We have all been to the doctor and had them tell us the stuff we shouldn’t be doing – drinking, smoking, and overeating and the stuff we should be doing – eating healthy, wearing our seatbelts, and getting regular checkups. But, should your doctor be asking about your cell phone use while driving?
Dr. Amy Ship is a primary care physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and she has written a paper for the New England Journal of Medicine that says doctors should counsel their patients on the affects of talking on the cell phone or texting while driving.
She notes that as technology is updated, doctors should update their patients on potential risks. Dr. Ship asks her patients if they wear seatbelts then asks if they text while driving. If the patient admits to it, Dr. Ship cautions them of the hazards. One statistic she uses to drive home her point is that drivers who text are about as distracted when driving as those that are drunk. I am sure there are many of you out there that would never think of driving drunk, but text while driving.
But, Dr. Ship doesn’t stop with texting. She also asks her patients to cut down on using cell phones while driving – another distraction. Dr. Ship tells patients that if a call is really important, they should consider pulling to the side of the road to carry on the conversation. She also reminds people that we lived before cell phones were invented and we really need to consider what an “important” call is while driving.
I loved it when I read Dr. Ship’s answer when confronted by patients who say they talk on the cell phone using a hands-free device, so it is okay. She asks them how they would feel if their surgeon removed their appendix while on the phone – hands free of course.
This all makes perfect sense to me. Most doctors feel a responsibility to protect their patients from potential dangers and with videos circulating on Facebook of the hazards of texting, I am on board with my doctor reminding me how risky it really is.