Oakleaf, I could not agree more.

So many of the drivers that put me in danger on a daily basis do not even seem to know that they are doing so because they are so focused on their conversations. I regularly have people pull out in front of me that are chatting away and never even look in my direction. And if you asked these people if they were distracted they'd probably say 'of course not' because they didn't even see the bicycle they almost hit.

I mean no personal criticism of anyone here, but I think it is sad that our culture is such that our only time to connect with the people we love or the people we need to communicate with is when we're hurdling ourselves down the road at absurd speeds, when we're engaged in our most dangerous activity of the day. Our lives are so complicated that we must do everything at once and in doing so we give everything a fraction of the attention it deserves. I just don't understand it.

Anne