Keller @ Large: Blame Rise In Traffic Deaths On Phones

BOSTON (CBS) - It should be horrifying to all of us that the latest traffic fatality figures show driving deaths in Massachusetts are up sharply, the largest two-year increase in more than fifty years.

Horrifying, but not surprising.

Why is this happening, not just here at home but across the country?

A surge in the number of vehicles on the road, no doubt, with all of the frustration and road rage that comes with more traffic. But let's face it, the obvious chief culprit is smartphones, and their completely irresponsible misuse by drivers.

I see it every day and I'm sure you do too, people of every age and class, so addicted to their phones that they are willing to risk their lives and yours to read that text or check that Twitter feed, even though there is nothing there that couldn't wait until they get where they're going.

It's a scary, and bloody situation. So what do we do about it?

Late last year federal regulators called on smartphone makers to voluntarily add a driver's mode to their products that would identify when the user is behind the wheel and block access to especially-distracting phone functions.

That sounds like a good idea, if the tech giants can be bothered to go along. But it won't solve the problem. For instance, what's to stop a passenger in the car from handing their phone to the driver?

The bottom line is, the technology isn't killing people; irresponsible users of it are to blame for that.

Massive social pressure of the kind that slashed smoking rates years ago is needed to force the reckless drivers among us to shape up, and stop the insanity.

Share your take on this via email at keller@wbztv.com, or you can reach out on Twitter, @kelleratlarge.