07/30/2015
Distracted drivers more dangerous than drunk drivers
I have to concur. In the last three years my sister’s car has been rear ended twice at stop lights with one collision occurring at approximately 40mph. We could have lost her. A close friend’s mother was struck head on when a distracted driver crossed the line on a divided road. It happened in front of the subdivision I grew up in. The day was sunny the roads clear with lite traffic. The mother (seat belted passenger) spent three months in the hospital and nursing facility. It was not known if she would ever live independently at home and again. The daughter (driver) left the hospital beat up but comparatively healthy two days after.
I personally have been rear ended at two different stop lights during this brief time. Just recently, a young guy merging onto I75 just past Mt Holly Michigan crossed four lanes of traffic without looking up or to the side. I had to hit the brakes hard to avoid the collision. My horn blaring scared him. He looked up, caught his bearings then raced off in embarrassment, at 25 mph over the speed limit I might add.
The point is I began Aging In My Place llc because I really enjoyed helping people who were facing difficult situations. Unfortunately, distracted drivers are proving to be more of a threat to my customer’s independent living then the typical culprits like aging, medications that make you dizzy and surgery. Unlike drunk driving the distracted driver keeps their license until there is a fatality.
What to do? Be on the lookout for them and position yourself so they are less likely to run into you. If you’re looking distracted driving is fairly easy to spot. Look for driver eyes down, lane wandering, car unable to maintain consistent speed, cars creeping forward at lights. This topic is new. There is not a lot out there but a web search can help you learn more.
This excerpt is from an article that may help to put the risks into perspective. I’ll include a link to the article following the excerpt.
Car and Driver Magazine performed an experiment to document just how dangerous texting and driving can be, in comparison with the widely known risky activity of drunk driving. During the experiment, cars were rigged with a red light to alert drivers when to brake. The magazine tested how long it would take to hit the brakes when sober, when legally impaired at a BAC level of .08, when reading an e-mail and when sending a text. Sober, focused drivers took an average of 0.54 seconds to brake. For legally drunk drivers four feet needed to be added. An additional 36 feet was necessary for reading an e-mail, and a whopping added 70 feet was needed for sending a text.
Link http://distracteddriveraccidents.com/texting-driving-dangerous-drunk-driving/
Stay safe and good luck
The answer is yes. By a long-shot. Driving a vehicle while texting is six times more dangerous than driving while intoxicated, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
