My mom recently wondered what we did before cell phones. How did we meet up after errands? How did we coordinate activities? How did we make things work? I told her that in the day, we went on an errand and then we came back to home or office. Life was simpler. Cell phones have allowed us to multi-task. Life is both more complex because of cell phones and easier at the same time. It is up to each of us to be conscience of how we allow electronics to ease/dominate our lives.
Recently, I was sitting at a stoplight attempting to shut off my uncooperative cell phone. I think it’s safe to say, it is overdue for a replacement. As my frustrated gaze rested on its glitching screen, I noticed a man on the sidewalk. Of course he was taking a picture of me, and of course he was giving me a NASTY look. This was not what I needed in this moment of aggravation.
Clearly he had gathered from this brief snapshot in time that I was texting while driving. AND, I was driving my NRG SmartCar. I warned our receptionist that we would probably get a call – nothing like driving a branded vehicle to have every hall monitor in the city calling you out on perceived or real driving violations. He did call. Even though I was irritated because I try to be scrupulous about not using my cell phone, it made me re-evaluate my habits.
Technically, you may hold your phone as long as it is not at your ear or you are not reading, writing or sending a text. So what I was doing at that stoplight was not an infraction. I was poking at my phone to make it turn off.
I have an electric SmartCar without GPS. Sometimes I need to hold my phone to hear directions. Is this distracted driving? Maybe. But I am not sure what to do about that. Is it more dangerous to be distracted by trying to make the correct exit based on a paper map and memory, or by a cell phone barking out directions?
This is a call (no pun intended) that only each driver can make. I do talk on the phone via speaker or bluetooth while I am driving. But, in my 30 plus years of driving, I have never had a moving violation that was my fault. I know my defensive driving has thwarted many an accident. I can just tell when a driver is not paying attention.
There are cell phone risks I intend to keep taking – mostly using my GPS. But in some ways I have become complacent. I do tend to pick up my phone at a stop light if I hear a text or have missed a call or if it is making some strange noise – just to see who it is and if it needs immediate response. THAT is not a good habit. AND if I am glancing at my phone to see who called or who texted without actually reading the text is THAT an infraction? Probably yes!
One in four accidents are now caused by distracted driving caused by cell phones. I, for one, don’t want to add to those statistics.
Now, on another note, I noticed my friend jumped into a big, gas guzzling pick-up as I drove away in my electric car. Climate change, anyone?