Cell phones while driving..!

[D7E]

It's no wonder they're banning cell phones while driving...I just got off the phone from my brother in law (to be) Who's off to hospital..While sat at an intersection in the middle of the city a car rear ended him and parked underneath his rear end of the suv,All air bags deployed and the car that hit him is a write off..The car driver was on the phone..?
I wonder that the comp is like for a oversize load trucker off work with bruised ribs and whiplash ..?Pity he did'nt have the semi at the time..

 

[California]

I am sorry to hear about your brother in law. I hope he is feeling better soon.

I wasn't in my car when it was hit. It was parked in front of my house. Some real estate lady dialed her phone as she pulled away from my neighbor's house and sideswiped a big gouge the length of her car. My car was luckier and just needed a bumper. The phone lady said she never saw my car parked in front of her until the scraping sound brought her attention back to her driving.

California outlawed hands-on phone use while driving but it is widely ignored. Maybe they need to raise the fines. And I have seen texters drift across a couple of freeway lanes, in traffic, before they notice. Idiots!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

... Are great for those that know how to drive. The rest need to hang up.

 

[dave1949]

... Are great for those that know how to drive. The rest need to hang up.

Everybody is dead certain they know how to drive
I think cell phones and texting while driving is a menace. I have noted people on cell phones doing too much erratic driving to be anywhere near safe.
Dave.

 

[Bird]

Everybody is dead certain they know how to drive

There's the problem. There are actually very few "good" drivers on the road; i.e., those who have had some training, study, experience, etc. beyond the minimum to get a license. And the minimum to get a license is to barely be able to herd a vehicle down the road. But they all think they are good drivers. Hardly a day goes by that I don't see some idiot talking on a cell phone and driving in a manner that would have made me suspect he/she was drunk years ago.

 

[dave1949]

There's the problem. There are actually very few "good" drivers on the road; i.e., those who have had some training, study, experience, etc. beyond the minimum to get a license. And the minimum to get a license is to barely be able to herd a vehicle down the road. But they all think they are good drivers. Hardly a day goes by that I don't see some idiot talking on a cell phone and driving in a manner that would have made me suspect he/she was drunk years ago.

Exactly, Bird.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

There's the problem. There are actually very few "good" drivers on the road; i.e., those who have had some training, study, experience, etc. beyond the minimum to get a license. And the minimum to get a license is to barely be able to herd a vehicle down the road. But they all think they are good drivers. Hardly a day goes by that I don't see some idiot talking on a cell phone and driving in a manner that would have made me suspect he/she was drunk years ago.

Dead on. I average well over 200 miles a day for my job. When I see someone on their cell phone, and they are all over the road, I get next to them and lay on the horn until they look at me. Then I give the hang up sign. If they don't, I lay on the horn again. I guarantee the person on the other end can hear it and wonders what is going on.

 

[Bird]

Dead on. I average well over 200 miles a day for my job. When I see someone on their cell phone, and they are all over the road, I get next to them and lay on the horn until they look at me. Then I give the hang up sign. If they don't, I lay on the horn again. I guarantee the person on the other end can hear it and wonders what is going on.

I can certainly understand the temptation to do that, but I can't say I'd recommend it. With the number of road rage incidents now-a-days, you might get shot.

 

[mjarrels]

I would much rather deal with someone driving down the road using a cell phone than someone driving in a busy parking lot using a cell phone. My daughter started driving about three months ago and I told her the local walmart parking lot is the most dangerous place to drive.

mark

 

[JB4310]

I consider myself a decent driver, never had an accident in 30 years of driving.
We have a law here no cell use while driving with out a hands free device. everyone was careful the first few months but now it's back to the way it was with everyone with a phone against their head.

I do it myself often, I try and use the headset but of course that's an "inconvenience" sometimes. try to use speaker phone when ever possible also.For sure I will not hold a phone to my head going thru or stopped at a busy intersection, Not only dangerous but embarrassing to be so foolish. I'll either just put it down for a second or switch to speakerphone.

Like I said I'm a decent driver but I can tell for sure that the phone distracts me enough that I recognize the danger.

It's a touchy subject, not sure where I come down on it being illegal or not, since I want to do it, I can't really say I don't want someone else to.

Texting (funny, spell check doesn't recognize "texting") is off the charts dangerous, I see these people everyday stopped at green lights with there heads down, just waiting to get plowed into. I don't drive on the highway everyday but the guy that works with me does and tells me about the people weaving all over the road, he said you just have to give them a wide berth. He gave up on blowing the horn at them!

PS. A woman got killed right down the street from my house about 10 years ago, I heard the bang and looked out and saw the accident and went back to my dinner, it sounded and looked so minor. she slow speed rear ended a dumpster carrying truck, the bottom edge of the dumpster just creased the windshield at head height. I went out there after I saw the whole town down there and was shocked someone was killed. They said she was on the phone and didn't notice the truck was stopping!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

There are lots of things that distract drivers, conversations on cell phones is one of them, but so are putting on makeup, shaving, messing with the kids in the back seat, changing your CD, messing with the MP3 player, messing with the radio, messing with the AC controls, reading, looking at the GPS, etc. etc. etc. I see these things every day by drivers. Hands free is not any better, it's the conversation that makes it more of a distraction, not the act of holding a phone. Sure, there are accidents when people are on the phone, but it boils down to individual driving ability.

 

[Western]

I once stopped a woman for changing clothes in rush hour traffic! Her driving was actually ok, sorta. It was the males near her that caused the problems.

When my daughter started driving I told her "NO TEXTING WHILE DRIVING" as I guess most parents would, she said " I WONT DAD, I'M A GOOD DRIVER!" ..3 days later while answering a text she drove over a curb which cost ME $900. Thankfully she was fine but scared.

In DPS school, it was said that it takes 8 years for the average person to become "proficient" at driving.

 

[RobertN]

Calif made laws requiring hands free cell phone, ie speaker phone or bluetooth device.

All kinds of people are on the phone at any thim you get on the road. Even the Governers wife gaot caught, with pictures ciculating all over the web.

I think it is dangerous to use a cell phone while driving; I see it all the time. Slowing down, speeding up, hitting the brakes, weaving.

You really got to look at all the stuff that cars have now. The cell phone, tape/cd/mp3 players. GPS's. 9.27E9(9.27 bazillion!) buttons, knobs, screens ect. Add all that together, AND a cell phone... disaster waiting to happen.

If I do not have my bluetoothearpice, I will not take a call while driving. I'll pull over if it is something really really important.

The one that really really gets me, is I see highway patrol ans sheriff officers on the cell phone here and there.....

 

[kidr]

This is interesting because I am a super defensive driver. I drive as if everyone on the road is out to kill me. I do alot of observing ,and evaluating drivers around me. I noticed that people playing with radios and such will lose concentration for a couple of seconds.People on phones get a faraway look in their eyes and stare but don't see and will drive for a long time like that. It's like they're hypnotized or something.
People on phones are kamikazis in my book and I get away from them even if I have to break the law and speed for while. While I'm on a rant , I wish police would ticket for tailgating, which I think is the major cause of auto fatalities. I don't have stats to back that up, just my belief. I have seen people with newspapers draped over their steering wheels in 70 mph traffic.I have seen people drinking coffee shuffling papers and who knows what else on the same highway. I guess they're such "good drivers" that it's boring and they need something to occupy their minds.

 

[JB4310]

The one that really really gets me, is I see highway patrol ans sheriff officers on the cell phone here and there.....

Here they are exempt I think, but not only are they on the phones more than teenage girls they're also on their computers constantly.

Whenever I see a cop they are looking at their monitors, I really don't know how they drive like that. Sometime when I'm doing something wrong like talking on the phone speeding or not wearing seat belt and I spot a cop close to me I think to myself uh oh I'm in trouble, when I sheepishly look over at him he's looking at his computer.

Some of you keep equating good driving skills with being safe to talk on the phone while driving. I don't, I'm practically a stunt driver and I get easily distracted when involved in a two way conversation on the phone. Not so much if just talking to the wife or kids but more so with a new customer trying to have an intelligent conversation or diagnosing a problem.

 

[archerm3]

But of course, EVERYONE on TBN is a good driver..

Good driving skills means have the good judgement to determine whether a side task (such as dialing in your desired heater setting, or reading a highway sign) is distracting oneself from keep the rolling metal under good control AND good courtesy. Difference between motor skills and judgement skills, both are required, everyone boasts about their motor skills, many ignore the judgement skills.

 

[archerm3]

I

In DPS school, it was said that it takes 8 years for the average person to become "proficient" at driving.

My nonprofessional opinion and experience would tend to agree with that time period...

But is there a difference between proficient, and good? That is another question.

 

[archerm3]

This is interesting because I am a super defensive driver. I drive as if everyone on the road is out to kill me. I do alot of observing ,and evaluating drivers around me. I noticed that people playing with radios and such will lose concentration for a couple of seconds.People on phones get a faraway look in their eyes and stare but don't see and will drive for a long time like that. It's like they're hypnotized or something.
People on phones are kamikazis in my book and I get away from them even if I have to break the law and speed for while. While I'm on a rant , I wish police would ticket for tailgating, which I think is the major cause of auto fatalities. I don't have stats to back that up, just my belief. I have seen people with newspapers draped over their steering wheels in 70 mph traffic.I have seen people drinking coffee shuffling papers and who knows what else on the same highway. I guess they're such "good drivers" that it's boring and they need something to occupy their minds.

Don't they teach in the defensive driving course, that in order to "get away" from a kamikaze driver, is to stop and let them drive away from you?

 

[Steve C]

Last week end I was driving south on US23 near Brighton Michigan. This is an expressway with 2 lanes southbound and 2 lanes northbound. Thraffic was a little heavy for what ever reason, it was around 3 in the afternoon, clear and dry. I was towing a small trailer with my 1 ton truck, doing about 70 with the cruise control set, staying in the right lane and only moving to the left lane for passing. I was approaching an on ramp on a slight up grade and there was a semi truck directly in front of me and he was loosing speed. I checked my mirror to move over to pass, and when I glanced back at the semi, there was a Jeep station wagon coming off the on ramp about to run into the side of it at a high rate of speed. I couldn't believe my eyes, How could you not see the truck if you were getting on the road. I quickly moved to the left lane and hit the brakes thinking the truck driver was going to have to take evasive action and swerve left if by chance he happened to see the idiot in the jeep, although he was probably in the truckers blind spot on the right hand side. The trucker probably never saw the guy because he remained in the right lane.
Just before impact, the Jeep violently careened to the right hand shoulder of the road and almost hit the guard rail, then shot back accross the road just clearing the rear end of the truck and almost hit the guard rail on the left side of the road. All this time his brake lights never came on. I followed him for a couple of miles and he was constantly crossing the center line and running off the right shoulder of the road all the while slowing down and speeding up.
I was about to call 911 and report a drunk driver when he slowed down to about 45 and I shot past him.

When I went by I noticed he had the drivers seat cranked back at about a 45 degree angle. He was leaning to the right far enough that his head was centered in the car. He was holding a cell phone in his right hand almost like he was leaning on his elbow on the passenger seat, and he was staring up at the headliner with a far away look on his face, and steering with his left hand and his jaws were just flapping. I don't know who he was talking to but whoever it was sure had 110% of that guys attention. That guy had no clue that he was surrounded by traffic. He never saw me when I went by.

If you ask him he will probably tell you the he is real good at multi-tasking and the phone doesn't bother him when he is driving. My observation draws a different conclusion.

 

[czechsonofagun]

The brain attention split is the biggest problem; motorically driving with the phone is not a big deal.