Opinion: Ten years later, we’re living the dangers Captain Herb Emory warned about

Saturday, April 12, unbelievably marked the 11th anniversary of the passing of my mentor and hero to many, Captain Herb Emory. Emory, the longtime Atlanta traffic anchor on 95.5 WSB and Channel 2 Action News from the WSB Skycopter, died from a heart attack after rescuing teenagers from a flipped car in front of his house. He was helping Douglas County officers direct traffic around the Mount Vernon Road scene when he collapsed. He had just turned 61.

But his legacy — his traffic reporting methodology, his heart for others, his passion for road safety — continues.

I got to see this in a different way at the beginning of this month, when the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety held the Distraction Action Forum in Forsyth County. AAA Georgia invited the public and law enforcement agencies, safety advocates, engineers, and data scientists from far and wide to share information on one of the deadliest driving acts.

As an MC of the event, I got a chance to interact with several of the guests. And as I discussed my time on the radio and in the helicopter doing traffic reports, Emory’s name inevitably came up. Anyone who knew of him immediately lit up. They still miss him.

Emory’s death came in the first decade of the smartphone revolution. But texting preceded that by a few years. And drivers have been wielding mobile devices in cars for the last 30 years or so.

Phones, of course, are just one of many driving distractions.

But hearing AAA Georgia public affairs director Garrett Townsend, a 28-year employee of AAA, rave about Emory at this anti-distracted driving event was a reminder of the captain’s passion in that field. And that then reminded me of a bumper sticker Emory had pasted on a computer monitor in his home traffic studio.

It reads “Hang It Up” and has the same bisected red circle one sees on “Do Not Enter” signs superimposed over a cellphone. The sticker is at least 20 years old, as the phone in the circle is an early 2000s one with tactile buttons.

As his widow and dear friend of mine, Karen, prepared to move from their house, I inherited some of his old equipment. The monitor with that sticker came with me. The sticker is still affixed on my setup in my home studio, the Captain Herb Ballroom.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness month and this AAA forum was the perfect way to kick it off. Among the best practices shared was a presentation by AAA with some statistics on the issue.

It showed results from its 2023 Traffic Safety Culture Index, which found that 93% of surveyed drivers found texting or emailing behind the wheel as dangerous. But at least 27% respondents reported reading one of those incoming messages while driving.

So, some people think that texting and driving is dangerous — when other people do it.

Data also shows that Georgia’s 2018 law that made enforcing texting and driving laws easier had an initial success rate. Georgia soon became one of the 10 best states in the distracted driving realm. Then COVID hit.

In the apocalyptic emptiness of the roads in mid-2020, Georgia’s stats regressed. Speeds increased. Enforcement decreased.

To show just how ambivalent to hands-free laws Georgia drivers are, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office’s H.E.A.T. (Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic) Unit did a two-hour traffic detail on March 29. They focused on busy Highway 20, Highway 141 and Bethelview Road and reeled in some stunning numbers.

Officers made 125 contacts with drivers who were on their phones or distracted in other ways and issued 48 hands-free citations, Forsyth S.O. posted on Facebook. This was in a small radius and in only two hours.

Change starts at home — and in our vehicles. Georgia made some great strides in the distracted-driving arena seven years ago. But the tide needs to change both here and nationwide, as distracted crashes are quickly closing in on impairment as the most deadly act on our roads. Almost everyone agrees. So did Captain Herb. Most cars have easy hands-free technology. Now is the time to change — again.

Doug Turnbull has covered Atlanta traffic for over 20 years and written “Gridlock Guy” since 2017. Doug also co-hosts the “Five to Go Podcast,” a weekly deep dive on stories in motorsports. Contact him at fireballturnbull@gmail.com.