Saturday, April 5, 2008

This has been bothering me since I came to America. People driving their cars, that weigh like I don't know how many tons, and talking on the cell phone! According to a study done by researchers of the University of Utah, drivers who talk on the phone while driving are just as impaired as drunk drivers. This shouldn't be a surprise to any of us since we all know that it is not the safest thing to do to begin with, but are we really aware about what exactly that means?
If you talk on the phone while you are driving you are not only putting yourself into a very dangerous situation, but also everybody around you. Most people think "I'm not really talking so much on the phone, I just answer text messages here and there. That's not a big deal". Well guess what? Yes it is!!! If you write or read text messages you are not paying attention to traffic and this could cause an accident within seconds. You have to take your eyes of the road in order to read or write the message. Some studies even show that the driver who just wrote/read a text message or who answered the phone is not paying attention to the traffic a hundred percent even after they are done with reading/writing/talking since their mind is still occupied with the information they just got or the conversation they had. For this reason it is just as dangerous to use the blue tooth headsets than talking on the phone while holding it in your hand. Your mind is occupied with anything else but the traffic.
For me the worst of the "talk and drive" people are the ones who make a turn and can't use their turn signal because they don't have a free hand to turn it on. One hand is holding the phone, the other is holding the steering wheel (if not a cup of coffee, sandwhich, lipstick or whatever), so there is no hand left to turn on the turn signal. And this can become a big problem if you are going 70mph on the high way and are switching lanes. Not very safe, is it? Is it really necessary to have the government put high fines on "talking on the phone while driving"?
Guess what my voice mail says! "Sorry I can't answer right now. I'm probably driving, so just leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I get out of the car." That solves the problem. It is that easy! Just don't answer the phone while you are driving. And trust me, the world will accept that they couldn't get hold of you for 5 minutes.

3 comments:

Oscar said...

I've almost been run over by a moron on a cell phone. I'm glad that some states are starting to place fines on people caught talking on their cell phones while driving.

I also think that a lot of people just do not know how to drive (even though they have a license) or have horrible driving habits. I would really like the legislature to pass laws requiring people to go back and retake their driving test every 20 years or so.

mcalvillo said...

This is an interesting topic that you bring up. Actually there was a TV show that did a piece on cell phones will driving. Two teens were put to the test on a simulated car and the number of times they text was counted. Well apparently the girl ran a stop sign and had to brake very fast because she bearly saw the red lights. Another guy swirved will driving and hit a pole.
So needless to say, driving while on the phone is not safe. As it is there are alot of dangerous drivers out there, they really don't need another reason to add to there carelessness.

Cristina Devereaux Ramírez, Ph.D said...

Carmen, This is great. But where is your photostory?

MRs. R