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The NTSB announced today that states should ban all cell phone use, both hands free and hand held. Of course, there is no difference between the two, which is something that I usually bring up but people seem to ignore:
Some studies have shown that talking on a cell phone is no more distracting than talking to a passenger, but other studies show that talking on the cell phone is slightly more distracting. Either way, it's not more distracting than eating, drinking, refereeing the kids in the back seat or doing anything else that people do. It's just more noticeable. There is also a psychological component where people see a bad driver, and the driver is on a cell phone (just like everyone else), they automatically think she is a bad driver because she is on a cell phone and forget that bad drivers existed before cell phones. Despite cell phone use and driving, highway fatalities are at an all time low.
The NTSB conducted this study after a person apparently "caused" a pile-up because of texting and driving (not even the issue here). Apparently, the cell phone is now also responsible if a bus behind you has faulty breaks and hits you from behind. Whose fault? The cellphone, naturally. So now the government is doing what it does best and will likely pull state funding if they don't ban all hands free and hand held cell phone use while driving, even though it's not more distracting than most other things. What ever happened to careless driving tickets for the people who aren't paying attention? I guess there is just not as much money in that.
I'm yet to see a collision or anyone driving left of center due to the use of an electronic device. I'm sure it happens, I'm just yet to see it. But what I have noticed is that there's a lot more drivers messing around with stuff while stopped at traffic lights. Consequently they do not notice the light turning green in front of them, sometimes not noticing for five or ten seconds. Get a line of six cars and have two motorists sidetracked by cellphones, and you've got some needlessly delayed, irritated drivers, I being one of them.
I'm not perfect, no one is, but I do everything in my power to be a safe driver for the sake of myself, and others on the road, driving is a huge responsibility, and should be viewed as such. Choosing to drive in a distracted state is selfish, and can end with destroying someone's life, no phone call is worth that. When I am driving that is where my focus is, phone calls, texts, putting on makeup, reading, etc. can all wait until I am stopped. Watching the cars around me so I know what they are up to is called safe driving, staring only at the road, and ignoring the actions of the cars around you is a good way to get into an accident.
And someone who is talking on a hands free device on an empty interstate sure as hell isn't causing anyone any risk, and shouldn't be fined or imprisoned for that.
Isn't it a DAMN SHAME these Anti Cell Phone Laws have become a necessity? Whatever happened to individuals respecting the property and safety of others?
There's absolutely no way these phone conversations or text messages are so important as to jeopardize the safety of others.
Remember, no one is able to UNDO a serious accident.
Do you talk to passengers in your car while driving?
How is talking on a hands free device any different from talking to a passenger in the back seat?
It is a different sort of engagement. A passenger is going through the same things a driver is, and may actually seen more of what's happening on the sides of the road than the driver.
A phone conversation is one-sided. The person on the other end has no perception at all of what the driver's dong or going through.
A lot depends on the driver in both circumstances. I have seen drivers who must have eye contact with a person on the other end of a conversation. A back seat passenger is probably easier to have that eye contact, as they can be seen in the rear view mirror. A passenger in the front seat would require such a driver to turn his head to have the eye contact. I see young drivers doing this constantly- looking at each other instead of the road.
Other drivers have learned to keep their eyes on the road, and can respond without the need of eye contact. My parents were both this way; I think a lot of how a young person drives comes from their experience as a passenger.
Any short conversation is going to be about the same level of distraction, I believe, if it's on a hand-free device or in a car. The length of the conversation and the degree of engagement is the big difference.
We are still learning how to use cell phones. When they first became widely used, every personal conversation was interrupted when the cell rang, but this is not longer true. Folks have learned to check their phones, and then decide whether the conversation needs to take precedence or not now.
And folks now excuse themselves to go talk on a cell instead of just yakking away wherever they are in most areas now. Talking while walking or standing in line is much different than talking on a cell in the office or during an important conversation. Engagement and duration are the two things that make cell phones and texting hazardous.
The cell phone adds another and higher level of distraction to all the other gadgets in the cars. We all fool around with the radio, load recordings, use the make-up mirrors, etc. that are provided, and all can lead to trouble. We eat and drink in cars, change our shoes while driving, take off coats, whatever- everything but pay attention to what we are actually doing. We have come to see our car as a privacy zone, and very much of our driving is from sheer habit.
Someone mentioned the fact that we are controlling 1 1/2 tons of mass at speed- that is something we all take for granted all the time, but mass obeys natural laws, and though we all learn this too, it's easy to forget the last time we narrowly avoided trouble through our inattention.
Most of the time we snap out of it in the nick of time and nothing serious happens. Like everything else, we are just now learning how to use a cell phone in the car. Texting of any kind, watching a DVD while driving, or anything that takes eyes off the road is just now becoming evident that it's as lethal as driving blind.
Prohibiting a lethal practice is common sense. Everyone drives or rides in a car, and it's a simple matter of public safety.
It is a different sort of engagement. A passenger is going through the same things a driver is, and may actually seen more of what's happening on the sides of the road than the driver.
A phone conversation is one-sided. The person on the other end has no perception at all of what the driver's dong or going through.
A lot depends on the driver in both circumstances. I have seen drivers who must have eye contact with a person on the other end of a conversation. A back seat passenger is probably easier to have that eye contact, as they can be seen in the rear view mirror. A passenger in the front seat would require such a driver to turn his head to have the eye contact. I see young drivers doing this constantly- looking at each other instead of the road.
Other drivers have learned to keep their eyes on the road, and can respond without the need of eye contact. My parents were both this way; I think a lot of how a young person drives comes from their experience as a passenger.
Any short conversation is going to be about the same level of distraction, I believe, if it's on a hand-free device or in a car. The length of the conversation and the degree of engagement is the big difference.
We are still learning how to use cell phones. When they first became widely used, every personal conversation was interrupted when the cell rang, but this is not longer true. Folks have learned to check their phones, and then decide whether the conversation needs to take precedence or not now.
And folks now excuse themselves to go talk on a cell instead of just yakking away wherever they are in most areas now. Talking while walking or standing in line is much different than talking on a cell in the office or during an important conversation. Engagement and duration are the two things that make cell phones and texting hazardous.
The cell phone adds another and higher level of distraction to all the other gadgets in the cars. We all fool around with the radio, load recordings, use the make-up mirrors, etc. that are provided, and all can lead to trouble. We eat and drink in cars, change our shoes while driving, take off coats, whatever- everything but pay attention to what we are actually doing. We have come to see our car as a privacy zone, and very much of our driving is from sheer habit.
Someone mentioned the fact that we are controlling 1 1/2 tons of mass at speed- that is something we all take for granted all the time, but mass obeys natural laws, and though we all learn this too, it's easy to forget the last time we narrowly avoided trouble through our inattention.
Most of the time we snap out of it in the nick of time and nothing serious happens. Like everything else, we are just now learning how to use a cell phone in the car. Texting of any kind, watching a DVD while driving, or anything that takes eyes off the road is just now becoming evident that it's as lethal as driving blind.
Prohibiting a lethal practice is common sense. Everyone drives or rides in a car, and it's a simple matter of public safety.
Driving sleepy, driving while listening to the radio, etc. Do you know how many teens cars I fixed working for my dad that had wrecks because they reached to change the dial on their radio, and pulled the wheel to the right when the leaned over?
Tell my 7 year old that he is better at seeing the road then me, and knows what is going on.
The point is, if we make everything illegal that can be lethal, we could never leave our house, hell we couldn't live in a house.
It is a different sort of engagement. A passenger is going through the same things a driver is, and may actually seen more of what's happening on the sides of the road than the driver.
A phone conversation is one-sided. The person on the other end has no perception at all of what the driver's dong or going through.
A lot depends on the driver in both circumstances. I have seen drivers who must have eye contact with a person on the other end of a conversation. A back seat passenger is probably easier to have that eye contact, as they can be seen in the rear view mirror. A passenger in the front seat would require such a driver to turn his head to have the eye contact. I see young drivers doing this constantly- looking at each other instead of the road.
Other drivers have learned to keep their eyes on the road, and can respond without the need of eye contact. My parents were both this way; I think a lot of how a young person drives comes from their experience as a passenger.
Any short conversation is going to be about the same level of distraction, I believe, if it's on a hand-free device or in a car. The length of the conversation and the degree of engagement is the big difference.
We are still learning how to use cell phones. When they first became widely used, every personal conversation was interrupted when the cell rang, but this is not longer true. Folks have learned to check their phones, and then decide whether the conversation needs to take precedence or not now.
And folks now excuse themselves to go talk on a cell instead of just yakking away wherever they are in most areas now. Talking while walking or standing in line is much different than talking on a cell in the office or during an important conversation. Engagement and duration are the two things that make cell phones and texting hazardous.
The cell phone adds another and higher level of distraction to all the other gadgets in the cars. We all fool around with the radio, load recordings, use the make-up mirrors, etc. that are provided, and all can lead to trouble. We eat and drink in cars, change our shoes while driving, take off coats, whatever- everything but pay attention to what we are actually doing. We have come to see our car as a privacy zone, and very much of our driving is from sheer habit.
Someone mentioned the fact that we are controlling 1 1/2 tons of mass at speed- that is something we all take for granted all the time, but mass obeys natural laws, and though we all learn this too, it's easy to forget the last time we narrowly avoided trouble through our inattention.
Most of the time we snap out of it in the nick of time and nothing serious happens. Like everything else, we are just now learning how to use a cell phone in the car. Texting of any kind, watching a DVD while driving, or anything that takes eyes off the road is just now becoming evident that it's as lethal as driving blind.
Prohibiting a lethal practice is common sense. Everyone drives or rides in a car, and it's a simple matter of public safety.
There is a huge difference between having a conversation with a passenger and talking on the phone. A passenger will instinctively be quiet at any hint of danger, a passenger can see your expressions, and body language, and can sense danger coming from you in an instant, if the driver suddenly stops talking the passenger instinctively also stops talking, and looks out the window because he could be in danger too, but when you are on the phone the other person is likely to try to get your attention back which further distracts a driver, they aren't thinking about you driving. A passenger is aware that his safety depends on you, and will take that into account, the person on the phone expects your attention to be on them, and the conversation.
It's also much easier to hear a passenger sitting in the car with you, it requires less effort to listen to someone next to you than a phone call. Even someone in the back seat is going to have awareness of what is going on in the car, they will see if you tense up, or seem concerned, and allow you to focus on driving. As far as being distracted by children, the safest thing to do for them is to ignore them, people fussing with their kids in the back seat are as bad as phone users, the kids are strapped in and fine, if it's an emergency pull over, and take care of them, otherwise focus on the task of driving.
You are right that prohibiting a lethal practice is common sense. Driving is a tremendous responsibility, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to make it safer for those around us, a phone call can wait. I don't understand how people can think it's a good idea to yap away in the car, I have had, and seen too many near misses with people doing careless things while on the phone, it seems like they don't even care about paying attention, it doesn't seem to occur to them that they could hurt someone for a stupid phone call. You can't take back an accident that's hurts someone, no phone call could ever be worth that.
Some people seem to think a car is like our house where we should be able to do whatever we want, it's not, we are out on public roads operating dangerous fast moving heavy machines with hundreds of others operating heavy machines, we aren't supposed to chill out, read, text, or yap away on the phone. When you are driving on public roads you are required to follow the laws, pay attention, and do everything in your power to drive safely. I'm not saying I'm perfect, I'm not, but I do my best, and that's all I ask from others, I'm dumbfounded that people actually have a problem with being asked to avoid distractions while driving. I also don't understand the logic of pointing out other dangers as a reason why we should talk on the phone, just because something is dangerous doesn't mean we should add more dangers.
I leave mine in its case, and that in my purse as I drive. Seems if folks know I'll answer then they ring it, and I get calls on top of calls and the call-waiting thing is, in my opinion ridiculous to deal with while driving.
I leave mine in its case, and that in my purse as I drive. Seems if folks know I'll answer then they ring it, and I get calls on top of calls and the call-waiting thing is, in my opinion ridiculous to deal with while driving.
As a fellow driver who has to spend a lot of time on the roads due to a commute, I thank you!
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