I’ve just completed A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention by Matt Richtel. This book tells of the moving aftermath of a very serious car accident that occurred in Utah in 2006. Early one September morning, a young man was texting in his vehicle on the way to his job painting houses…
With each text while negotiating slippery roads, the young man’s car veered into the oncoming lane and back again, as witnessed by another driver. It was during one of these moments of inatention and moving into another lane that the young man clipped an oncoming vehicle…
Within moments, two men from this other vehicle lost their lives. They were both husbands, fathers, scientists and had many years ahead of them…
Richtel’s book was not only emotional to read, but it also challenged me to ponder such things as the process of lawmaking, society’s differing viewpoints on policy, technology, and the human brain’s ability to keep up with our very fast-paced world…
Ten years after that terrible accident, we have laws in place about texting and driving, as well as for the general use of phones in a vehicle. It now seems too, common sense to put your phone away while driving. But most of us would be telling a fib if we said we hadn’t broken these laws now and again (checking a text, taking a call), if not perpetually. Further, this accident was only one of many that has been caused by distracted driving while using a phone. People continue to lose their lives, over a text message…
A Deadly Wandering illustrates with more than emotion, but also science, how using your phone while driving isn’t the same as changing the station on the radio. It distracts attention on a whole other level, with risks comparable to driving while intoxicated…
I’d encourage anyone to read this book for its applicability to our daily life. Not only does it take us through one story of family and loss that helped forge important driving laws, but it is also highly enlightening while discussing our adaptations to a world of technology. Alternate chapters will require either a tissue in hand (the personal story part), or your thinking caps tied on tight (the brain science part)…
Whether or not you pick up a copy however, the main point of this narrative is to remind each of us to put our phones away when we drive. Be good to others, be good to yourself. My dinosaur-aged flip phone will certainly remain at the bottom of my purse with the spare bobby pins and pennies while I’m on the road; Richtel’s tale has certainly seen to that!
Inspired By Venice 
Thank you for sharing this very important message as contained in this book and your annotations. However, the most egregious offenders probably don’t read anything more than a txt msg. People seem to have forgotten society before cell phones and GPS. I’m not opposed to the advancements in technology, but the development is outpacing society’s ability to use new technology wisely.
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According to this book, there is wisdom in your pointing out that ‘development is outpacing society’s ability’. A Deadly Wandering speaks on that. Apart from folks just checking their phones for social reasons while on the road too, many feel very pressured to do so because of their jobs, etc. It really is a bigger conversation than on the individual level of conduct…it’s something society should be speaking about on the whole. Our society is becoming so fast-paced and blurry that people feel real pressures to always ‘take that call’ or ‘return that text’. That certainly isn’t ideal, and can also put safety at risk.
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Great review on a serious subject.
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Thank you! After reading this book, I notice people on their phones in their cars constantly. I wish everyone would read A Deadly Wandering, it is a real eye opener.
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