This is what I don’t understand…What the fuck is so important that you need to be talking on the phone while you are driving? And don’t give me this crap about work, your family, etc. You managed just fine before cell phones were common. I’ll wager that 99% of cell phone conversations are just shooting the breeze conversations. Like “I’m on my way over…you need me to bring anything?”
I’ll admit that THespos with his 1420 SAT score and Syzygy the engineer might be living gods while driving with your hands full. But what about the idiots with low SATs and the non-engineer folks? And if you get in an accident and it’s your fault, will you tell the police you had a cell phone in your hand? Or a cheeseburger? Remember, you’re better than the rest of us concerning driving skills, so you have got to be more honest.
“Well, how do you know a cell phone would cause me to have an accident?”
If you hit me and I see you were using a phone, you can bet I’ll tell the jury when I take you to court. We can let them decide.
I managed pretty well before I had a cell phone and now, I just wouldn’t give it up.
I drive and talk on my cell phone. I have a handsfree set and voice dialing so I don’t really need to look at my phone. Plus, the phone sits in a cradle by my radio so if I get a call and want to see who it is, it is as simple as glancing at my car’s clock or radio station.
I do think it distracts some people, like many other things in a car.
Tibs.
I use a cell phone while driving all the time. Now, I hate cell phones a lot and truly despise idle unneccesary chit chat, but I am always away from home and it’s the only way to keep in contact with people. I never hold it with my shoulder, as that would definitely impair my driving ability. I find that even without the phone, I use one hand to drive and my mouth to talk to passengers. In either case, the conversation gets far less attention than the road. I definitely wouldn’t consider myself to be a moron.
Actually, I didn’t manage just fine before cell phones were around. I’m too young to know the pre-cell days. And why should I have to just manage to get by. I could get by without a house, maybe I’ll live in a park. I could get by without dinner, maybe I’ll just be hungry every day from about 4:00 until the next morning. Cell phones are useful and convenient, even if they do have shitty reception and annoy the fuck out of a lot of people (myself included). Why should I not use one?
Um… “I’m on my way over…you need me to bring anything?” is a PERFECT use for a cell phone. Why the hell should I drive to a friend’s house, realize that I needed to pick something up, drive back to the store, then back again when I had direct communication ability with him RIGHT THERE??? Maybe they’re not necessary in the car for “hey, what are you doing later… maybe we’ll hang out… call me back… Oh, how’s Joe?” conversations, but your example is what cell phones are actually GOOD for.
Yeah!!
And I don’t give a shit what these “studies” or “statistics” say…
I can maintain control of my vehicle just fine with a beer between my legs, thankyouverymuch.
Oh, you S.O.B.! I thought I was the only one who ever said that!
<sigh> So much for being witty and original.
I don’t see what the difference is if I’m talking on my cell phone while driving or talking to my friend in the back seat of my car. It’s the same to me, and I concentrate MORE on the road when I’m on the cell phone because I know the phone can be distracting. Sometimes for fun I’ll call my friend in the back of my car on the cell phone
I use my cell phone alot while driving. I don’t need to, I just want to. Idle, unnecessary chit-chat is my favorite type of conversation. I revel in it. I call people when I hop into the cab of my truck just to pass the time on my short trips.
From time to time I decline to use my cell phone when driving, if I am compelled to concentrate a little more due to heavy traffic and/or an unfamiliar area of roadway. I do this at my own discretion, and solely for my own benefit at those times I deem it beneficial. I care not a lick what any safety-fascists happen to feel about my phone habits. I make that decision like I make all of them, as a personal risk-benefit assessment. Since I enjoy chatting on my cell phone, and my personal driving habits are pretty good and safe either way, I will continue to talk on my cell phone while at the wheel.
If you want to make the roads safer, why not focus on things that actually cause accidents? People who don’t use turn signals at intersections, 16-year-old girls packed like sardines into small Japanese cars singing along to the N’Sync tape in the cassette deck, the grungy kid rolling a joint or loading his marijuana pipe as he drives down the street…these are habits that cause accidents. Every person should just use his own head and decide, for himself, what level of distractions he can handle while driving. If he makes the wrong decision, punish him for the accident he causes. Preventative law, when applied to small everyday activities, has a tendecy to be unjust and intrusive.
True. There are way too many people on the road who really shouldn’t be.
Making cell phones the scapegoat really doesn’t help. As MannyL noted, talking on a cell is just about as distracting as talking to a passenger, yet I never see anyone railing against having passengers in the car. Some people are just fucking idiots, cell phones or no, who should have their driving privileges revoked. They would be NDFs (non-driving fucks) regardless of what their distraction du jour was. I see a hell of a lot of stupid shit on the roads here in Miami, and it’s rarely a phone that’s causing it.
i use the cell phone very often while driving.
figures for concentration levels (in various tests) are based upon the average… i consider myself way above the average in the respect of concentration on the road while talking on the cell phone.
i would go as far as to say that i am way more concentrated on driving while using a cell phone than the average driver is without a cell phone.
damn, i use 5 mirrors even when i’m on the cell phone… and i know people who use not even the rear view mirror, with or without cellphones.
i am willing to undergo any scientific experiment to prove myself correct.
i am not recommending using cell phones while driving, i’m just saying that i am a safer driver even with a cellphone than most people are without one. also i am conditioned to drop my cell phone in case of a driving hazard that would require both my hands. my margin of error is also increased when driving while talking, so that i can account for morons driving while talking on [THEIR cellphones, or people like you who wish to run into me on purpose.
or, mostly what Geobabe said.
Well, this is much better.
This guy put a tv in his steering wheel !!
http://miata.cardomain.com/id/nvno1
But that’s ok! His SATs are high! He uses 5 mirrors! It’s his Constitutional right! It entertains him while he’s chomping on his cheeseburger!
The criticism of people who use cel-phones while driving and the hazard they pose is not supported by the statistics. If the powers that be want to put a complete ban on vehicular cel-phone use they will also have to put a full scale ban on eating, drinking, listening to the radio, and talking to passengers. Children can be very distracting so perhaps they shouldn’t even be allowed in vehicles.
The amount of crap they put up on the sides of our highways and bi-ways can also be very distracting so perhaps they should also tear all of this stuff down to reduce the things that can reduce the distractions drivers face on a day to day basis.
So I’m thinking, this cel-phone issue looks like a dead horse and there has to be something else to beat here.
From the page: "The TV’s primary purpose is to be used for video rearview. "
He built in a killswitch. I would love to have that POV available to me from inside the car.
Do you even listen to music inside your car? Isn’t that potentially too dangerous? Have an automatic CD changer? HUD display projects speed and other vitals onto the windshield? Heaven forbid you have to check your blind spot while driving - you can’t see in front of you then.
Nothing against THespos, who seems to be a smart and a nice guy, but why on earth to people believe the numerous outlandish SAT, IQ, and other scores that anonymous people post on an Internet Message Board?
Just look for any of the IMHO or MPSIMS “IQ” threads, and you’ll see all sorts of people posting outrageous IQ’s and other scores, all with no documentation, proof, or verification whatsoever.
And I feel that the statistics do have a use - they shoot down completely the media myth that “most accidents are caused by cell phone use” (and this is an actual quote from an apparently ignorant highway patrolman they put in front of a camera here in Kansas two weekends ago. Which led my mother to call me up and harrang at me for nearly a minute about how I shouldn’t use my cell phone while I drive, before I could get a word in and tell her “but I don’t even have a cell phone anymore” (at least not a US one))
Una, who got 1 Billion on her ACTs.
ultrafilter, do you ever get this feeling that you’re calling in the wilderness, and that no one is interested in reason? Hey, I’ve got this great message board for you called the Straight Dope… (whoope … checks URL)
Folks, the percent of accidents in for each of these events needs to be related to the amount of time spent in a car doing them. Example: if people only pick their noses in cars .0001% of the time, and 1% of accidents are caused by nose picking, that means you are EXTREMELY likely to have an accident picking your nose.
Lots of people never, or practically never, use cell phones in cars. Say 3/4 of drivers. That means that if everybody used cell phones, the accident rate would go up by 4 times. So the equivalent cell phone risk, if everybody used them, would be 6%.
When I weave because I was trying to catch a drink, or read a map, it’s pretty much a one shot deal – I realize I’m not in control, and fix it – fast. But cell phone drivers change speed, weave for mile after mile. Though stop light after stop light. It’s easy to spot somebody on a cell phone. And of course, everybody else has to take special care to avoid someone who’s driving strangely. Result: more accidents for non-cell phone users.
Now, if most people used cell phones, the problem would be much worse than 6%, because it would be much more common to encounter other “cell phone compromised” drivers – not alert to changing traffic conditions. It’s not unfair to guess that if people used cell phones constantly the accident rate would be 20% cell phones.
Finally, saying “Look! Those people drinking chocolate shakes are causing more accidents than me!” is NO ARGUMENT that they should be drinking shakes. Or that others should be using cell phones. Eating in cars should be made safer (or illegal). So should using cell phones.
OK, I give up. Looks like I’m in the minority.
But at least buy one of these so I can get a good laugh when I see you use your phone.
Marine_One, those cell-phone related products have scarred me for life. I shall never forgive you ;).
As for cell phones. . .you know, many people here seem to believe that cell phone conversations that take place in the car are invariably long and involved. That isn’t necessarily so.
I use my cell phone in the car. The extent of the conversation is usually something like “Hi, I’m on my way over. . .oh, you’re at your parents? Do you want me to go there instead?. . .okay, I’ll see you in 45 minutes. . .love you, too. Bye.”
Or: “Hi, I’m going to be late. . .yeah, the traffic’s horrible–I’m on I-90, and there’s this huge backup. . .there around 11:30 then? Later.”
Or most, common; “Dad, I’m running a bit late, but I’m on my way home. . . yeah, I’m fine. . .love you, bye.”
I feel that these conversations are what the cell phone was meant to accomplish. Outlawing cell phone use while driving would negate one of the original purposes of the cell phone. However. . .people should use common sense.
Also, Marine, having a television in the steering wheel is not directly comparable to having a cell phone while driving. Watching television requires near-constant visual engagement (and is visually distracting). Using a cell phone requires less use of visual faculties.
I don’t think that there should be a law specifically for cell phones. I think that existing laws for driving recklessly should be amended to include being distracted for using a cellphone while driving. I don’t have any cites, but a few years ago a young woman took her eyes away from the road to change cassettes. She drove into a cyclist and killed her. I believe the cyclist was an Olympic hopeful. My point is, anything can distract a driver, not just a cellphone.
1420 is a very good score, but far from outrageous. I went to a somewhat advanced high school and there were several people I knew with scores higher than that. Hell, I got a 1480, which made me happy, as I just edged out a small clump of acquaintances who all got 1470s. Not to brag (which would be kind of silly, given what you’ve said about lack of evidence), but just pointing out that these things aren’t exactly hard to believe.
I can’t recall ever using a cell phone while driving, although I have used mine while riding a bicycle. But then, I am a damned moron.
I take your word for whether 1420 is outrageous, but it doesn’t really change my view. I wasn’t picking on THespos at all, or saying I doubt his claim (I actually have no idea how SAT scores compare to anything else, and no, I don’t want to know).
I have a really good rant brewed up, but I’ll save it for later.