I admit it, I do have one addiction. No I am not an alcoholic or a gambler; I am simply addicted to texting. At one point or another, the count of texts I was sending started to seem like nothing. My fingers just move and I am at the point where I can unknowingly send a perfect message while sleeping. According to my online billing, between sent and received text messages, I number out at an average of 400 a day.
Of course, this probably somehow affects my social life, but I still don't stop. I recently went on a weekend trip to Brandon, to discover that I had zero signals anywhere in the province. Now normally this is when panic sets in for me. Anytime I have had my phone cut or signal problems in the past it has taken me days to not be fidgety and anxious. For some odd reason this wasn't the case this weekend. And escape from my technology world actually felt pretty great.
I won't lie about being completely thrilled when we drove back into the service land we call Saskatchewan, but with all the problems going on lately I must say it did my mind well to have that break.
All is good and well with having that slight addiction, I can handle that. What worries me is when I step into a car. I don't want to have anything to do with texting and driving. I am a firm believer that even if you are the most skilled driver combined with having the most fluent texting skills, the two are a disgusting mix.
All through my driving lessons I have been taught and become accustomed to throwing my phone out of reach in the back seat. This is probably the smartest thing to do physically, but even doing this sometimes distracts my mind. After a while, the desire to text or the thoughts about what people are talking about go away, but I fear this isn't the way for some people and I worry for their lives.
The amount of deaths caused by driver's texting is shocking and horrific. It has even been said in media and from studies that drivers who are texting are more impaired than those driving intoxicated. Recent research found that a person who is texting while driving is 23 times more likely to be involved in a collision than a non-distracted driver.
And sure Saskatchewan RCMP fine people they catch texting and driving, but this doesn't seem to stop most people.
So I am asking, as someone who knows how hard it is to not look at your phone, if you won't do it for your own safety, do it for the safety of other innocent pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. It's as simple as sending the person you are messaging a text before you leave your house and waiting until your destination or a pit stop to contact them again. I am almost 100% certain the person would prefer you get to your destination alive, than to crash and die while you are texting them. Imagine finding out your friend died because they were texting you? This doesn't sound like something I want to ever experience. If you can't simply put down your phone to save a life, you seriously tick me off this week.
