No Phone Zone
While I'm not usually one to go around touting Oprah, I will this one time. Because I care. I care about you, I care about myself and my family. Shortly after Gabriel was born I realized that I was being selfish and moronic when using my cell phone in the car. How can I be focused on what I'm doing if I'm dialing a phone? Or searching for it with one hand in a diaper bag when it's ringing? And honestly...is what I would be talking about THAT important that it couldn't wait until I got home? Using a phone in a moving vehicle was not making me a safe driver. If half of my attention is on the phone then I wasn't focused on my driving. Sure, I didn't get in an accident, and no I didn't kill myself or anyone else...but the people who have died aren't here to tell you about their experience.
Today, while driving down a road that had two lanes of traffic going opposite directions at 50 mph, a woman holding her cell phone with both hands atop her steering wheel, was texting or dialing, came out of her lane headed straight at me. Luckily I was focused on what I was doing and was able to maneuver my car out of the way, but the consequences of her actions could have been disastrous. Not only could she have seriously injured or killed herself, but she could have caused some of the following scenarios:
1) Myself, my unborn child, and my son could have all been killed or horribly injured.
2) I could have been killed along with my unborn child, leaving my son without a mother and Brian to be a single father.
3) I could have survived and lost my unborn child, and/or lost my precious son.
None of those are acceptable in my book, and all because whatever that woman had to talk about (or text about) was too important for her to wait on, or to pull over for.
If you use your cell phone in the car...stop, or get a hands free device. Decide today that you don't want your family, or someone else's family to suffer needlessly because you were being selfish. Toss it in the back of the car where you can't get to it, and you would be forced to pull over to use it.
Also...take the time to write to your city managers, state senators, and state representatives about this issue. I already have. And...while you're at it and hopefully feeling proactive, hop on over to the Oprah website and take the "No Phone Zone" Pledge:
http://www.oprah.com/questionaire/ipledge.html?id=4
It may seem silly, but maybe signing that online will make you feel more of a commitment. And if you won't do it for yourself, or your family...do it for my family and me. We are enjoying life and don't want your call or message to take that away from us.
Today, while driving down a road that had two lanes of traffic going opposite directions at 50 mph, a woman holding her cell phone with both hands atop her steering wheel, was texting or dialing, came out of her lane headed straight at me. Luckily I was focused on what I was doing and was able to maneuver my car out of the way, but the consequences of her actions could have been disastrous. Not only could she have seriously injured or killed herself, but she could have caused some of the following scenarios:
1) Myself, my unborn child, and my son could have all been killed or horribly injured.
2) I could have been killed along with my unborn child, leaving my son without a mother and Brian to be a single father.
3) I could have survived and lost my unborn child, and/or lost my precious son.
None of those are acceptable in my book, and all because whatever that woman had to talk about (or text about) was too important for her to wait on, or to pull over for.
If you use your cell phone in the car...stop, or get a hands free device. Decide today that you don't want your family, or someone else's family to suffer needlessly because you were being selfish. Toss it in the back of the car where you can't get to it, and you would be forced to pull over to use it.
Also...take the time to write to your city managers, state senators, and state representatives about this issue. I already have. And...while you're at it and hopefully feeling proactive, hop on over to the Oprah website and take the "No Phone Zone" Pledge:
http://www.oprah.com/questionaire/ipledge.html?id=4
It may seem silly, but maybe signing that online will make you feel more of a commitment. And if you won't do it for yourself, or your family...do it for my family and me. We are enjoying life and don't want your call or message to take that away from us.