Nice to know that WNYers live in TX. I hail from Lancaster and work at a a long established research facility across from the buffalo airport in Cheektowaga. My line of work is federal crash investigation. It would then follow that I know quite a bit about crashes and distractions. So when I say I am vigilant, what I'm saying is that I envision crashes and understand many of their contributing circumstances and therefore can perhaps perceive things a bit differently and can discern telltale indicators as they develop. Which is why I probably escaped that potential crash scenario.

As to the cell phone phenomenon, I agree that it is a fact of life (and perhaps death). We recently had a crash locally where 5 teen age girls perished after the driver was distracted by her cell phone and crossed the centerlne and struck a truck head-on.

There are so many daily close calls but then again 40,000+ people perish each year on our roads. Can't say what the percentage of cell phone usage is that resulted in these crashes but when you consider roughly 85% of crashes are human induced, no wonder why states and the federal government are desperate to find a way to limit the incursion of these devices into safe driving practices. In the meantime, I agree extra vigilance is essential. The public's desire to insist on using distracting devices (e.g., cell phones, etc.) will ultimately result in the increase in IT system intervention (a cost to be borne by the public...wonder if everyone understands the true cost of cell phones, but then again what is the price of life).

Thanks for your comments...when you visit home again, take a ride along he Niagara River bike path. It has come a long way.