They are doing what? While Driving

June 24th , 2010 - I know there is a lot of buzz about texting and driving. And I whole heartedly support any efforts to make that bad habit stop. But are you kidding me, there is a lot more going on behind the wheel besides texting. And it has been going on for years, where's the outrage over that. Is Oprah the only one who can get people's attention.

Take a typical day and a drive to work. I decide to pay closer attention to what other drivers are doing while driving to work, besides picking their noses, which yes people, you can be seen. Those things in your car that roll down are windows, you can see through them..duh! Anyway, my first observation is of a young man driving out of MacDonald's. One hand holding his drink, one hand holding his sandwich, hmmm how is he steering the car, upon closer look I can see it is with his knees. Well, at least he is not texting. Here comes, Ms 'I am so in a hurry I don't have time at home to put on my makeup'. No problem, I will just do it while driving to work. Again, that can't be dangerous, she is not texting. Oh I hate this one, changing the music, picking out a different CD. Lean over, insert, listen two seconds, change your mind, eject and insert another and whoops, pull back onto road. Hardly missed a beat. And still no texting. And here comes 'Mr. I don't have a GPS'. He must not because he seems to be pulling out a map. Ah yes, it is being unfolded right there across the steering wheel in front of the large windshield. No problem, he probably won't miss much, including the tree he is about to hit. Oh, what the heck is she doing? Oh, I see she is taking off her sweater, air conditioning must be out and she must be really hot. But here is the kicker, it is not a button down, just slip off the shoulders...it is a pull-over, just take over my head and cover my eyes..no problem, it is only for a second.

So while I thought that the Oprah campaign was a really good one, it doesn't even touch the surface of what goes on behind the wheel. Instead of a campaign about no texting, what about a campaign about responsible driving. About realizing that in one split second you could change someone's life forever....or in the case of the girl in front of me, who slammed on her brakes because she almost blew the red light while putting her straw in her Dairy Queen shake..in one split second she had chocolate shake all over her pretty white blouse. But at least she wasn't texting.