Driving deserves your full attention

I have instructed more than 245 driver safety classes, and it is good to see that the state is trying to do something about distracted driving by enacting a law against hand-held cellphone use while on the road. Unfortunately, it is not where the hands are but where the mind is that is the problem. Numerous studies have shown that hands-free phones are just as dangerous as hand-held phones (equivalent to driving while legally drunk).

I had the personal experience of being rear-ended by a driver at a stop sign. Why? The driver was talking with the passenger in the front seat at the time. Inspection of damage to her car indicated that this was not the first such collision.

All cell phone use should really be banned, but I realize the difficulty for a policeman to tell if a driver is using a hands-free phone. If the driver is holding a cellphone, it’s use is easy to detect.

I personally know several people who regularly use a cellphone to conduct business while they drive and have been unable to persuade them to stop this dangerous activity. You are driving a 2-ton killing machine, and it deserves your full attention!

“Slim” Petrie

Arlington Heights