I’m not smart (or patient) enough to parse out the statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Admionistration. Maybe someone else can.
But on cursory inspection, there does not appear to be a huge spike in automobile accidents or deaths from 1994 to 2009. In 1994, cell phones were not that common at all. By 2009, they were getting ubiquitous. In fact, drivers counted for significantly fewer deaths in 2009 than in 2003 despite the increase in licensed drivers and average miles driven. No doubt some of that can be attributed to safer vehicles (air bags and so on) but surely not all of it.
Given the dramatic rise in cell phone use over the last decade and the warnings about it being on par with drunk driving, and laws against it, I’d expect to see a giant increase in accidents. But it doesn’t seem as if there are more accidents and fatalities?
Although I think texting while driving is utterly stupid (perhaps because I can’t do it!) and talking while driving may or may not impair someone, depending on how good a driver they are to begin with and how judicious about their cell phone use they are, I tend to be unconvinced by “evidence” shown by simulation tests, brain scans and so on and figure it’s probably less of a big deal than some people make it out to be.
Probably like 2%. Texting and handheld devices are illegal in MD (though poorly enforced). I don’t have a hands-free phone. I will occasionally call while driving if it’s urgent and there’s either not much traffic on a straightaway or it’s stop-and-go. Never if I will actually need to be changing lanes, steering around a curve, merging, or anything more complicated than just sitting in the lane and inching along or driving straight. I will text at stoplights if it’s urgent. I absolutely never text while moving because my phone has a full keyboard that needs 2 hands to text and obviously at least one hand has to be on the wheel.
I won’t say I never use my phone while driving. But it’s very uncommon.
Now, I’m never on the phone while driving. However, while I was in a long-distance relationship, it was fairly constant if I happened to be driving anywhere of distance. Hands-free, of course, since otherwise is illegal here in CA (not that that seems to matter much to a lot of folks out here).
Yeah, but did you look at the link with pesky facts I posted? I’m guessing not.
I’ve googled this before and statistics worldwide indicate traffic accidents and deaths have been on a steady decline over the last decade - the same decade where cell phone use has exploded. Look up those facts and get back to me.
Note also that I have not endorsed using a cell phone while driving - here or anywhere else, ever - and also put myself squarely in the > 10 percent cell phone usage while driving category,
Sometimes, albeit not too often, but I have a hands-free device and hate talking on the phone in general. Also, I actually find the radio and stereo playing music to be more distracting (and both of them trivially so).
Again, if the goal is to minimize distraction in a car at whatever cost, make “babies on board” illegal!
It seems like if some of the people in this thread would, you know, spend more time paying attention to the vehicles around them rather than the drivers cell phone use status, they would be safer. Except at lights, I never notice whether someone is on a phone or not! (Obviously if you are a pedestrian this comment doesn’t apply to you.)
I do have a car and I will look at my caller ID when a call comes through. If I think its important, I’ll let it go to voice mail, find a place to pull over, listen and then call back if needed. Everyone knows that I don’t like talking on the phone while I’m driving, so they don’t get offended.
This is actually the only thing that M and I argue about. He’s got a repeater or something on his truck so he never loses his signal. He’s constantly on his hands free phone. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never had a cell phone cause an accident. I still worry.
I ticked "I don’t drive but I like to vote! " I have a Thai driver’s license but don’t have a car here and never drive. The last time I did was in Hawaii in 2005.
But if I did drive, I would keep the phone turned off. It should be illegal to use it while driving.
It’s a cell phone. When it rings, I answer it. I’m perfectly capable of driving and talking on the phone. What’s more likely to get me into an accident is fiddling with GPS on the thing! On occasion, I have to and then I do it at a stop light.
I don’t text and drive, though. That shit is scary…and my students do it all the time, even though it’s illegal here. I lecture them a lot.
I chat with my mom on my way home from work, with a hands-free. I dial before I set out, and I hang up after I park. I’ve found it to be no more distracting than conversing with a passenger.
Yeah. It’s often important to look at the driver to see which way he’s looking. And when someone does something stupid I’ll usually check to see if they are on a cell phone.
Just now on my way to lunch I was behind a fellow at a red light. When it turned green, he did not move. I finally honked. Cell phone? Yep. Same driver also made a number of turns with out his signal. Which he would have used his left hand to turn on. The left hand with the cell phone in it.
I think this is something we’re going to be seeing a lot more of - red light texters/phoners who sit unmoving at the light after it changes because they’re texting, not paying attention to what’s going on around them. I was waiting at a light to make a left turn - the oncoming car just sat there, not moving while I waited, while the driver finished up his text. I could have taken a chance and gone, but Murphy’s Law says he would have started driving just as I was in front of him then.
You know what I do while I wait for a red light? I watch the light and other cars around me because I’m still frickin’ responsible for the vehicle I’m sitting in. Alberta’s distracted driving laws don’t make an exception for texting or phoning while stopped at a light for just these reasons.
My phone is almost always on, though it’s a relatively small portion of the time that I’m actually talking on it. Especially with smartphones these days, I’m finding this to be more and more the case.
For me, specifically, mine connects via bluetooth to the car, where I stream media and other services. If I receive a call, I’ll typically take it, using the same method. If what I’m doing requires more focus, I end the call. It all depends on the situation, but I prioritize driving by managing when I interact with the actual device.
I am 1-10% (my actual percentage is close to 2%), and only hands-free, and keep the conversation as short and to-the-point as possible. I think that the cognitive distraction is worse than having one hand tied up. Otherwise one-armed people wouldn’t be able to get a driver’s license.
If someone is driving erratically and then I see they are on the phone I blow my horn. I see at least one person every day on the phone who is driving too slow in the wrong lane, or weaves over the lines, or doesn’t budge for a green light.
