I noticed that the Oklahoma Highway Patrol along with other law enforcement agencies reportedly are cracking down on distracted driving between now and Jan. 31.
Received a press release indicating such early last week that it was beginning Jan. 17 and running for a two-week period.
I really believe there is some correlation between the distractions of drivers that take place daily and the number of serious traffic collisions including fatalities.
While I will sometimes look at my phone when I receive a text to see who it is, I will not respond to it until I have a chance to pull over out of traffic.
It irritates me to no end to see some driver who is stopped at a stop sign or stop light continue to just sit there when he or she can go. That tells me he or she probably is doing something with the phone rather than giving full attention to driving.
As I look at emails each day from the OHP that reports injury and fatal traffic collisions, more and more I see where they indicate a driver went off the road for an unknown reason. I don’t fault the trooper or law enforcement officer for not knowing the reason.
But I would be curious to know how many times a cell phone is either in the lap or nearby as an officer investigates the crash.
I realize that cell phones aren’t the only distractions, but I wonder if they could be attributing to the cause of serious collisions.
I’m guilty of talking on my phone occasionally as I’m driving. However, I do attempt to pull over when called where I can or just tell the caller I will phone back in a little bit.
It will take some time I’m sure for law enforcement agencies to determine how many citations or warnings are handed out over this two week emphasis on distracted drivers.
It’s made me more aware just knowing there is an emphasis out there and that I should be more diligent as I am driving.
My daughter won’t answer her phone if she is driving. If I call when she is behind the wheel, she has her phone set that tells me she is driving. I think that is so good.
I’ve gotten similar messages from other people I know.
My wife and I were driving to the lake once on I-40 and this vehicle kept speeding up and passing us, then slowing down and we would pass her.
I suspected she was doing something with her phone and or some other device.
Sure enough, as she drove around us I got a good glance and she was busy on her I-pad. In a little bit, she slowed down and we passed her. I really wanted to hit star 55 at that time, that was what you did then, but the wife talked me out of it.
I am truly concerned about this issue and hope that law enforcement really uses this two-week period to crack down on these distracted drivers.