Shut Up and Drive

Dear Commuters,

Hi there. Boston Daily here. We’re the ones who were scowling at you as you drove by us in your warm car while we stood on the sidewalk and waited for the bus in the blistering cold this morning. Sorry about that.

But now that we’ve warmed up and had our coffee, we’d like to talk to you about a couple of things that we read in the papers today. To quote the popular bumper sticker, “Hang up the phone and drive.”

And when we say “hang up,” that includes your propensity to text and drive. The idea that the Legislature has to make it illegal for someone to peck out OMG, LOL on a tiny key pad while operating a motor vehicle is deeply disturbing. If you’re old enough to operate a car, you should know better than to take your eyes off the road to type.

Your conversations are also keeping our bus held up in traffic.

Motorists yakking away crawl about 2 miles per hour slower on commuter-clogged roads than people not on the phone, and they just don’t keep up with the flow of traffic, said study author David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah.

For an hour commute, that tacks on an extra 20 minutes. We know you’re important, but we like to think that we are too. You’ll have all night to ignore your loved ones by texting and chatting, so turn off the phone and pay attention to where you’re going, please. You’re making our bus late.

Sincerely,
Boston Daily