In a poll 98 % of the population
think that texting and driving is dangerous, yet 43% of those admit to doing
that exact thing.
Richtel tells a story that hits close to home in many ways.
In 2006, Reggie Shaw, a 19 year old from Tremonton Utah was driving to work
when he hit and killed two rocket scientists on their way to their jobs at ATK.
Reggie was texting his girlfriend and only took his eyes off the road for a
second, but that’s all it takes.
Richtel, whose reporting on the subject of
distracted driving won him and the New York Times a Pulitzer prize, charts the
course of Reggie’s trial, the neuroscience behind attention blindness and the
landmark Utah law on texting and driving that resulted.
My takeaway from the
book is that smart phones can be as addictive as drugs or alcohol, each ping of
an incoming text message or email sparks a little hit of dopamine. I never use
my cellphone whilst driving, but I am welded to it at home. After reading this
cautionary tale, I’m putting some distance between me and my smartphone.
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