Portland Fox TV affiliate station KPTV has published an article on their website titled, No Texting In Car? Doesn’t Work For Mom: Car Becomes Mobile Office. The article is written by Laura Lewis Brown, a syndicated columnist who writes for LifeWhile.com.
The article is a bit shocking given the massive national effort to combat distracted driving and the well-known consequences that can come from texting while driving. A friend of mine on Facebook (a mom who rides her kids around town on bicycles) saw the article and wrote via a status update, “I am speechless! Is this a joke? What planet is this woman from?”
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
“Without time or space for communication, my car has become my mobile office. I can text without sticky fingers vying for the buttons and talk without interruption as long as I drive. My kids are great in the car, so they actually let me talk while they read books or comment on the passing scenery.
And then the local government outlawed texting while driving. I know it can be a major distraction to even the most experienced driver. I never want to be in an accident, or worse, cause a wreck.
Even though I’m confident that I can text and drive, that’s not to say the other people on the road can do the same. I do not bury my head in my phone, looking up for air. I don’t even have to look at my phone to text and send, but the law doesn’t care about that. It doesn’t care that I can diaper children one-handed or carry three upstairs for naptime while dodging dogs and toys along the way…
Now that I’ve broken the texting while driving habit, the state handed me a new challenge: No handheld devices while driving. Those precious moments I get on the phone between points A and B are no longer allowed unless I wear a headset or some such contraption.”
Reminds me of the “I drive better drunk” joke, but from what I can tell, this article is not a joke.
I wonder if this is the kind of testimony we’ll hear down in Salem this year when lawmakers try to strengthen the existing cell phone law?
Read the full article here.