Don't read this while you're driving

The New York TImes has been running a series called Driven to Distraction about driving while doing other things, like talking on cell phones, texting, reading, etc. Everyone knows people who do this kind of stuff (and probably worse) and I, for one, am extra careful around cars when I can see that the driver is not he phone. Reminds me of an old comedy routine about how it's better to be on the road with someone who's drinking and driving than someone who's eating and driving, because at least the drunks are trying to drive.

Today's article is about how everyone thinks they are capable of driving safely while talking while others probably are not. There's a lot of chatter about how biased people's perceptions of themselves versus others are, but I personally think the whole discussion is beside the point.

If you want to convince people that it's dangerous to drive while talking on a cell phone, you first have to make them understand that the most dangerous thing they do on a daily basis is drive. Over the course of a lifetime, your probability of being killed in a car crash is 1 in 100. The only more common causes of death are heart disease, cancer and stroke (more details here- scroll down for the grim details). I think the next most common accidental cause is falling in the bathroom, so definitely don't drive in the bathroom.

But seriously, even if you accept only that talking on the phone only makes you, say, 10% more likely to die in a car crash, why would you want to take the most dangerous thing about your day and make it even more dangerous? It's just stupid. But people assume that because they've all driven in cars lots of times and haven't died that it's not dangerous. That's stupid too. You sit in a metal box traveling at 30, 50, 70 miles per hour and you're surrounded by other boxes moving just as fast. And some of them are going in the opposite direction from you without any physical separation. And some of them are driven by people who are tired, distracted, dim-witted, drunk or otherwise. And you don't think that's hazardous? How could it not be?

I think I'll dredge up my old How To Drive Safely essay, but in the meantime, please try to recognize how important it is to do everything possible to minimize, rather than increase, the danger.