Recently Ontario followed many other jurisdictions in banning the use of hand-held devices while driving. As a victim of a texting teen driving into me at a stop light, I support such a ban, and in fact would go one further and ban the use of any cell phone, hand-held or not, while driving.
But has the government created an unintended consequence by this ban? Twice yesterday, in the space of about 15 minutes, I had the car immediately in front of me slam on the brakes and dive for the shoulder of the road – no signal, no shoulder check. As no road hazard was obvious, it could only be because they’d dropped their lit cigarette between their legs, or it was a Pavlovian response to a ringing cell phone.
Fortunately I was able to avoid any unpleasantness due to good road conditions, little traffic, and my own attentiveness, but it got me to wondering if the authorities have seen a hike in rear-end collisions since the imposition of the ban. I wouldn’t be surprised.
3 comments:
It is your responsibility to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you in case they need to suddenly stop for whatever reason.
Great article on the dangers of texting while driving. Former American Idol champion Jordin Sparks and the Jonas Brothers are working together in a campaign called "X the TXT" aimed at curbing distracted teen driving deaths. For more information on the program visit Allstate Insurance Digital Newsroom.
doconnor - Thanks for the Driving 101 lesson. Of course it is, but how many people do? In my experience, not many, especially in rush hour traffic. That's my point.
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