Driving down 64th this morning I had a pretty concerning encounter with a distracted driver that I think is worth calling out.
There was a gray Toyota Corolla (plate S274AX) going about 30 in a 50, swerving between lanes near Haven Kitchen + Bar. When I passed, the driver had her phone directly in front of her and clearly wasn’t paying attention to the road. At one point she nearly rear-ended the cars ahead.
I’ve lost friends to distracted driving, so yeah — it hit a nerve. I got her attention and said something simple along the lines of “it’s not that important, put your phone down.”
Instead of taking it as a safety concern, she got aggressive. She yelled that it’s none of my business, sped up, cut me off, and then started brake-checking/going extremely slow in front of me. Before I turned off, she yelled that she had my plate and would report me for harassment and that I should “watch my back.”
I’ve got dashcam footage of the driving behavior (not the phone itself), and I’m honestly fine if police want to look at it — I wasn’t doing anything except trying to get to work and call out dangerous driving.
Posting this as a reminder more than anything: distracted driving kills people. A text is not worth someone’s life.
If you know this driver, please talk to them. This kind of behavior on the road is dangerous and completely avoidable.
Stay safe out there.