Grab the wheel; not your phone

There is a plan to make cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle illegal. We know that distractions make us less safe while driving and less accurate in our daily activities. The radio voices we heard recently nearly melted the speakers.

Not one person said this is a good idea, that we need to support. Everyone totally disregarded AAA and insurance company statistics. We heard "yes but, we have to stop eating and drinking, reading and applying makeup."

We even heard from the world's greatest multi-tasker who is willing to engage in a contest to prove that he is absolutely the safest driver going.

What happens when we meet the worst driver who is going the same direction, but that driver is in the next lane to the left and turns directly in front of you when he turns right to get off this road. Generally, that's when you exchange insurance information.

We've had cars and trucks long before we had cell phones, and we survived a few minutes of silent peace. Maybe we could give the gift of truth to our fellow man at this Season of Joy. Instead of looking at the actions of other people, we could look at our own actions and be responsible for them.

Cell phone use while driving is detrimental to the task of safely operating a motor vehicle. Other drivers do things while driving that we know are unsafe; but we don't have to give up our right to be safe. We can accept the truth of our own actions and support a law that really will give us and our passengers a safer ride at Christmas and throughout the year.

Ernie Ebner

Elgin