I hate driving. I hate the traffic, the confusing design of highways in my city and the long periods of claustrophobic sitting with nothing to do but listen to the radio. To top if off, I am a nervous, slow driver, fearful of other cars and distracted drivers. （Yes, I'm the one you've probably honked at, annoyed.）

But I live in a sprawling Southwestern city with limited public transportation and intense heat that makes long-distance walking or biking tough for much of the year. So driving, alas, is a fact of life for me.

My fears, though, have only been further confirmed by a harrowing series in the New York Times called 'Driven to Distraction' about the dangers of using cellphones and of texting while driving. One article cited a new study, by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which found that when truck drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting.

Another article cited research that drivers using phones are four times as likely to cause a crash as other drivers─and that driving while talking on a cell is akin to being legally drunk. Hands-free devices, meanwhile, don't eliminate these risks, according to studies. In fact, they may worsen them by giving drivers a false sense of security.

Because I'm such a wimpy driver, I try not to talk or answer my phone on the road unless it's urgent or traffic is at a standstill. But for many Jugglers, especially those with long commutes and important business to take care of, talking or texting while driving is common, and perhaps necessary. I am amazed by how many interviews I've conducted for articles with subjects talking to me while driving; I can sometimes hear the sound of horns and the hushed strains of NPR in the background.

Readers, do you regularly drive and talk on a cell or text? Given the risks of doing so, have you tried to reduce usage while driving? And more generally, how much is driving a part of your juggle and how do you feel about it?

我讨厌开车。我讨厌堵车、讨厌我所在的城市公路那种令人一头雾水的设计，还有长时间一个人坐在车里什么也干不成只能听收音机的惨状。最重要的是，我开车时十分紧张，车速很慢，害怕其他的车以及那些不专心的司机。（没错，我就是那种你可能会恼火地对之狂按喇叭的人。）

但我所居住的城市位于美国西南部、占地十分广阔，这里的公共交通不甚发达，气候又极其炎热，远距离步行或骑自行车在一年中的大部分时间里都会让人受不了。因此，唉，开车成了我生活的一部分。

《纽约时报》（New York Times）刊登了一个悲惨的系列报导，名为"开车怎能不分心",内容是关于开车时打手机或发短信的危险。这个报导进一步强化了我的担忧情绪。其中一篇文章援引了弗吉尼亚科技运输学院（Virginia Tech Transportation Institute）的一项新研究，研究发现，卡车司机边发短信边开车时，撞车的风险比不发短信的司机高出23倍。

另一篇文章引述了一项研究，称开车时打手机的司机撞车的机构是其他司机的4倍，并声称开车时打电话相当于醉酒驾车。与此同时，研究表明免提设备并不能消除这些风险。事实上免提设备还加剧了风险，因为它们给了司机一种安全的错觉。

由于我实在是个无能的司机，我尽量避免开车时接打电话，除非是紧急情况下，或者堵车堵得动不了的时候。但对于许多上班族来说，尤其是上下班路途很长、有重要业务需要处理的人，开车时打电话或发短信是寻常之事，或许还必须为之。许多次我进行采访时，采访对象都是一边开车一边通过电话跟我对答，对此我惊骇不已；有时我还能听到电话里传来对方那边的喇叭声和被调低音量的国家公共广播（NPR）播放的音乐声。

读者们，你们经常一边开车一边打电话或发短信吗？考虑到这样做的危险，你有没有试着在开车时少用手机？从更普遍的方面来说，开车在你生活中占有多大的比重，你对此感觉如何？