I took the bus home yesterday from work. While I was waiting, I watched cars go by. I noticed that some drivers were talking on their cell phones as they drove. I wondered how many drivers do that during the evening rush hour, so I thought I’d see how many cars I could count going by until I counted a car with a driver on the phone. How high do you think I counted? Up to 20? Maybe only up to 10? I’ll tell you, I never got past 6. Sometimes I only got up to 1. In a 15 minute span, it turned out that about 1 of every 3 or 4 drivers was talking on the phone. That’s 25%-33% of every driver I saw. Now that’s good news if you’re in the business of selling cell phones, I guess. Or maybe if you own a body shop, as studies have shown drivers who talk on a phone and drive are dangerous. In fact, they can be more dangerous than drunk drivers!

Granted, my little survey was not very scientific – but man, that seems like a lot of distracted drivers. And speaking as a regular bicycle commuter, let me tell all you talk ‘n drive jockeys out there something. YOU’RE NOT AS GOOD A DRIVER AS YOU THINK YOU ARE. There, I’ve said it. So put your hands on the wheel, and your eyes upon the road (and every 5 seconds your rear view mirror), please! Shut up and drive.