An Open Letter to the Guy on His Phone While Driving in WF

I don’t mean to be preachy, but I really feel like I need to address this.

It seems like I notice someone on their phone while driving here in Wichita Falls almost every day. And I’m not talking about people talking on their phone while driving (which is still a bad idea), but people with their phones in front of them watching videos or whatever while driving.

The thing is, I can almost always tell when another driver is on their phone when I’m behind them. I’ll see someone going really, really slow and swerving all over the place. Sure enough, when I pull up next to them, they’ll have their phone in front of them. I guess they think it’s okay to be distracted if they’re going below the speed limit.

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I actually saw one guy on McNeil a little while back going about 15 mph and swerving in and out of the oncoming lane. When I got closer to him, I could see that he was watching a video and laughing his ass off. I just shook my head, but another dude driving a big ol’ 4-wheel drive pickup pulled up next to him and cussed him out royally. And here’s the thing – the guy on his phone looked like he couldn’t understand why the other dude was pissed.

So, if you’re that guy and reading this, here’s why he was so pissed. According to TxDOT, distracted driving is the Number 2 cause for traffic crashes in Texas. 364 people died and 2,200 people were seriously injured due to distracted driving in 2020. Think about that next time you get the urge to watch YouTube videos while operating a 4,000 lb. hunk of metal.

Oh yeah, and there’s also the fact that the use of hand-held mobile devices by drivers is illegal in Wichita Falls.

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