There is no doubt in my mind that as our cellphones become more sophisticated and are capable of performing more functions, we will have more reasons and more temptation to use them while driving. While in the past the only distraction was being on the phone, later it became taking our eyes of the road and texting, and now it is browsing the internet and watching videos and movies.  

It takes real life experience to know how devastating the effects of taking your eyes off the road for just a few second could be. Some of the most serious accidents that occurred in the San Francisco bay area were caused by a driver who was looking at his/her phone for one reason or another, and not noticing the the traffic in front was slowing down or stopped altogether, or that someone in front changed lanes, or even worse - a pedestrian or a cyclist was crossing the street. 

I realize that driving without doing anything else can be very daunting, especially when you find yourself on a long drive on a freeway. There are far less dangerous options to keep yourself entertained while driving. Listening to audio books or motivational seminars is one option that I find particularly useful and enjoyable, and I suggest this to all my friends. So often we complain that we don't have time to read and learn the things you want. Use those long hours of commute for this exact purpose and you might be surprised how many interesting and useful things you can learn. 

The recent statistics in the San Francisco Bay Area suggest that more and more accidents are caused by texting and browsing internet on a cellphone while driving. It is hard to resist the temptation to use these conveniences, especially during the long commute and heavy traffic. Despite the new laws which made it illegal to text while driving in California, people continue texting and talking on their cellphones without a headset while driving.  

While the most common accident caused by texting is the rear-end accident in the stop and go traffic, these kinds of accidents are usually not very serious. On the other hand, texting is particularly dangerous on the busy streets of larger cities, where the likelihood of a pedestrian crossing the street unexpectedly, or a biker swerving into your lane or a car stopping in front of you, or children crossing the street near a school is much higher than on a freeway or in smaller towns.  

It is therefore critical to avoid texting while driving in the areas where there are is a lot of entertainment activity (cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc...). These are the areas, where someone intoxicated can pop onto the street without thinking too much and who you can hit because you took your eyes off the street for just a few second. This kind of incident will not just be a car accident, but it will be a criminal offense on your part.