Cell Phones and Driving Rant

[sorrycharlie]

Jack, I am with you 100% on this. You are, indeed, 100% right. People just don't pay attention to their driving as much when they're on the phone. From my own personal experience, I strongly dislike talking on the phone while driving. It takes away some of my focus and concentration from reading signs, being aware of the other drivers around me, staying in the center of my lane, and other driving responsibilities. It's much better now that I have a Bluetooth earpiece (which, by the way, I use only when I'm driving or in my apartment, not in public where people can mistake me for talking to myself). However, a percentage of my attention is still diverted into whatever conversation I'm having on the phone. Yes, Jay, this can also go for having conversations with passengers in your car and for getting into the music playing or whatever.

Not only do I notice it personally affecting the way I drive, but I see it in other drivers as well. Almost 100% of the time I see a driver swerving around, making jerky moves with the car, slamming on brakes, driving slow, or any other irratic or innapropriate driving, I see them talking on the phone. Maybe there are a few people out there who are good at doing both at the same time, but they are just that: a FEW.

I don't necessarily think it should be illegal to talk on the phone while driving. However, I do believe that there should be an extra fine if it's proved that you caused an accident by being distracted by cell phone, loud music, passengers, or anything else that could be a distraction that you should avoid as much as possible while driving.

I believe Jack and others from older generations when they say they're seeing a huge contrast in driving from back in their day to present time. I believe things have changed radically in the past 50 years to the point that most people are becoming blind to all those "little things" that clog up our worlds and turn us more and more into self-centered, dishonorable pigs. We have to stop being so blind and start waking up to the truth that there are TOO MANY DISTRACTIONS in our lives which keep us from caring about others, and waking up to the reality that it's NOT about me me me.

*record player scratches as patriotic music shuts off*

Alright, with that said, I look forward to the next highly entertaining and mentally stimulating episode of......the RambleCast.

zeta beta leta, i'll see ya later

[PogsKlinc]

I'm with 'ya too.

[jaysrealdad]

i agree w/ jack even hands free distracts u

[Stephanie]

Texting. There are people on the roads who are texting! How dangerous.

[Steve]

I was behind someone about a week ago who was using their laptop while they were driving...

[Nick"The Noid"]

I am also with Jack on this one. It should be law to either pull over or get into the right lane when on the cell phone. I can't tell you how many times I've been behind someone and all of a sudden they slow down extremely, I pass them on the right and there they are on a cell phone. I get so mad. Use your head people.

Another thing that gets me is mini-vans. I get mad even if I see one, because it's always people in their 30s who are driving barely the speed limit in the fast lane. There they are with their soccer ball stickers, oblivious to the traffic they are causing, just get over, you don't have a fast car.

Oh and Jay, I try not to get mad a truckers anymore. Granted I feel your pain on the trucker issue. Many times truckers have kept me out of a ticket on I-40. They CB each other when they see a cop head and that's why they block both lanes, to slow down traffic. Then after they pass the cop, they get over. I probably owe truckers over a thousand dollars in possble tickets.

[CarcinoGenny]

A recent study from the Applied Cognition Laboratory has some information that bolsters the hypothesis that both regular and hands free styles of cell phone usage while driving significantly impairs performance of the driver.

www.psych.utah.edu/AppliedCognitionLab/cdir.pdf
This part I think is especially pertinent in explaining the difference between conversing with someone also in the car and conversing on the phone:
"...these two conversations would differ because
passengers tend to adjust their conversation based on driving
difficulty; often helping the driver to navigate and identify
hazards on the roadway and pausing the conversations during
difficult sections of the drive. By contrast, this real-time
adjustment based upon traffic demands is not possible with cellphone
conversations."

[markedman]

Another part of the same rant had the Dynamic Duo agreeing with Cliff that it would be good if it was illegal to pass on the right, like it is in Germany. I've had Illinois, New York, Louisiana, and Maryland drivers licenses and in all those states I am pretty sure it is illegal to pass on the right.

Oh - and the down side of the Autobahn is that everyone goes like a bat out of hell until someone gets in a catastrophic accident. Then you sit on the highway for two hours while the victims are scraped into baggies. I once was stuck for almost three hours only to have the police divert us off the highway and through a farmers field to a side road.

[Colleen]

stephsmith said:

Texting. There are people on the roads who are texting! How dangerous.

Yeah, I'm probably going to come across as hypocritical here, but that's the first thing I thought of when the subject came up. Talking on the phone can be distracting, but when you're texting while driving, you're just not looking at the road at all at some points. I learned my lesson in recent months and now I don't text when I'm driving anymore. (Good thing I don't drive much thanks to the subways )

And I think that the hands free thing can be just as distracting as talking on your phone without it.

[monsterjester]

It's not that talking on a hands free set isn't distracting, but I think it's pushing it to claim that it's AS distracting as using your handset. You have a whole extra hand free to drive with when you use a hands free. I think it's already illegal to use your handset while driving here in California, if it's not it will be soon. I admit to making the occasional call while on the road, but of course use my judgement (not in heavy traffic or other more dangerous situations).

[uncaged]

I saw an episode of Mythbusters recently and it had the what is more dangerous drinking or cell phones while driving. They were on a closed course with police and found that while driving, a cell phone is just as dangerous as drinking.

[Lana]

I believe Jack and others from older generations when they say they're seeing a huge contrast in driving from back in their day to present time. I believe things have changed radically in the past 50 years to the point that most people are becoming blind to all those "little things" that clog up our worlds and turn us more and more into self-centered, dishonorable pigs. We have to stop being so blind and start waking up to the truth that there are TOO MANY DISTRACTIONS in our lives which keep us from caring about others, and waking up to the reality that it's NOT about me me me.

*record player scratches as patriotic music shuts off*

*slow exaggerated clap*

So very, very true.

I try to not talk on my cell while I'm driving unless someone calls me, in which case I tell them I'm driving and that I'll call them back. It's really ridiculous these days...

[Michaela]

It is illegal here to use a mobile phone while driving, and they are considering bringing in a law to ban hands free and blue tooth, although maybe just for probationary drivers (first 3 years of being licensed)

[sarahjean]

There was a study published when I was in college a few years ago, and the results showed that holding a cell phone and talking while driving is just as dangerous as hands free. It all comes down to where's your attention. Of course this was before texting, so I could only imagine that the numbers would prove it is even more dangerous. Especially for those of us who haven't memorized the number pad.

[SK]

I am terrible at driving and don't have my license yet, but I can see why hands free might be less dangerous than a regular phone. They will cause equal amounts of distraction because of the conversation but...

Hold your hand to your ear like you're holding a phone... Without thinking about it, where is your head tilted. Down? Mine is, and so has been everyone I've asked that. And all those people talk on the phone while driving. Only one of them has a bluetooth, so along with distraction, people have to concentrate extra to look at the road, and not at their steering wheel.

My dad is the one who uses a bluetooth, and he hangs up on me all the time because the traffic gets too bad. I think people who do choose to use their cell phones while driving should all do this. Whoever you're talking to would much rather you not get in an accident, so just say goodbye and drive.

Personally, I'm so awful with driving that when I do get my license I will never use my cell phone while driving. I don't even like to have the radio on when I'm out practicing. It's just too much... But I'm an odd case, because I don't even like riding in cars. That's why I'm so bad at driving them.