I sit in my car rapping to Eminem when I feel a vibration, either my bass or my phone.
If it’s my phone then I think, “Is it that cute guy? Does my mom want to talk my ear off? Or did my sister get dumped again?”
While these many thoughts run through my head, my hand moves toward my back pocket, trying to move my phone from my jeans. As I finally free my phone, I glance down to see I did not receive a message at all.
And in that instant, I almost hit a person crossing the street to go to class.
The above could have been the female’s thoughts when she almost hit me Friday morning.
Indiana and Kentucky Driving Laws state a driver who is under the age of 18 cannot use a cell phone until they turn 18 or it is a 911 call.
When you hear cell phone and driving, or texting and cars, it is like a button clicks in your head and the first thought to pop into your mind is teenagers.
Teenagers are the stupid people who cause wrecks because they mess around on their phones, right?
States across the country are making laws to ban teens from texting or making calls while driving.
According to the Edgar Snyder & Associates’ Law Firm, in 2009, 995 people in the U.S. were killed in car accidents involving cell phone distractions while 24,000 were injured.
But did you know only 16 percent of the drivers who were involved in fatal crashes were under 20?
People between 30 and 39 years old actually had the highest rate of fatal accidents.
Talking on the cell phone causes nearly 25 percent of car accidents in the U.S. One-fifth of experienced adult drivers text while driving.
After working at Wendy’s for three years, I have discovered more adults come through drive-thru and forget their food because they were distracted by their cell phones.
Indiana tried to pass a law to prevent every driver from using a hand-held device and prevent drivers with a probationary license from using a hand-free device as well.
It did not pass.
If a law is passed to prevent accidents, it should be passed to all age groups or none.
I believe I can multitask better than my mother. Why is she, the one who takes 15 minutes to text two sentences, allowed to text while I, the one who takes 15 seconds to text a paragraph, am not allowed?
Fact: using the cell phone is distracting while driving no matter what age group and no matter if it is texting or chatting up that cute guy.
Oh, the female that almost hit me; did you think it was a college student? If you did, she was middle-aged, dropping off what I believed to be her daughter at the library.