Heads Up!!  Put Down Your Cell Phone.

I had the day off yesterday and I admit it – I watched Oprah. The TV was supposed to be keeping me company while I completed an onerous household task.  Instead I was gut punched by the program. The show’s topic brought home in graphic terms the impact of distracted driving.  The statistics are terrifying. According to http://www.distraction.gov/ , a driver is four times more likely to be in an accident while talking on a cell phone.  That is the same risk as driving with a .08 blood alcohol concentration.  Using a hands free phone does not change the statistics.  You are eight times more likely to be in an accident if you are texting and driving. 

This point is the most sobering.  There is a 37 percent reduction of brain activity associated with driving when you are talking on your phone.  Read that again.  That means you are driving using only 63% of your attention, acuity, reflex time…..who would do that?   Among many others, busy, stressed, time crunched lawyers do this and more.  Do you talk on the phone, dictate and work on your laptop while driving?  I know several people who get in the car, hook the seat belt, start the engine and hit the speed dial on their phone.  Is that person you? 

Review the statistics at http://www.distraction.gov/ .  Then, for those you love and those who love you, and everyone else on the road, reevaluate your priorities.  If you have children who drive talk to them.

If you are driving – drive. Don’t do anything else.