| The
Problem's Not the Phone |
| I was riding in my friend's van the other day as we headed
to Alexandria to pick up some furniture. We talked and joked
along the way, listening to music on an iPod that was rigged
up to the car's audio system. |
| We had never been to our destination before, but my friend
had received a Garmin GPS unit for Christmas, and it was guiding
us along our way. The Garmin was suction-cupped to the windshield
to the far left of the driver's line of sight, and it showed
a continually changing animated landscape illustrating upcoming
turns with arrows and occasional voice instructions and beeps. |
| At some point, my friend whipped out his cell phone and
called the person we were headed to see and chatted with them
for a few minutes. |
| During the drive we took from Reston to Alexandria, there
were countless distractions for the driver, from conversations
with passengers to cell phone calls to instructions from his
GPS unit on where to turn up ahead. |
| But my friend didn't get distracted. He was able to handle
all the demands for his attention and drive his car safely
and efficiently to his destination. |
| This week the General Assembly is debating legislation that
would ban using cell phones to send text messaging while driving.
I've sent a few text messages before, and I'm not sure I could
do it while walking, let along driving. |
| But there are countless ways in which a driver can be distracted
while behind the wheel. When I was a student driver, my instructor
would tell me stories about people who bent down to pick up
a cassette tape and crashed into the car in front of them. |
| Rather than enacting laws that target a few of the distractions
for drivers, a better way to make the roads safer would be
to push legislation increasing the fines for drivers who do
not devote their full time and attention to driving. |
| Everyone needs to keep their eyes on the road while driving,
but targeting only cell phones and leaving other distractions
out is missing a big part of the problem. |
