There’s an app for that

It is interesting how quickly a word or phrase can become second nature or embedded in our popular culture.   Certainly, the phrase, “There’s an app for that” has helped propel Apple from MP3 manufacturer to a titan in the cell phone business.   Apple’s evolution from a computer manufacturer, to MP3 to Smart Phone to PC manufacturer is a completely different topic, but there slogan really points out the pervasiveness in our society of “smart phones”.

I bought my first cell phone in 92 and it was huge… you did not take it everywhere with you and really, you could not talk and drive because it was too BIG.

Less than 20 years later, the cell phone is now a powerful device, which can surf the web, give you directions, text your friends, prepare a spreadsheet, have an actual video conversation, play games, you name it… it probably can do it.   I have an IPhone 4 and I love it.   But with the rapid advancement, the power of the tool and the decreasing size of the tool, a whole new subset of problems have occurred.

A recent National Safety Council (NSC) survey revealed that one out of five Fortune 500 that responded to the survey had instituted a total ban on cell phone use while driving covering all employees.   Employers who have employees who are in the business of driving are worried.   They are worried about their employees safety and about their liability.   Companies are instituting employee driver safety programs and policies which are centered strictly around the use of today’s technology while the employee is driving.

I was at Cookoff last week with a vendor of mine and talking to one their employees.   They would definitely be in the Fortune 500 ranks, if not Fortune 50.    I had a situation a few weeks back where I had to call on this employee for assistance and I was thanking him not only for his help, but when he answered my phone call, he also said can I call you right back, I need to pull over.

I was thanking him for resolving my situation and for the fact, given how important he is to a lot of people in the Houston area, that he pulled over before having a conversation.   He and I were joking because I said I was more impressed given the fact I thought a prerequisite of working for them required the surgical attachment of a Blackberry and it was the largest group of multitaskers I had ever interacted with (there were texts, emails and phone calls being taken by all the employees of this vendor during the event).

He said state police pull up behind him on the road all the time, because he always pulls over to talk.   Then very seriously he said the multitasking and the distracted driving in his organization had to stop and it was a very real problem.

As I have previously mentioned in several of my blogs, fatalities attributed to distracted driving almost exceed that of driving while intoxicated and we have a very dangerous situation with our instant gratification society and our habits related to transportation.

There are a lot of defensive driving courses available online that will help you overcome the temptation of distracted driving and other problems.

Worst case scenario – pull over to the side of the road and have your conversation there.