Text and Drive? Please Read This!

In a departure from my usual rant, I want to share the impassioned plea of my friend Jay Barry and his wife Lorraine. Their daughter Laura was in an accident yesterday and Jay had some thoughts to share. Please say a prayer for Laura and her family and pay heed to Jay’s wise words.

From: Jay Barry
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 9:05 PM
Subject: Please read this as it has had an immense impact at home. It is sent in the spirit of saving us from ourselves.

At about 8:30 this morning a “distracted driver” struck my stepdaughter’s car while she was driving to work. At this point the details of the accident are not known other than there was a major discrepancy between his vehicle’s speed and hers. There was an accident ahead of them on I95. Traffic was slowing and she was struck from behind as she slowed with traffic. The force of the impact caused her vehicle to be thrown from the road into the median strip and roll. The other driver admitted it was his fault.

She was flown by helicopter to Christiana Hospital in Delaware where she is in intensive care. Her brain is bleeding. Her prognosis is guardedly optimistic. What I am asking for is not your prayers, Karma or good thoughts. To those who read this and know our family I know your thoughts and prayers are with our family and for that we are thankful. What I am asking for is a moment’s reflection on what you do while driving.

For those of you who receive or read this who do not know me, I am a professional driver. I have driven commercial vehicles both in my youth and now in my middle age. I have also raced sports cars and motorcycles both with a modicum of success. I am passionate about driving and there are too many people who think they can control a vehicle while doing too many things that affect their ability to control the vehicle or make sound, rapid judgments while driving, a major necessity in vehicle control.

Please, if you think you can control a vehicle while talking on the phone, you can’t. If you think you can apply makeup, shave, brush your teeth or attend to any other bodily function or need while driving you can’t. If you think you can read a map, directions, sheet music, the business section or sports section of the newspaper, you can’t. You cannot text and drive. I have seen people trying to do all of theses things while driving. What you may be able to do safely while driving is simply that, drive. Please leave it at that.

I do not want to sound as if I am lecturing fellow adults but given the fact that a beautiful 26 year old woman is suffering in a hospital, her mother, brother and I are all at a loss in many ways, I ask you to consider your actions and the possible ramifications. Please pass this on. If it saves one family from suffering what we are currently going through it is well worth a few minutes venting my frustrations and your courtesy and consideration in reading it.

I thank you for reading this far. Below is an article I wrote about 3 months ago for a weekly column I write which gives some sobering statistics related to cell phone use and driving.

I am a professional driver. I am passionate about driving and I am angry about what I see taking place on the nations roadways. People are taking huge risks and endangering themselves, their families, their business associates and you and I. I am talking about cell phone usage.

It has been shown, statistically that a person using a cell phone is less adept at driving than a person with a blood alcohol content of .08. A person with a BAC of .08 is legally drunk in the US and 26 other countries and statistically 11 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than someone who has had nothing to drink. Cell phone users are worse than that, statistically.

Scientific studies have shown that cell phone users react to brake lights 18% more slowly than when not on the phone. This means that a 20 year old on the phone has the reaction time of a 70 year old. They also regain their lost speed after braking 17% more slowly, so cell phone users are not only responsible for accidents, injuries and fatalities they are responsible for traffic jams and tie ups.

The impaired reactions of cell phone users are measured not in fractions of seconds but in seconds. In 2002 the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis estimated that the use of cell phones resulted in approximately 2,600 deaths. That was up from the estimated 1000 deaths in 2000 and as cell phone usage continues to increase it would be logical to assume the numbers of fatalities will also increase.

According to the Los Angeles Times in 2001, “In California at least 4,699 reported accidents were blamed on drivers using cell phones, and those crashes killed 31 people and injured 2,786″.

Because of the lack of accurate reporting of these incidents in most areas chances are that the numbers are much higher. According to the Harvard study noted earlier the numbers could be as high as 8,000 fatalities and that was seven years ago.

In Britain a 3 month study was conducted by the Transportation Research Laboratory. The tests were given for driving while talking on a cell phone, while talking hands free and driving slightly over the .08 BAC limit. The results were stunning. Drivers talking on cell phones were found to react 30% worse than when they were legally intoxicated. Those talking on hands free phones were equivalent to a 50% alcohol impairment level.”

The two most notable problems related to driving while talking on the phone was inability to maintain a constant speed and inability to remain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead.

What this all boils down to is quite simple. Cell phones and cars are a lethal mixture, possibly even more so than alcohol and cars. One of the frequent excuses given for drunk driving is that alcohol impairs judgment. Cell phones shouldn’t but given the facts it seems as though they might. This country is overburdened with useless and unenforceable laws but it is imperative that laws be enacted as soon as possible eliminating cell phone use while driving.

Jay Barry

Please be extra careful on the road.