Yapping/texting while driving: just like being drunk

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As a biker and walker (not so much recently since the broken ankle), I can say that cell phones are the biggest plague on the road today. I don't know how many times I've almost been hit by some idiot flapping their gums or, worse yet, texting (sending text messages) while driving. I was actually run off the road a few months ago by such a moron.

Texting and yapping on your cell phone are both illegal here in New York state, but of course people do it anyway. I believe it's legal to use hands-free devices in New York, but they are just as dangerous, according to scientists interviewed in NPR report.

The scientific research discussed in the report confirms my anecdotal observations as a very exposed part of the road.

As one researcher put it, "If you're driving while cell-phoning, then your performance is going to be as poor as if you were legally drunk."

This conclusion isn't new but it bears repeating.

Driving while yapping/texting is a lot like driving drunk in another way: everyone thinks that they are talented/disciplined/focused enough to do it safely.

Yet the research shows that people who are distracted by their cell phone are four times more likely to get into an accident than people who aren't. Apparently a lot fewer people are Superman than they think.

The NPR report used pianists to demonstrate how the concept of efficient multitasking is a myth.

Yapping/texting while driving is more dangerous than other distractions because while some drivers may fiddle with their radio or iPod, they do so for a few seconds at a time, rather than several minutes non-stop. Figuring out which song you like or taking a gulp of coffee also doesn't require the brainpower needed to follow a conversation.

As the report explains, there is a reason yapping on your phone (hands-free or not) is more dangerous than chatting with a passenger sitting next to you. The passenger sees you and sees the road and is thus more likely to shut up if he sees something that requires your concentration or that you're focused or agitated. People on the other end of your cell phone can't see those visual cues.

So if you want to yap or text on your cell phone, just pull over to the side of the road. And be warned: the next person who runs me off the road because of such stupid self-indulgence is going to have his license plate reported to the county sheriff.