Pay Attention to the Road!

How many times a day do you find yourself saying those very words, especially when you are stuck behind drivers paying more attention to their cell phones than the traffic they're in? It could be worse! At least they aren't text-messaging and driving. You hope.

Texting and driving is becoming a bigger and bigger problem as more people find themselves "unable" to drive from point A to point B without using their wireless device to check email or text messages.

There is a bill in the Washington State Senate (it flew through the House) to ban texting and driving. While there are a number of factors driving this law, the big push came after a man caused a pileup on Interstate 5 outside Seattle that shut the highway down for over an hour. He was checking his email while driving.

Texting is not specifically banned anywhere, but Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, California and the District of Columbia have all outlawed the use of handheld phones while driving.

Texting is not the only distraction drivers face, but after a 2006 study showed drivers on cell phones are as impaired, if not more so, as drunk drivers, well... Maybe it's time to turn the ringer off til we get where we're going. Or at least pull off the road.