Stay alert

Would you ever read a book while driving? How about walk through an intersection wearing a blindfold?
The issue of texting being a dangerous distraction both for drivers and pedestrians is making headlines frequently these days and with good reason.
In recent months, this writer has witnessed in Fort Frances several noteworthy instances of individuals whose texting habit could have resulted in injury to themselves or others. I am sure I am not the only one.
In one instance, two youths, walking side by side, thumbs typing away, meandered blindly across the Central Avenue intersection during a red light, only to be alerted out of their revery by the honking horn of the pickup truck, who had the right of way, that nearly ran them over.
I wonder if they were texting each other?
In another instance, a mother was pushing a stroller, walking a dog, and texting simultaneously while crossing a downtown intersection on a Friday afternoon. Another honking horn. Another close call.
In yet another example, a woman and her daughter were riding their bikes on a sunny afternoon. But the distance between them grows greater and greater as the young girl has fallen off her bike, and calls to her mother from the other end of the block. Her mother is far ahead of her, oblivious to her daughter’s little accident, as she keeps peddling and texting simultaneously.
I shudder to think if these folks had been texting and behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Now before I get labelled “old-fashioned” for criticizing a relatively new form of telecommunication, I must admit that electronic devices that serve as distractions are nothing new. The same outcry was heard back with the advent of the small transistor radios, the Walkman and all music players that followed, including today’s iPod.
Likewise, the dangers of cell phones as a distraction, especially for motorists, is well-documented. In fact in many places talking on a hand-held cell phone and driving has been outlawed, including here in Ontario where texting and e-mailing also are banned.
But texting is a distraction on a whole new level. It’s one thing to walk down the street and listening to music. It’s bad enough trying to walk and talk and listen. But to walk, read and type appears to be stretching beyond the capacity of how much multi-tasking a human being can do.
In April, a man texting a message to his boss nearly ran into a black bear that had wandered into a suburban Los Angeles neighborhood. He was only a few feet away when he looked up, saw the bear and ran.
And many people have seen the online video of the woman texting while she walked through a Philadelphia shopping mall and tumbles into a large fountain directly in front of her.
But sometimes, there are more serious consequences than a humourous headline or viral YouTube video. According to the Associated Press, reports of injuries to distracted walkers treated at hospital emergency rooms in the U.S. have more than quadrupled in the past seven years and are likely underreported.
Let’s face it—texting as an immediate form of communication isn’t going away. It’s efficient and cost-effective. But for everyone’s sake, let’s use common sense.