Cell Phones (again)
Yesterday, I was waiting to make a left hand turn from a major road with lots of retail businesses onto a side street. The road has a center divider so the only way to turn left is at certain places with a break in the divider. The intersection is unmarked; no lights at all and sometimes one has to wait several minutes for traffic to clear before turning left.
As I surveyed my options, I noticed that there was a car coming out of a parking lot on the opposite side of the street, waiting to turn right. The oncoming traffic was pretty light, two to four cars spaced out from each other, but it was that other car that I was watching to see what it would do. When oncoming traffic cleared, I could have turned, but sure enough, that right-turning car turned and I had to wait until he was clear before i could complete my turn.
After I made the turn it occurred to me that the decisions I had to make just to complete that left turn occupied my entire concentration. If I had been talking on a cell phone, even hands free, I might NOT have noticed that other car in the parking lot across the street.
Driving is not automatic and the sooner we get rid of all cell phone use whilst driving the better.
