Distraction running amok
When I wrote of driver distraction ten years ago, the “playing field” was different. Then, the most prevalent attention grabber for drivers was “rubbernecking” at roadside sightings like disabled vehicles, accidents, or police traffic stops.
At that time, cell phones were not even among the list of top distractions like applying makeup, reading, disciplining children, and shooing insects.
But the meteoric rise in their popularity quickly put cell phones on the list, and they became the number one driver distraction shortly thereafter. Now, with the added capability of “smart” phones, drivers have taken distraction to a new level, adding texting and Internet use to the already ill-advised practice of talking on phones while driving.
This new level is especially serious because texting and “surfing” not only steals cognitive attention, but regularly takes users eyes off of the road for several seconds.
It’s easy to surmise that the phone phenomenon has been a detriment to automobile safety. Accident statistics show phone use to commonly be at the root of many fatal accidents. Nationwide, parents who have lost children in vehicle crashes attributed to texting have generated awareness campaigns attempting to curb the activity.
However, the warning message about focusing excessively on a smart phone must now be extended beyond car and truck drivers. Bicyclists and pedestrians are also vulnerable when unduly tempted by their phone features.
Take the experience of reader J.C. for example. She wrote, “We used to say, the dumbest thing in the world is a kid on a bike. Even dumber is a kid on a bike using his cell phone.” I think when J.C. said “dumbest,” she was affectionately referring to the carefree, naive, and often oblivious nature of youths riding bicycles.
She continued, “Yesterday, I was waiting for my husband to adjust the motor home so I could turn the corner and pull in behind him. I was idling at the curb, foot on the brakes so brake lights were on. I could see a bike coming my way about two blocks away. He flew through an intersection a block away without slowing down and kept coming towards me in my lane. I am watching in my rear view mirror and side mirror as he came closer and closer. I turned on my emergency blinkers and rolled my window down to signal him to pass me. All of a sudden, I realized he is going to hit me. At my rear bumper, he swerved but it was too late and he crashed into my car, right beside where I was sitting. He had to know I was a foot from him but he never made eye contact and just got out of there as fast he could. It happened so fast I never had a chance to ask him if he was OK. My neighbors, who had been standing on the corner watching it all said he was on his cell phone.”
This reminded me of a story T.T. told me, where a teenager on foot walked right into her parked car in a scenario similar to J.C.’s bicycle incident.
Whether they were texting, Internet surfing, playing games, searching for music, or using a navigation app, those teens were not affording due attention to their primary tasks of bicycling and walking. Hopefully, their mishaps act as lessons to them and others that such distraction can have disastrous outcomes.
Readers may contact Bill Love via email at precisiondriving@spokesman.com.
