Oprah wants everyone to stop texting and driving.
Her heartfelt (as much as anything coming from her mouth really can be) message today explained that those who text and drive are eight times more likely to have an accident than someone who is merely driving. That's TWICE as likely as someone using a cell phone the old-fashioned way...for talking.
I'm guilty of both and, as judgemental of DUI drivers as I am, I'm going to stop doing the mobile phone thing as much as possible. A friend told me today, he always pulls to the side of the road to text. I do too, although not always intentionally.
But I have a bigger gripe that Oprah didn't address.
What about drivers who are putting on their makeup at 80 mph? Or, as was noted by a friend, balancing their checkbook, calculator in one hand, pen in the other? Or even chatting with a friend in the passenger seat? Or many friends, as in the much touted way to green up our driving experience, the car pool.
"Your car is not a phone booth!" Oprah exhorts. She is absolutely correct.
It is also not a dressing room. That mirror hanging from the windshield, or the back of your sun visor, is not for putting on makeup. Your steering wheel is not a desk or a dining room table. Spill a drink, kill a child.
Keep it in mind.
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