shapes, sizes, colors, genders or age groups. It’s no longer becoming the exception.

Distracted Driving is ANY activity that diverts drivers’ attention away FROM driving: Talking, texting, eating, drinking, fiddling with the convenience systems of today’s automobiles, to name a few. Texting is the most alarming, where drivers can easily take their eyes and minds off the road for 5 seconds or longer. At 55 mph, you’ve traveled the length of a football field ~ with your eyes closed.

Bottom line: You cannot drive safely unless the task of driving has your FULL attention. And ANY non-driving activity has the potential of crashing and/or dying. If you’re fed up with these behaviors, do something: Be a voice in your community. Meet with local law enforcement to see what’s being done; bring it up on social media, without specifically targeting one particular group; write an editorial, or suggest your local news do a story and look into it further.

“Risky Business” should only be the name of a movie; not a means to conduct it from behind the wheel. #NHTSA/DistractedDriving/UDriveUTextUPay