# "Sure I text while driving. \*#@% you if you don't like it!" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 5, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271 "2016-02-05T21:07:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/121 "2016-02-06T23:39:04Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Ah, the Dipwad Duo in true form. Can’t even come up with any sort of coherent rational response (because then you’d be admitting that in fact there are instances where it’s OK to use a phone while driving) , and instead resort to your only fallback insults that amount to “yeah, well you’re a big doodoo-head”. Classic. Hey, if I said anything that offended you, it was purely intentional. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/122 "2016-02-06T23:43:08Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Hooah! That’s Army. And also late-period Pacino. Marines are “Oorah.” ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/123 "2016-02-06T23:45:04Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Hey, if I said anything that offended you, it was purely intentional. It would be pretty hard to get offended by someone with such an obviously puerile and underdeveloped brain; that’s something that I can only feel pity for. It’s just kind of amusing seeing both of you dolts team up and literally high five each other’s dumbassery. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/124 "2016-02-06T23:56:55Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Ah, the Dipwad Duo in true form. Can’t even come up with any sort of coherent rational response (because then you’d be admitting that in fact there are instances where it’s OK to use a phone while driving) , and instead resort to your only fallback insults that amount to “yeah, well you’re a big doodoo-head”. Classic. I bet you managed to type that without pulling your head out of your ass. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/125 "2016-02-06T23:58:31Z")
Hey **Rigamarole** …if someone thinks it’s always safer not to text while driving, regardless of extenuating circumstances, is that person a Texting Nazi? Asking for a friend. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/126 "2016-02-07T00:13:30Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > It would be pretty hard to get offended by someone with such an obviously puerile and underdeveloped brain; that’s something that I can only feel pity for. It’s just kind of amusing seeing both of you dolts team up and literally high five each other’s dumbassery. You’re really hurt aren’t you? Good. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/127 "2016-02-07T00:23:19Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Look, I’m perfectly fine guzzling a liter of Chivas, dropping mescaline and driving 120mph in a school zone with a paper bag over my head. It’s a learned skill, and I know my abilities, thank you very much. If you can’t hack it, fine, don’t. But don’t try to nannystate the rest of us into your kindergarten Obamacare hugbox. > \ Amen, sister! But, I must say it really pisses me off when I see young people texting on the roadways. Not that I object to them texting, I just don’t like young people. I mean, how come they get to be all _footloose and fancy free_, while I have to deal with lumbago, constipation and the heartbreak of psoriasis? Damn kids—good health and vigorous sex lives are entirely wasted on them. As for texting while driving? Yeah, I do that constantly. Sometimes I carry on two conversation on two phones at the same time (hey, I’ve got two thumbs, why not put them to good use?). I do this because unlike virtually everyone else, I’m important and my time is _valuable_. The thought that I should wait until I’m not driving until I text _Pizza Hut_ that I want extra anchovies on my pizza is frankly, absurd. The fact is, I’m a kinda, somewhat safe driver when I drive and text. I’m proud to say that to date, I have never been _convicted_ of vehicular homicide involving another _human_ being (it helps to have a shark attorney on retainer). While texting, I do lose all peripheral vision, but who the hell needs that anyway? What’s important is that while texting, I can sort of notice large objects that are immediately in front of my speeding car, like SUVs and morbidly obese pedestrians. Ok, when it comes to small animals (I call them vermin) like opossums, raccoons, cats, dogs and midgets, I do tend to inadvertently squash them on the roadways on a regular basis. But, c’mon, aren’t I just culling the undesirables from the herd? Solution: arrest all young people who are caught driving with a cell phone (or without a cell phone); give _me_ a special citation of honor for culling undesirables from Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/128 "2016-02-07T01:31:05Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > You’re really hurt aren’t you? > > Good. Not at all. But I hope you get all the help you need for your… issues. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/129 "2016-02-07T02:29:28Z")
Since Bullitt broke the ground on this bit: I just passed someone on the US Army base in Seoul this morning. I was walking, the soldier driving the vehicle was in a big SUV. What caught my attention was she was eating a bowl of cereal while she was driving. Is it illegal? Yes. Is it safe? No. “But she was stopped at the stop sign” you say? Big deal. All it takes is for her inattentiveness to mistakenly cause her to believe there’s nobody (like me) in the crosswalk right in front of her. Yes, some people get distracted while driving by normal things, such as a passenger talking to them, but diverting your concentration intentionally to eating a bowl of milk and cereal or texting is not safe. In fact, it’s stupid and there’s no excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/130 "2016-02-07T03:01:10Z")
Now I’m just picturing USMC recruits undergoing their Mobile Communications training - trying to steer a Humvee while texting contact reports. Drill instructors shouting at them, “Move your thumbs like you got a pair, maggot!” I expect they’d have to start and end each text with SR. The fu. The prd. The Mrns. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/131 "2016-02-07T08:50:14Z")
> [@Askthepizzaguy](#): > > I found Vinyl Turnip’s post hilarious btw. Me too! I love a good non sequitur. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/132 "2016-02-07T09:15:33Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > [EMT hat on] > > Despite what you think, generally speaking, it is NOT safe to do this. I’ve had to locate many, many cellphones while on-scene at an accident. I’d wager that at least 40%-45% of them had some sort of half-finished messages being written, and that’s to say nothing about the messages that were being read. It can be a straight shot where you can see 200 feet in front of you. IT’S STILL NOT SAFE. I’ve had to pick up dead people from the middle of the street after they’ve wiped out for whatever reason. > > [/EMT hat off] According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 45,230 fatal accidents in 2009. Of those, 11% involved “distracted drivers”. Of that 11% (5,084), only 1,006 were found to have a cell phone “in the presence of the driver” (which says nothing about whether it was being used or whether it was a cause of the accident. The driver had a cell phone in their presence in 1,006 fatal accidents out of 45,230? The numbers have even dropped since then. Texting is not a major cause of accidents. It is a tiny piece of a must larger problem. Cars and driving are both inherently dangerous. Effort would be better spent increasing the training and testing requirements for getting a license, rather than focusing on something as innocuous as cell phone use. [http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811379.pdf](http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811379.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/133 "2016-02-07T09:22:12Z")
From the same report: “In 2009, an estimated 24,000 people were injured in crashes involving cell phones as a distraction. These injured people only comprise 5 percent of all people injured in distraction related crashes.” ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/134 "2016-02-07T09:37:57Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Hey, if I said anything that offended you, it was purely intentional. Must remember this line for future use. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/135 "2016-02-07T09:44:38Z")
> [@Hooleehootoo](#): > > That attitude seems common among people currently driving on the freeways of California. It is not my attitude. I would consider it irresponsibly dangerous. Even if it were legal I would not do it. What is actually dangerous is when you are texting with one hand with the other hand on the steering wheel, and there fucking iPhone misspells what you are trying to text, multiple times. I have actually been forced to stop my car, in the middle of the street, so I could use both hands to hit the X and make my iPhone text the right word. Sure, it pisses off other drivers, but trust me, what I am typing and sending surely is much more important than what the plebeians in those beaner-mobiles have to get to. > [@](#): > > I have several times honked at drivers who were texting while driving . (Ok, at drivers who were looking at their lap for long periods while occasionally looking at the road. I could be wrong about a few, but I think we could take it that they can only be texting). In other words, you completely startled the driver texting, and increasing the likelihood of an accident. Texting while driving without getting into an accident requires intense concentration and skill; the last thing an experienced texting-driver needs is some joker honking at them while they are thumbing an email. I place the OP in the same category as the douche bag who honks the horn mid swing while driving by the driving range. > [@](#): > > I would gesture that they should hang up/stop texting. Is it likely that this has been misunderstood all these times? Because no one has ever acted in an embarrassed or appeasing manner. Instead I get the finger, aggression, and road rage tailgating. Perhaps then it is time you end your career as wanna-be CHiPS. Vigilantism is never a wise idea. One time, I had a driver honk and do the same thing while I was busy writing my monthly sales report on Salesforce while driving 75 mph, so I put down my phone for the first time in 3 hours, chased the other driver and cornered them at a Flying J, and proceeded to break the headlights and tailights of their car with baseball bat I keep in my backseat for such emergencies. I felt bad afterward, seemed like a nice old lady, in hindsight. > [@](#): > > I don’t think what I am doing could be called “aggressive”, but I get that it is “active”. It is conceivable that free-lance road shaming like this could be more dangerous than the provoking crime, but I am not tailgating, or driving in front and braking or things like that. Its extremely “passive-aggressive” and as a recent study shows, passive aggressive behavior is actually more dangerous to society than aggressive behavior, and leads to gout, depression, suicide and in some cases, acute and contagious prostatitis octarecalitis. > [@](#): > > The more conventional thing to do, the thing you or I would do if we saw someone driving while brandishing a handgun or something, is to call the CHP. I am cynical about this having any effect. So now, not only are you interrupting important work by the texter, distracting them by thinking and gesturing at them, creating anger, now you want to distract the cops from their important work in the community such as writing speeding tickets to truly dangerous drivers going 35 in a 25 mph zone, setting up and harassing drivers who had 14-17 beers, or shooting unarmed inner city black people from their jobs? What, does the world revolve around YOU??? > [@](#): > > I think texting while driving is so common, and so hard to prove that it would be ignored. Am I right about that? It truly is common. I cant tell you how many Facebook posts, Tweets, emails and text messages I send out while Im driving. I get so much work done while behind the wheel, it’s fantastic. There’s nothing else to do, so I try to make “drive” time my “office” time. Hopefully, millions of other Americans do as well, increasing workplace productivity. “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean!” has been replaced by “If you have time to drive by that exit, you have time to text-it!” > [@](#): > > I didn’t want to mention earlier that I don’t even have text service on my phone, and yes, I am philosophically opposed to it, which makes some consider me a crotchety eccentric. Ok, let’s accept that. Is that the reason why I am outraged? Everyone does it but me? Why the lack of shame? Come on, sign up for it. You don’t know how much of an adrenaline rush your missing dodging a school bus full of first graders at the last minute when you realize your 12mpg obnoxious SUV has drifted head on into the opposing lane because you were commenting on Kim Kardashians ass on Instagram. > [@](#): > > Stop texting while driving. Stop lecturing us, and LIVE a little!!! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/136 "2016-02-07T13:01:48Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > From the same report: > “In 2009, an estimated 24,000 people were injured in crashes involving cell phones as a distraction. These injured people only comprise 5 percent of all people injured in distraction related crashes.” I’m not sure exactly what your point is here. I never claimed that the majority of people who were involved in accidents were using their phone to text. I agree that it’s a contributing factor to accidents, but not the main cause. Education will only go so far, though. I live in a college town with - right off the top of my head - I’d say 15-20 high schools in the metro area (if I’m over the actual number, it’s not by much, and I think I may be understating the number). That’s a lot of young people. In my experience, on a “texting while driving” wreck, it’s more likely to be someone young. I’ll concede that I don’t know if that skews from the national average or supports it. But according to [this](http://www.wdrb.com/story/28045452/texting-while-driving-law-increasingly-toothless-in-kentucky) article in the local paper from a year ago, > [@](#): > > Kentucky’s texting and driving law snared more people last year than in the previous three years combined. But, at the same time, prosecutors are having an increasingly difficult time convicting people on that charge. > > The number of people cited has risen nearly 500 percent since the law was enacted in 2011, doubling just in the last year, yet the conviction rate is lower than it has ever been. I admit that the numbers of accidents and fatalities is down. From that same source, > [@](#): > > the number of distracted driving crashes has fallen slightly since penalties set by the texting law began in 2011, from 54,066 wrecks in 2010 to 53,344 last year. Distracted driving deaths have also dropped during that period, from 175 to 167. I’m inclined to think that the stops and citations may at least indirectly have led to the crash/fatality numbers dropping. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/137 "2016-02-07T14:27:25Z")
So what’s the current thinking on getting a blowjob while driving? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/138 "2016-02-07T14:47:00Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > So what’s the current thinking on getting a blowjob while driving? Well, if you’re offering… ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/139 "2016-02-07T14:53:06Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > … > I’m inclined to think that the stops and citations may at least indirectly have led to the crash/fatality numbers dropping. That, plus 11 of those who just don’t believe it’s dangerous are earning Darwin Awards every day while texting. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271/140 "2016-02-07T14:56:22Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > In many states, texting while driving is an offense. And in the UK, if the reality shows like Traffic Cops can be trusted. I don’t think the comparison between a glance at the clock, radio or coffee cup and texting is appropriate. The very nature of texting requires more eye time than a clock glance. I was being chauffeured to a medical appointment by a volunteer recently who insisted on checking his phone every few minutes, for what, I don’t know. At 70MPH, every time he looked down, the van veered to one side quite noticeably. I finally told him, gently, that he absolutely must stop this for the duration of the trip, and he did. If he had not, I would have made a formal complaint and I’m pretty sure his volunteer job would have been in jeopardy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-while-driving-you-if-you-dont-like-it/745271.md?page=8)