Cars Are For Driving - Not Phoning, Texting, Computing, Faxing or Anything Else

Sometime back when I first obtained my license (no cars didn't need cranks, although I can be somewhat cranky at times), a day came when my father mentioned some words that have stayed with me through a long career of driving. His warning was simple: "You have 2,000 pounds of death in your control; just remember that"

Those words strike home every time I see someone with a cellphone glued to his/her ear; or another person with a Blackberry or other texting device, hands at the top of the wheel, thumbing a message away, or even hands somewhere in the middle thumbing a text message away.

They come back to haunt when I see business people with laptops mounted in the front of their vehicles taking emails; reading emails, and sending emails, while cruising on one of our local Interstates at speeds approaching 80 mph (even with gas where it is people still drive like their trunks are on fire). And, then there are those whose systems are also hooked up to faxes. I've seen folks reading faxes while driving.

Now, I don't know about you and I don't know how you handle the way mobile technology has burst on us in the last 15 years (actually I've used mobile phones since 1993 when they were huge multi-pound, bag affairs that put out 3 watts of microwave power (try having that near your ear or brain all the time and see what it might do over time, I don't even want to think), but I've tried to be responsible with it. I do pull over when the cell goes off and if I have to drive, I have a Bluetooth device in my ear that just requires a push to answer and put back on-hook. I just tell people I'll call them when it's safe and go back to driving.

And, this is the point of this exercise - driving safety. I don't care if you think you are the master of the universe behind the wheel and that you can make your vehicle do things others cannot (even violate the laws of physics), but if you are trying to talk with a friend about your plans for the evening or are arguing with your spouse or are participating in a business call, your attention is not where it should be - on the road in front and around your car.

I know that if asked anyone will shake his/her head and say "No, I never make cellphone calls while I'm driving; I pull over;" or "No, I never text when I'm driving..." Yet, I have sat at long traffic lights watching cross traffic on heavily traveled roads and I have found that roughly 3 or 5 drivers is doing something, besides driving, whether reading a text, making a call or working on an email. To me, the math works out about 60 percent and I'm probably not the greatest guy for exact math - ask my wife when it's time to balance the checkbook and you'll see why I was born a writer, not a mathematician. If I were a mathematician I'd probably be the one who proves the world is flat (isn't it??) and that we are the center of the universe (aren't we??).

All kidding aside, it still comes down to the words that rattle around my brain every time I get behind the wheel - something I have been doing for a long time and something I have had the good fortune of doing many times in many car reviews for various publications - the words my Dad told me.

Ask yourself the next time your cell rings, "Do I really need to answer that?" What did we do before cellphones boomed in the mid-1990s. I seem to remember a whole world of phonebooths where you actually had to stop; get out of your car, and make the phone call. That's a lot safer than trying to argue a point at a big meeting; or argue a point with your kid who wants to do something you don't want the kid doing.

The same is true of texting or computer use (public safety excepted, although they still have the same constraints, they need the info the get on the screen - it could be the difference between a normal traffic stop or something more serious). You just cannot drive a car and keep your full attention where it belongs, on the world around you; although for some reason or other most of us have the same conceit about it. We believe we can handle the distraction of a cell call/text message, and all the rest.

To prove my point, I'll point to a different mode of transportation, one that carries much larger implications, but which relies on just one driver.

In Boston, this week, a young man face court for violating a transit authority rule against cellphone/text use by their drivers. Plainly and simply, the rule said you cannot. It's ambiguous and not something open to interpretation by a union attorney. You just can't do it. And, state law backs this rule up.

So, what did the young (24 years old) driver do a couple of months back. He started texting while hauling a two- or three-car rapid transit train. The news stories said he missed yellow and red lights and the only thing that stopped him, finally, was the transit vehicle that his vehicle ran into. There were not signs of mechanical failure and no signs of brake use. The driver just texted away and blam, many people were injured. Thank goodness there no deaths.

Now the driver faces possible criminal sanctions; his promising job with a stable municipal authority is a thing of the past and two or three passengers are now launching suits.

Multiply this by 100 or 1000 or 100,000 and you'll have the kind of mayhem that's possible on today's American highway. Who knows, it's probably happening right now and no one knows about it. After all, who, in their right mind, would admit to texting or using a cellphone if they were involved in an accident? Only a very honest or naïve person would do that.

Anecdotal information collected by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and other safety organizations suggest otherwise. And, even the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been sitting on a report for the last four years or so condemning the use of cells or texting.

So, the next time you get behind the wheel, think about your responsibility and, as a tribute to my Dad, let his words guide you. "Remember, you're now in control of 2,000 pounds of death so be very careful!"