ALT-1 Hang up and Drive Cell Phones Driving and Safety Issues
CELL PHONES: BANNED WHILE DRIVING
The debate over cell phones is a hot topic for our police, politicians and the public. It is also a hot topic for auto manufacturers and for manufacturers of auto accessories.
Auto manufacturers and the accessory spawns are all into our gadgets. Whether it be the cell phones or GPS or other little gadgets that we all love. Electronic compass' to back up cameras or infra red sensors. Coffee makers, coffee holders to the plug-ins for our computers or other electronic devices that we are in need of. Even our vehicles are into our computer craziness. We can plug and play with our vehicles to enhance our gas usage for mountains, sea level or to race the guy next to us to the next light.
Then there is back to basics. Today for example I followed a lady down the road, a busy road with school kids, soccer moms, school buses, commercial vehicles, etc., as she put on her makeup (looking in the mirror), talking on her cell phone (perched on her shoulder), with a cup of coffee (in a nice shiny gold travel mug), all while using her knee and coffee mug hand to weave down the road. She was off into the gravel shoulder and across the double yellow solid line more times than I wanted to count. Nearly hit a load of kids waiting for the bus. Nearly hit several vehicles one a school bus, the other really bad one a tandem dump truck. Not that any of them were any good or better to hit, the dump truck was just closer.
Two days ago I watched from my lane where I was turning left across a highway as a vehicle approached on the through lane. I had the green light and other traffic had stopped at the red light for the through traffic on the inside or curb lane. I had started to move but stopped and had the distinct pleasure of the whack-job behind me test my patience with his horn. But I was not going to move. The guy coming up to the red light had not slowed and blew through the light with his brakes full on sliding past me to completely cross the intersection. Cell phone you sayNohe was looking in his rear view mirror shaving with his electric shaver.
We all drive behind a police officers vehicle on a road or highway cruising along at a speed just below the speed limit while everyone piles up behind jockeying for position so that you can go back to mach 1 once the office turns off. Three months ago this happened to me driving south on our main highway. The female office pulled off the side of the highway in front of me as I was coming up to her in the curb lane. She proceeded to pull across the highway, no signals, to the passing lane completely and very obviously unknowingly cutting off a brand new one ton ford pickup truck. He slammed on his brakes and cutting slightly into my lane to miss the police car. The pickup slowed right down and stayed back behind me but still in the passing lane. I watched to officer and was surprised to see she was really absorbed with her dash computer. She continued on down the highway driving up a curve on a hill in "both" lanes of the highway. She weaved back and forth across both lanes like she was drunk. This continued down the highway for about 5 kilometres till she turned off a side road.
I witnessed a horrific accident on the Nanaimo Parkway. This is a 4 lane north and south highway the has a natural median with grass and trees to separate the traffic. I was heading north and was a about of the way through the parkway when I saw a car cut into the passing lane from the curb lane at a really high rate of speed, in a very erratic move that caused the car driver to over correct and put her off into the median. For a second I was sure I was in the accident but the car nosed into the dirt with such force it flipped it end over end back across the south bound lanes OVER TOP of a car that had been in the passing lane behind her, she had actually cut it off during the initial lane change. It did not touch down until it hit the pedestrian shoulder and then blew off the road in an explosion of dirt, car parts and other debris from the side of the road. The second explosive impact blew out windows crushed the roof and tore a wheel off. It then rolled four more times and came to a stop down in the curb ditch several hundred feet down the road from where she initially lost control. I spoke with a man that she had passed right before the accident. He said she had been on her phone when she blew past him screaming at the phone and the traffic, looked like she was crying and was beating the phone on the dash. Rage at someone on the other end of the phone combined with road rage and wow. She actually walked away from the accident with some bruises and cuts.
As a first responder with a fire department, and ambulance attendant and later on a coroner I have been to a few accidents. Most were alcohol related, others were inattention, tired or sudden changes in speed or high rates of speed. I have been trained in the use of emergency vehicle operations which included radio and the police have had the same kind training. There are still driver inattention accidents amongst the emergency personnel. It shows that with proper training people can be taught to use these items. However putting on makeup, talking on the phone, drinking coffee and steering with your knee is criminal and you add in kids and it is an accident looking for a place to happen.
So banning cell phones, I don't know, I think we have a lot of things we have to ban. Cell phones are just more visible because they are the flavor of our time right now. Any device that is distracting is bad. Generally our kids were bad enough of a distraction before seatbelts leaping around and yelling in the back seat. Now adding in these electronics for our creature comforts is adding way too much to our life on the road. Driver inattention is a huge problem no matter what the distraction. Specifically banning cell phones is not a broad enough term. I watched a bunch of guys in a Cadillac SUV the other day, drinking beer and watching a TV screen in the SUV doing about 30 over the speed limit, yelling and banging around inside hitting the driver and he was jumping around in his seat all excited about what was going on. They were all over the road almost ran a red light, front end was well into the intersection before they stopped. They finally rear ended another truck at the next light. I think if this trend continues we have to get into doing more training and education accompanied not only by enforcement but actually having the legal teeth to make a difference.
