PartnerUp’s chief product officer was rear ended by a man checking his email on his BlackBerry while driving a few weeks ago. She was stopped at a red light when the guy, driving a Chevy Suburban, slammed into her at roughly 40mph.

Fortunately she’s fine (her car wasn’t quite as lucky), but the accident brings up an interesting point. What is so important that it is worth putting our and others’ lives in danger?

Om Malik nailed it on the head in his GigaOM post earlier this week, “Driving While TXTing (DWT) Is Stupid.” Talking on your cell phone while driving is probably not smart, yet we all do it. But texting or reading your BlackBerry while driving takes stupidity to another level. At this point, not only is your mind not focused on the road, but neither are your eyes.

We live in a fast-paced, go go go society. I see people talking on their cell phones, reading their Blackberry’s and browsing the Internet on their laptops absolutely everywhere, including in their vehicles. We feel the need to be “plugged in” at all times, and for entrepreneurs and small business owners the need only intensifies.

I understand that for small business owners and entrepreneurs productivity and getting ahead are a driving force, but there has to come a point when enough is enough.

We need to remember that just that little extra bit of productivity is not worth the potential ramifications of a major car accident, or even a minor one for that matter.

It’s one thing to be an obsessive, always connected workaholic. There’s a few of us here who fit in that category. It’s another thing to be an obsessive, always connected workaholic who puts other people in danger because he or she can’t bear to put the mobile devices down and focus on the road.

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