Wednesday, January 9, 2013

texting while driving: are you guilty? ▲

i remember when my i first got my driver's license, i had this irrational fear of sneezing in the car. the thing is, you can't sneeze without closing your eyes for a split second. i always worried about what would happen if i was forced to briefly shut my eyes like that while driving.

after a decade of driving, i can safely say that i have put this fear to rest. but i do sometimes worry that i've gotten over-confident behind the wheel, meaning i'm not afraid to finagle my GPS or glance down to pick a song on my iPod.

fact: i need to be better about this.
i'm usually pretty good about only responding to text messages if my car is sitting still at a red light, but i know i've been tempted a couple times as traffic starts moving again to think "i'll just finish a couple more words, i got this."

[via]

i mean, other than my own safety, i'm pretty sure i'd never get over it if i ever caused an accident and injured or killed someone else because of something as silly as a text message.

and seriously, people can wait a few minutes for a response.

here's some excerpts from an interesting infographic:




[all excerpts via]

i live in arizona, aka one of those few gray states that aren't legislating this.
what rules does YOUR state have?

and what are your thoughts on texting while driving?

intextication sobriety pledge,
katilda

7 comments:

Priscilla said...

What a good reminder because I'm guilty of checking Instagram, which is lame because then I don't get to fully appreciate the photos if I'm quickly glancing. Thanks for sharing the infographic.

val of the south said...

My 19 yr old nephew was killed 2 years ago in a crosswalk by a texting driver...thanks so much for sharing this and taking the pledge!

chrissyblake said...

The company I work for has the pledge to not text and drive campaign going on right now. I will admit I am NOT good about not using my phone in the car. I am definately overconfident in my ability to mulit task but after the little bro had his accident i've been a lot better. Thank you so much for the reminder ma'am :).

katilda said...

i really appreciate you sharing your story! makes me feel more motivated than ever.

karajean said...

My husband and I have this argument from time to time. I am strictly in the camp of "No texting while driving" and yet.... I still do it occasionally? This is a good reminder. I'll be better this year!

Jayme said...

I usually don't text and drive . . . being married means not texting as much? Also, I used to have a phone with buttons. I could text and not look. Now with touchscreens, you HAVE to look and that's so much less safe!

Monica Christiansen said...

Love this post. Hate this occurrence. And hate that I've justified it myself at a red light, or two.
Sometimes Austin and I will go out for lunch, park our car facing a main street, and play a silly car game while we eat....
But sometimes we just end up terrified by how many drivers we see looking at their cell phones instead of the road.
Legislation for Arizona? YES PLEASE.