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Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highways..
My Dream
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Goonie
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Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
Chicago banned the use of cellphones while driving.....wish the whole dang state would!!! It would give all of our wonderful driver's more time to read the newspaper and put on make-up!
Chicago banned the use of cellphones while driving.....wish the whole dang state would!!! It would give all of our wonderful driver's more time to read the newspaper and put on make-up!
Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
If they expect the Chicagah PD to enforce it....well.... they do have other things to do when not at Dunkin' DonutsGoonie said:Chicago banned the use of cellphones while driving.....wish the whole dang state would!!! It would give all of our wonderful driver's more time to read the newspaper and put on make-up!
REWahoo
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Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
Dan, my BIL loves to tell about the contest the morning drive-time radio DJ's played in Cleveland for years. They called it "Cop or Not" and it went like this: The Xth caller would play by guessing "yes' or "no". The radio station then called a Dunkin' Donuts at random and asked if there was a cop in the shop.
DanTien said:
Dan, my BIL loves to tell about the contest the morning drive-time radio DJ's played in Cleveland for years. They called it "Cop or Not" and it went like this: The Xth caller would play by guessing "yes' or "no". The radio station then called a Dunkin' Donuts at random and asked if there was a cop in the shop.
Leonidas
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Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
I can't stand the nasty, greasy things. But I have spent a few hours in donut shops - before Starbucks it was the only reliable place to get a decent cup of coffee between the hours of 10 a.m. - 5 a.m. No offense taken though. 8)
DanTien said:
hard to find a more sure bet...hope I haven't offended any non-doughnut eating cops out there...
I can't stand the nasty, greasy things. But I have spent a few hours in donut shops - before Starbucks it was the only reliable place to get a decent cup of coffee between the hours of 10 a.m. - 5 a.m. No offense taken though. 8)
savedapile
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NY has a no talking on handset law, you must use a headset.
That being said, it is not unusual to see people driving around yacking away with juggling cigarettes, coffee and hand held phones.
It truly is hazardous to everyone's health.
That being said, it is not unusual to see people driving around yacking away with juggling cigarettes, coffee and hand held phones.
It truly is hazardous to everyone's health.
Alex
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Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
As long as the person is using a headset or a speakerphone. I don't see what the problem is. Human beings are capable of talking and driving, just ask any woman.
As long as the person is using a headset or a speakerphone. I don't see what the problem is. Human beings are capable of talking and driving, just ask any woman.
Payin-the-Toll
Recycles dryer sheets
Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
Maybe the biggest problem on the highways is all us old retirees who won't stay home instead of clogging up the highways when working people are trying to get back-and-forth to their jobs!
Maybe the biggest problem on the highways is all us old retirees who won't stay home instead of clogging up the highways when working people are trying to get back-and-forth to their jobs!
ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
Actually, there are some studies that say it is very dangerous, even with a headset or speakerphone. It has something to do with how a phone converstaion mentally takes you out of your current 'space' and you tend to envision yourself standing and talking with the other person.
Just watch someone in your house talking on the phone as they walk around, or someone on the steet. They sometimes seem like they are in another world, oblivious to their surroundings. I can sense it myself.
When you talk to someone in the car - it is supposedly not as distracting, as they are there with you, in that 'space'.
-ERD50
Alex said:As long as the person is using a headset or a speakerphone. I don't see what the problem is. Human beings are capable of talking and driving, just ask any woman.
Actually, there are some studies that say it is very dangerous, even with a headset or speakerphone. It has something to do with how a phone converstaion mentally takes you out of your current 'space' and you tend to envision yourself standing and talking with the other person.
Just watch someone in your house talking on the phone as they walk around, or someone on the steet. They sometimes seem like they are in another world, oblivious to their surroundings. I can sense it myself.
When you talk to someone in the car - it is supposedly not as distracting, as they are there with you, in that 'space'.
-ERD50
What ERD50 said. Tests suggest that those who talk and drive have the same reaction times as those who are legally over the limit. Scary.
My brother's a cop. I rode with him once -- he stopped at four fast-food places in a matter of a few hours (one meal, three drinks), and every one of the drive-through window staff knew him BY NAME.
I also read an article a while back about a young salesman in Florida who hit a tree by the side of the freeway at about 80 mph. Dead, of course. They were pulling his body out and found an open sales manual between his chest and the steering wheel.
Best I ever saw, though, was the biker freak doing about 65 down I80, leaning back on his sissy bar and steering... with his feet.
My brother's a cop. I rode with him once -- he stopped at four fast-food places in a matter of a few hours (one meal, three drinks), and every one of the drive-through window staff knew him BY NAME.
I also read an article a while back about a young salesman in Florida who hit a tree by the side of the freeway at about 80 mph. Dead, of course. They were pulling his body out and found an open sales manual between his chest and the steering wheel.
Best I ever saw, though, was the biker freak doing about 65 down I80, leaning back on his sissy bar and steering... with his feet.
bosco
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Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
There is definitely research that bears this out. People on cellphones often are not engaged in light conversation. They are conducting business, or planning events etc. Some research shows you might as well be drunk.
As a motorcycle rider, I have noticed what I call the "cellphone weave." At 1 in the afternoon, a car that wanders from the centerline to the fog line and back a couple of times--is nearly always driven by someone on a cellphone. There are cases where soccer moms on cellphones have rear-ended people at full speed, being so busy talking they didn't notice the red light and stopped cars. I was rear-ended by such a person myself at 50 mph while cued up for a light. Of course, they claimed brake failure, but there was no evidence of it.
I feel we are in the dark ages about this problem. In 20 or 30 years, we will marvel at the days when people weren't cited for talking on cellphones--like it is about drinking and driving now.
ERD50 said:
There is definitely research that bears this out. People on cellphones often are not engaged in light conversation. They are conducting business, or planning events etc. Some research shows you might as well be drunk.
As a motorcycle rider, I have noticed what I call the "cellphone weave." At 1 in the afternoon, a car that wanders from the centerline to the fog line and back a couple of times--is nearly always driven by someone on a cellphone. There are cases where soccer moms on cellphones have rear-ended people at full speed, being so busy talking they didn't notice the red light and stopped cars. I was rear-ended by such a person myself at 50 mph while cued up for a light. Of course, they claimed brake failure, but there was no evidence of it.
I feel we are in the dark ages about this problem. In 20 or 30 years, we will marvel at the days when people weren't cited for talking on cellphones--like it is about drinking and driving now.
bosco
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Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
to clarify my last post, I was NOT on a motorcycle when rearended at 50mph. I was in a pickup, thank goodness. Did $8500 damage.
When on a motorcycle, I always keep my eyes peeled in the rear view mirror when stopped and have an escape route planned in case one of these yahoos comes at me....
to clarify my last post, I was NOT on a motorcycle when rearended at 50mph. I was in a pickup, thank goodness. Did $8500 damage.
When on a motorcycle, I always keep my eyes peeled in the rear view mirror when stopped and have an escape route planned in case one of these yahoos comes at me....
TromboneAl
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It will be illegal to talk on the phone in California starting in July.
While I agree with this law, I have to admit that there are many activities in the car that are just as distracting. I've had to make rules for myself such as no changing a CD while driving, no reaching for stuff in the back seat, etc.
Also, I am convinced that talking on cell phone is very distracting, even with a hands free set, but I wonder why that is any more distracting that talking with the person in the passenger seat?
While I agree with this law, I have to admit that there are many activities in the car that are just as distracting. I've had to make rules for myself such as no changing a CD while driving, no reaching for stuff in the back seat, etc.
Also, I am convinced that talking on cell phone is very distracting, even with a hands free set, but I wonder why that is any more distracting that talking with the person in the passenger seat?
OP
OP
Cut-Throat
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Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
They have done studies on this very topic. When Someone is riding with you and something happens on the road that needs your full attention (accident, near miss etc) , the passenger will also notice and stop talking/distracting you!
The person on the cell phone will continue to talk/distract you - maybe even demand your attention, if you stop talking to react to the situation. Hello! Hello! Are you still there?
I had a hands free phone about 12 years ago - I got rid of it! - It was the most distracting thing I've ever had in a car!
TromboneAl said:
They have done studies on this very topic. When Someone is riding with you and something happens on the road that needs your full attention (accident, near miss etc) , the passenger will also notice and stop talking/distracting you!
The person on the cell phone will continue to talk/distract you - maybe even demand your attention, if you stop talking to react to the situation. Hello! Hello! Are you still there?
I had a hands free phone about 12 years ago - I got rid of it! - It was the most distracting thing I've ever had in a car!
Is that right, TromboneAl? I'd heard that they were banning used of HAND-HELD phones, but I thought you could still use speaker phones or the little doo-hickeys you hang on your ear. (Yes, I'm a techno-peasant when it comes to these things.)
If they're banning the whole lot -- great. If it's only hand-held devices, then we've still got a problem.
cute fuzzy bunny
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Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
Cut-throat only posted this to make me write something.
There are no studies that show a measurable loss of driving ability by someone using a cell phone in a car. There was one study done that put people on a driving device, tested them, then got them drunk or put them on a cell phone and retested. That study showed that there was a very minute drop in response time for the .08 drunk driver and the cell phone driver.
Made for great headlines that "talking on a cell phone as bad as driving drunk!".
What that study actually showed was that compared to a benchmark where someone is undistracted by phone or drink and knows their driving skills are being tested, that anything brought into play will create at least a nominal distraction.
Several other studies then adopted that technically true, yet practically false conclusion (study building...another of my favorite ways to get headlines) and coupled them with other half baked "tests" that supposedly show that hands free cell phones or even just speaking to someone else in the car is just as bad.
As i've mentioned the other half dozen times this has come up, if cell phones increased the likelihood of an accident, there would be an increase in national accident rates in lockstep with cell phone adoption and use in cars. Yet, from 1990 (when almost nobody had cell phones in their cars) to 2006 when almost everyone does, the adjusted per capita accident rates are about the same. By some measures they're actually lower now.
Last year two legislators asked the california highway patrol to evaluate accidents to see if cell phones were a causative factor. The CHP came back and said that they could establish no correlation whatsoever between accidents and cell phones. The legislators changed the data to show a causative factor if a cell phone was present in either vehicle, even if it was not being used. And voila! Cell phones were a causative factor in many, many accidents! With their junk study/science data in hand, they passed the law Al mentions, which prohibits use of a phone without a hands free device.
Several countries and several states have outright banned the use of cell phones while driving. Their accident rates haven't changed one bit.
A lot of people just dont like people "talking on the phone" in public. A lot of people dont like rude cell phone users. A lot of anecdotal evidence surrounding "that guy cut me off because he was yapping on the cell phone!". And gosh darn it, it just makes sense that someone on the phone wont drive as well!
What explains it? A lot of people are bad drivers, a lot of people get bored while driving, and a lot of people are easily distracted by dozens of internal and external objects and activities.
As the accident data shows, people seem to find their own level of inability to drive and ability to be distracted, and those causative factors cause accidents and near misses. Take the phone away and that distraction will be readily replaced by another one.
Theres an old saying that I really like. Its "when the finger points at the moon, the fool looks at the finger". Sometimes its said "the fool bites the finger".
In this case the moon is bad drivers who dont learn the rules of the road in the first place and have forgotten what they did learn, coupled with bad habits like tailgating, turning without signaling, cutting people off, swerving through traffic, speeding, etc.
The finger is the phone they have stuck to their ear while they're doing these things...
Funny thing for me is that I probably logged a quarter million miles in a car while talking on a cell phone (hands free) without even a close call. I find that when I was talking to someone it kept my focus up and I paid more attention. When I wasnt on the phone I was usually daydreaming and not paying as much attention.
Read this for more data and some additional links to some more detailed information.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,56733-0.html
Cut-throat only posted this to make me write something.
There are no studies that show a measurable loss of driving ability by someone using a cell phone in a car. There was one study done that put people on a driving device, tested them, then got them drunk or put them on a cell phone and retested. That study showed that there was a very minute drop in response time for the .08 drunk driver and the cell phone driver.
Made for great headlines that "talking on a cell phone as bad as driving drunk!".
What that study actually showed was that compared to a benchmark where someone is undistracted by phone or drink and knows their driving skills are being tested, that anything brought into play will create at least a nominal distraction.
Several other studies then adopted that technically true, yet practically false conclusion (study building...another of my favorite ways to get headlines) and coupled them with other half baked "tests" that supposedly show that hands free cell phones or even just speaking to someone else in the car is just as bad.
As i've mentioned the other half dozen times this has come up, if cell phones increased the likelihood of an accident, there would be an increase in national accident rates in lockstep with cell phone adoption and use in cars. Yet, from 1990 (when almost nobody had cell phones in their cars) to 2006 when almost everyone does, the adjusted per capita accident rates are about the same. By some measures they're actually lower now.
Last year two legislators asked the california highway patrol to evaluate accidents to see if cell phones were a causative factor. The CHP came back and said that they could establish no correlation whatsoever between accidents and cell phones. The legislators changed the data to show a causative factor if a cell phone was present in either vehicle, even if it was not being used. And voila! Cell phones were a causative factor in many, many accidents! With their junk study/science data in hand, they passed the law Al mentions, which prohibits use of a phone without a hands free device.
Several countries and several states have outright banned the use of cell phones while driving. Their accident rates haven't changed one bit.
A lot of people just dont like people "talking on the phone" in public. A lot of people dont like rude cell phone users. A lot of anecdotal evidence surrounding "that guy cut me off because he was yapping on the cell phone!". And gosh darn it, it just makes sense that someone on the phone wont drive as well!
What explains it? A lot of people are bad drivers, a lot of people get bored while driving, and a lot of people are easily distracted by dozens of internal and external objects and activities.
As the accident data shows, people seem to find their own level of inability to drive and ability to be distracted, and those causative factors cause accidents and near misses. Take the phone away and that distraction will be readily replaced by another one.
Theres an old saying that I really like. Its "when the finger points at the moon, the fool looks at the finger". Sometimes its said "the fool bites the finger".
In this case the moon is bad drivers who dont learn the rules of the road in the first place and have forgotten what they did learn, coupled with bad habits like tailgating, turning without signaling, cutting people off, swerving through traffic, speeding, etc.
The finger is the phone they have stuck to their ear while they're doing these things...
Funny thing for me is that I probably logged a quarter million miles in a car while talking on a cell phone (hands free) without even a close call. I find that when I was talking to someone it kept my focus up and I paid more attention. When I wasnt on the phone I was usually daydreaming and not paying as much attention.
Read this for more data and some additional links to some more detailed information.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,56733-0.html
REWahoo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give
Re: Talking on Cell phones while driving is todays biggest problem on the Highwa
Are you bored, jealous of C-T's new ride, or do you really miss us?
Yeah? Well, scr*w you, too!
This space for rent said:
Are you bored, jealous of C-T's new ride, or do you really miss us?
Yeah? Well, scr*w you, too!
cute fuzzy bunny
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MasterBlaster
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TSFR:
Based on personal observation I don't believe your rant.
If nothing else, holding a cell phone up to your left ear partially blocks your vision to the left. Now tell me how safe that is when operating a 6000 lb SUV going 70+ MPH.
Check your data cause California has no laws blocking cell phone use while driving. There are no laws requiring hands free headsets while driving in California either.
Based on personal observation I don't believe your rant.
If nothing else, holding a cell phone up to your left ear partially blocks your vision to the left. Now tell me how safe that is when operating a 6000 lb SUV going 70+ MPH.
Check your data cause California has no laws blocking cell phone use while driving. There are no laws requiring hands free headsets while driving in California either.
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