My Very First Rant
OMG! Why Am I Still Seeing Drivers Using Their Cell Phone While Driving
I tested the theory this morning. You are going to cross the line.
Adult drivers with years of experience are breaking the rules for which they would take their kids’ car keys if they caught them doing what they are doing.
Regardless of the statistics, people are still crashing and dying over text messages or whatever else they are doing with their cell phone while driving. This foolishness is beyond ridiculous. And at what speed do you think they are driving? They are most certainly exceeding the speed limit.
While there may be statistical data to support my claim, it appears to me that female drivers edge out the male drivers, but that is immaterial at this point. Both men and women are partaking in this very reckless driving activity. Why, people? Why?
We kiss our spouse goodbye each morning before we leave the house. We promise to be safe and the first thing we do is turn-on our vehicle, get into traffic and start fumbling around with our freaking cell phone.
I implore you to do exactly what you are instructing your children to do. Don’t even think about using your cell phone while driving. Set up what you need before you drive off, and then forget about it.
Did you know that texting and driving is banned in 48 states in the United States? When something is banned, that means it is against the law. It’s illegal folks! There are all sorts of statistics that supports this realization. But there’s only one statistic that should concern you. It definitely concerns me. You might not be the person texting when you are run off the road!
I wanted to see if it was really that difficult to control my vehicle while driving at 75 mph on an open stretch of highway. I was on Interstate 70E on the three lane portion of the road at 7 a.m. My coast was clear. There were no other cars around for as far as I could see in the front or in the rear. This happened to be a weird situation because at that time of day on that stretch of land, there’s always a least some traffic. But I was good to go.
Now, for clarity, I did not set out to test myself to see if I could keep my car straight while fumbling around with my phone. I am very conscious of other drivers, because I like to make it to my destination without crashing, just like every other person reading this.
I wanted to change the music in my car. Since my phone is hooked-up through Bluetooth (I’m sure that’s a registered trademark, but I don’t have that little symbol, so just trust me), anyway, I needed to manually change the song. It was a song I hadn’t heard in a while, so I needed to clear what was playing, type in the new song’s name into the search box and I also had to remove my glasses, because I only need them for distance. I can’t see shit close-up with them on. While I was going through this exercise, my steering wheel was rumbling like crazy. Then, I ran over the divider line. With lane assist on, the car’s dashboard flashes red, the car automatically applies the brake at 40% pressure, the steering wheel vibrates and basically, the car says, HEY, WAKE UP!
I failed miserably in trying to find my song without encroaching on the other drivers. The good thing is there were no other drivers. So my unscientific test proved me right. And again, this wasn’t a test, but I knew I was going to write about this because I see so many other drivers using their phone while driving. It’s unnerving.
So please, give yourself and other drivers a break from the cell phone. Stop driving distracted. The life you save may be mine!
About the author
Julius Evans has a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI; a Master of Arts degree in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ; a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from City University, Bellevue, WA and an Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from Central Texas College, Killeen, Texas.
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