[Brake4Squirrels]

http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/n...21/detail.html

When will it finally be a crime to use cell phones while driving?

 

[Robert]

Ack... one of my major pet peeves. In this day and age... I find no good reason why cars are not equipped with a hands-free cellphone plugin as a reasonably priced option, or even as standard equipment.

But I would not blame this accident on the actual cell-phone so much as the careless driving habits of the driver.

 

[Brake4Squirrels]

Danger is NOT due to only driving with one hand!

Danger is because our brains physically can only concentrate on one thing at a time!

 

[Robert]

B4S... I disagree. I listen to radio/CD player, etc., as do millions of drivers each day. Millions listen to kids crying in the back, spouses talking to them, and a slew of other things that occupy concentration levels.

Having a conversation does not impede one's ability to operate a vehicle safely. Allowing that conversation to become a priority of your concentration while driving is driver error, not cellphone error.

 

[Brake4Squirrels]

Quote:

Originally posted by Robert



Having a conversation does not impede one's ability to operate a vehicle safely.

Ahem. Refer to News Story above.

Quote:

Allowing that conversation to become a priority of your concentration while driving is driver error, not cellphone error.

Exactly, and that's why we have to find a way to get people to stop using them all together while driving. Not just a way to stick it somewhere else in the car.

 

[Tame]

Quote:

Originally posted by Brake4Squirrels

Ahem. Refer to News Story above.

So I assume you will be on the bandwagon to ban talking with passengers? It is a conversation afterall...

Quote:

Exactly, and that's why we have to find a way to get people to stop using them all together while driving. Not just a way to stick it somewhere else in the car.

Interesting. Seems I read recently that eating while driving is responsible for a fair number of accidents...

As well as people dropping items and reaching for them...

And changing radio stations...

Tell ya what, I'll hang up my phone when you do something about the above. Until then, hush.

 

[Robert]

Quote:

Originally posted by Brake4Squirrels

Ahem. Refer to News Story above.

Roll your eyes all you want. The article just makes brief mention of the fact the driver was talking on a cell. This part is why the driver is being charged:

"Investigators said the 36-year-old Simon ran a stop sign at Highway 60 and Trunk E Monday afternoon and hit the victims' car. It flipped over and was struck by another vehicle."

The reason the driver is charged is because he ran a stop sign.

Quote:

Exactly, and that's why we have to find a way to get people to stop using them all together while driving. Not just a way to stick it somewhere else in the car.

No, what we ideally need is a better process of screening driver applicants to ensure they can deal with ongoing distractions that are all around them numerous times per day while in the process of operating a motor vehicle. Not everyone who uses a cell phone has accidents, or causes them.

What's next? Should we outlaw anyone from talking to their passengers while driving? Should we outlaw anyone from having kids in their vehicles because they might cry and cause a distraction? Of course not.

 

[Marie]

I chat on the phone while I drive and I've always stayed alert. I was more distracted by my son when he was a baby... maybe we should ban babies in cars when there's no passenger to help out.

 

[mushroom]

My kids distract me much more than my cell phone does. I often wish that I could drive in a sound proof booth. I am not in favor of a law banning cell phone use in cars.

 

[Marie]

Or stick the kids in a sound proof booth.

 

[oneness]

i think holding cell phones should be, but not hands free. if you have a speaker and mic then it is no different then carrying on a conversation with a passenger..

i did see a study once that said driving while listening to music made a driver a better driving, but driving while holding a phone made the driver more dangerous then a drunk driver.

heh who knows!

 

[GhostUser]

Driving a car while talking on the phone is like smoking crack. You can do it, if you really want to, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea. I don't talk on the phone while driving or smoke crack, but there's some people out there who do. Who are you to tell them they shouldn't? It's a matter of personal choice. They definately need to suffer the consequences of their actions, but they still should have the freedom to decide what those actions are.

I'd also like to point out that there's probably no way to convince me that the driver's cell phone made him completely oblivious to the big, red stop sign that he ran.

 

[Kurmudgeon]

Quote:

Originally posted by oneness

but driving while holding a phone made the driver more dangerous then a drunk driver.[/B]

I've heard it was also found hands free made it as dangerous as this.

I believe talking on a cell phone is 4 times more likely to result in an accident than the other distractions. I can't recall if it's banned in this State/Country (I don't keep up with the road rules), but I always pull over (those rare times I feel inclined to answer the thing).

 

[Thalia]

This reminds me of one day I was listening to NPR and they we're interviewing him by cell phone. All the sudden there was a weird noise, and the guy admitted he'd ran into the car in front of him. Doesn't prove anything, but a little funny (no one was hurt).

I haven't read through all the links on this page:

http://cartalk.cars.com/About/Drive-...-evidence.html

http://www.drivenowchatlater.com/Res...d_Studies.html

But I will. In the meantime, maybe someone may find them of use.

I believe that all distractions must be kept to a minimum. When I am talking to someone in the car I often motion to them that I need silence while doing something that requires extra attention, like merging or a difficult left turn. It's just respect for my own and other's mortality. I became even more careful of this after I had to come to a sudden stop on the highway during rush hour. Had I been dozing off, fiddling with the radio and drinking my coffee, I may had had less then the 6" or so between me and the back bumper in front of me (the guy behind me was not so lucky.

)

ETA from one of the studies:
Quote:

In 2001, Strayer and colleagues received worldwide publicity when they used a joystick-equipped computer display to show that people talking on cell phones were more likely to miss or react slowly to simulated traffic signals than people who were not conversing on cell phones. Driving impairment was just as bad regardless of whether participants used hands-free or hand-held cell phones. That suggested the phone conversation itself was a distraction for motorists in addition to the distraction of handling the phone.

The earlier study also found there was no impairment of drivers who either conversed with a passenger or who listened to the radio or to books on tape.

The new study included four experiments aimed at explaining why cell-phone conversations are more distracting than those activities, and why hands-free and hand-held cell phone users were equally impaired when driving.

The experiments involved 110 University of Utah undergraduates who sat in a $100,000 PatrolSim II+ Driver Training Simulator manufactured by GE Capital I-Sim in Salt Lake City. Such simulators are used by law enforcement agencies.

more at http://www.utah.edu/unews/releases/0...cellphone.html

 

[oneness]

well if hands free is as dangerous then i may feel differently about talking while driving.

 

[mushroom]

I generally don't "chat" on mine while driving, but that is because I personally don't enjoy it, or feel totally safe doing it. I am normally just answering a couple of questions or informing my kids of my where abouts.

However, some people seem to handle things like this just fine and I don't think there should be a LAW. Maybe a special test and a licence to operate phone and car at the same time?

On the other hand there SHOULD be a law regarding children.

 

[Brake4Squirrels]

I do not own a cell phone and I wouldn't like one either. Too expensive and I wouldnt' use it anyway.

Usually I'm alone while driving, and listening to the radio. If I have another person with me, we'll talk, but I do not look at them to even make eye contact. I look straight ahead. Also, I've noticed that while going through heavy traffic, I don't answer right away, and I pause, until I'm through the difficult parts of the road.

I've developed these habits because I know first hand how distractions cause accidents. I caused one myself several years ago just because I was careless and it taught me a lesson I'll never forget.

 

[Kurmudgeon]

I hope they don't ever ban flipping someone the bird while driving. I'll have nothing else to do.

 

[oneness]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kurmudgeon

I hope they don't ever ban flipping someone the bird while driving. I'll have nothing else to do.

umm isn't it illegal to use profanity towards someone else even if it is bodily gestures?

 

[Kurmudgeon]

I'm just showing them how many brain cells they have.