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'Commuter Crossroads' by Michael Kole Date published: 1/10/2010
IHEARD a news story recently about a teenager who was killed by a train while walking along railroad tracks on her way to school. Apparently, this Baltimore-area teen was walking with a friend and listening to music using earphones. Her friend, who was not using earphones, heard the train coming and was able to get out of harm's way. But the girl listening to the music was not so lucky. She was pronounced dead at the scene. This situation made me think about our daily commute and how many times I often wonder whether these people are purposely ignoring the sirens, or are not responding because they can't hear them clearly because they are distracted by music coming through earphones. Drivers with Bluetooth devices hanging off one ear and talking into space are bad enough. But at least they have one ear free to hear what is going on with traffic around them. It is truly frightening to think that there might be a significant number of drivers who are tuned out completely because they are plugged into their iPods. While I'm complaining, I don't want to leave out any details about how difficult it is trying to deal with pedestrians who are sporting these iPods or mp3 players and crossing the street against the light, walking blindly through the middle of parking lots and generally not paying attention to where they are going or the cars around them. When I started this column I told myself I was not going to say anything about texting because it was "old news" and a lot of attention has been focused on texting, and texting while driving, in the media. However, because it is very important to emphasize that texting while driving is absolutely the wrong thing to do, for all commuters who must travel the roads, I will mention how dangerous it is to drive while trying to text a message or even read a text message. Driving is something that requires one's attention at all times. Listening to music or books through earphones, talking endlessly on your cell phone or attempting to read or send text messages all distract drivers from paying close attention to driving and all that is going on around them. Be alert to those who might be lurking around your vehicle whether they are on foot or in the car next to you. It is clearly too important to ignore. It may save your life someday or the life of someone close to you.
Michael Kole of Spotsylvania County commutes to Alexandria. Write him c/o Commuter Crossroads, The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401, or e-mail
Wait a second? Isn't wearing earphones while driving illegal in Virginia? Granted, I do listen to music while I am driving, but it is through the car's own stereo system, never through a set of earphones connected to an iPod. Even with that, I can still hear if something is coming up with sirens on.
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