Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Cel Phones vs. Driving..Some Will Never Get It Right

I was a kid in the 60's, about the time I began an interest in reading the newspaper.

An editorial that caught my eye was criticizing then President Lyndon B. Johnson's intelligence and ability for snap and important decisions. "Johnson can't walk and chew gum at the same time", the lead paragraph said. I began to picture LBJ chewing gum and stumbling around the oval office. I even questioned my own ability, in trying, I found that wasn't a problem at all. I summed it up, even at that young age, as an exageration.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and I'm not so sure the same can apply to driving and talking on the cel phone. I won't go into boring details about how many of us have been cut-off (or have done the cutting-off) by a driver on the phone.

The facts are obvious. It's impossible for many to connect motor reflexes and conversation together for varied reasons.

Try this experiment next time you're at a 4 way stop with vehicles stopping at close to the same time. Most state-standardized traffic laws have the vehicle that made the first stop to have the right-of-way, with visual contact confirmation to the driver that you will be crossing against.

Virtually every time a driving cel phone user approaches, just watch. In most cases a complete stop is never made. If that driver was number 4 at the stop, they'll proceed. In most cases a visual contact was never made. Phone to ear and straight ahead!

Yeah, there are laws. Reckless driving, knee-jerk election grabbing campaigns, etc. I propose a device that blows the sound of a car horn at full decibel in the ear of the offending cel driver!

Next time you'll take your turn!

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