Driving, Cell Phones Don't Mix

The driver straddled two freeway lanes, doing about 45 mph and creating a vehicular log jam in his wake. Sure, the minimum speed limit was 45, but the maximum was 65, and this guy surely didn't have the right to mindlessly hog two lanes.
The slow-moving procession continued for about a half mile before the driver slowly, seemingly unintentionally, drifted back into the outside slow lane where he belonged.
Seizing the moment, I moved to the inside, hit the gas and got around the guy.
We've all seen this before, and often it's an elderly driver, one who knows their reaction time and alertness isn't what it used to be. So they drive slow and cautious, usually staying in that outside lane.
But more and more, I'm noticing the wandering turtles of the road are drivers using cell phones.
In the aforementioned case, it was a young guy, maybe in his 30s, cluelessly blabbering away on his phone while creating a potentially dangerous traffic situation behind him last week on U.S. 69 in Beaumont.
This kind of thing makes me furious, and I usually lay on the horn to let the driver know he's causing a big problem out there. I've even written a song about it, entitled "GET OFF THE PHONE!!!!" I'm still waiting for the record deals to pour in before I release it to the general public.
Anyway, defensive driving instructors will tell you that slow-moving drivers are the most dangerous thing on the road, and a slow-moving, cell-phone-using distracted driver poses an even bigger threat.
I'll admit that I've talked on the cell phone while driving, but I hate doing it and usually keep the calls down to a few seconds rather than minutes or even hours, as I'm sure some of my fellow motorists enjoy doing.
A few days ago, some loved ones on my wife's side of the family up in Virginia got into a nasty car accident, thanks to a guy who was reaching around for his cell phone, didn't pay attention to his driving and crashed into them.
Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, but the victimized vehicle's occupants included a 1-year-old child and a pregnant woman. I hope the offending driver got ticketed to the moon, and he'll be lucky to not face a lawsuit.
Cases such as this underscore why states, particularly Texas, which has the highest rate of roadway carnage in the land, need to put the smack down on those who use their cell phones while driving.
Sure, most people can use their cell phones and drive without incident. But the same thing can be said for those who drink and drive. The percentage of drunken drivers on the road who get away with it is likely much, much higher than the number of drunken drivers who don't. One aspect to my own defensive-driving technique is assuming every other driver out there is drunk, much in the way that every gun is loaded.
Because of some drivers' inability to call and drive, their cell phone usage in a moving vehicle should be every bit as illegal as drunken driving, not using proper restraints and leaving kids in a locked car in a parking lot. If nothing else, there should be enormous penalties for those who cause an accident while being distracted with a cell-phone call.
Driving is the most dangerous thing we do on a routine basis. One small error can result in horrific tragedy in a blink.
In 2000 alone, 41,821 people were killed nationwide in traffic accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Texas, where a nation-high 3,769 died that year, accounted for about 9 percent of the U.S. total.
The Iowa Civic Analysis Network, using NHTSA data, estimated in a November 2006 report that distracted driving - which includes cell phone usage - accounts for 25 percent of the nation's traffic accidents. Since 1995, cell phone use has jumped more than 600 percent nationwide, with more than 10 million cell phone subscribers in 2005, the study says. The NHTSA estimated that up to 70 percent of these subscribers used cell phones while driving.
However, what's missing from the national cell phone picture, as far as I can tell, is recent data on traffic fatalities.
Shockingly, the Texas Department of Public Safety's most recent figures come from 2001, according to an Austin-based DPS spokeswoman I contacted Tuesday. The number of cell phone accidents increased an eye-popping 44.1 percent from 2000 to 2001. There were 1,032 such accidents in 2001 and 716 the previous year. The phone-related fatalities were seven in 2000 and eight in 2001.
That's just a fraction when compared to the alcohol-related traffic deaths: 1,005 in 2001 and 1,047 the previous year in Texas.
However, there hasn't been any cell-phone studies since then. They should do one of those tests similar to the ones they do for drinking, where the drivers get liquored up and try to navigate an obstacle course. Instead of alcohol, the test would involve drivers using a cell phone while maneuvering through the course.
As of November 2006, 18 states, including Texas, and Washington, D.C., had laws regulating driver cell phone use. The most common legislation limited use of cell phones by teens and school bus drivers. Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, D.C., New Jersey and New York have passed laws banning driver cell phone use. In Texas, the cell phone law applies only to teens and school bus drivers.
However, it is probably time for the state that has the nation's highest rate of road deaths to ban cell phone usage for drivers or at least come up with stiff penalties for those who create hazards, accidents and death for their fellow motorists.