An increasingly annoying trait of humanity is people at red traffic lights not driving when the light turns green. The reason being that they are playing with their phones instead of concentrating on driving. I’m not certain but I have to imagine that texting is the #1 cause of traffic accidents. The other day we were actually discussing how there aren’t MORE accidents than there already are. It does seem amazing how you put all these stupid people (most people are stupid) behind the wheel in the blink of an eye and send them on their way. Driving has to be the most dangerous thing you do that you completely take for granted.
Most people have the capability of using their phone as a GPS. Where is the line drawn at what’s acceptable to do in the car? It’s ok to look at your GPS but not ok to text and drive? Is using your GPS in the car the same as texting? Can you restrict people from not using any electronic device in a vehicle? I believe it’s quite apparent that using electronic devices and driving is a major issue and only getting worse. I know because I’d be lying to say I haven’t participated in using my phone while driving and I know how distracted you can become while texting that you aren’t even looking at the road at certain points.
According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, car accidents happen every minute of the day. Motor vehicle accidents occur in any part of the world every 60 seconds. And if it’s all summed up in a yearly basis,there are 5.25 million driving accidents that take place per year. The National Safety Council announced that it estimates at least 28% of all traffic crashes – or at least 1.6 million crashes each year – involve drivers using cell phones and texting.
So what can you do to make the roads a safer place? First of all, make the penalties severe. 1st time offenders should be a 500 dollar fine and if you ever get caught again you should get your license suspended for a week. I tried looking up what the actual fines were and wasn’t able to come up with the info. I’m not sure if there is anything that you can do to prevent people looking at their phone while driving. It’s one of those things that will be with society for a long time until something is changed.
While typing that last sentence I thought of one thing that could help. Create a device that can verify that your phone is off while your driving and insurance company’s will give you a better rate. Or some type of reward system while driving with your phone off. Just a thought.
I laughed out loud.
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