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Target eating drivers, too
By Todd Franko (Contact)
Published September 14, 2011
The awareness and concern for distracted driving grows larger each day.
Last weekend, I saw a law firm billboard that screamed: "We sue distracted drivers."
Since this all began years ago with the new kids on the block — cell phones and texting -- I’ve encouraged that more should be done about distracted driving.
Applying makeup? Changing CDs? Passengers? Eating?
Well how about this beauty out of Beaver Township this week:
There was a traffic accident there Tuesday night; a minor one; nobody hurt.
The driver told officers that he smacked into the back of the car in front of him at a stoplight because he was trying to eat off of a plate.
And for dessert ....
The driver also told officers that just 90 minutes earlier, he got stuck in a ditch in Canfield because he was eating while driving.
Comments
Mr. Franko, you and I are in complete agreement on this issue. We have incontrovertible proof that distracted driving is akin to driving drunk. They have checkpoints from time to time where drivers are pulled over just so the authorities can check to see if any drivers are under the influence. If we're going to do that, at the same time they should be checking those drivers' cell phone accounts to see if there's been any activity in the past few minutes on the driver's cell phone.
There is more to driving a vehicle than simply sitting behind the wheel. Countless decisions are made regarding speed, lane position, proximity to other vehicles, and in reaction to input from information provided by gauges in the dash, as well as the mirrors and by line of sight. The brain cannot process all that info efficiently while also balancing dishes of things we don't want to spill, fiddling with electronic devices, applying makeup, and so on.
To everyone who would claim they've never been in a wreck while talking/texting/eating/being otherwise distracted, I would ask, How Many Have You Caused?