Distracted Driving In The Headlines Again

Well, it happened again. I know I preach about not texting and driving quite a bit, but as long as it keeps happening, I’m going to keep writing about it. There’s widespread news coverage of a 32 year old woman who sent a Facebook status update about the song she was listening to on the radio and moments later, she hit a car and never made it to the hospital. Here’s an excerpt of the news report from KTLA:

Courtney Ann Sanford, 32, was killed in the crash Thursday morning on Business Interstate 85 freeway in High Point, according to a High Point Police Department police report.

Sanford “became distracted by using a smartphone for Internet access just prior to losing control of her vehicle,” the police report stated.

If that’s not a wake-up call to everyone out there who insists on texting, checking their email, or updating their status on Facebook.

Research suggests that some 26% of traffic accidents involve smartphone use as the catalyst. When are we going to get it through our heads that taking our eyes off the road for any reason at all is a bad idea. Back when the radio was first made a standard feature in cars, there was a backlash from people who said it would distract drivers and cause more accidents. That same outrage needs to be taking place now that instead of car radios, everyone has a smartphone and can’t drive to the grocery store without checking it. One thing I’ve thought about doing is putting my cell phone in my glove compartment and locking it (with a key) to make doubly sure I can’t access it.

What do you guys and gals recommend? What can we do to stop people from staring at their phones instead of the road ahead? Let me know on our Facebook page.