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Cell Phones and Driving

by Darren

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I’m lucky in the fact that I am usually a passenger when we are out in the car.

This gives me the chance to observe what others are doing when we’re stuck in traffic, or just tooling around town. Call me nosey or inquisitive, but I can’t help myself.

I would have to say that one of my biggest pet peeves is people that are talking on their cell phone while they are trying to drive. You see them drifting into other lanes, not using turn signals and making other bad driving mistakes. When you are behind the wheel of a 2,000 pound machine, I feel all attention should be “on the road”.

I know that the legality of cell phone use and driving varies from State to State, and sometimes even city to city, but what should driving schools teach our new teenage drivers?
My thought would be “NO CELL PHONES behind the wheel”

But that wasn’t being taught the other day. There was a little red “Student Driver” car beside us, and there was an obvious student (in the passenger seat) and the “Teacher” driving. In his hot little hand, was a cell phone planted to the side of his head.

To me that is teaching really bad driving habits, especially if teenagers are taking lessons from this man. He could have turned it off, let the voicemail pick up, pulled to the side of the road.. instead he talked…

Defensive Driving is what I was taught in driving school (so many years ago)
not how to carry on a conversation with someone that can wait for a few minutes to get a return phone call.

I hope that this is an isolated incident that doesn’t happen often, but I doubt it..

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