Exercise was important to 55-year-old Dave Muslovski, who was out for his nine-mile morning walk. Whitney Yaeger, 19 years old, looked down for about 10 seconds while driving. Texting, she hit Muslovski, who later died from his injuries. “Why would you take your eyes off the road?” Muslovski’s wife, Denise, asked.1
According to the Rock Center report, people know that they’re gambling with their safety. In a Kansas University study they shared, 97 percent of students admitted to texting while driving—and they said it was about the most dangerous thing to do while driving. Yet they do it anyway. Texting while driving is a dangerous and deliberate choice, not an accident.
“We fool ourselves into thinking maybe it’s not so bad,” says Kansas University cognitive psychology professor Paul Atchley. Bing, goes the alert, and “someone wants to talk to [you] . . . it gives you a little rush of dopamine.”2 The need for that good feeling overrides the knowledge that doing this is unsafe.
Common sense should tell us it’s not a good thing to do. But it seems that we need to be connected—and feel validated—and we’re trying to do more with the same amount of time. Our “needs” have blinded us to the dangers of using devices to communicate while driving. More than once drivers have swerved, almost hitting my car. I’ve looked over to see fingers tapping keys—and their eyes focused on a phone screen. I’ve done it before—but even typing those two characters “OK” wasn’t.
Consider this editorial a public service announcement. Please don’t text while driving. Don’t drive distracted.
Spiritual application? Quotes above apply.
