Family doctors urged to warn us about dangers of texting while driving

There are so many dumb ways to die. Texting while driving is just one of them.

A Canadian medical journal is urging family doctors get involved in the campaign to stop people from using cell phones in a moving car, suggesting doctors question and counsel patients on the dangers of distracted driving.

In an article posted in the latest issue of Canadian Family Physician, three Alberta doctors identify using a cell phone while driving as a significant health concern.

“As physicians, patients regard us as community leaders and experts in health and safety,” the article reads. “We are in a unique position to influence the thoughts and behaviour of people regarding their overall health and well-being by educating them about the issue of distracted driving."

The numbers are telling and, by all accounts – including logic – using cell phones while driving is a bad idea. Texting while driving increases the risk of collision by 23 times, according to the article.

Talking on cell phones while driving has been found to increase the risk of collision by four to six times, and there are questions about how much safer using hands-free devices actually are.

A 2004 study found that using a cell phone while driving is pretty much the same as driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol (if not worse).

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What does all this mean? Well, for police forces it means there is a new threat out there to address. Traffic blitzes that have officers target distracted drivers are more common than ever.

For the medical community, it poses problems as well. More collisions mean more injuries, which mean not only more visitors to emergency rooms but also more likelihood that family doctors will see patients suffering from long-term issues related to those accidents.

The Canadian Family Physician article states:

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Fair enough. We go to the doctor to figure out how to get healthy and how to stay healthy. They have our undivided attention. If they tell us something is bad for us, we are likely to listen. We may not heed their warning (amirite, smokers?) but we’ll listen.

But texting while driving is so obviously a stupid idea at this point that it shouldn’t have to be our family doctor’s job to urge us not to do it. Swimming in shark-infested waters with a bathing suit made of chum is bad for my health. Eating things you find on the floor of the subway is bad for your health. Sometimes personal responsibility (and natural selection) should simply rule the day.

Frankly, there are so many dumb ways to die. Why should our family doctor be expected to warn us about all of them? So while I support the idea of family doctors taking counselling against texting while driving, I question a world where that is necessary.

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