Don’t call me, I’m driving
I heard recently that within the first week of California’s new
cell phone law going into effect, more than 1,000 drivers had been
busted for driving and talking.
So far, so good for me. I am not among their numbers. I have not
been stopped or cited. And I’m trying to keep it that way.
But Lord, it’s hard.
Don’t call me, I’m driving
I heard recently that within the first week of California’s new cell phone law going into effect, more than 1,000 drivers had been busted for driving and talking.
So far, so good for me. I am not among their numbers. I have not been stopped or cited. And I’m trying to keep it that way.
But Lord, it’s hard.
We are all so conditioned to pick up a phone when it rings that you tend to pick it up as soon as it sounds off, despite your best intentions.
It’s really an odd thing. It’s a reflex rather than a choice. Kind of like flinching when someone throws a stuffed animal in your face.
I actually remind myself about not answering the phone before getting in the car. Of course, it doesn’t do any good at all.
To give you an example, this happened to me the other day when I was driving on Highway 68 in Salinas. My cell phone rang, playing its merry little jingle that kind of sounds like a fast-forward wind chime. I answered it. A half-second later, I realized I shouldn’t have answered it.
Whoops.
Luckily, John Law was nowhere in sight, and I very lawfully and cautiously pulled over to the side of the road to answer the call. It was my sister-in-law, wondering why I hadn’t phoned her concerning an Exercycle that I was supposed to give her. A highly important call, to be sure.
So as of July 1, we’ve become a state of furtively talking cell phone drivers, some doing it and hoping we won’t be caught, others doing it just kind of accidentally.
I find myself being frustrated by the law, although I understand that it really is a pretty good idea not to drive and talk. Yet we have become accustomed to the convenience of making calls while driving.
Admit it … it was a way to pass time while commuting. You could make a dentist appointment, chat with your mother, check on your special order at Home Depot … you could get a lot done in the car.
Sure, you could buy a Bluetooth or other hands-free device, but that costs money, which we all need to pay for our gas these days.
I’m too cheap for a Bluetooth, and afraid of losing one if I did have it, so I haven’t gotten one yet. Instead, I am resorting to the occasional speakerphone call in the car, which makes you sound as though you’re in a wind tunnel. Most of the call is spent saying “What?” or “Can you repeat that?” and “Let me call you back when I get somewhere.”
It also involves remembering to turn the speaker thingie on. I don’t always remember to do this before I start driving, which is why I end up putting the cell phone up to my ear when it rings, because I’ve forgotten to turn on the speakerphone.
Usually at that point I drop the phone, lose the call and then say a few choice words.
It’s all so complicated.
I do wonder, though, about what happens in these situations. If you do accidentally answer the cell phone while driving, just because of that Pavlovian thing, would you still get a ticket? Because I see that happening to me.
“But officer … it was a conditioned response!”
