Thump
Official Squid Row Public Service Announcement: DON’T TEXT WHILE DRIVING… or check your phone! PAY ATTENTION!
Okay, that wasn’t really a public service announcement as it was kind of a scolding, I guess. Sorry if I was harsh… but I’m amazed at how many people do this. And it nearly put ME in the hospital.
My friend got t-boned by someone texting and driving. Totaled her car… she was lucky enough to be alright. It’s illegal in California for a reason, people!
It’s illegal here in Washington too, but sadly it doesn’t stop the idiots from doing it. As a long time pedestrian and bicyclist I can’t count how many times I have nearly been run over by inattentive drivers. One woman nearly ran me over after looking right at me when I was at a corner. Another time a woman got so close to my bike when I was living in Oregon that I wound up having to ditch onto the sidewalk, she slowed down just enough to see that I wasn’t injured then sped off after glaring at me like it was my fault.
Drivers I tell ya…
Illegal in Louisiana, too.
What’s worse is that making it illegal may make it worse, because holding the phone where no one can see it increases your chances of not seeing stuff because you’re looking at the phone.
Very good PSA. I think we have all been in the near miss category. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to matter to those who near hit.
Our lack of respect for the skill and art of driving has been with us since the beginning of the automobile. Road Rage? Just watch Disney’s “Motor Mania” which came out in 1950. Goofy, as the Everyman, shows us what happens to many people when they go from being Mr. Walker, then get behind the wheel of a car and become, “Mr. Wheeler… a motorist!”
Sorry to hear about your near-miss, Brig. A comedian from 30 years ago suggested everyone should have a dart gun with neon orange rubber darts that have a little flag on the end. Then, when a driver does something stupid, you can shoot the car with the dart gun, warning other people. And if a car gets too many darts, a cop can pull them over and give them a ticket for being an idiot.
Shelby…. Gah! I’m sorry for the trouble that caused your friend…. It’s good that there wasn’t injury!
Pasha-meow-meow…. I see more and more, as I ride my bike, that people don’t pay attention. I find the whole phone in the car thing just one more way to do in bicyclists and peds. Keep vigilant!
Yat… as it should be!
Mary… yah… hiding the phone in your lap… and it is SOOOO obvious… is certainly adding to the danger…. and YET…. you see it all the time!
Fuse… thanks… just another friendly reminder from your Squiddy comic strip.
Pete… Ha! Yah… that’s a good toon! I love the narration in that cartoon.
…. and tanks… and I do believe the car darts would be an effective way to handle that… except aiming and shooting is distracting, too… non?
One of the few times that I have ever had to go to court (and the others were jury duty) was as a witness to an ‘accident’ a woman was driving a car past a stop sign without stopping, reading papers on the passenger seat, and talking into her cell phone. She ran someone over – only stopping when people pounded on her window.
Her excuse at the trial? ‘I thought that I had stopped’. >:-(
What. The. Heck. Lady?
Needless to say, she lost.
The Auld Grump
I can check my phone while driving …
… because I have bluetooth link to the car and heads-up display so I don’t actually have to look AT the phone. 😀
C’mon, I’m not stupid … I’m a GEEK. Ford/Chevy want to woo me away from my Prius? Then make me the geektoy car I want instead of trying to convince me I “want” a Hummer!
Grump… GEEEZ… I hope that woman doesn’t have anybody that depended on her for like basic needs. Like a small pet or child. Goodness I thought I fed you, Fluffy… I guess I didn’t.
Grey… Geek is good. Wouldn’t it be cool if cars came with some sort of integrated bluetooth thingie that took care of the phone issue? It could happen. It’d at least help.
Not to bash on the cyclists out there but I’ve seen a few cyclists texting while driving a bike. Oh and they weren’t wearing a helmet either and were rolling on the sikewalk instead of the bike lane. Some people or just idiots, whether they’re a syclist, a motorrist or a pedestrian. Like people crossing the street without looking on a red light. Yah you don’t have the right of way as a pedestrian if your jaywalking!
Ep… The total best is when there was a guy on a bike, texting with a dog on a leash! Honest! I’ve kept that one in the back of my mind for a future toon. I think Idiots should be yanked from the road, in general. No matter how many wheels they got… or no wheels.
It’s also a matter of rider skill. I’ve ridden a bike to walk a horse before… And I was on ruralish but nonetheless public roads. But I was quite aware of the traffic around me. The real problem is distraction while operating a vehicle (of which bicycles are too).
I have two family members whose vehicle was hit by a texting driver. Very aggravating. They were sore for a very long time.