Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
From reading other threads around the forum, plenty of people listen to audiobooks while driving. While this does not involve manual manipulation of the phone screen, it does involve concentration. For example, could one really absorb Shakespeare's Hamlet and drive with full concentration?
Similarly, the car's touchscreen is often a nightmare to use. For example, new Toyotas come with an Entune audio suite that a new owner must accept. Problem is it is useless. One of the "selections" is a Slacker Radio system, more or less a competitor to Pandora. If your finger slips and you hit the "Slacker" button rather than your auxiliary sound source button, escaping Slacker's coils is nearly impossible if you don't have an account with Slacker. Other manufacturers probably have similar devices.Even my wife's Ford's screen, while more straightforward, has many menu options, including Siri, with lots of channels and lots of genre's, AM/FM radio, and ability to switch to an auxiliary device.
Don't those involve the same loss of concentration? So why the focus on cell phone conversations? I agree that the manipulation of the screen to compose a text with one hand and handling the steering wheel with the other is a needless and dangerous challenge. But all electronics use is not created equal.
Most vehicles infotainment systems can be adjusted via voice commands. You don't really need to touch the screen very often.
I will have to visit my dealer about that. Thank you for the information.
But still the point stands. It's more mental energy. Except for detailed manual tasks such as composing a text I don't see where there is much difference from interacting with an infotainment system or the glass screen or voice prompts of a cell phone.
The difference is in the number of people who use the phone while driving. The average driver generally leaves their vehicle audio system on one favorite station. The advent of station presets means not having to tune the dial to another station. Sensible people sit in their parked vehicle to learn and program their vehicle’s infotainment system. I can change the station with a tap of my thumb on a steering wheel control. I don’t know many people, personally, who drive while listening to books on tape. I did this once and I was so focused on the road I missed most of the audio book and never tried it again. The issue is most people take the time to learn their vehicle’s audio system while parked and hardly use those other features when in motion. However, far too many people are so addicted to their phones they feel they must absolutely respond to their phone whenever they receive a call, text, or alert. They reach for their phone, answer a call, read and respond to a text, take a selfie to post on social media, or respond to other people’s social media post as if it’s a matter of life or death. This addiction means more time with their eyes and mind off th road and their driving. If you can, try this trick. Set up a video camera to record yourself or someone you know as they drive and another camera on the road ahead. Review the video after a week of daily driving and see how often the eyes are off the road, phone in hand, and near misses you or your friend do while driving. My phone is in my front pocket where I can’t reach it. If it’s charging in the car then it’s in the cup holder. If I feel I may need to make a call or am expecting an actual important call then I turn on my phone’s Bluetooth and make or receive important calls. What constitutes important calls includes an emergency at work and I need to return, wife in severe pain and needs me to pick up medication (spinal problems and severe arthritis), wife or other family member going to the hospital, calling 911 to report an emergency (last one being a van on fire parked next to a house).
Just having a conversation with a passenger or listening to a pre-set radio is also a distraction. Best to just drive in silence.
But most people aren't going to do that. Solution is in tech though. With phones now offering do not disturb while driving mode. Extensive voice controls for audio/messaging. Locking out certain features while moving. Etc.
Every accident I've been in has involved an at fault minivan with children in the back...the ultimate distraction.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,565 posts, read 81,147,605 times
Reputation: 57767
Quote:
Originally Posted by somebodyfromnc
Most vehicles infotainment systems can be adjusted via voice commands. You don't really need to touch the screen very often.
That's correct, including Ford Sync 3. It's no more distracting than chatting with your spouse in the passenger seat. What's more distraction than even texting is eating a burger and having a blob of catsup or the pickle fall onto your lap, or spilling hot coffee on your lap. The worst, is discovering that a bee or yellow jacket has entered your vehicle and is now buzzing around near your face. The bottom line is there are always going to be opportunities for distraction, but texting is among the worst, and is very easily preventable. With my truck, an incoming text is read aloud to me, and I can respond with voice commands.
Just having a conversation with a passenger or listening to a pre-set radio is also a distraction. Best to just drive in silence.
But most people aren't going to do that. Solution is in tech though. With phones now offering do not disturb while driving mode. Extensive voice controls for audio/messaging. Locking out certain features while moving. Etc.
Every accident I've been in has involved an at fault minivan with children in the back...the ultimate distraction.
I agree about the solution being in tech, but its really already here, even my older phone has speech to text capability, and I believe there is a setting where it will read back replies, so you never even have to touch the phone.
IM not sure why they are not pushing this or something similar and just telling people to NOT do it while driving, well duh, of course people are going to do it, lets at least make it as safe as possible.
There's an awful lot of it these days and it shows. There are multiple colleges in my small city and you should see all the cars with T-bone dents. The driving improves considerably during the summer. Just saying.
This is a good spot to tell a story about a misunderstanding that caused a lot of laughter and raised eyebrows at my expense during one of those Senior Citizen brush up classes you take to get a discount on your car insurance.
The instructor asked this question and after some had given the usual answers I called out, "Insects in the car."
I guess most everyone in the room didn't hear the first syllable of the answer.
I never listen to the radio when driving, and discourage passengers.
People who have never owned a portable device with text capability are mystified by the urgency to use them.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
