texting and driving

While I was on vacation visiting my parents we got into a conversation regarding driving and texting.  I find this an absolutely ridiculous practice.  I don't understand what can possibly be so important that you need to be texting while driving.  We didn't use to have texting and we survived.  We didn't even have cell phones and we survived.  It just seems to be an unnecessary risk.  Some states even make it illegal -- but it doesn't seem to stop anybody.

Surprisingly my father disagreed with me.  Not because he does it -- he doesn't.  But he said that those who text a lot are so good at it that it is really not a risk.  Ummm??  No!  I would not agree with this.  At which point he told me that my younger sister does this and has never had a problem.  I think that means she has just been lucky.  He said she is so good at it that she doesn't have to even look at the phone.  Really???  Then how is she reading those texts that she is responding to?

I am not buying it.

And then on Friday I was driving down an in town 2 lane road.  The driver in front of me was all over the road.  Mostly straddling the center line but slowly going from one lane to the next.  I kept my distance figuring it was safer to be behind than in front.  He was so all over that I was sure that he was drunk.  And I wondered how he could be driving drunk at 1pm.  We finally pulled up to a red light at the same time and he was turning so I pulled up next to him.

Only it wasn't a him.  And she wasn't drunk.  She was a teenager or young 20's girl -- texting.  So no buying that it is safe to text and drive.

Mean Mama