“Don’t drink and drive!” We all know that. “Don’t text and
drive!” Most of us are coming around to that command, as well. Now a new demand
is being shouted at us: “Don’t walk
and text!”
“It’s
just really dangerous,” said the head of the National Safety Council and former
chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board. “Everybody walking down
the sidewalk either has their headphones on or is looking down at their phone.”
(Everybody?).
A
recent Washington Post article flatly stated of those who walk and text,
“Americans overwhelmingly think this is OK. It’s not.” Well, there you have it.
The science is settled on this crisis, too, apparently. As is the morality. I,
however, feel the need to insert a Churchill quote here: “There, but by the
grace of God, goes God!”
The
article was rife with statistics and factoids, though virtually none of them
were supported by explanations of methodology, sample sizes, etc. It was also
pregnant with opinions masquerading as facts. An example: “At any given moment
on the streets of America, 60 percent of pedestrians are distracted while
walking, meaning either on the phone or doing something on their phone,”
claimed Dr. Alan Hilibrand of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Really? Are 6 of every 10 people you see on the streets and sidewalks around
you on their phone at any given time? And, if they aren’t, are we sure they
won’t be distracted by something/anything else? Cute dog, beautiful girl, nice
car, global warming, Islamic terrorist?
The
poorly written article soldiered on: “In 2005, 256 pedestrians who were injured
while using phones received hospital treatment nationwide, a number that grew
sixfold by 2010. One surprise was that more than half of injuries happened
while people were fixated on their cellphones while walking in their homes.”
So, apparently, we need laws to prevent people from walking while using their cell phones in their own homes? I
thought this was about pedestrians on the streets? Eminent Domain is bad
enough, but do many folks have streets running
through their homes?
It used
to be a put down to say of someone, ”You can’t walk and chew gum at the same
time!”
You can
bet next year it will be an order.
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