Cider Press Hill

Fender bender

No, It wasn’t my car, thank heavens, but that was a function of being in the right place at the right time. The poor guy driving in the lane next to me wasn’t in the right place at the right time.

I’ve mentioned before how much I despise cell phones, haven’t I? Especially when a driver is using one?

I followed a fellow for several miles on a two lane highway this morning. He was actively gabbing on the phone, not paying a whole lot of attention to driving. He sped up. He slowed down. He weaved back and forth in his lane. Then, while holding his phone to his ear, he bent over to do something and swerved right over into the right lane into the poor guy next to us. Kaboom.

They stopped, I stopped. Traffic behind us stopped. And being as how I was a witness, the guy who got slammed asked if I’d make a statement to the police that the accident was NOT his fault and the fool who hit him was talking on his cell phone. Not a problem. Glad to do it.

And I did.

The fellow on the cell phone got a citation. The fellow who got slammed didn’t. Justice was served.

I swear that talking on a cell phone while driving is just as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. People need to stop doing it.

Posted on 12/12/05 at 11:39 AM
 




Linkmeister

I wonder if Click and Clack (the Car Talk guys) still sell their “Don’t Talk and Drive” bumper stickers.

Glad it wasn’t you and your car.

United States   Posted by Linkmeister on 12/12/05  at  01:41 PM





Kate

Oh, I think a bumper sticker saying “Hang up and drive before you kill someone” is more direct. Less polite, but to the point.

United States   Posted by Kate on 12/12/05  at  02:10 PM





Walter Jeffries

Bravo to you! I thank you for taking the time to testify against the cellphone abuser. I despise these people who are driving down the road, gabbing on their phone and doing other distracting things while they fail to drive properly. They are in the driver’s seat and they have one responsibility, one job: to drive safely. Kudos for you for taking the time to do the right thing.

United States   Posted by Walter Jeffries on 12/12/05  at  05:06 PM





Kate

Walter, it was my pleasure to do so. A couple of years ago I was hit by a cell phone yakking driver. I was stopped at an intersection to turn left. He never even noticed I was stopped. Rather than back end me, he swerved around to my left just as I started to turn. He clobbered me but good. His call was so important that he had to finish his conversation (several seconds) before he’d even get out of his car to make sure I was okay. And then. THEN, he made a HUGE scene about how I’d driven into him. He called his wife and told her some woman had driven into their brand new, less than one day old SUV.

Fortunately, a police officer had been standing on a nearby corner and he saw the whole thing. After he’d retrieved his forms and clipboard from his cruiser, he ambled on over. Once the driver realized he’d been busted, he shut up.

If it hadn’t been for a witness (the officer, in that case) it would have been the other driver’s word against mine.

I was very happy to offer my eye witness account today. It can make a difference. And it gave me a lot of satisfaction when the cell phone guy got handed a citation. Maybe, possibly, he will rethink his cell phone use in the car.

United States   Posted by Kate on 12/12/05  at  06:08 PM





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