# The newest phenomenon **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921 "2011-03-08T14:32:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shortride](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@shortride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shortride)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/1 "2011-03-08T14:32:51Z")
7 year old kids crashing their bicycles while talking on their cell phones. There is a local 2nd grader that has had her cell phone taken away from her several times while in class at school. A few days ago, she was hit by a car on her way home from school while talking on her cell phone. Fortunately she was wasn’t seriously hurt. This cell phone thing has really gotten out of hand, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/2 "2011-03-08T14:36:38Z")
Yet another install in classic OP/username combinations. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/3 "2011-03-08T14:42:53Z")
Are there any more kids-on-bikes accidents due to cell phones as compared to kids just being their normal, distracted, fooling-around, oblivious selves? ---
**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/4 "2011-03-08T14:48:02Z")
Well to answer the original post general question, yes… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/5 "2011-03-08T15:05:41Z")
> [@shortride](#): > > IMHO. Agreed. Moving from GQ. General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/6 "2011-03-08T16:40:20Z")
At age 13-ish I crashed my bike into the back of a parked car while reading a paperback. This was in the 1960s. Inappropriate multitasking & attention fixation are not new-fangled features of kids. They’ve been that way for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/7 "2011-03-08T16:50:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > At age 13-ish I crashed my bike into the back of a parked car while reading a paperback. This was in the 1960s. Hell, I wasn’t even reading a book, just daydreaming about something. Got home and my mom asked why my nose was green, which really confused me as the car I ended up on the roof of appeared to be black. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/8 "2011-03-08T17:20:59Z")
When I was 9 or 10, could’ve been as old as 11, I was riding my bike down the street with no hands on the handlebars. My foot slipped backwards, so instead of peddling forward, I slammed on the brake. The front wheel turned, and I flipped over the handlebars, plowing facefirst into the street. Stitches ensued in my lip and chin. Still, I have to say the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen along the OP’s idea is a guy riding a motorcycle with a cell phone crooked between his ear and shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![jeffgorc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jeffgorc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeffgorc)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/9 "2011-03-08T18:09:47Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > Still, I have to say the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen along the OP’s idea is a guy riding a motorcycle with a cell phone crooked between his ear and shoulder. Along the same lines, but multiplied 100 times… https://www.youtube.com/embed/qEjiw1VcPGU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/10 "2011-03-08T21:24:57Z")
Whenever I read about someone getting hurt doing something really stupid I take a deep breath and repeat to myself quietly… …survival of the fittest… thinning the herd… natural selection… ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/11 "2011-03-08T22:17:08Z")
As much as I agree that your average seven-year-old is easily distracted and will hurt themselves without technology, WTF do they need a cell phone to begin with? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-newest-phenomenon/573921/12 "2011-03-08T23:10:39Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > As much as I agree that your average seven-year-old is easily distracted and will hurt themselves without technology, WTF do they need a cell phone to begin with? Worried parents are worried. It’s easier to feel secure about your children if they have a way to contact you if they get into trouble, or get lost, or decide they’re too tired and need a ride home, or who knows what.