Dear Editor:
This letter is a follow-up to my letter "The cost of irresponsible driving" published 11/9/16. The subject of my letter was to question the millions being spent on cable installation on curves like the Mel Ray curve and others to protect the public from irresponsible drivers and the drivers their selves.
I call your attention to an 11/21/16 CBS News article 'Why hundreds are killed in crashes in parking lots and garages every year'. (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/parking-lot-accidents-distracted-drivers-national-safety-council/).
Quotes from the article: "The National Safety Council finds as many as two-thirds of drivers may be pulling into shopping centers distracted. One in five accidents happen in parking lots.
The leading culprit for distraction is the cellphone, reports CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave. Be it making calls or texting while driving in a parking lot, researchers say the slower speeds give people a false sense of security. Even though people tend to drive a lot slower in a place like this, the consequences of distraction and other driving mistakes can be deadly." "But the National Safety Council found on average at least 60,000 are injured and 500 or more die in the 50,000 plus crashes in parking lots and garages every year."
I refer to a website: "Cell Phone Use While Driving Statistics". (https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cause-of-accident/cell-phone/cell-phone-statistics.html). Quotes from the article:
"In 2013, 3,154 people were killed in distraction-related crashes."
"Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk."
"74 percent of drivers support a ban on hand-held cell phone use."
For those who are unfamiliar with the Missouri laws on cell phone use while driving, I offer the following website reference. (http://www.drivinglaws.org/missouri.php#). "Except for commercial and novice (under 21) drivers, there is no prohibition on cell phone use while driving in Missouri."
Wake up politicians and bureaucrats, there is no way we have the money to put cables everywhere to protect us citizens from the stupidity of the irresponsible drivers using cell phones while driving! Food for thought; prior to cell phones, if we had no drunk driving laws, would we be spending millions installing cables protecting us from drunk drivers? I don't think so.
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