What senseless deaths!
- A New Prague school-bus driver walking to get his morning newspaper was killed by a woman allegedly responding to a text message.
- A driver sending Facebook messages ran a red light, killing a father and his young daughter in Sherburne County.
- A 20-year-old suspected of being distracted lost control of his vehicle in Washington County, hit an embankment, went airborne and smashed into a car, killing a 22-year-old mother.
As Benton County Sheriff Troy Heck said, “News headlines about people losing their lives to distracted driving are becoming all too common in Minnesota.”
Or, as Minnesota State Patrol Chief Matt Langer put it: Deaths caused by distracted drivers have become “a never-ending nightmare.”
What is most disturbing is distracted driving is one of those bad behaviors we are so quick to criticize others for doing when, in fact, if most of us were utterly honest, we would admit we have done it, too.
I plead guilty. Too many times, after stopping to get my mail on the way to the St. Cloud area, I would pick up the items of mail, one by one, from the pile of bills and letters on the passenger seat, to see what they were. I would do that while I was driving south on Hwy. 10, which I’ve dubbed the Speedway from Hell. It was a very stupid thing to do, but I did it all too often. I didn’t open the envelopes to read the mail, but just picking them up to glance at them for a few seconds each was a bad-enough distraction. I have stopped doing that. Now, after I pick up the mail, I stay parked at the mailbox and peruse the items briefly, parked, before proceeding onto Hell’s Highway.
Just the other day, a friend emailed me about distracted driving. This is what she wrote:
“A co-worker and I were just talking and we both admit to texting and driving at some point. Which, I know, is totally stupid. We also chatted about our reasons as to why. Mostly because we have the mindset we are invincible and we could never hurt anybody and nothing bad would happen. We know that is not true, but still, we admit to sometimes texting while driving. Reading statistics (about deaths caused by distracted driving) made me cry. I hope and pray I won’t need to actually have something bad happen before I realize how stupid I really am.”
Well, good friend, you’re not alone. Join the club. When it comes to foolish, dangerous distracted driving, we are all stupid – all guilty.
As Sheriff Heck reminds us, how many times have you . . .
- Texted while driving?
- Fiddled with radio knobs while driving?
- Adjusted your GPS while driving?
- Turned around to talk with backseat passengers while driving?
- Ate sloppy foods while driving?
- Spilled hot coffee on your lap while driving?
- Engaged in hot-headed arguments while driving?
- Lost emotional control while driving when yelling and gesturing rudely at other motorists?
- Attempted sex while driving? (Oh, yes, such acrobatic desperation does happen – in some cases with lethal results.)
Since April 11, there have been overtime patrols on Minnesota roads in an effort to catch distracted drivers. That’s good. However, nabbing culprits is only part of the solution. A change in human behavior is the major answer. And that change will occur only when each and every driver moves out of denial mode, stops blaming everyone else, and admits stupidity and guilt. That’s the first step; the second step is to stop it.
In a five-year period (2010-14), 328 people died and 1,138 suffered injuries in distracted-driving crashes. One in four crashes is caused by distracted driving. In 2015, there was an 80-percent increase in texting-while-driving noted by law enforcement in Minnesota.
Like the efforts for seatbelt use and against drunken driving, it will take more time (and, sadly, more deaths and injuries) for all people to wake up. Please, let’s all ponder those awful statistics and wake up now.
Sheriff Heck said it well: “We can no longer remain silent when drivers are distracted by their phones or take their eyes off the road to change their music, talk to their friends in the backseat or answer that text. Enough is enough. Let’s all speak up and do our part by ending distracted driving before it’s too late for you or someone you love.”
Amen.
