This is my first time posting on a blog. I am not an expert on any particular subject, just an acute observer of the world. I have noticed many things in daily life that I question, wonder about, stress about, and want to scream about, and I needed a place to vent about them.
As I go along, I will probably rant about some of the usual suspects. Some issues irritate everyone. Then there are things unique to my life and my family's life that I notice and will want to comment about. Bear with me and share your thoughts if you like.
I will begin with a giant pet peeve of mine. That would be texting while driving. When did people decide that it is safe to read while you are driving? How can it be safe to take your eyes off the road for more than a split second in order to read or send a text? Many of the texts people receive are useless blather. Is reading or sending useless blather worth hurting yourself or even worse, taking the life of someone's Mom,Dad, Sister, Brother, Child, Friend? I think NOT! It seems no matter where you are driving, when you see someone make a boneheaded driving maneuver they are almost invariably holding their phone and looking at it instead of looking at the road. This aggravates me endlessly. I want to honk my horn at these people but I am afraid if I do that they will plow into me or someone else from the shock of the sound of the horn!
I want to shake the people that text while driving and say,"do you want to have to regret for the rest of your life that you took someone else's life for this meaningless activity?" I know that people get addicted to texting. I have some friends that do it (shame on you) and their kids do it too. For some reason, these people seem to feel invinceable--like a teen that feels no harm can come to them. The ugliness of life cannot touch them. I have 2 teenaged sons and one has seen the ugliness of life touch some teens he knew that were killed in car accidents. I am sure those teens didn't believe anything bad was going to happen to them either. It can and will happen if you have a careless lapse of judgement.
As for the adults that are texting while driving, I know you have convinced yourself that much of your business gets done while you are in the car. How did business get done a few years ago? It still did and nobody was as distracted in the car as you are now with your endless texting. Pull over if you must read or send a text. Get off an exit and pull into a parking lot. It is not worth ruining your life, your car, someone else's life just so you can respond to an email. The email will still be there after you are at your destination.
When we hear of (or see) a driver that is "under the influence" of alcohol or drugs we are outraged that this person would have the nerve to put our lives at risk just so they can get a buzz on or forget a bad day they had. They are not thinking of us or anyone else, just themself. They are intoxicated and their reaction time behind the wheel is impaired. Yes, this is all true; and I detest drunk driving. But, at least most drunk drivers (unless passed out) are looking out the front window of the car with both eyes and will attempt to respond to any driving situation that requires action. Their attempt may be feeble, but a texting driver is not looking out the window at all. They are looking at a gadget in their lap or in their hand and may totally miss a dangerous situation that is developing altogether.
In our state of Massachusetts there is supposed to be a 3 strikes law for drunk drivers with the penalties getting increasingly severe as the number of offenses increases ending with jail time for a 3rd offense. This law unfortunately seems to be enforced NONE of the time. You hear about people with 5, 6, 7,8 or more prior drunk driving offenses that are still on the road wreaking havoc and maiming innocent bystanders. Suspending someone's license doesn't always result in that person not driving. Many of these people flout the law and continue to drive on a suspended license. Fines are not much of a deterrent either. They will pay the fine and continue to drive.
Both texting and drinking while driving result in an impaired driver situation.
What to do with the impaired drivers? This is a question that the Massachusetts legislature should take up and come up with some real solutions that will get real results.
How about impounding the car permanently when someone has driven impaired? How about a lifetime suspension of someone's license? How about jail time the first time? Why give someone the opportunity to do it 2 more times; the opportunity to kill someone, before the state means business?
The idea of possible jail time and/or reposession of a car for a first offense will send a much stronger message to those who choose to endager all of us. This will not be tolerated and you will pay for it each and every time you do it. Think of a teenager sitting in a jail cell for a few hours or a couple of days. I think that message will get through!
Over the years I have periodically watched the Oprah Winfrey show. I am not a huge fan of her politics so my viewing has tapered off considerably in the last few years. However, recently she set out on a new campaign of trying to get people to commit to a "no cell phone zone" in their cars. I applaud this effort. She has a huge audience of people that listen to what she is saying. I am glad she chose to take up this cause, as our legislators seem to be ignoring it.
So, as I close my first rant, I hope you will take this to heart. Think of others when you open up that cell phone keyboard. Think of what they will think of you if you choose to put their lives in danger instead of doing what is right and what is sane. And one more thing...if you text me while I am driving, don't expect to hear back from me until I get to where I am going!
Ivy, climbing the wall
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