In a few months, the penalties for using handheld devices behind the wheel will get harsher. With any luck, it will finally start sending the message that people need to pay attention to the road, and that text messages and Facebook can wait.
The omnipresence of smart phones has brought on an epidemic of distraction in every situation, from the dining room table to the boardroom to the crosswalk. With so much information and so many capabilities so easily available, people are naturally inclined to take advantage (though usually they're probably looking at pictures of someone's cat.) Add that distraction to the inherent dangers of driving and it's a deadly mix.
The message is getting through to many people, but not enough, as any drive on a crowded street in Connecticut will attest. Despite the obvious dangers, people talk, text and worse while piloting a vehicle capable of causing enormous harm if something goes wrong.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy recently signed two bills into law that increase the fines for texting and talking while driving, and to make it illegal to use a handheld device behind the wheel, even when motionless at a signal or in traffic. That's a serious step, but one that is warranted by the dangers. Each law takes effect on Oct. 1.
Driving is such a part of our daily lives that it's easy to forget how dangerous it is. Vehicle safety features and road improvements have cut down dramatically on deaths per highway mile traveled over recent decades, but it's still a given that thousands of people will die every year on our roadways.
It's because driving is so easy and so commonplace that people think it only requires half their attention.
As one study after another has shown, people are not good at multitasking. They think they're getting two or three things done at once, but in reality they're only partially accomplishing anything, and most of what they do is of poor quality. When driving is one of the activities that is affected, the result can be deadly.
Talking on a cellphone while driving is a distraction, and studies have shown hands-free devices to be no better (it's the conversation with someone not physically present that causes a problem, not the holding of a phone). Texting or any other activities that require looking away from the road, even for a second or two, increase the risk.
Fines for cellphone use while driving will increase from $125 to $150 for the first offense; from $250 to $300 for the second offense, and to $500 for a third offense.
That's a lot of money. But the message must be sent clearly. Driving is dangerous, and requires concentration. Distractions must be kept to a minimum.