Here’s something I didn’t need a study or a survey to know: almost everybody yaks away on their cell phones while driving.

Nearly three-quarters of Americans drive while distracted by activities such as talking on the phone, largely because they feel pressured to stay in touch, a poll published Monday showed.

More than 80 percent of mobile phone owners said they talk on the phone while driving, the survey, conducted last month by the Nationwide insurance company, said.

Forty percent of American mobile phone owners between the ages of 16 and 30 admitted to composing and sending text messages while driving.

[snip]

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, there are 115 road fatalities each day in the United States and distracted driving causes 80 percent of road accidents.

Riding my motorcycle everyday, I pay careful and constant attention to the cars and drivers around me. And it seems that nearly everybody is on the phone while they are driving.

It’s not nearly as bad in the morning on my way to work at 7:00 a.m. — but by afternoon drive-time? Everybody seems to have some urgent business to take care of instead of paying attention to what they are doing.

And people who are texting while driving? Biggest fucking idiots on the road. I usually pull along side them, throttle the engine so as to make them look up from their laps, and then flip them off.

They usually have no idea why — never mind that they might have nearly run me over while veering off into my lane or are driving 15 mph slower than the rest of traffic (and usually from the fast lane) during commute-time traffic.

Using a cellphone or texting device needs to be illegal everywhere. And I actually think that will happen in the not too distant future.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 | Trackback |