Driving requires our full attention

It took me a long time, but I finally have come to realize that driving my auto is a full-time job. Anything that diverts my attention from driving and the hazards ahead or behind or off to the side is a danger not only to me and my passengers, but to other drivers or pedestrians.

As we become more and more technically and electronically advanced, there are more and more traffic distractions. Even such simple things as changing the station or adjusting the volume on your radio can momentarily distract you enough to create a hazardous situation. At the speeds we travel today every split second must be devoted to driving and to driving alone.

Arguments or even casual conversations, particularly with passengers in the back seat, can distract you enough, especially when another driver cuts in sharply or the driver ahead of you stops suddenly.

And now we have earphones and cell phones and tweeters and Twitters and front seat TVs to distract us even more. Eating, drinking, smoking, drugging, counting your change or reading a map and attempting to drive at the same time is dangerous to you and others on the road.

So why don't we all resolve to drive only when we are in good condition, well-rested, unimpaired and not distracted? The results would be dramatic. Let us try it for a year. We can never totally avoid mechanical failures and weather conditions, but we can resolve to drive under "zero tolerance" conditions. Zero accidents? Zero fatalities? Join the zero, zero, zero club today.

Joseph Russell Vannier

Hoffman Estates