Not because of the talking

So, our province (along with many others) has had a no cell phone when you're driving by-law for a while. Which is fine. It was terrible at first, because you'd be driving along behind someone who would suddenly - no signal or anything - pull over to answer the phone. Or, as happened TWICE to me, you'd be behind someone who just...stops. Right in the middle of the road. Because their cell phone rang, and on the one hand you can't talk and drive and on the other hand apparently it's more than your life - and car - is worth to just let it go without answering. IDIOTS.

Things settled down after a while. There are still people - LOTS of people - who don't care, and they use their cell phones regardless of the law. Me, I don't have spare cash for a ticket, so I don't use it. If I'm worried that some child has to find me, I pull over. I signal, and very carefully pull over. And then I check to see who called. I'm never in such a panic to answer that I pull over in time to answer the thing.

All of this is to say that I've always assumed that it was the talking that was a danger. You know, lack of focus means you could be so intent on your call that you don't see granny crossing the street. Call is answered, granny gets squished.

Turns out there are far more serious dangers with in-car cell phone use. I was driving up the main drag yesterday, and came upon a car that was swerving from one lane to the other. Thought the driver was drunk. Thought about the RID thing, "Report Impaired Driving". But then I'd have to find a place to safely pull over. That's when I saw what was really going on:

The driver was holding a cell phone out the window with his left hand. Driving - sort of - with his right. He was also using his right hand to fight off the passenger, who clearly wanted the phone back. Yup, you've got that right: fighting over a phone in a moving car. Whilst driving to drive said moving car. On a busy downtown street. And to quote my high school driver's ed class, "This is not a car. It is a 2000 pound killing machine". I took my turn (he was temporarily in the turning lane, but that was just part of the bad fight-driving), he/they kept going. I hope he tossed the phone out the window. And if they hit something...may it have been something non-living.