If you are like most people, one of the more dangerous activities you engage in on a daily basis is driving an automobile.

It seems as though hardly a day passes that there is not a wreck on Memorial Parkway. Each time I wonder how many people were injured, how much damage was done to the vehicles, and how many people were otherwise inconvenienced. I also pause and consider whether someone's failure to pay attention was the cause of the wreck.

Would you seriously consider putting a blindfold on and driving down a busy highway? Presumably no one in their right mind would voluntarily do this. However, millions of people do essentially the same thing each day by texting while they are driving. The five seconds that it takes on average to read a text message and divert your attention from driving are the equivalent, at 55 miles per hour, of driving the length of a football field (including end zones) blindfolded.

If we, as a society, do not voluntarily exercise more discretion and control engaging in such potentially dangerous and even fatal conduct, it seems safe to assume that someday the insurance industry or the government will regulate this behavior. Driving is a skill that requires experience, concentration, patience, and good judgment. It is neither the time, nor the place to be rolling the dice and diverting your attention from the task at hand. No telephone call, e-mail, or text message could possibly be so important as to place in jeopardy the life of a human being, whether a stranger, friend, family member, or your own.

  

Brad Ryder