AAA, police warn against distracted driving

Chowing down on a burger, reading something on an iPhone, fiddling with compact discs, picking up a rolling soda bottle, comforting a wailing child: they're all fine things to do, just not while driving. That was the point police and safety experts made Wednesday with a plea for motorists to concentrate on driving.

"We are too smart to be killing ourselves and others by doing what we know is wrong," said Martha Meade of AAA Mid-Atlantic during a news conference held to mark Virginia's Distracted Driving Awareness Day (April is also the first-ever National Distracted Driving Awareness Month).

More than 80 percent of those queried in a AAA poll this spring want stricter penalties for distracted driving and more education on the issue, but 44 percent of the group also admits to engaging in the same behaviors.

That describes Sue Nichols, who was outside the Whole Foods in Albemarle County on Wednesday evening.

"I totally think that Virginia should pass a law that says no handheld phones while driving, and I do it, because it's not a law," the Albemarle resident said.

At the news conference, Janet Brooking of DRIVE SMART Virginia emphasized that even minor distractions can lead to major - even fatal - accidents.

"This is all down to the choice that someone has made to take their eyes and/or mind off the road," she said.

According to experts, about four-fifths of all crashes involve distracted drivers.

Also at the news conference, Albemarle County Police Chief John Miller said that the department will be revamping its policies to minimize the amount of time drivers are on the phone. They're already prohibited from text messaging and using in-cruiser computers while driving, he said.

While talking on phones and text messaging received plenty of attention (Virginia has banned text messaging at the wheel), speakers also said that other, older-fashioned distractions still pack a punch too.

One driver who occasionally is distracted by things like food and music is Rebekah Ramirez, of Washington, D.C., who had stopped at Wendy's on U.S. 29 in Albemarle on Wednesday night.

"I'm constantly changing my music," she said.

She also eats breakfast in the car many days, she said.

Mattie Fuller of Ruckersville said he sometimes engages in distracting behavior without giving it much thought.

"Sometimes you don't think about it and you do it automatically, almost," he said.