The Dangers of Business on the Highway

The Gainesville Sun recently covered a story of how business, especially white collar, is becoming progressively more dangerous. With the stress of the contracting economy, more and more people are looking for ways to improve their productivity. Office workers who spend a portion of their schedule commuting are increasingly using their car as an extension of their office. Taking calls, answering emails, replying to texts, all common occurrences on busy highways. Its not just white collar workers who are contributing to these safety hazards; blue collar workers are often forced by their bosses to be tethered to a dispatcher through a phone or walky-talky while on the road.

What does this mean? Less attention is paid to driving, and more to communicating. The U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the phenomena a "deadly epidemic." Evidently, these distractions impair one’s ability to effectively operate a motor vehicle, similar to an intoxicated driver. Will the lawmakers take action to remedy this dangerous trend? Its hard to say. The enterprising employee, trying to squeeze every last ounce of productivity out of his or her time is the epitome of the "American Dream." Thus, driving while distracted by activities that are contributing to pulling the economy out of recession seem much less culpable than driving while drunk. None the less, people are dying from these distractions. The lawmakers need to take a serious look at the consequences of not regulating this practice, and decide whether it is worth the cost.