My non-riding friends keep saying "but he didn't mean it", "he's broken up over this and he has to live with the guilt"...

I keep trying to explain that if it were unacceptable to do anything except DRIVE THE VEHICLE when you're behind the wheel, if drivers (me included) knew that not paying attention had HUGE consequences, then this sort of thing would happen less and less.

But we keep making cars that insulate us more and more from the act of driving, we are becoming bored passengers who are only peripherally aware of the fact we are piloting a two ton chunk of metal on roads that are populated by other, less armored creatures.