OPINION: Clamping down on distracted driving is long overdue



While waiting at a red light the other day on Venice Boulevard, I turned my head for a moment and spotted the girl in the SUV next to me painting her nails. She was holding the steering wheel with her knees, the pot of nail polish in her left hand and the brush in her right. I wondered what “nail painting emergency” she was experiencing that meant she simply must paint her nails in the car rather than, say, wait until she was on solid ground and not operating a dangerous machine.

I can’t say I wasn’t annoyed. But I also can’t say that I honked my horn or shouted for her to stop and pay attention to the road. Instead, I rolled down the window and sighed loudly: a small act of defiance, born of forced resignation.

Nail painting girl is the symbol of a dizzying trend: drivers in L.A. doing anything other than concentrating on driving. The U.S. Department of Transportation has labeled distracted driving an “epidemic.” Last year, 5,474 people were killed and around 448, 000 injured because drivers simply weren’t paying attention. Yesterday began a county-wide zero-tolerance campaign in Los Angeles to target distracted drivers, and I can safely say that I’m very happy about it. I’m tired of being annoyed by selfish drivers putting lives at risk because they’re too “busy” to paint their nails at home. We’re all busy. Get over it.

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On the other hand, some drivers don’t seem busy at all. They seem to think that driving should be as relaxing an experience as possible for them. Last week I was stuck behind a cream Cadillac going 35 mph on the freeway. When I finally managed to pass her, a quick glance revealed that she was deep in conversation on her cell phone. Aside from the moving vehicle enveloping her body, she looked like she could have been sitting at home on the couch with a glass of wine, relaxing while chatting to an old friend. Meanwhile, traffic was piling up behind her.

The statistics show that 20 to 29-year-olds are most prone to distracted driving. Being part of that age group, I am not cool, apparently, for being such a driving prude. But the table above does also prove that my experience with “light truck” drivers is universal: How come they are able to lean down and wolf whistle into my open window, but are incapable of using their blinkers?

My level of annoyance with certain L.A. drivers began to grow after the cell phone ban took effect. I was relieved at first: why should you be on your cellphone while driving at all? Why not just wait the extra 20 minutes to make that call? I also happen to dislike receiving calls from someone in their car. The noise of the traffic is too loud to have a conversation, the driver is totally distracted, and I don’t want to be at fault when they go plowing into a divider. So, I was looking forward to sharing the road with phone-less drivers, our hands firmly on the wheel and our minds on the next turn.

But it was not to be. What happened instead was a new trend: drivers putting their calls on “speaker” and holding the phone a few inches from their faces. If anything, this method is more dangerous than before. And I am certainly more annoyed by it, since it seems that these people think what they’re doing is perfectly legal; they’ve figured out a loophole that only requires three inches of distance to put them in the clear.

Sadly (for them), this is not the case. I was happy to note yesterday that a cop pulled up alongside one of these “hands free” drivers and told her to get off the phone or he would give her a ticket. Funnily enough, she actually argued with him. In the end, I’m sure, the phone went into her lap until the next block.

I guess what really irks me about these drivers is that they think they’re exempt from distracted driving regulations, and from creating a safe environment for other drivers. They think they have some sort of “right” to use their driving time as a period in which to fulfill boring errands or entertain themselves. One woman a while ago was actually reading a magazine while driving. That’s just plain stupid. And I can’t count the amount of times I’ve seen someone eating a meal at the steering wheel, licking ketchup off their fingers and dropping pickles into their laps.

I know driving in L.A. is a pain, but it’s also a necessity. And everyone deserves to reach their destination safely โ€” maybe even with a smile. I commend the drivers simply who turn on their favorite radio station and sing along โ€” loudly โ€” all the way home.

Annoyed by distracted drivers too? Or do you think the laws are too harsh? Tell us about it in the comments box below.

How do they do it? Driving 75mph While Reading a Novel (courtesy of YouTube):

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.