This is a sore topic for me. I have heard the statistics on the percentage of accidents caused by driving while talking on the cell phone. In fact, for me, a person who went from seeing pagers as a thing that was banned in schools to seeing teens be freely given cell phones, this hits a sore spot since even before I had a kid. In fact, I saw an 10 year old girl with a Blackberry and I had to wonder who in the world was she talking to or why did she really need a phone?
There are so many times I have almost been hit by someone using a cell phone. Usually it was merging over into my lane, and sometimes running the red light or stop sign. My younger sister texts while driving and it scares me because the car veers to one direction or the other and her eyes are not on the road. It got so bad I refuse to ride in her car, but I worry for my niece’s safety.
I remember watching the news recently and heard that driving while using the cell phone was apparently the equivalent to driving under the influence of alcohol. I am not the perfect driver, but I usually refuse to use the cell phone unless I have a hands free system. It is a risk I cannot afford for myself or when I have others in my car with me.
I know a lot of people do use them and I am not condemning people, but wanted to know – is it a concern of yours as well?