Human Instinct, Deportment Training Combine to Make Use of Cell Phone While Driving a Deadly Combination

Back in the days when telephones came only in basic black and had a cord that tied them to a wall outlet, The Old Cobbler’s employer at the time sent his employees off to a charm school to learn the proper way to deal with a customer in our office should we have to answer the phone in the customer’s presence.

The secret to success we were told was maintaining maximum eye contact with the customer while on the phone. That we were also told was not as easy as it sounded. Doing such was contrary to basic human instinct and training.

Three separate incidents over the past weeks reminded me of what was learned in that class from yesteryear, that it is still applicable, and carries importance of a greater nature in today’s world of cell phone usage while driving.

Here’s what was learned in that class. From infancy, it is human instinct to look in the direction of any sound heard. Then, from the age when the teaching of polite manners arrives, kids are taught to look at someone when they are being spoken to.

It is this mixture of basic instinct and training that we carry with us when we use a cell phone while driving. So what happens? On three occasions, this was observed at intersections with two through lanes and a dedicated left-turn lane and left-turn traffic signal.

Traffic was stopped for the traffic signal. The driver in the inside through lane was talking on the cell phone, which was being held in the left hand. The left-turn signal turned green, the traffic in the left-turn lane started moving, and the driver in the inside through lane began moving through the intersection and through what was still a red light.

These three incidents were observed from a point head on, across the intersection. None of the three drivers were looking ahead at the traffic signal. They were looking down and to their left while talking on their cell phone. One can only assume that they saw movement to their left, which triggered their reaction to start moving through what was for them, still a red light.

In two of the incidents, the drivers continued without incident through the red light because there was no opposing traffic: left-turning vehicles from the opposite direction. In the third incident, the left-turning driver ahead of me saw what was happening, hit his horn, stopped, and only then did the driver running the red light while talking on his phone look up and slam on his brakes. A collision was avoided by mere inches.

If anyone questions the idea that people look down and to the side while talking on a telephone should plant themselves somewhere and watch their fellow citizens who walk or drive by while talking on a cell phone.

State-by-state, authorities are dealing with the issue in various ways. Some have banned cell phone use by drivers below a certain age. That begs the question as to what the legislators are doing to protect the young people from the other drivers.

Some states allow only hands-free usage. Those legislators much think people think with their hands or fingers, and not their ears.

I asked a gentleman I know, a personal injury lawyer, what he thought about the use of cell phones while driving. He smiled and said, “They’re good for business.”

So, bottom line. If you are going to drive and talk on your cell phone, please keep your eyes on the traffic around you and obey the traffic signals.

There are may be some folks around who do not remember the item below. If you do, you are showing your age.