Being able to solve a Rubik’s Cube is one way to impress the girls and to earn for yourself the “genius” label, but not if you’re doing it when driving. On the highway. At a high rate of speed.
The Spanish National Traffic Directorate, or DGT, has posted a video from earlier this year, as part of a new campaign meant to raise awareness on the need to actually pay attention to the road when you’re driving. Common sense, stuff, we know, but apparently not all drivers feel the same.
Take, for instance, the dude in the Peugeot 307 SW in the video below. He was filmed by the DGT helicopter Pegasus while doing 79mph (127 kph) on the A-49 highway. Despite the high rate of speed at which he’s traveling (which is above the posted speed limit, btw), he’s clearly more engaged with the Rubik’s Cube than he is with the actual driving and he can be seen taking both hands off the wheel and his eyes off the road for several seconds at a time.
“Driving and solving a Rubik’s Cube at the same time is not very prudent, don’t you think? 1 of each 4 accidents is caused by distracted driving. Use your head. Don’t do crazy things at the wheel,” DGT writes in the caption to the video.
Responses to the clip are mostly condemning of the driver and the recklessness he’s shown. After all, at this speed, he would have caused a tragedy if he’d gotten into an accident. For that reason alone, he should have been pulled over immediately, fined and then stripped of his driver’s license, commenters say.
Others suggest even more drastic punishments, like shooting him dead from the helicopter or being forced to pay fines of 80,000 euro. Of course, something like this will never happen, but it does speak to the low tolerance of the public for instances of reckless or distracted driving circulated in the media.
Take, for instance, the dude in the Peugeot 307 SW in the video below. He was filmed by the DGT helicopter Pegasus while doing 79mph (127 kph) on the A-49 highway. Despite the high rate of speed at which he’s traveling (which is above the posted speed limit, btw), he’s clearly more engaged with the Rubik’s Cube than he is with the actual driving and he can be seen taking both hands off the wheel and his eyes off the road for several seconds at a time.
“Driving and solving a Rubik’s Cube at the same time is not very prudent, don’t you think? 1 of each 4 accidents is caused by distracted driving. Use your head. Don’t do crazy things at the wheel,” DGT writes in the caption to the video.
Responses to the clip are mostly condemning of the driver and the recklessness he’s shown. After all, at this speed, he would have caused a tragedy if he’d gotten into an accident. For that reason alone, he should have been pulled over immediately, fined and then stripped of his driver’s license, commenters say.
Others suggest even more drastic punishments, like shooting him dead from the helicopter or being forced to pay fines of 80,000 euro. Of course, something like this will never happen, but it does speak to the low tolerance of the public for instances of reckless or distracted driving circulated in the media.
Conducir y hacer el cubo de rubik al mismo tiempo no es muy prudente, ¿no crees? I 1 de cada 4 accidentes ocurre por #distracciones. Usa bien la cabeza.
— Dir. Gral. Tráfico (@DGTes) September 16, 2019
No hagas #LocurasAlVolante. #CampañaControlDistracciones 16-22 sept pic.twitter.com/NRC3uDzxpw