Last March there was a ghastly tragedy that occurred just 10 blocks from NCFR headquarters. A toddler named Grayson lost his life in a rear-end collision caused by an inattentive driver; specifically, a driver who was reaching for her cell phone. I read about it the next day in the Minneapolis paper. When I read that the scene of the accident was an intersection I cross frequently, it had a chilling effect on me.

Back when cell phones were new to the general population, there was a popular bumper sticker: Hang up and drive. I recall the Zeitgeist from about 15 years ago about driving while talking on a cell phone: it was more of a bad etiquette thing. The conventional wisdom was that the problem was bad manners... having to honk at the guy in front of you when the light turns green was merely irritating. This is changing and fast. There is now growing recognition for the life-threatening danger of distracted driving of all kinds.

I was a young adult when Mothers Against Drunk Driving was founded.  When I was growing up, drunk driving was not considered a big deal-in fact, it was fodder for jokes and phrases such as having "one for the road."  No one took your keys away. There were no sober cab programs on New Year's Eve. There were no Designated Drivers. No one called police when a car was weaving. Drunk driving was the way to get home from a bar.  

Yesterday, Oprah Winfrey's show helped to launch a campaign, the "No Phone Zone." Winfrey is using her considerable influence to make Americans aware of cell phone use and texting while driving. http://www.oprah.com/packages/no-phone-zone.html .

Just how dangerous is distracted driving? A report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration contains some frightening statistics:

• In 2008, 5,870 people lost their lives and an estimated 515,000 people were injured in police-reported crashes in which at least one form of driver distraction was reported on the crash report.
• Driver distraction was reported to have been involved in 16% of all fatal crashes in 2008.
• The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group.
• An estimated 21% of injury crashes were reported to have involved distracted driving.

The report's methodology section describes the limitations of the study including what is obvious: that a driver's admission is most certainly underreported and therefore the scope of the problem is quite likely much worse.  Read the entire report here: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811216.PDF

There's a British Public Service Announcement video on YouTube about the danger of car texting. I'm not putting the link here because while it is educational, the images are graphic and disturbing. For those who are interested in seeing it, find it by entering Accident Texting while Driving in the YouTube search. 

I've never texted while driving. (I'm not proficient enough at it even if using two hands while sitting on the sofa.) I'm not coordinated enough to place calls on the road either. What I have done, and am not proud of, is answered phone calls on the road. No more. Reading about the loss of little Grayson, so very near to my workplace, gave me the shock I needed to commit to letting it ring. We all have Caller ID on our cell phones. We all can pull off the road well away from traffic, park, and return a call. My car is now a No Phone Zone. 

Let's all take it one step further. If we call someone while he or she is driving, let's not enable this behavior. Say "you're driving... call me back." Sign off and say goodbye.... for Grayson.

Epilogue

After I posted this blog, I discovered that baby Grayson is being honored at the federal level. Secretary of transportation Ray LaHood mentioned his tragic death in his April 29 blog. Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/23vmcqw