The New York Times just published a review of scientific studies on the dangers of driving under the influence of cell phone usage, or phunk driving), which is apparently just as dangerous of drunk driving.
The National Safety Council urges an all-out ban of phunk driving.
According to the Janet Froetscher, the council’s president and chief executive, “It’s the same challenge we had with seat belts and drunk driving — we’ve got to get people thinking the same way about cellphones.” The data support this view.
I am as guilty of phunk driving as anyone from urban California. I even plan to make calls while I drive. I have limited non-booked time with privacy, so I love to catch up with a distant friend or family member (or wait on hold with the bank) – I mean, I’m not doing anything else anyway! (Kidding. But not really.)
Recently I’ve had to cut back on phunk driving, but not because I such a good person or because I’m trying to.
It’s just that since I got an iPhone (favorite purchase EVER!) it’s much harder to place calls while I drive, even though I’ve tried different voice dialing apps like vlingo and Google Voice (you still have to look down to find the app and then check to make sure you’re calling the right person).
I cannot continue phunk drive that I know is endangering myself and others, simply in the name of time savings. It’s ignorant, immoral, and old-fashioned. So I’m setting a goal of tapering down to 10% of my current time spent phunken by the end of the year (can’t quit cold turkey!).