Women be different than men.
First, I’m not disagreeing about the effects of even hands-free cellphones on driving ability.
But if we’re going to legislate against drivers being distracted, I want to make sure that we make it illegal for someone to be alone in a car with a toddler, or infant. The most distracted drivers I’ve ever seen were those trying to get a cranky child to shut up. I think it’s at least as much a risk as cellphones.
Provided that the driver isn’t doing something insanely dangerous while driving, I’m not really going to worry about it. Mind you, there are some drivers I have wanted to drop the dime on. The woman in the Lexus SUV who weaved in and out of three different lanes of traffice within 1000 ft, without ever using a turn signal, was about to get a visit from the cops, but when she saw I (as a passenger) had gotten out the cell in the car to call, she hung up. The man in his sporty blue Merc convertable, should know that if he can’t shift, talk on the cell and have at least one hand on the wheel, he should choose which task is least important - not trust the effing car to go straight while he shifts.
Bawahahahah, this reminds me, I have gotten a lot of idiots to straighten up by pulling up behind them and act like I am getting their plate numbers and putting a phone to my ear. Having a passenger help with the ruse makes it work even better.
In DC, driving while using a cellphone is completely illegal even if you have a headset. Good thing, too. I will concede that there are some people able to drive and talk on a cell phone at the same time. However, I am not willing to bet my life that every cell-user I encounter can do that, and that’s really what you’re doing, betting your life.
As for the other distractions: Passengers either a) can tell when to shut up, or b)won’t take offense at being told that the driver needs them to be quiet. Young children are a different issue altogether. The radio does not demand your input, and can easily be turned off.
Uh, a. pilots have hundreds of hours of flight time (generally) and b. before they start flying, they have to have gotten enough sleep and been sober for a while and in general need to be in tip-top shape. Also, there are copilots on planes.
Re: police, I am willing to bet that the police are trained to do that, and even if sometimes they’re not, they need to be out on the road for the safety of others. It’s their job. The same is (most likely) not true of those talking on cell-phones.
Ideally, no. Just because you like to do something and are accustomed to doing it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s necessary, or even a good idea.
The idea is more that “doing something not related to driving”=“diverting attention from driving in order to do that”.
Unless, of course, you can do something without devoting any attention to it at all. And even if you can, I doubt that’s true for many people.
Ever pick up a book (especially a textbook) and start reading, and after a page or so realize that you have no idea what you just read? Just because your eyes are on the road doesn’t mean that you’re seeing everything that you need to see.
Diverting your attention from driving is a bad thing. It’s even worse when you’re engaged in a conversation with someone who can’t modulate his responses according to road conditions, so even if you’re in extremely difficult and stressful driving situations, he won’t know that he needs to let you concentrate unless you tell him.
Just as anecdotal evidence, since I began driving for a living, I’ve had several near misses. In every case, the other driver was using a cell phone—maybe that’s not conclusive, since nearly every other driver I see is using a cell phone*. Nevertheless, my experience is that driving with one hand while screwing a phone into your ear with the other is NOT a smart thing to do. I might be the only guy in the country without one of the cursed things.
*I actually saw a motorcycle driver steering the thing with one hand while yapping into a cell phone the other day. That, at least, was a first for me.
Don’t any of you just feel it, personally?
I drive about 70 miles every day, to and from work. I’m a fast driver, but not aggressive. I drive interstate and city every day. I try to be an aware driver. I have to be – I’m doing 80 on I-95 with cars on every side of me. I know what’s happening in the lanes to my side. I’m checking my mirrors. I’m looking out for goofballs, watching for slowdowns. I’m trying to watch the line of traffic AHEAD of the car in front of me. I consider myself hyper-tuned in to my surroundings.
For those one-in-a-million days (really) when I have to use a cell, I’m just not on top of it. I can follow a guy in front of me, but basically what’s running through my head is, “if he brakes, I brake”. I’ll be having a conversation and realized, “I don’t remember the last two miles of road”.
And, FWIW, I feel this to a lesser extent when I’m having a conversation with a passenger. I consider it different than drinking coffe, changing the radio or reaching for something in the car. Those tgings might momentarily distract you, but they don’t occupy a part of your brain.
Does anyone else just feel it? Cuz I do.
And does anyone else “call it”? You see a car going stupid slow, stopping at an intersection without a stop sign, making a careless lane change. . .and you go, “cell phone!”. Sixty percent of the time. . .I’m right every time.
Doesn’t seem to be enforced much though. I still see people driving with a cell phone in one hand. The worst ones are the ones who are doing it while they aren’t quite sure where they are going and are trying to make a left turn.
I hope you’re kidding. About the legislation part, anyway. Realistically, some folks MUST transport their infants or toddlers, while otherwise alone in their car. Can’t outlaw that.
I see so many drivers with cellphones around here, and most of them change lanes improperly, drive a little erratically… It sucks. Anyone driving with a cellphone glued to their head is on my “instant loathing” list. Exceptions made for emergencies. I have one friend who was driving me and two other friends to a restaurant once - checking a credit card bill with his cell in one hand, credit card in the other. I think he was steering with his elbows. I havne’t been keen to ride with him since, and I let him know my feelings on his driving whenever I can.
I disagree with the assmption that driving with a headset is equally as distracting as holding the cell phone to your ear. While I wouldn’t argue that driving with a headset is not at all distracting, I know that for myself, holding the phone to my ear is far more distracting than using a headset. (I’ve done both, and there’s a noticeable difference.) Additionally, in the course of my commuting I’ve seen the telltale signs of the cell phone driver dozens of times: weaving, wildly variable speed, general inattentiveness to their surroundings, etc. In every case, the driver displaying these signs was holding the phone to their ear.
It’s just anecdotal, but I do believe that holding your cell phone is far more dangerous than using a headset. (Whether the latter is still dangerous is a separate question – I feel I can drive safely with a headset on familiar roads, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it could decrease reaction time for some people.)
Ditto!! I witness these infractions so frequently that regardless whether I am walking or driving, I don’t trust other drivers EVER. I work in downtown Seattle and often walk at lunch or to other meeting locations. I have seen so many instances of drivers running lights, near collisions with pedestrians, making turns when and where prohibited, lane changes involving cutting off another driver, and other stupid and dangerous maneuvers. Almost without fail. . .they’re blabbing away on a cell phone!
Without a doubt. . .one of my biggest pet peeves!!
FWIW. . .I don’t talk on the cell phone when I’m driving. Whoever it is and whatever the issue can wait. I want to make sure I’m focussed on the road . . .for my safety as well as others!
My old Datsun 2000 and 1600 roadsters (left-hand drive) had the turn signal on the right. Confusing, but you got used to it.
You’re right, of course. After I wrote that post, I began to doubt myself and I made a point of checking it the next time I drove. The turn-signal lever is on the left, the windshield wiper/cruise control lever is on the right. Their use has become so automatic and casual that I’d forgotten which side was which.
Sorry, I should have been more clear. Yes, that was a bit of sarcasm.
I’ve heard serious suggestions from people about the need to keep drivers from being distracted, including making books on tape illegal, making roadside shrines illegal, and other equally nonsensical things. I don’t deny that cellphones are in a category all their own, because they’ve become so prevalent - but I think that the idea of legislating against distraction is silly, at best.
You know, Gus, a bunch of us were down at the airport discussing this one day a few years ago. The inspiraton was that one of us had nearly gotten into an accident while phoning and driving at the same time, and apparently a number of us had had similar experiences. It was puzzling - why could we fly and use the radio, but not phone and drive safely?
Certainly, the use of hands-free push-to-talk headsets in the airplane was a factor, but apparently even some of use with cellphone hands-free headsets had problems talking and driving.
The following were some of the reasons we came up with, as to why we could fly and talk but not drive and talk.
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Limited conversation topics: you’re not supposed to chit-chat on the radio while in the air. Sure, we do a little bit of it, but it’s not like have a two hour yak session on the phone. The airplane radio is used overwhelmingly for flight-related topics. If you stray, other people will let you know you’re being a dork.
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Relevant conversation topics: in an airplane, what you’re talking about and what you’re doing are actually related. In other words, you have to pay attention to where you are and what you’re doing in order to maintain your half of the dialogue. This is unlike cellphone+driving, where your conversation is likely to be about anything BUT your driving.
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Training: don’t know about you, but it was beaten into my head pretty thoroughly that you fly the plane first and talk second. I think the safer phone drivers have that attitude firmly entrenched, too, but it’s far from universal on the road. For that matter, despite training pilots have been know to screw this one up, too, leading to such cliches as “Airplanes fly on principals discovered by Bernouli, not Marconi” and “Fly the plane, not the microphone”
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Co-pilots: Not at all unusual for one pilot to fly and the other to be assigned talking duty. Since there are dual controls, it’s also easy for pilots to switch roles if that seems appropriate - in a car, the driver is the driver and can’t hand over the vehicle without pulling over first.
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Fewer things to crash into at altitude: If I’m driving down the freeway and get distracted enough that my course deviates more than a few inches from where I’m supposed to be, I’m either off the road or straying into other lanes with possibly disasterous results. If I’m in the airplane and the nearest obstacle is 5 miles away, a 100 foot wobble is not going to generate anything more than a verbal scolding from air traffic control - if they even notice, which they probably won’t most of the time.
dwalin, Gus is a pilot, he knows that. And not to get picky, but when you first start flying you don’t have “hundreds” of hours of flight time, I mean, everyone start at zero and works their way up. The guys doing this professionally, with passengers in the back, actually have thousands of hours, in some cases tens of thousands of hours.
Yes, ideally you want pilots to have had a good night’s sleep, although in reality that doesn’t always happen. The general rule on sobriety is 8 hours bottle to throttle, and there’s a bit in their about blood alcohol being below a certain level after those 8 hours. As for tip-top shape… well, yes, if you’re military, but the rules for us civilians aren’t always as strict. You need a certain level of health, yes, they don’t want you falling over without warning, but no, you don’t need to be a perfect specimen.
And that matter of co-pilots… for commercial flights with passengers, yes, but there are quite a few of us who fly solo. In which case, we have to talk and fly at the same time. But the talking involved in flying, aside from being relevant to what you’re doing, also takes places at fairly predictable points in the flight. It’s possible, if you plan your flight properly, to arrange things so either you aren’t talking during peak workload times, or have what you’re going to say ready so you aren’t fumbling for the correct words. It’s pretty ritualized, anyhow, nothing like a normal conversational flow if you’re keeping to strictly business.
Slight hijack: Drivers aren’t the only road users who ought to hang up more often. The only thing more annoying than a bike rider running the red light and cutting off pedestrians in the crosswalk, is that same bike rider yelling “I’ll call ya after class!” into her headset as she goes by.