Speech no 7 CC Manual: Research your Topic – It can wait!
Last month, young Elizabeth from Missouri ran a red light while
she was texting and driving. She almost died in the crash that resulted from
her distraction. She had to be cut out of the car and today she is lucky to be
alive and to confess her mistake. But, not many of us will be as lucky as her
to survive such risks! How many of you text/sms on your phone? How many of you
text while driving? …. Can you take out your phone and share with us what your
last text was? Do you think it was worth the risk? Let me tell you – no text is
worth your life! It can wait!
Fellow Rhetoracles, I work as a mobile broadband professional
proudly selling the superior network & devices enabling one to be always
connected, always on! But this research on distracted driving has introduced me
to the fatal hazards of the misuse of mobile connectivity and I’d like to
present the analysis & insights of the findings.
Slide 2 – To start with I’ll let the numbers speak. According to
research, 23% of auto-collisions in 2011 were caused due to cellphone use. 5
seconds is the minimum attention span lost while driving and texting. Seems
short, right? Let me put it in a perspective. If you are driving at 55 mph this
is equivalent to driving a football field’s length blindly! Now think about it.
This puts you at a 23 times enhanced risk of being in a crash compared to a
non-texting driver. Any other form of cell phone use also puts you at a 4 times
risk of being in a crash. Another perspective is to look at extended reaction
time. With that regard, texting and driving is equivalent to having blood
alcohol concentration of 0.08 which is the legal limit. So, this is the new age
DWI – Driving While Intexticated!
Slide 3 – Distracted driving categorizes 3 types of distraction
and puts a risk associated with each. Manual – e.g. where you take your hands
off the steering to browse, dial etc. which is 2.8 times risky. Visual – where
your eyes are off the road – texting, browsing, reaching for a device which is
1.4 times risky and finally cognitive – talking or listening where your mind is
off from the very act of driving or paying attention to what is on the road –
1.3 times risky.
Slide 4- All this while if you’ve been thinking that only teens
are victims then let’s look at the study. Read out what is on the slide. This
is why I think using Bluetooth or hands - free is also not safe. It is one
thing to just dial to confirm/schedule an appointment. But when you are on a
conference call in the middle of an important discussion about a deliverable,
or talking to your family member about something emotional, think about the ‘cognitive distraction’
category.
Slide 5 – Seeing this alarming statistics and reports, I started
wondering as to what is being done to stop this epidemic and I found that there
is a lot happening in terms of creating awareness as well as enforcing laws!
Here are some examples. It can wait is a movement spearheaded by AT&T and
now championed by all major telecom providers as well as major tech
corporations. They urge you to take the pledge, get involved by spreading
awareness and also provide a starter kit, videos, statistics etc. The
transportation dept. of Virginia Tech leads the research in this area and has
helped federal and state government in enacting related laws etc. Also DOT is
using celebrity mass appeal to issue PSAs and spread the word.
Slide 6 – Awareness is not
enough for matters that involve life and death. So, here’s what is being done
to implement the policy. Read the slide bullets– Did you know it is a primary
law in Washington?
Slide 7 – So what can you do? A lot! And the time to act is now!
Take the pledge and here’s what will help you remain true to it. Remember it’s
you and your loved ones that you are protecting here. For smartphone users,
AT&T & Verizon have drive-mode apps that prevent you from
texting/receiving calls while behind the wheel. Spread the word!!!
Slide 8 – Here are some of the resources I used for my research
and you can visit too! New York Times technology supplement ran a Distracted
Driving series which has lots of interesting views and opinion columns.
Finally, I encourage you all to be ‘smart’ phone users!
Next time your phone beeps while you are driving, remember, it can
wait!!
