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Health & Fitness

Distracted Drivers

How well do you drive subconsciencely? Would you? Neither would I, I think!

Wow!  I was blown away by the information I learned last night at the El Cajon Police Department's Public Forum titled, "Distracted Drivers and Pedestrian Safety".

 

Did You Know:

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When you hold a conversation on your cell phone while driving - and of course you are using an appropriate hands-free device - your brain prioritizes your multi-tasks, placing the conversation in the forefront and placing the act of driving in your subconscience -- in your SUBCONSCIENCE!    In that state, you are likely to see only 50% of what is going on on the road.  You are 4x likely to get into a car accident - which is the same as being a drunk driver. 

The speaker began by saying there is no accident.  According to CHP Officer Pennings, all accidents are avoidable, therefore he will never use the term "accident" when speaking of these fatalities.  He visits every fatality in San Diego County.  Every 4.7 days he is visiting an avoidable fatality.  So he knows what he is talking about.

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We all know that drinking and driving is wrong and deadly.  But did we know that cell phone conversations are just as wrong and deadly?  Whether you are using a hands-free device or not, the act of holding a conversation while driving is deadly to you and others.  You can expect texting and driving to double (8x) your risk of collision.

 

I understand that Sprint is taking Distracted Drivers seriously.  They have a program that you can elect to use that once the GPS in your cell phone is moving faster than 10 miles an hour, your cell phone automatically switches so that incoming calls go directly to voicemail, thereby eliminating driver distractions.  You can also get apps for your non-Sprint phones to prevent calls from coming in while on the road.

 

Also, state law has changed so that it is illegal to have ANY electronic device in your hands while driving.

 

Now it seems that pedestrian distraction is becoming deadly as well.  Car vs pedestrian - of course you know who gets the short-end of that deal.  But pedestrians are becoming so distracted that they are now becoming a large statistic in collisions - with the pedestrians being at fault more often than not. 

A new campaign is being launched in our neighbor city called "Check Before You Step".  Pedestrians need to 'look both ways' before stepping out into the street. We learned this when we were little spuds, but the message has been lost to the current culture of constant connection to cell phones/electronic devices.

Here's a popular video of a mall shopper texting and walking right into a... well, I'll let you see for yourself.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPW8xmI4w6U

 

So, my point is this, I attended this meeting last night, gathered the information and am sharing it with my neighbors.  I hope you will take it to heart, I know I have.  I wouldn't want any of you, my neighbors, to become part of these statistics.

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