[Avodah] Cellphones and Driving: A Halachik Perspective by R. Yose f Kanefsky

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

(This post cites no halachik sources, and might be better suited for Areivim. But this thread is about pikuach nefesh, and I hope that the moderator will let it though. Thanks.)

R' Zev Sero asked:

> What makes you think that a few studies from a handful of people
> who are highly nogeia badavar is "playing the odds"?  What makes
> you think they turn out to be wrong in only a minority of cases?

Several years ago, I spoke to my children - who were already driving and with phones of their own - about using the cell phone while driving. I did not cite any statistics, nor lecture down to them. I merely commented on my own personal experiences, which I'll now share with the chevrah. Whether this is enough to warrant a halachic injunction is something I will not comment on.

I said to them, "I'm trying to cut back on using my phone while driving, but I'll admit that I do it occasionally. I've noticed that whenever I finish a call while I'm driving, the first thing I do after hanging up is to ask myself, 'Okay, where am I?'"

Most nodded their heads in agreement, but one blurted, "Oh my G-d! Me too! Exactly!"

My point is that I don't need any experts to tell me how distracted one can get. The "Where am I?" experience is truly frightening.

(On the other hand, truth be told, I get to similar levels of distraction in a conversation with people who are actually in the car with me. But that's an argument against such conversations, and should not be twisted into arguing in favor of cell phone use.)

Akiva Miller

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