Distracted Driving

The attached article alleges that 28% of wrecks (notice I didn't call them accidents) were caused by cell phone use and texting while driving.
Why most continue to engage in this dangerous behavior is beyond me. Why we don't have laws against it is even more baffling.

Last Wednesday afternoon my friend's daughter and two coworkers were heading out on a work related trip to Ohio. They got stuck sitting in traffic at a construction zone. Suddenly they were rear ended by a young 20 something girl doing 70 miles an hour while texting. She never hit her brakes. Due to my friend's daughter's quick thinking (she turned her steering wheel as hard as she could at the moment of impact to keep from being slammed into the gas tanker next to her) no one was killed. Her two coworkers and the other driver and passenger are still in the hospital (at least they were yesterday).
GET OFF THE PHONE IN THE CAR!!!!!!!!

After I'm elected mayor, I'll look into banning using cell phones while driving in Louisville metro. Tough to enforce, but it is such a dangerous and "stupid" thing we do. How did we survive without cell phones years ago??

If you don't agree with me (or even if you do) take the four minutes to watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPjI2dG17gI You really need to watch it all the way through for full effect. They should be showing this in schools here.

9 times out of 10, if I see someone driving erratically, it's because they are either texting or talking on their cell phone. I've made a conscious decision NOT to ride in a car with a few of my friends, after witnessing them driving and texting. They don't even look at the road! I'm sorry, but what is so important, REALLY? It's one thing if you're sitting still in gridlock, but texting while actively driving is just asking for trouble.

I'd probably text more often it it didn't cost an arm & a leg. I'd also like to see senior citizens taking a driving exam at least once a year. My grandfather was able to keep his license for several years while suffering from dementia & just plain almost killing people everywhere that he went. It seems like just about every business in town has been rammed by a senior citizen going forward instead of in reverse.

It seems like just about every business in town has been rammed by a senior citizen going forward instead of in reverse.

Hey, it's not their fault. They were all driving Toyotas.

My husband was in the passenger side of a car that got t-boned a few years ago, when a very elderly lady ran a stop sign (guess which side she plowed into?) spinning the car. Not an easy task, considering it was an older Crown Victoria. Because of that accident, my husband has ruptured discs in his back, and is in constant pain. He is a young man (34), and will be dealing with the pain for the rest of his life. I'm just grateful he wasn't paralyzed. After that accident, I'm of the belief that after a certain age (65-70) folks should have to take a driving test to make sure they are still safe drivers. My grandmother, for example, is 84, and I'm not sure that she should continue driving. Her eyesight isn't what it used to be, and her reflexes are slow, and she has been in several accidents in the last few years.

Indeed, elderly drivers present a unique set of hazards on the road, which would be relatively easy to minimize through various means (including testing) if society chooses to do so. The impact of aging is fairly observable/measurable by objective means.
It is much more difficult to control, and for me to understand, the equally dangerous activities of those who voluntarily choose to put themselves and others in danger by not paying full attention behind the wheel.
Your husband has my fullest sympathies.
Another anecdote: A few years ago I was hit by a cell phone yakker who completely blew a 4 way stop sign at 40+MPH...never hit her brakes and I'm sure she never saw my bright red SUV. Fortunately for me, she hit me in the rear quarter panel rather than broadside. Spun me around in the intersection a few times and wound up in a ditch. No permanent injuries but a lot of bruising that hurt like hell for a few weeks. She didn't fare as well and required hospitalization and surgeries.

BP

I agree 100%. I also know each text is time stamped, but unless someone is seriously injured, does it really even matter, legally, since KY is a no fault state? Nobody is going to volunteer that they were texting, so is it reasonable to expect the police to pull phone records every time there is an accident, in order to determine if someone was texting? How do they enforce this? I think the city of Louisville needs to quit wasting time worrying about what we put in our mouths, and figure out how to tackle this, which is an immediate threat to everyones' well-being.