News, Police: Woman using cellphone drove into herd of cows.

[Adi from the Brunswicks]

I am used to driving with cows on the road. I learned to drive in India, where anyone and anything has a right to jaywalk across the highway .

[Yankees1212]

Originally Posted by Lux Hauler

By this logic, better start ticketing people for adjusting the climate controls, radio, looking at the dash, looking in your mirrors... etc.

There is a difference between distractions unrelated to driving and actions such as looking in your mirrors or over your shoulder (as I do before every lane change). When you look down at your phone to even see who is calling, your mind shifts from what's happening on the road to reading the name on the phone. Maybe the name is familiar and you realize it's an important call, which means picking the phone up and looking for the answer button. What you originally thought would take a "glance" takes a few seconds and who knows what will happen while your mind has completely forgotten about the road ahead.

On the other hand, when you glance over your shoulder or look in your mirror, you're obviously focused on the road. You should always judge what's going on ahead of you anyway before quickly looking away for what will always be a quick glance. Same applies to adjusting the radio which just requires lining up your sight with where it is located. The point is that these actions don't shift your mental attention away from the road. Checking your phone clearly alters your thinking. Sending a text message does the same. I argue that daydreaming while looking straight ahead is also distracting. In a nutshell, I think it's ridiculous to say I was just glancing away for a second because you can not assign a quantitative number to how long something will take when you are not cognizant at the time what it is you are even doing (i.e. checking the phone= an unknown.. who is it? Should I pick up?) On the other hand, changing the radio station (assuming you're not debating what station to listen to and not fumbling around with the dial) can be done with full concentration on the road. You know what you're doing once you locate the dial (i.e. no unknowns). Hence, the arbitrary nature of saying it was just a second or it was just a glance is foolish. A glance turns into three seconds without you even realizing it and that can change everything.

Hopefully, this long convoluted comment clarified what I was trying to say.

[Vector1]

Trouble is that these people drive into herds of humans as well.
They are a menace and just as bad as drunk drivers, probably worse, since they are on the roads at all times of the day and night.