A 琉璃神社 鈥淣鈥� driver veered out of his lane last week.
The high school student was about to turn into the Rutland Senior Secondary school parking lot.
One of my staff, in the next lane, swerved to get out of the way, but there was still minor contact between the vehicles.
The student鈥檚 explanation? He had been texting.
My staff member was able to brush off the paint that had rubbed off from the teenager鈥檚 vehicle, leaving no lasting damage. And she was not injured.
Contrast that with the 19-year-old in , who on June 8, 2017, veered out of her lane killing an oncoming motorcyclist.
And the 20-year-old that same evening, near , who veered into the oncoming lane of a semi-truck causing both drivers to lose their lives.
It鈥檚 even less technically difficult to keep a vehicle between the lines than it is to do so with a crayon and a coloring book.
It鈥檚 never a matter of technical skill that causes these crashes, it is a lack of attention.
Whether it鈥檚 a text message, cell phone discussion or daydreaming that distracts you from that critically important task, it鈥檚 all distracted driving.
But as I鈥檝e illustrated, consequences can be dramatically different.
And there鈥檚 the true problem.
There are zero consequences of distracted driving 99 per cent of the time. Perhaps it鈥檚 more like 99.9 per cent of the time.
You catch yourself veering out of your lane from time to time, miss the odd turn-off, and have those 鈥渉eart in throat鈥� close calls every once in a while. But, thankfully, no crash.
It is only that one in 100, or one in 1,000 circumstance when lack of attention will lead to a crash.
The thing is, the more kilometers of crash-free inattentive driving:
- The more complacent you become about your own inattention behind the wheel; and\
- The more the odds stack up against you that the 1 in 1,000 circumstance will arise.
It鈥檚 the same for impaired driving.
When we hear about the kinds of horrific crashes that occurred last week, we tend to think: 鈥渢hat鈥檚 never going to happen to me.鈥�
Because it hasn鈥檛.
Yet.
Please make a personal commitment to pay direct attention to the road, 100 per cent of the time.
And please demand that of others around you as well.
How about take the simple but important step of refusing to engage in a telephone discussion with someone who is driving?
If you get the reaction: 鈥淚t鈥檚 ok, I鈥檓 talking hands-free,鈥� please educate them that it鈥檚 most certainly not ok, because talking hands-free is just as distracting as having one hand up to your ear.
Want ammunition for the proposition to avoid talking on hands-free while driving? Send them these links:
- of 2009, 鈥淎ddressing the Problem of Distracted Driving and its Impacts to Road Safety; and
- (U.S.) publication, 鈥淯nderstanding the distracted brain; Why driving while using hands-free cell phones is risky behavior鈥�:
You鈥檒l piss off some people, but you鈥檒l make our roads safer.
