Folks, you have stop driving distracted | News, Sports, Jobs

Driving no longer is for the faint of heart.

Actually, I’m not sure it ever was.

I was heading south on I-75 the other day and my eyes were closely watching the truck in front of me. In what seemed like a regular rhythm, the truck would slowly begin drifting off onto the shoulder. As its tires crossed the rumble strips, the truck would jerk back left into the driving lane.

After several miles of that, I decided enough was enough. So I reluctantly passed the truck at a speed I personally was uncomfortable with. But I didn’t want that truck in front of me any longer.

As I passed the cab of the truck, the driver tilted the hand holding some type of fast-food wrapper to his mouth. While not certain, I’m willing to bet it was the sandwich that was distracting the driver’s attention each time he took a bite.

Later in the drive, I passed another vehicle, that time an SUV, that seemed to be playing cat and mouse with me. I would pass it, but, then, five minutes later, it would pass me, only to slow down again to where, to maintain a steady speed, I needed to pass it again.

Again, when I looked over at the driver as I passed to her left, the driver held a cell phone up to her ear while her other hand was on the steering wheel.

I’m willing to wager many of you have experienced very similar incidents.

At least that fact would be borne out by a recent front-page story in The Alpena News, in which U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg blamed the high number of traffic deaths in the country this past year on impaired driving, speeding, or other acts of reckless behavior.

Specifically, regarding distracted driving, she said data showed a 12% increase in fatal crashes occurred in 2022, resulting in the deaths of 3,522 on the highways. As a result, Trottenberg announced a new $5 million advertising campaign to promote awareness of the issue and to keep the focus of drivers on the road and not on things like cell phones or sandwiches.

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials, more than 32,400 people died in distraction-affected crashes over the 10-year period from 2011 to 2020.

In Michigan, 5.9% of crashes in 2021 involved a distracted driver, and 59 of those resulted in a fatality. The number of distracted-driving crashes involving drivers younger than 21 was almost double the number of accidents involving those 21 and older.

And, while texting isn’t the only form of distraction drivers face, it is one that could result in a fine in Michigan. Since 2010, motorists can be fined $100 for a first offense of texting while driving. Subsequent offenses increase to $200.

The fines are even more strict in the Buckeye State to the south. In Ohio, as of earlier this month, a new law went into effect that makes driving while holding a phone cost $150 for the first offense, $250 for the second, and $500 and possible suspension of driving privileges for third offenses.

I hope enforcement of those laws helps reduce the driving distractions on the road today.

With speed limits on highways now 70 mph or more in many states, eliminating distractions becomes all the more important. Over-steering to get back on the highway at 55 is bad enough. Over-steering at 70 can — and often does — lead to disaster.

Bill Speer recently retired as the publisher and editor of The News. He can be reached at [email protected].

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