Cell Phones and Driving

Cell phone use while driving is one of those hot-button issues at the moment. Everyone has a cell phone. When notifications sound, kids my age and many adults have now been conditioned to immediately engage. Our engrained Pavlov's dog reaction doesn't stop just because we are at the wheel.. Whether it is a message, social media or a phone call, curiosity gets the better of them and they feel they have to look now. Using cell phones while driving should be banned completely for the safety of everyone on the road. It doesn't matter how good you are at multitasking. It should be forbidden and against the law entirely. Here are a few reasons for that.

Let's start with texts, social media, and any other alert. To stop and read this alert you would have to take your eyes off the road for longer than the recommended time of one second, it takes to check the rear-view mirror. It is extremely dangerous to text or read while driving. It is a hazard to everyone on the road, so it is not just your life you are risking. We endanger every one of our passengers and anybody we are sharing the road with.

As for making phone calls, this to should be banned. I do understand that sometimes your spouse may call needing you to stop somewhere on the way home, or you think it may be an emergency. If that is the case just pull over to the side of the road, take the call, then return to driving. If the call can wait, return it later. If it can't wait, you can always stop briefly. There should be no reason for you to pick up your phone while you're driving.

Whatever it is can almost certainly wait until you get where you're going. If it can't wait, you can always stop to look. Cell phone use should be banned for the safety of everyone on the roads. It may not be convenient, but we won't lose nearly as many lives to tweets or texts if people are under the threat of losing their license, steep fines, or if they truly think about the potential consequences. I don't think I've ever liked one post or seen one funny meme that could replace the loss of a friend or loved one.