An accident early yesterday morning resulted in the death of a young, local man.
While his death is tragic, and even more traumatic to the family member who was with him at the time, it serves as a reminder to put down cellphones and pay attention to our surroundings.
An article in today’s edition reports that the man was walking north along Interstate-59 after his vehicle broke down and strayed into the right-hand lane where he was struck by an 18-wheeler.
The county coroner said the man was preoccupied with his cellphone, which caused him to walk into the path of traffic.
Even in the early hours of the morning, there was enough traffic on the busy interstate for this slight misstep to cost a man his life.
The coroner, along with the Mississippi Highway Patrol, said accidents caused by cellphone usage are increasing, almost dramatically.
It is very hard to find a driver today that doesn’t use their cellphone while operating their vehicle, whether for directions, a phone call, texting or using social media.
While it’s ironic to see billboards pointing out that texting can wait, because they too can be distracting, they serve a purpose.
Teenagers especially are known for being in more accidents because they were looking at their cellphones while driving.
It’s a common habit to scroll through social media posts while waiting for anything, a bus, a meal at a restaurant or even at a traffic light.
We pick up our cellphones during the briefest moment of boredom, rather than just take a moment to be still.
Another downside to being on cellphones a lot of the time is missing out on the face to face interaction with those in our lives. We are all guilty of this.
We don’t talk to one another as much while we wait in line for our morning coffee or at the checkout line in the grocery store.
We have become so attached to our phones in our daily lives that it interferes with our safety.
These habits need to be broken, not only to save our own lives, but also someone else’s.