That’s fine. I don’t doubt your experiences but I doubt your conclusion. I’ve seen it. I’m not one but I know someone who can drive effectively while doing a little texting. I’ve been in his car often enough.
It makes sense too, though, doesn’t it? Different people have different capacities.
I am not saying that people should do it. I am not advocating for it. I am merely saying that some can drive effectively enough. Is it safe? No it is not.
There are some people out there that shouldn’t even have a hands-free phone in their car. I am sure y’all have seen them (and some of you are them)- The ones that visualize the people that they are talking to, either where the phone is or off to the side where the passenger usually sits. If you are visualizing the person you are talking to there is no way in hell you are paying as much attention to what is really happening in front of you.
As a lifelong motorcyclist, I can spot the distracted drive from far away. On a bike I sit higher than the height of cars and can see far down the road. I spot them ahead and come up to them, and sure enough they’re on their phone.
Many of them!
I’m aware that some/many people do that, but all too often I see people staring at their laps while driving.
Here’s a PSA from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. It’s clearly encouraging motorists to put their cell phones in the glove compartment before driving. The radio ads are more direct.
This is what my husband’s phone says and it’s because he has it paired to our car. It is not enabled by travel speed. Otherwise, he would have this probably every time we take the train.
Distracted driving just means that the driver isn’t prioritizing the control of a deadly machine. Distraction can be caused by eating, a spider, a phone ringing, or even a conversation with a passenger of the vehicle.
The driver has the responsibility to be in control at all times. Probably more drivers should set their phones to “do not disturb” when driving, especially if they do not have a hands-free option.
Putting one’s phone in the trunk does seem to be a bit excessive, especially since a lot of people would probably forget it, and then have other problems.
My current settings just do nothing when someone texts me while I’m driving. I get no alert, they get no response. I really like the “no alert while driving” feature, which is triggered by using Google maps in auto mode. But a couple of years ago, the phone would recite the text to me, and there was a one-tap response that said, “I’m driving, I’ll reply later”, or something like that. I could probably still have it read the text, but i prefer just not knowing I’ve been texted, so i haven’t looked around the options. Ever since this option was added to Google maps, I’ve used it. I can exit driving mode if I’m the passenger. I mean, i suppose i can if I’m driving, too, but i routinely DO exit driving mode when I’m using Google maps as a passenger.
Anyway, i think there are lots of better options than putting the phone in the glove box.
What I’m seeing in that video is one driver handing his phone to his passenger (his mom?), one putting her phone in the glove compartment, and one setting her phone to Do Not Disturb. So, definitely encouraging drivers to put away / not use their phones while driving, but not insisting on any one specific way of doing so.
And yes, I believe there exist people who are so strongly tempted to reach for their phone if it’s within reach that putting it somewhere like the glove compartment or the trunk really is the best policy for them.
A Fed.
Here’s an ad where, at the beginning, there’s some friendly prodding to motorists to put their cell phones somewhere out of reach (e.g., a glove compartment).
That just doesn’t make sense for me because I use mine for navigation. Many other people do too.
You can if it is handsfree in CA. And it seems even if not hands-free-
Talking on a cellphone while driving, get a ticket. Text while driving, get a ticket. Glance at that all-powerful map on your iPhone while driving? No problem.
That was the conclusion Thursday of a state appeals court in Fresno, which for the first time in a California case found that drivers can use maps on their smartphones without risking a hands-free cellphone ticket.
The court’s ruling is almost certain to be welcomed by drivers who’ve come to depend on maps programs and GPS functions to get where they’re going, but it is unlikely to end the confusion over what’s legal — and what’s not — under California’s hands-free law.
I keep my phone paired with my car and that allows completely hands-free operation. However, I never make and rarely accept calls while in motion. The main benefit is that the car will call for help automatically if I was in a collision serious enough to set the airbags off.
For me, nothing beats the time I saw my bus driver doing a full on crossword puzzle with pencil and paper while driving.
I should’ve reported him, yes, I know. I didn’t.
Turning off the phone, and putting it in the trunk of the car?
This reminds me of the old pre-internet days (back when you GENERALLY had to actually swipe a credit card through a reader to use it) when it was suggested that shopaholics should literally freeze their credit cards in a block of ice so they couldn’t use them for a while.
I think that PSA is being extreme only for the sake of those who compulsively text and drive, much as the credit-card-in-ice suggestion was made to the masses, but only expected to be followed by those who need it most. In this case, by those who would have a problem when hearing their phone chime and compulsively needing to answer it (don’t know why one couldn’t simply silence the phone and put it away, though, instead of turning it off entirely).