Chief Thorsen: The Three Thousand Pound Bullet

If you were at the local shooting range and the person next to you firing a handgun was
having an animated and passionate conversation on his/her cell phone, would it make you
nervous? Would it concern you if you peered into the cockpit of an airliner and found the
pilot watching a movie while taking off or landing? If you were being prepped for surgery,
would you be worried if the anesthesiologist was texting his fantasy football league
members just as he was about to put you under?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, I have one more for you.

Is it good judgment to operate a 3000 pound machine traveling 60 feet per second (40 mph) on a roadway while pedestrians and others are sharing the road with you? I’m guessing that put in these terms, most of us will agree it’s a bad idea. But most of us don’t associate driving our car and talking on the phone or texting with “operating a 3000 pound machine while traveling 60 feet per second”.

We have become so comfortable with driving, many of us (me included) have forgotten what an awesome responsibility we have to protect those around us.

When fully aware and focused, the average person takes about a 2.5 seconds to perceive a threat, and respond to it. As an example, when driving it takes the average person about 2.5 seconds to see a hazard and apply the brakes of their car. At 40 miles per hour, that car will travel about 150 feet before it begins to slow. That’s half of a football field! If your texting, talking on the phone or are in some other way distracted imagine how much further you may travel before taking evasive action.

Last month, our traffic enforcement team partnered with our neighboring cities to participate in a distracted driving awareness campaign. Officers paid special attention to vehicles looking for drivers who were driving while texting or talking on their phones.

Several folks received citations for these violations.

I write this with the realization that I am guilty as charged. I have used my phone while driving and I have sent texts. “But I was only on the phone for a second, and it was really
important”. My excuse does not hold water! As I drive the streets of our community, I constantly see residents “making a quick call” or “sending just one quick text”. I ask you to
join me, I have committed to stop!

If I need to make a call, I will use a hands free device. If no device is available, I will pull to a safe location at the side of the road and send my texts or have my conversation.

Please join me in making our roads a safer place for all of us!

By ChrisThorsen
Oakley Police Chief