Note: This post takes a slight tangent from my usual social media focus. Bear with me – normal service will resume shortly…
In our hyper-connected, always-on world, the vibrating of your phone can result in an almost pavlovian-like response. There’s almost a fear that if you don’t see emails the moment they come in then you’ll miss something.
Reality check: Most things can wait. Especially if you’re driving at the time.
A video I tweeted about (embedded below) recently really drove home the point for me. This video communicates the message clearly and memorably in a way that words or still images could not. It’s a great example of the power of video when used correctly.
Hopefully this will make you think twice before sending or reading emails/text messages while you’re driving. If you’re in Ontario, it will soon be illegal to do so anyway, but frankly the potential consequences are a more compelling reason not to do so than the rules.
Warning: The video below is explicit and very emotional. I suggest you don’t watch it with young kids around, and brace yourself. On the other hand it should be mandatory viewing for new drivers.
This cements for me NOT to text while driving. Im glad they are working on passing a law to stop even cell phone use while driving. Humans can only focus on one thing at a time. Multi-tasking is misunderstood as a term. We seriously go down in productivity doing 2 things at once. Try singing a camp song while typing your A, B,C’s on your keyboard right now to prove my point.
Be well and be safe everyone!
I showed this video to my kids last week. One will have friends who will be driving this school year – frightening, I know. The message I wanted to hit home was not only how the driver was distracted but how her friends were distracting her with their texting while in the passenger seats.
If the best PR is about the story (and I’m a big fan of that idea), then this could be one of the best PR promos around.
Yes, it is in-your-face; no, it doesn’t hold back the punches; but then, don’t we sometimes need reminders how fragile life is?
Thanks for putting this out there, Dave.
Dave, due to my addiction to work/Twitter/social life, I too have been dumb enough to text and drive. My wife is constently scolding me for it but now thanks to this video, my “ya ya ya” response will no longer be needed since it simply won’t happen again. You are 100% correct in saying “it can wait”. I’m glad it took this video to remind me of that before it was too late.
What a fantastic video. Hopefully it(and I’m sure it will) save lives. Thanks for sharing.
Not only should it be mandatory for new drivers, but experienced drivers as well.
As a habitual texter/tweeter behind the wheel, this is an impactful video. Sincere thanks for drawing attention to it.