PSA: Don't text and drive
This morning, after dropping something off for my son at high school, I was tempted to look at a text that came in on my phone. It reminded me of yesterday's "Talking Cars Tuesday Pet Peeves," and how many people are peeved with other drivers who text and drive. It also reminded me of a factoid on the inconsistency between what we know and what we do.
To wit, over 90% of drivers in a recent AT & T study said they know it's dangerous (to text and drive,) but they do it anyway. People drive more erratically while texting (or on screen time) than when drinking and driving. People are six times more likely to be in an accident if they're texting and driving.
About three fourths of survey respondents admitted to glancing at their phones while behind the wheel.
Drivers are deluding themselves if they believe they can multitask. “It is difficult for pretty much everyone to do several things at once. In fact, studies have shown that people who have the most confidence that they can multitask are actually the worst at it,” according to Earl K. Miller, Ph.D., Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT.
I'm really just talking to myself here because I have texted while driving too often . . . and I would assume there are at least a few of you are both peeved by drivers who text while driving and yet do it yourself.
There are a ton of PSA announcments on texting and driving out there. You know how to find them so I won't bother linking. There are the horrific bloody dramatization PSA's. Pretty gruesome. I actually was struck just as much or more by some of the dash cam vids that show cars weaving across lanes, speeding up and slowing down and driving very erratically. I don't ever want to be in a bad accident because of texting, and need not to do this myself. Heck, I've even glanced at mgoblog while driving. Some things can just wait.
For only the second time in 30 years of driving, I caused an accident last September because I was distracted (not texting but still distracted). I have totally revamped my driving since then and only do defensive driving now.
Since that time, two people have almost hit me but because I was focused and ready ot react, I was able to avoid both accidents.
I haven't had an accident yet from texting and driving. And I've cut way back on texting. But I really just need to eliminate it out altogether.
The worst accident I was ever part of happened because of distraction. As a boy, my family was vacationing in New Braunfels, Texas back in 1968. We were on a two lane road, and drove across the Guadalupe River on a bridge with no shoulder and maybe 8 inch high sidewalks. The guy driving the other way, probably about 35 - 40 mph, drifted into our lane. My dad hit the brakes, but there was no where to go. There is nothing like watching as a vehicle comes at you with a head on collision. I braced myself, and fortunately, we were driving a Checker station wagon, a huge vehicle with a full frame. Our car was driven back 60 feet by the impact. None of us were badly hurt, but the driver of the other car, a young man around 18 with three girls in his Chevy, literally came flying through the windshield.
I wonder if all the different devices out there have greatly increased the number of accidents caused by distracted driving.
That must have been trematic to see that as a kid. Did the guy live?
I learned my lesson as my accident wasn't major as nobody got hurt or anything, but it could have been much worse. I was distracted because I had a broken toe. My shoe was pressing on the toe so I went to adjust it and BOOM.
I am working to never lose the defensive driving focus the rest of my life.
I never found out . . . I was 8 years old, and because the car was totalled, it cut our vacation short. Still, the experience is something I've never forgotten.
Regarding your question, the answer is yes. After decades of cars getting safer and fatalities decreasing, they have increased in the past few years. The cars are still getting safer, so you can probably guess the primary culprit.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/business/tech-distractions-blamed-fo…
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/business/highway-traffic-safety.html
Maybe there will be some new cars by 2025. Of which I'm doubtful. But the number of new cars on the road is relatively low. The average age of the car on the road is 11.5 years. 17 million new cars were purchased in 2014, out of a total of 257 million registered light vehicles. That is 6%. If that rate stayed static, it would take more than 9 years for a majority of cars on the road to be self driving. And again, that's assuming that ALL new cars sold from 2025 going forward are self driving, an assumption which is rather doubtful.
are selfish fucks. There should be a component in every vehicle made that slaps the ever living shit out of your face every time you text while driving.
the slap in the face thing was hyperbole to make a point.
People who text and drive deserve to be slapped in the face to knock some sense into them, but it would be stupid if that happened while driving.
the lives of anyone else around me."
Frankly, I enjoy the fact that when I'm behind the wheel, I am unavailable to anyone and everyone who might be trying to "get me" via phone or text. It's nice to be off the leash, so they get nothing when they tug on it.
A telephone can be a useful servant, but it makes for a tyrannical and despotic master.
I enjoy my disconnected driving time as well. Except for traffic jams. Those still suck.
I lost a family member in an accident because another driver was looking at their phone while driving. I'll never forget that day the rest of my life. Put your phone away while driving, it's just not worth it.
That's terrible, and I'm sorry at your tragic loss.
Don't run with scissors.
Don't stare at the sun.
I used to text and drive many years ago when I had a slide phone, and I just basically had to treat my phone like it was braille. I could send a decently long text message without it affecting my driving at all.
But smart phones with touch screens make that impossible, so it's not even an option anymore.
Texting is addicting. When we open our phone and see someone has text us, it releases a hit of dopamine into the brain. It feels good to receive a text. Same can be said for "likes" on various social media channels. It feels good becasue our brain gets flooded with dopamine. We all know texting and driving is bad just like a drug addict knows their drug of choice is bad. But, the addiction is often times more powerful than our own will power not to do it.
I'm very proud of the fact that the only social media I'm on is LinkedIn, and i'm not even sure that counts as social media...
Plus he posted that while driving SMH
Haha - I consider social media as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. Places where people are not anonymous and are putting their lives out there for everyone to see and being flooded with the images and stories of other people's daily lives.
I don't consider this blog social media, but that's just me.
I don't disagree with you. I have seen the addiction in myself, and have to work hard to avoid it. PSA's are annoying, but it struck me because so many people in a thread yesterday were annoyed by OTHERS texting and driving. And I realized this morning, so was I, yet I do the very same thing!!
I think it should be attacked by law the same way Drinking and driving is attack. Texting and driving Kills. The penalty for doing it should be the same as Drinking and driving. Unless it is hands free. It is already illegal here in Michigan, make the penalties harsher.
A) is probably not going to happen, since it would prevent passengers from texting.
Accidents caused by distracted driving due to cell phone use are becoming an epidemic.
We are seeing so many accidents where someone rear ends a person, and there aren't skid marks to show there was even an attempt to stop.
It's to the point that every time I'm stopped I look in the rear view mirror to check if the person behind me is actually looking straight ahead.
The issue is (and I believe bigku22 mentioned it above) that texting is so commonplace and prevalent in our society that scaling it back considerably, even in the car, is not going to happen. People are just addicted to their phones, and the need to get to that text or post that Snapchat quickly will too often outweigh the risk of getting into an accident or getting yourself (or someone else) killed. Too often the belief is that "Oh, I'm being careful. I know what I'm doing. I do it all the time, and that won't happen to me."
At this point, I think the only things that will get rid of these kinds of accidents is 1) technology that shuts texting down when in the car, which I don't even know if it's possible. And then how do you differentiate between the driver's cell and the passenger's cell. Or 2), self-driving cars, which are on the way, but probably at least 15-20 years away from being a cost-effective choice for your average American family. Maybe even longer, since the technology is barely in its infancy stages now.
I hate being such a cynic about it, but it is so ingrained into our society to always be wired into your phone that its something that's just not going to go away. In fact I think its only going to get worse. All we can do is adapt our technology around it to help keep people out of stupid situations.
Great PSA! If I hear a message come through I may read it at a stoplight, but if I'm in the car I'll never send a text - will call instead. And with the help of Google Assistant, Siri, Samsung's thing, etc. it is easy to make the call without looking at the phone. There may still be some element of distraction talking on the phone (though hands free helps) but it has to be so much less than texting.
Straight from the Lizard King's mouth
If I absolutely have to read/write a text while driving (and it can't wait till a stop light) I use Siri. It's easy and not any more distracting than talking on the phone while driving.
And, yes, defensive driving is key. Always know where the cars are around you.
I don't get it. What is wrong with using siri to read and respond to texts if you can keep your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel? Is this not why they put the same voiceover buttons on your steering wheel?
If you can't talk and drive at the same time, then you my friend, shouldn't have a license.
I'm just thankful I don't have a regular commute. So many drivers are literally looking at their phones their entire drive...and during rush hour!! You can always tell as they swerve across lanes. I don't understand why they don't just make it a $1000 fine and a point. Even if they can't enforce it well, that would cause at least some of these idiots to think twice.
In California where I live, it's $400 for illegally driving in carpool lane but $165 for texting. Someone please explain that to me. Unfortunately, until someone important dies from a moron texting and driving, it doesn't look like anything will change. Incredibly maddening.
connect to my vehicle via bluetooth. Hands free calls and my radio will read my texts to me. To text back, I just say what I want and it'll transcribe and send a text.
All without taking my eyes off the road or my hands off the wheel. Jim Morrison had good advice. Sometimes.
I used to be an accident investigator when I was a police officer. Trust me when I tell you bone and soft tissue is no match for steel and asphalt.
The (alleged) relative safety of hands-free is a myth. The problem is the lack of attention, not whether or not you are looking at the road. If your eyes are on the road but your mind isn't, you're still a danger to yourself and others.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2015/08/20/is-hands-…
I've been fortunate enough not to cause an accident, but I need to continue to get better at avoiding distraction.
Right now it's only against the law in MIchigan to text and drive. The second half of this article is enlightning. I have heard from cops about drivers who should lose their licenses for texting and driving and hittting someone and denying they were texting to get a misdemeanor.