The Price of Distraction

When one is driving, nothing in the world is more important than paying attention on the road. One distracted moment can endanger your life and the lives of others.

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Take this reflection into the silence, and I'll see you next time.

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Transcript

A few days ago, a car crawled ahead as I was driving back from blood tests with my wife. Wondering why the driver moved so slow, I suspected they were glued to their phone. As we swerved around the vehicle, my suspicion was confirmed. Eyes fixed at a phone, watching videos, completely oblivious to the two-ton machine they were controlling.

"Can't people just wait?" I said to my wife. "It's so dangerous." Little did I know how prophetic these words would become in mere minutes.

Nearing home, we approached a final intersection under a freeway bridge. One of those complex junctions where timing and attention are critical. I stopped at the yield sign, watching fast-moving traffic merging onto the freeway. That's when I noticed another driver behind me looking down at her phone. Her attention completely diverted. I could see her head bobbing downward in my rearview mirror, the blue light illuminating her distracted face.

"Look at this one too," I said to my wife, shaking my head. "People on their phones while driving. What the hell are they thinking?" It was the second time in minutes I'd commented on this dangerous habit. I couldn’t possibly imagine how quickly we'd see its consequences.

When a gap appeared, I crossed the street. A box truck was approaching, but I made it safely across. Suddenly, I heard a honk. An urgent, extended blast. Then came the crash. A sickening sound of metal crushing metal that I'll never forget. The truck had hit the phone-distracted car behind us, sending it spinning multiple times onto the curb. I witnessed it all through my rearview mirror.

We were shocked. We couldn’t believe it.

The driver wasn't looking at the road. She probably noticed with her peripheral vision that I had crossed and followed without checking for oncoming traffic. Her split-second assumption becoming a devastating miscalculation.

We turned back to help, but others had already reached her. Thankfully, the impact was on the passenger side. She walked out of her car. As I continued driving back home, the reality of what we had witnessed sank in.

When one is driving, nothing in the world is more important than paying attention on the road. One distracted moment can endanger your life and the lives of others. The text message, video, or call can wait. The alternative – as we witnessed firsthand – could be measured in twisted metal, shattered glass, or worse. That driver's momentary distraction resulted in a totaled car and what could have been a life-altering injury. When you drive distracted, you gamble not just with your life, but with everyone around you.