It seems cell phones are necessary for most people now days. It would be hard to get through a day with out mine so I’ll admit it, when I heard that cell phones were being banned from vehicles I almost laughed out loud. I mean who can’t handle talking on the phone and driving at the same time? Isn’t that like walking and chewing gum for most of us?

This is not a joke though and most of us aren’t really even aware of the deadly problem.
This week Oprah Winfrey launched her new campaign, The “NO PHONE ZONE”.
It’s supported by the US Department of Transportation and urges everyone to put the phones down while they are driving.

Oprah’s show on the growing trend of DWD (Driving While Distracted) aired Monday Jan. 25th and can be viewed in full on her website, its worth watching, even if you’re not an Oprah fan.

So what is all the fuss about? Why is using a hand held devise in a car illegal in 9 states, why is it illegal to text and drive in 19 states, and why is Oprah launching this new campaign?
Well, after reading this you’ll know why and you won’t be laughing.

A study by The Harris Poll Company says that 73% of people that have a cell phone, us them while driving regularly.

The US DOT website says that nearly 6,000 people are killed and roughly 500,000 people are injured each year due to drivers talking, text messaging and emailing behind the wheel.

If that’s not enough for you to put the phone down, maybe this will be.

Car and Drivers Magazine did an article this summer on the stop times for a variety of different driving scenarios. The results varied with each driver but the average results are not good! Let me break it down…

Unimpaired drivers with no distractions braked in .54 seconds and stop at their destination point.
A legally drunk person, you can add 4 feet to the stopping point
Someone reading an e-mail: add 36 feet
Someone sending a text message: add 70 feet

So are they saying the sober person texting/email is more dangerous than the drunk driver?
Unfortunately yes, this is the finding in several surveys. I’ll write it again just so you know you read it correctly. In many studies texting & emailing while driving proves to be more of an impairment than driving drunk.

So incase you didn’t know, now you do! Driving while texting/ emailing is a dangerous act.
Just as dangerous as drinking and driving.
Now that you know, it’s your responsibility to tell friends and family, it might just save someone’s life.

You can sign a pledge to stop texting/emailing while driving here: http://www.oprah.com/quest ionaire/ipledge.html?id=4

Almost 59,000 people have signed it in the last 4 days… I did, will you?

No one leaves their home expecting to get in a car accident, it just happens; by putting your phone down you are doing what you can to make sure it doesn’t just happen to you.

Cheers to safer driving from now on!
~ Ginger

LINKS-

Watch Oprah’s episode on DWD: http://www.oprah.com/oprah show/Watch-Oprahs-No-Texti ng-and-Driving-Show

US DOT Official Driving While Distracted website: http://www.distraction.gov/

The Harris Poll Company: http://www.marketshare.com.hk/harris_poll/pubs/Harris_Poll_2009_06_08.pdf

Car and Driver magazine: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09q2/texting_while_driving_how_dangerous_is_it_-feature