May 18, 2007 |
Posted By Diane Pfadenhauer |
Being Too Connected
I'm still in disbelief over all of the press lately about text messaging while driving. Apparently, it's a larger problem than I thought. According to a recent article in the New York Times, several states have enacted legislation or are in the process of outlawing "DWT" or "Driving While Texting." Seems that too many of our fellow drivers can't keep their hands off of their cell phone text messaging features while they are cruising. According to the article, a driver, fixated on his BlackBerry, slammed his van into the car in front of him, causing a five-vehicle pileup, thus prompting the state of Washington to enact the DWT legislation.
This reminds me of one of my pet peeves about cell phones and driving. We have a hands-free law here in New York, which, in my observations, is largely ignored. I routinely see drivers yammering away on their cell phones, holding them up to their ears. What's most ridiculous, however, are the drivers that think they are complying when they use the speaker feature of their phones, hold them about a foot away from their heads and yell into them. Somehow, I don't think this is what our legislators envisioned when they wrote the "hands-free" law. Do you think these drivers ever heard of a headset????
Hopefully, this will prompt everyone to review their technology, cell phone and related policies to make sure employees are engaging in this dangerous behavior.
This reminds me of one of my pet peeves about cell phones and driving. We have a hands-free law here in New York, which, in my observations, is largely ignored. I routinely see drivers yammering away on their cell phones, holding them up to their ears. What's most ridiculous, however, are the drivers that think they are complying when they use the speaker feature of their phones, hold them about a foot away from their heads and yell into them. Somehow, I don't think this is what our legislators envisioned when they wrote the "hands-free" law. Do you think these drivers ever heard of a headset????
Hopefully, this will prompt everyone to review their technology, cell phone and related policies to make sure employees are engaging in this dangerous behavior.
