Hitting the mailbox

The other day I was driving to go play pickleball.  At the red light, in front of me was a car with a fairly young man (maybe 20-ish), who had his cell phone mounted on his dashboard.  His windows were not tinted, so I could see clearly into his vehicle.  There was a lot of motion on the phone, as if he was watching a movie, video, or on a video chat.  He was not watching the light, so was a bit delayed when the light turned green.

As I followed him for a few miles, I had a distinct feeling I was going to have to stop quick because he hit a mailbox!  Twice he swerved so far to the right that he almost took out a mailbox.  He seemed unconcerned as he continued to look at his phone more than the road.  Eventually, he turned into a neighborhood, and I thanked God he was going to make it to his destination in one piece, without involving me in an accident.

At the next light, in front of me was a car with a fairly young woman (maybe 20-ish), with her eyes downcast.  She too was delayed in going when the light changed green.  I could see her eyes in her review and side mirrors.  As she drove, looking down most of the time, she swerved from the right side to the left/middle of the road.  I was paying very close attention for fear she would create an accident in front of me.  I turned at the next light and drove on to pickleball.  I hope the young lady made it to her destination safely.

I don’t understand how people can not be watching the road while they are driving!  Not only is it unsafe for the driver, but also for other vehicles on the road.  I would have hated to see the woman cross the middle lane and hit an oncoming car, or the man hit a mailbox and spinout or flip. 

According to a AAA poll, 94 percent of teen drivers acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving, but that 35% admitted to doing it anyway.  Adults know too.  SO basically, people know having their eyes off the road is dangerous, but don’t think anything will happen to them.   

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 9 people a day are killed in distracted driving accidents. That doesn’t seem like a lot, until you know someone (a classmate of one of our sons) who is part of that statistic, or even worse, become a statistic yourself. 

If you, or people you know, are driving with their eyes on something other than the road, PLEASE stop.  It is SO dangerous!!

Perhaps seeing some videos of terrible crashes will drive it home?  https://www.teensafe.com/blog/top-10-horrific-videos-of-teens-texting-and-driving/

Or maybe taking a pledge?  https://www.dmv.org/distracted-driving-pledge.php#take-pledge

Whatever it is that people need to convince themselves of the dangers of distracted driving… let’s put an end to the madness of hitting the mailbox.