Over the last few months this conversation and question
has come up often in my circles of friends and colleagues…how to “cut down” on texting
while driving. I have been asked my strategy or opinion and how I handle?
Mine
is easy: I don’t’ do it Ever.
I think once in January I looked at a text and glanced at
it quickly at a red light as my son called and said he thought my daughter was missing!
And even with that I felt guilty.
I don’t think there is anything more dangerous and unnecessary.
And it includes red lights, stop signs etc. for me. I
donrt care if the phone is on alert, off alert or anything else. It can wait.
It is one of my hard limits in life.
Once in a while if I hear the buzz and feel inclined to answer
I will pull over to a parking lot and take a look-but that is rare. In the car I
am content to listen to AM 800 CJAD or listen to music or just take a few deep
breaths and think and breathe.
I do speak on the phone (always on hand’s free speaker
phone) once in a while but only if I am very clear on how to get to my
destination and never take stressful or work calls. Once in a while I speak to
my family or friends on way home-but even this I find risky as breaks my concentration
and so am not proud of it. But I do it seldomly but not seldomly enough. My
hubby gets really angry if I speak in the car on the phone-he thinks super
dangerous.
My teens when they start driving (Chase gets his official
learner’s permit tomorrow!) will also be taught NEVER to text and drive. If I catch
them literally they would be grounded for a lifetime and never drive again
while living under my roof.
As far as I am concerned there is absolutely no justification
to puit many lives set risk around you (and your own and your passengers) in order
to check what your friends are doing on Friday night. I text many many many
places (especially in the passenger seat). But in the driver’s seat is not one
of them
