Inattention
The folks of St. Louis are still talking about the massive freeway crash that occurred Tuesday afternoon during rush hour. Three people have now died, and several are still in the hospital.
For those not from our area, the interchange between our Highway 40 (Interstate 64) and southbound I270 is incredibly busy in the afternoon rush hour. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for people to be forced to slow or even stop in the rightmost lane. Tuesday afternoon, a semi-truck hauling scrap aluminum hit, and literally ran over ten cars. Two people died immediately, and a third died today. Two of the three who died were Amish, traveling in a hired van heading to a funeral.
All the facts aren't in and the police haven't issued a report yet, but one thing is known: the truck driver was not paying attention before he hit the cars. A person driving besides the truck, who ended up getting hit by one of the cars knocked over the truck, estimated it was going 75 MPH when it hit the cars, and with no slowing down.
No charges have been filed yet. The driver has a clean record, and is emotionally wrecked, as you can imagine.
Tonight, one of the local news stations reported that the driver was distracted by a cellphone call just before the accident. I don't think any of us are surprised.
The biggest cause of accidents, in this area and most likely elsewhere, is people not paying attention. They talk on the phone, they eat, try to read the newspaper while waiting at lights, check their email, and probably send Twitter updates. We travel in vehicles weighing thousands of pounds, traveling at high speeds, surrounded by other big, fast moving vehicles, and seem to think it's perfectly acceptable to have a phone conversation with Joe, or quickly check that email from Jane—not to mention drinking hot coffee, smoking cigarettes that drop hot ash, or fiddling with the in-dash GPS, iPod, or radio.
Needless to say, the accident has awakened the call to make cellphone use while driving illegal. We shouldn't need a law, though. We have something between our ears called a brain.
Comments
Eight years of Bush is proof enough that far too many people don't use that blob of grey matter between their ears ;)
Well, we paid the price for that lapse in judgment, too.
I was just talking with Marlena tonight about how (supposedly) talking on a cell phone while driving is essentially the same as driving with a .08 blood alcohol content. I got this nugget from somewhere, don't remember, sorry to not have backup on this.
But anecdotally, it's plausible. I get that the truck driver could have been distracted by the phone ringing, but he could have been distracted by any number of stimuli. I recall a trucker long ago coming to our dock and worrying that he'd be fired because he rear-ended a car heading into a toll plaze. Seemed like a good time to check out his football pool numbers... rolling to a stop.
Ooops.
I myself talk on the cell phone while driving on occasion, but I take pains to keep the call short and I have to concentrate extra hard on traffic. (I try to limit the call to red lights if possible, and we're talking calls to the vet office, etc, not "yo, what's up" calls.) I used to drive professionally, so that's my saving grace, I think. But as with any traffic situation, it's not about you and your mad driving skillz, it's everyone else.
Drive safe.
What made this one really stand out for me is my roommate was right behind these cars. He's one of the cars bunched up behind the accident in the picture. I didn't know where he was or if he was in the accident. I was pretty frantic until he got home.
I actually went out online and scrutinized the early pictures for a car that looks like his.
Mad driving skillz--that's the issue isn't it? It's always everyone else driving like a nut ;-)
The cellphone versus intoxication was an episode of mythbusters (though the show may have been a confirmation of previous research).
We just pushed through a "hands free" cellphone law in CA that started earlier this month. It's been a tricky adjustment for a lot of people who have gotten used to driving... a lot like seat belts when they were first mandated.
Our state is talking about a complete ban on cellphone use while you're driving, because studies have found that holding the cellphone in your hand is not the issue, it's the lack of attention.
Yes, but a big part of the lack of attention is the physical juggling.
About a year and a half ago, a giant SUV backed over us (we were stationary, waiting for a parking spot) and crushed the hood. At very low speeds. In a parking lot. The driver got out and was talking on a cellphone and finishing a pastry. At the same time.
You'd think that having just crunched a vehicle due to lack of attention she would have at least put down the pastry (if not the phone) in embarrassment before exiting her vehicle, but no.
Banning hands-free cellphone use will do exactly *nothing* to curb the huge variety of self-distracting behaviors people engage in:
Personal grooming (I've seen it all, from shaving, to brushing and flossing, to nail-clipping, to tweezing eyebrows, to makeup)
Eating
Looking down to see if your food has just stained your clothing
Drinking
Getting your palate stabbed by the straw when you go over a bump
Searching for an unoccupied cup-holder to put the drink down
Smoking
Listening to the radio
Singing along with the radio (head-bobbing optional)
Yelling at the idiot on the radio
Watching the GPS for directions (still, a huge improvement over messing around with a paper map)
Trying to figure out the GPS
Yelling at the idiotic GPS
...and so on.
We simply can't legislate attention per-se, so banning hands-free cell-phones won't actually help, and enforcing such a ban is fraught with problems.
Personally, I'd be pretty happy with a regulation that simply enforced "Both hands on the wheel, both eyes on the road".
I agree, there is no way to legislate "attention". It's only stories like this that remind people of what's at stake.
You'll happy to know that when I drive, I'm very attentive.
Unless there's cute, furry animals on the side of the road. And I've been known to slam on my brakes in order not to hit a baby turtle in the middle of the road.
"We shouldn't need a law, though. We have something between our ears called a brain."
Well, yes, but that's actually part of the problem. Our brains are very unsuited to vigilance over longer periods of time without getting lulled into complacency by routine input.
So, small wonder that many people feed their brain's craving for variety.
Not that I'm excusing this behavior. As with many of society's other ills, a little self-discipline would go a long way. But that is almost impossible to legislate.
The way out of this bind is probably to use technology to make driving safely more fun and game-like. For example, imagine a HUD system on the windshield that let you score points (publicly or privately, your choice) by identifying threats, keeping a safe distance, and so on.
I'm one to talk though. I don't even drive.
I didn't get a license until I was 48, so in a way, driving is still new and fun for me.
Yes, it is difficult and having good mass transit would be a big help. Until our societies wake up, though, we're going to have traffic on the freeway.
It sucks. 12 years ago this coming Labor Day weekend, a coworker of mine was in a 52-car pileup on I5 near the Seatac airport; she died after 2 weeks in a coma. The whole thing was caused by someone crossing 4 lanes of traffic to get to an exit in a sudden rain squall. 6 (?) years ago, I was "winged" by a semi, also on I5, drifting into my lane. I was fine, but it sheared off my passenger side mirror. It was only the 2nd time I'd ever driven on the freeway, and I haven't done it since.
To be honest, I wonder if our brains are even good enough to be moving that fast with machines that dangerous.
That's actually a good point, Elaine, which is one reason to consider returning to 55MPH or less speed limits. That and gas savings.
Years ago when I was 18, we were rear ended by a person who wasn't paying attention and I ended up in the hospital. He was also uninsured and on welfare, so we ended up having to pay the medical (no insurance) and the car.
That is so sad about your friend.