When drivers are distracted behind the wheel. Most people think the culprit must be a cell phone New research says while cell phone are a concern, more drivers are distracted by things like playing with the radio, eating, or combing their hair behind the wheel. The study is the first to use in-car video cameras to record driving habits. A research group funded by the American Automobile Association found 70 percent of motorists were distracted at some point by conditions inside or outside the automobile.

Highway safety figures show that 25 percent of all traffic crashes are caused by distractions. Almost all of the drivers studied manipulated the music or audio controls, 71 percent ate or drank, and about half groomed themselves. About 40 percent of the drivers read or wrote behind the wheel, but most of the reading and writing, and a third of the grooming occurred while the vehicle was stopped.

Pervious research found that cell phones, children, rubbernecking, and adjusting the radio or CD player created distractions that contribute to accidents. Surveys for the national Highway Traffic Safety Administration last year found that few drivers considered those activities potentially dangerous.

Peter Kissinger, president of the AAA traffic safety foundation says, “People often underestimate the seriousness of distractions because not every distraction leads to a crash.” He added, “ But if you are distracted just when someone pulls out in front of you, your lack of attention can be catastrophic.”

—Reuters, US drivers distracted by phones, eating, grooming, August 6, 2003. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Any distraction that averts our attention from our mission will have catastrophic results. I’m not talking about driving now, I’m talking about the work that God has called us to.

Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Cell phones have become a problem for many churches. I have a friend who puts the number of the local Pizza Hut up on the big screen before service with the words, "If your cell phone rings during the service, you have to buy pizza for everyone in attendance today."

Some churches in Mexico are using state-of-the art-technology developed by electronic warfare experts to silence cell phones that often ring during worship services. Four churches in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey are using equipment developed by defense and military experts to jam mobile phone systems.The signal jamming equipment is packed into two wall-mounted boxes the size of small speakers. One is located beside the altar, the other at the entrance.When switched on before a service, the system causes a "no signal" message to be displayed on the phones.

Bulmaro Carranza, caretaker at one the churches says before the system, was in place, it was uncomfortable hearing calls coming in during services.He says, "Now it's 95 percent quiet."He adds, "We believe that we were the first church in Mexico to use this technology. Now we're getting calls from all over the country to see how it can be installed."

—Reuters, Churches Wage High-Tech War on Cell Phones, September 22, 2004. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV) "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

A Texas man says a low flying pelican and a dropped cell phone caused him to damage his expensive sports car. The man was driving a 2006 Bugatti Veyron (the fastest and most expensive production vehicle in the world) north on a frontage road about 35 miles southeast of Houston when the bird distracted him. He told police he was so surprised that he dropped his cell phone and when he reached to pick it up, the million dollar car veered off the highway and into a nearby salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine when police arrived.

A tow truck driver called to pull the car from the marsh said the driver seemed to take the expensive mistake in stride. The truck driver told a local paper, “If it had been me, I’d have been cussing, but he was calm. I imagine inside he was pretty upset.” Police spokesman, Lt. Greg Gilchrist said the motorist was not injured, but he was not sure about the car. He added, “Salt water isn’t good for anything.”

--Texan drives $1 million dollar car into marshes, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33906595/ns/us_news-weird_news/; Friday, November 13, 2009, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

1 Timothy 1:18-20 (NIV) “Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, (19) holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. (20) Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.”

Driving while distracted has been blamed for a growing number of accidents and highway deaths over the past few years. Typical concerns are talking on the cell phone, changing the radio station, or texting. A fifty-seven year old California woman may be the champion of driving while distracted. Kathy Smith says she routinely puts nylons on behind the wheel, and often drives with her knees so she can balance her cell phone and note-taking. Smith says when her daughter was young, she sometimes ran so late, she left the house in pajamas, and was fully dressed by the time she arrived at work. Smith said her proudest moment was making an entire salad behind the wheel with everything including knives, cutting board, veggies, pasta, and mayo on her way to a funeral. Smith told an ABC reporter, “I’m really good.”

Tom Vanderbilt , author of a best-selling book about distracted driving says people have been concerned about distraction ever since radios were installed in cars. He says cell phones and texting consume significantly more “mental resources.” He says texting may be the “perfect storm” because it involves visual, tactile, and cognitive distraction. Vanderbilt said, “One psychologist mentioned to me he was surprised it would even be a source of study. ‘What’s next?’ he joked, “’studying the effects of driving while blindfolded?’”

--From Making Salad to Getting Dressed – What Are Drivers Doing Behind the Wheel?, http://abcnews.go.com/US/driving-distracted-making-salads-dressed/story?id=8826910; October 15, 2009,

The same thing that is true for driving is true for the way we live our life. We are a distracted generation. With so much at stake, why would anyone allow themselves to be so distracted?

Philippians 3:12-14 (CEV) “I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. (13) My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. (14) I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.”