Jill Porter: N.J. cell-phone law ignores risks of NOT talking while driving
IT COMES AS NO surprise to me that New Jersey, whose highway system was designed by a sadistic psychopath, has found another way to torture drivers.
IT COMES AS NO surprise to me that New Jersey, whose highway system was designed by a sadistic psychopath, has found another way to torture drivers.
(You know what I mean if you've ever navigated a New Jersey traffic circle or crossed 17 lanes of highway to merge from one route to another.)
For the past year, the state has been cracking down on the use of hand-held cell phones while driving.
More than 108,000 drivers have been ticketed for failing to use a hands-free device, according to an Inquirer report this week.
On Monday, state officials launched a two-week pilot program to target cell-phone violators even more aggressively.
To which I say: Bah!
Clearly this is just another revenue generator - at $100 a ticket - not a safety measure.
Studies have shown that using a hands-free device, which New Jersey allows, is just as distracting as holding the phone to your ear.
And more importantly, contrary to conventional wisdom, talking on a cell phone while driving can be good for your health.
Two recent examples from my own life:
I was hurrying to an appointment when I ran into heavy traffic and knew I'd be late - an anxiety-provoking moment for a compulsively prompt person.
So what did I do?
I took out my cell phone, called a friend, and chatted all the way to my destination.
The creeping pace barely registered as I pleasantly passed the time on the phone.
I arrived at my destination, calm, happy and relaxed.
What would I have done if I wasn't able to talk on the phone?
I'd have fumed, fretted, cursed and gestured with my fists or fingers at other drivers.
I'd have risked being cursed at, shot or having a cerebral hemorrhage.
Second example:
I was driving the narrow, winding back roads of the suburbs on my way to a meeting when I came upon three men on bicycles.
They were riding abreast across my lane of traffic, and made no effort to merge into a single lane so I could get by.
I was in a no-passing zone, and the winding road made it impossible to see whether there was oncoming traffic.
What did I do?
I talked on the cell phone until I had clear passage and could go around the bicyclists safely.
What would I have done without the phone?
I'd have menacingly creeped up on the bikes, perhaps even veered blindly into the oncoming lane to get by.
Hello, head-on collision.
You see what I mean?
Yes, I've read the studies.
Cell-phone distraction contributes to 6 percent of all traffic accidents in the United States every year - 636,000 crashes.
The figures are probably even higher now that more people have cell phones.
And using a hands-free device apparently doesn't help.
A University of Utah study showed you're just as distracted whether you're holding the phone or talking to the dashboard.
Some studies claim that driving while chatting on a cell phone is as dangerous as driving drunk.
But consider this:
High blood pressure is a major cause of heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure and other major health problems
One in three adults has it; it's safe to assume that many of them drive.
And what happens when you're in a traffic jam, or a driver cuts you off, or moves so slowly that you miss the green light, or does something else that infuriates you?
Road rage sets in. Your blood pressure spikes.
Sure, cell phones cause the traffic deaths of 2,600 people a year.
But in 2005 alone, 57,356 people died of high blood pressure!
So go ahead, drive and chat - just don't do it in New Jersey. *
E-mail porterj@phillynews.com or call 215-854-5850. For recent columns: