If there’s one thing that should never be done in a cabbie that’s got to be texting.
It’s a no brainer, looking at a screen means the driver is not looking at the road, and that’s where all the action and danger is.
One must ask why people persist with texting when it is so obvious that the risk far outweighs the reward? Surely it can wait.
But the weird thing with cellphones is that they are addictive.
Getting a ‘like’ or a text is a form of social contact, and we are wired to get a chemical brain reward when this happens, and to want more.
That’s why it’s hard to ignore the phone when it sounds.
There is a solution though! Simply put your phone on silent when you drive, and place it in the back seat or the boot.
Out of sight, out of mind.
The same goes for pedestrians, though it’s trickier stashing that phone.
Maybe some good old-fashioned discipline is what’s needed.