Last September, the
Distracted Driving Legislation (Bill 16) came into effect in Alberta and at
first, I think the new law really made a difference. However, as the months passed I began to see
more and more drivers using their cell phones behind the wheel again. This morning one man’s stupidity almost
changed or could have ended my life or my child(ren)’s.
I was driving into Sherwood
Park for a visit with a friend when, on a two lane road with a speed limit of
80 kph, a man in a minivan crossed the center line seconds before I passed him
in the other direction. He had his head
down and was texting with both hands. I
had just enough time to swerve to the right to avoid a head on collision. Thankfully, I reacted quickly. Thankfully, his vehicle didn’t veer a second
or two later. Thankfully, the side road
was wide enough to compensate. Someone
was watching over the three of us this morning.
The thing that upsets me the most is that he was so absorbed in his
inattention that he didn’t even look up when I swerved, he was completely
unaware that his vehicle almost collided with mine.
I deserve to watch Ben and
Kate grow up; to see them finish high school, to dance at their weddings, to spoil
my grandchildren one day. My children
don’t deserve to die strapped into their car seats in the back of a vehicle
before they have even really begun to live.
A child isn’t replaceable and neither are their mother or father. However, the truth of the matter is, everyday
someone’s life changes or ends because of someone’s stupidity and inattention behind
the wheel. No one deserves to lose
someone they love that way. So get off
your phones, stop texting or eating a Big Mac or doing anything that takes your
attention away from the road while you drive.
It’s just not worth it.
