On The Mark: Driving with a mental condition

After months of battling our tourist season traffic I had hoped that the off-season would return our area to the heat, bugs and humidity that year-rounders have come to know as the best time of the year in Southwest Florida.

Best because despite the temperatures and insects, not having to fight the hordes of winter visitors makes life a whole lot easier and enjoyable.

This year, traveling on our road system during the off-season has not seemed much better than tourist season was. Being patient is not any easier either. Fortunately if you find yourself losing your temper during your daily drive, the medical profession has decided this is a clinically-determined mental disorder, certainly not your fault, and of course you need drugs to get better.

What they failed to study is the justification for such a loss of patience as we travel and the effects of another disorder called "cellphoneitis." The National Institute of Mental Health surveyed a group of U.S. citizens and determined that a small percentage (less than eight percent) of that group over reacted to things that should not really be that upsetting.

One of the items that could be representative of this disorder is road rage. No doubt, the group surveyed did not include folks living in Collier County. If so, the percentage would not have been so small.

It is nice to know we now have another medical excuse for bad manners and rude behavior, but instead of looking at people who are exhibiting this kind of behavior and insisting they take tranquilizers, maybe we should be looking at some of the folks who trigger these people's anger and have those folks taken off our roads.

Can you imagine how much better our roads would be if all the drivers who left their common sense at home were simply not allowed to drive? By far, the biggest problem traveling on our roads today are the fools yakking away on their cell phones.

Too many people cannot walk and chew gum at the same time and to allow them to drive around with their minds lost in some unnecessary conversation while they are supposed to be concentrating on maneuvering their vehicle is ludicrous.

The next time you are at light or in a line of traffic look at some of the drivers and you will not be able to avoid seeing at least one, and most likely many, drivers motioning with one hand while holding a phone in the other.

How many folks do you know that have to talk and make motions at the same time? I certainly have personal experience with this activity.

Now imagine that same person who always talks with their hands driving down a busy 55 mph roadway while talking on a cell phone. One small hand gesture and they, along with anyone around them, could end up in a canal.

Cell phones are great tools. They provide for a huge increase in productivity for business and increased safety for family members.

The value of knowing your friend or loved one is safe at any time certainly provides great comfort. But using that same phone to just yak away while driving and thus not paying as close attention to your surroundings is taking something that is beneficial for one's safety and turning it into something that could become a real safety hazard.

Many times the anger that overcomes drivers is the result of actions of others on the road. Look around as you pass someone driving too slow in the left lane or driving erratically and chances are they have a cell phone stuck to their ear.

Worse yet, many drivers are combining holding a cell phone to their ear while they bite on some food, take a drink, or smoke a cigarette; it is unimaginable how they make it from one point to another.

We should not be exposed to the unsafe conditions that unrestricted cell phone use creates on the roadways. The minimum our laws should do is require hands-free operations when using cell phones and driving, then at least the folks who must wave their hands while carrying on a conversation will leave the road a bit safer for the rest of us.

Of course trying to get such a practical law may be somewhat challenging considering the bureaucrats and politicians that would have to weigh in on it are most likely among the largest group of offenders.