Coming home from work on Tuesday, a young lady slammed into the back of a taxicab which, in turn, slammed into the back of me. The Subaru was destroyed and the taxicab was destroyed, and my vehicle had a small bit of damage (I will get new bumper, and a new lift back out of the deal, as well as a rental car for a week or two).
No injuries, but if I was a betting man I would say a cell phone was involved. No evidence, other than ploughing into the back of a parked car at 30 mph....
All of this is a set-up for the cartoon, above, especially the title:
This is why people should learn statistics.
Perfect!
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1 comment:
I find people way too quick to blame texting for car trouble. I can text and type for cryin out loud.
What I *AM* distracted by are odd things walking by (human or animal) unsightly or irregularly beautiful buildings, eye-catching signs, particularly the ones that look like LCD tvs (and in my opinion should not be allowed), losing a REALLY great debate's reception on the radio (geek much?"), dropping my cell phone/purse on the passenger seat floor, using one of those ridiculous CD holders (honestly, buy a changer or wait until a light) or simply something outrageous happening outside.
Last year a lady peed on the mat on the inside of our store and damn near caused two fender benders, four years before that woman actually took a very... loose dump on the front of our store (our building is within walking distance of a mental treatment facility) - caused a full on T-bone and damn near killed a woman - luckily all that got hurt was her squished cart full of groceries.
Could a cell phone have been involved? Sure it could have? Should anyone text while driving? Hell no (even if you can do it with one hand without looking).
But with all the distractions out there today why there are suddenly laws against phone use and not things like 10' LCD screens within 15' of the highway have been causing problems about twice a month in a section of road just down from where I used to work, and no matter of protest or petition will get them to remove it - regardless of how many motorists and even pedestrians get injured or killed there.
See, signs are taxed VERY high in our city. LCD signs even higher. This particular one is in the middle of a junction that connects the north and south entries into the city with the main thruway. This means if you want your 20 seconds of fame every 60 minutes or so, you're going to need to shell out $12,000.
I doubt they're getting a cut this big from the cell phone companies - the sign guys play a flat fee plus a percentage that goes up the more they charge for the sign.
All I'm saying is that maybe he had a rock in his boot and got all wrangled trying to get his boot off to get it out.
I agree with you that (particularly where you live) the cell phone explanation is most likely). And congrats on the free fixins. Most of all, grateful that you're unscathed. :O)
I'm just saying that in Ohio I was once worried about a pot hole that could potentially eat our car - we were driving a full sized van - and actually got out to see the damn thing.
Wouldn't make nearly as cute a commercial as the insurance guy in the pink suit and the SUV smashing in to the parked car, though, would it?
I want to point out that my little sister lost three dear friends this past summer to a totally unavoidable accident. Three young men under 25 - one failed to stop at a sign and hit the other car. All three died. So I'm not joking about it being a threat - I'm just saying I don't think it's "THE" threat.
For instance, how about mandatory breathalyzers in EVERY vehicle? How many lives would THAT save?
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