Chicago DUI attorney comments on the fear of unplugging in a connected world

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here, here, and here about distracted driving.

Even the Suntimes Editorial weighed in on the local tragedy connected to distracted driving:

July 25, Chicago, Il:

As he sentenced to 18 months in prison a driver who -- while painting her nails -- ran over and killed a motorcyclist, Lake County Judge Fred Foreman on Thursday lamented America's "epidemic" of distracted driving.

Epidemic is right.

When we drive, according to a recent federal study, we spend almost a fourth of our time behind the wheel doing something else, such as talking on the phone, putting on makeup or dealing with a pet.

Roughly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involve drivers who were distracted by someone or something within three seconds of the incident, an earlier report concluded.

Obviously, we know better than to drive while glancing at a newspaper or reaching for something in the back seat.

Yet we've convinced ourselves that we can take our eyes off the road for a moment or two without doing harm.

 So how did we get to this point?  For me, it all started with the horrifying death of a young woman a long time ago.  This was back in the era of car phones.

From cbschicago.com:

It's hard to believe the Tammy Zywicki story from 17 years ago still hasn't been solved. At the time, the crime shocked Chicago and especially parents who watch their sons and daughters drive off to college every fall. Who doesn't take a deep breath in fear that something might happen? As CBS 2's Bill Kurtis reports in this cold case, it did. 

Tammy Zywicki was a year away from graduation and on her last official drive to college in the summer of 1992. 

On August 23rd, the 21-year-old dropped off her brother at Northwestern University. She then pointed her car toward Grinnell College in Iowa for a senior year she would never begin. 

Later that day, Tammy's white 1985 Pontiac was discovered off Interstate 80, abandoned with no trace of the young coed. It was as if she simply vanished. 

Nine days later, the unthinkable happened. Near the town of Joplin in rural Missouri, almost 500 miles from her recovered car, Tammy's beaten body was uncovered in a ditch. She had been stabbed repeatedly and sexually assaulted. 

Somewhere between Chicago and central Illinois, the drive for Tammy Zywicki took a deadly turn. 

A nationwide manhunt followed with facts that could script every parent's nightmare: a young daughter is kidnapped and brutally murdered while driving to college alone. 

A passerby caught the last known glimpse of Tammy alive on Interstate 80 by LaSalle, Ill. At mile marker 83, she was seen crouched over her popped hood after her car had apparently broken down. 

This was a huge story and I promptly purchased, like scores of local women, an expensive (and huge) car phone.  There was no way we were going to rely on the kindness of strangers in case we had car trouble. 

Today we use our phones for everything from checking email to providing us with GPS directions to our destination.  In our 24/7 society it is difficult to convince peoples that unplugging (reading, eating, or painting our nails) can mean the difference between life and death.