Our phones certainly seem to run our lives at times. You know what I am talking about. You’re speaking to a friend and all of a sudden their cell phone rings; your friend requires you to wait as they answer the call. Or, as I am in touch with the sales industry, I’ll call a salesperson and when he or she answers, I always ask for permission to speak. “Hello, this is Chuck, do you have a moment?” The reply, “No, I can’t talk right now, I’m in a meeting with a client.” Then why in the world are you answering the phone?!
As we all know, it doesn’t stop there. Driving down the fast lane on every freeway in America is a person who is so engrossed in their phone call that they are impeding traffic and causing cars to make unnecessary lane changes. With each lane change the chances of an accident increase dramatically. In fact, a recent news report stated that our chances of being involved in a serious car accident are eight times greater when speaking on a cell phone. Even the newer phones with earbuds or wireless headsets did not seem to make any difference in the accident rate. Moreover, you’re more likely to cause an accident when you’re speaking to someone who raises your stress level, the very person you should avoid talking to when trying to drive!
Motor vehicle accidents are obviously on the rise because of cell phones. Why? Cell phones take away our ability to focus on the task at hand, which is driving the car. Whenever I drop something while driving, or my cell phone rings, the words of my flight instructor ring true when recalling a minor distraction in the cockpit – “fly the plane.” Yet, in the car that little voice in your head should say, “drive the car.” Minor distractions can kill! Maybe the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the first city to adopt the “no cell phone while driving” law, was right!
Here is another fact to consider when you’re behind the wheel: the typical reaction time, meaning the time it takes us to realize that there is something we need to react to, is about ¾ of a second. It doesn’t seem like a lot, does it? However, look at these approximate numbers supplied by expert accident investigators:
A car traveling at:
When you apply the ¾ of a second reaction time to these numbers, it’s easy to see why there are so many accidents caused by drivers who are speaking on their cell phones. I’ll never forget the story about the man who was driving his car while talking to his wife on his cell. As he ran a stop sign, his last words that he screamed out to her were, “Oh expletive!” He died on impact as another car hurled into his at the scene.
"Two weeks ago Sales Coach Chuck taught me his Top Secret Fishin’ technique to catch prospects who have been responding to e-mails or phone calls. During the first two weeks of fishin’ for myself, I had 3 closures on 7 call backs that I would have normally never ever had the opportunity to close. I love the efficiency!"
Eric Cereceres
CreditAnswers, Dallas, Texas
