Just a few days ago, I was out for a leisurely run around the neighborhood. I am training to run in the Detroit Half-Marathon in October as a fundraiser for a church mission to Malawi, Africa. Well to be honest, as of late it has been more Not training then training, but this day I decided would be great for a nice short run around a couple of the subs by me, I figured around 2 miles or so. Little did I know that a teenage girl on a bike could be such a safety hazard, if only she came equipped with a cell phone.
So I am jogging down Ann Arbor Trail when up ahead of me appears a young woman on a bike. This is not unusual in my area of Plymouth, because we are right by Hines Park and Downtown Plymouth, so we see lots of bike traffic. Usually I will get off the sidewalk and get on the grass so we can pass without a problem, and that is exactly what I did. It was then that I noticed a cell phone in the hand she was not using to steer the bike. As she got closer, I saw that she was TEXTING as she was biking, what I will now call bexting. She had to keep diverting her attention to the phone so she could see what she was typing. I have seen people texting while at a stop light, but never on a bicycle while riding on a sidewalk.
Crazily enough, as she approached me she diverted all of her attention to the phone, and of course started swerving all over the place. I was a good three feet off the sidewalk into the grass, and she honestly came within a foot of nailing me. I had to jump out of the way as she flew past, lost in some message about where to meet her friends for ice cream or something.
Luckily I survived the bexting incident, but I was wondering if anyone out there has experienced a similar phenomenon?
1 comment:
People are out of control! Bexting! Ridiculous!
It is a pet peeve of mine when people talk on their cell phones on running or biking trails. It really spoils the peace and quiet for everyone around them. Turn off your damn phones, people!
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