Editor,
Lately, I have become increasingly frustrated by people who still think it's OK to talk on a cell phone while driving. I can't tell you how many times in the past few weeks I have almost been run into by some moron who is paying more attention to his profoundly unimportant phone conversation than watching where the hell he or she is going.
It's one thing to have your cell phone welded to your ear on your own time, but it's quite another thing to take your own life and everyone else's life into your hands just because you can't shut up long enough to drive from point A to point B.
I find it troubling that the majority of these people are college students who should know better, especially considering the high rate of traffic fatalities among this age group. There is even a television ad campaign urging young people not to engage in this kind of behavior.
Unfortunately, it's not just young people who seem to have this problem. Over the past few months, I have witnessed four police officers - three from the Albuquerque Police Department and one from the UNM Police Department - talking on cell phones in uniform while driving police vehicles.
Whether they were on duty makes no difference. This is not a good example. Everyone knows it is now illegal to operate a vehicle in the city with anything but a hands-free headset, but as usual, nobody seems to care, because this might cause us to acknowledge our fellow human beings and maybe care about people who aren't in our calling network.
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Never mind all the studies that repeatedly and unambiguously show that this kind of behavior is extremely dangerous and foolhardy - those phone calls are just too damn important to worry about your personal safety or a stupid law, right? Many countries around the world have already banned this practice, but unfortunately, only about five or six states have passed legislation completely banning use of cell phones while driving.
Studies have consistently shown that people using cell phones while driving are four times more likely to be in an accident regardless of whether they were using a hands-free device. Why doesn't this bother more people? Is it a subconscious death wish? Plain stupidity? Selfishness? Lack of concern for fellow human beings? Or all of the above?
Trust me on this: I am all for fewer laws and less government, but I support any law that will reduce the chances of me being killed by some idiot simply because they can't tear themselves away from their cell phone conversation.
I don't know if anyone in this country even knows how to drive a stick-shift anymore, but I have a feeling that there would be a lot less traffic accidents if people actually had to pay more attention to driving and less attention to talking.
And the next time I see cops doing it, I'm going take down their license and vehicle number and report them.
Jason Darensburg
UNM student
