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Burgers and fries don't talk back to you. A cup of coffee doesn't ask questions you have to think about, taking your mind off driving to answer.
A passenger doesn't require you to dial, plug in, read a display, push buttons to engange a conversation.
Driving while tired is stupid and dangerous.
Cell phones in cars should be outlawed.
Yes, food and other passengers are dangers as well, but that doesn't excuse cell phone use. Look around you, take a walk. See how many people these days have their heads bowed into their phones while driving, sitting at green lights, texting away, missing turns, then trying to make them one-handed as they chat away holding the phone with the other hand.
If you don't think talking on a cell phone affects your ability to give driving 100 per cent of your attention, I'd like to know your secret.
And yes, I've noticed I make more mistakes when I drive with passengers. I force myself to stay focused on driving. I don't want to die in a car wreck, and I especially don't want do die in a car wreck caused by someone on a cell phone.
I spent several months not using my car last year when gas was expensive. I was horrified what I saw cell phone users doing! The audiacity, the risk to themselves and others, nearly hitting pedestrians, not looking around at traffic...on and on. And texting while driving! don't even get me started.
Burgers and fries don't talk back to you. A cup of coffee doesn't ask questions you have to think about, taking your mind off driving to answer.
A passenger doesn't require you to dial, plug in, read a display, push buttons to engange a conversation.
Driving while tired is stupid and dangerous.
Cell phones in cars should be outlawed.
Yes, food and other passengers are dangers as well, but that doesn't excuse cell phone use. Look around you, take a walk. See how many people these days have their heads bowed into their phones while driving, sitting at green lights, texting away, missing turns, then trying to make them one-handed as they chat away holding the phone with the other hand.
If you don't think talking on a cell phone affects your ability to give driving 100 per cent of your attention, I'd like to know your secret.
And yes, I've noticed I make more mistakes when I drive with passengers. I force myself to stay focused on driving. I don't want to die in a car wreck, and I especially don't want do die in a car wreck caused by someone on a cell phone.
I spent several months not using my car last year when gas was expensive. I was horrified what I saw cell phone users doing! The audiacity, the risk to themselves and others, nearly hitting pedestrians, not looking around at traffic...on and on. And texting while driving! don't even get me started.
Obviously you haven't seen the latest in hands free calling.
No buttons, you speak the name or the number and it will dial it for you. Or, even better, the person calls you, and all you have to say is, answer.
I've seen handsfree, brainless drivers plenty of times. Try walking every day, look at what people are doing in cars, note where their eyes are, how their heads are tilted, if they see other cars, the light changing, the pedestrian in the crosswalk.
Cell phones and driving don't mix, in any form.
Better yet, call someone who you know is driving while talking to you in their car, hands free and all. Discern if their attention is on you, or on their driving.
As a professional driver I see idiots behind the wheel behaving badly with cell phones and texting every day. (as well as other distractions, some unfit for a G-rated forum...) Do I think cell phones, texting or any other in-car device should be banned? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! We already have "Distracted Driving" statutes on the books; enforce the laws. If a cop comes up behind you and you're weaving or driving too slowly, that's probable cause to pull you over. But if you're going with the flow of traffic and otherwise driving competently, there's no problem, IMHO. Besides not making cell phone/texting illegal, you prevent both "revenue enhancement" as well as the "fishing expeditions" some law enforcement agencies like to perform...
Last edited by Crew Chief; 09-03-2009 at 11:27 AM..
Reason: More better speling!
When your driving the only thing that should be on your mind, well, is driving. If you can keep your eyes on the road and have conversation with people in the car with you I think thats fine. But anything else your really not suppoused to do. When I took the test for my instructional permit it siad that your eyes should be on the road ahead of you at all times. Eating while driving, talking on a cell phone, ect. is a hazard, and if you get into a wreck IMO and someone gets hurt or killed, it is the equivalent of a drunk driver killing someone.
Cell phones need to be completely illegal while driving. There also needs to be heavy penalties for doing so. It has been proven that talking on cell phones is worse than drunk driving.
Agree that cell phones are dangerous while driving but your claim that they are more so than DRUNK driving? Links, please...
Actual, scientific studies-not theories-that says it's more dangerous and not as dangerous.
(Though me thinks that texting while driving could very well be just as bad, if not worse, than drunk driving. Would be interesting if studies are being conducted and what the outcomes are on that one.)
Talking on the phone is one thing, but I cannot believe that there are people who actually text while operating a motor vehicle. Why not read a book or knit a few lines on your scarf, too? While you're driving, you should be focused on driving.
Agreed-but these people who are always texting just think, you know, that their lives are just so important and they just have to reply to that text like, right away OMG!
The people walking around on campus texting, not bothering to look up when crossing the intersections...and of course they're never the ones at fault when you have to slam on your brakes to avoid hitting them even though they walked out right in front of you! I can't even count the number of jacka**** I've avoided running over (though I would've liked to at times) because at least I pay attention.
I actually saw a chick the other day reading a book while driving. She had it balanced on the steering wheel.
I'll never forget the time I saw a grown woman reading a Pokemon magazine while driving (also balanced on her steering wheel). Another freaky thing I saw was a woman applying eyeliner while driving-she was looking in her rearview mirror and not watching the road one bit. Both instances on the freeway at speeds between 70-80 mph. Scary scary scary.
Using a driving simulator under four different conditions: with no distractions, using a handheld cell phone, talking on a hands-free cell phone, and while intoxicated to the 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level, 40 participants followed a simulated pace car that braked intermittently.
Researchers found that the drivers on cell phones drove more slowly, braked more slowly and were more likely to crash. In fact, the three participants who collided into the pace car were chatting away. None of the drunken drivers crashed.
"This study does not mean people should start driving drunk," said co-author Frank Drews. "It means that driving while talking on a cell phone is as bad as or maybe worse than driving drunk, which is completely unacceptable and cannot be tolerated by society."
I refuse to listen to the radio while driving. It is too distracting, and driving requires constant attention. Not just constant attention, but the well-established mindset of constant attention.
If you were walking a tightrope, with your child riding piggyback and crocodiles below, would you talk on a cell phone?
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