Posted on 01/12/2008 1:37:45 AM PST by neverdem
In the "no kidding?" hall of fame, a special place has been reserved for the just-released Transportation Research Board study that found cell phones (wait for it, now...) addle drivers. "The distracted driver tends to drive slower and have delayed reactions," said University of Utah psychology professor David Strayer, who coauthored this puppy.
It's just incredible that we need a National Academy of Sciences-funded research project to belabor what ought to be obvious to anyone who's been out on the roads recently, and who has a smidgen of observational power and a dollop of common sense.
How many times have you witnessed the following?
* You're waiting for a red light to change. When it finally does, there's a lag time of several seconds before the car ahead of you begins to move. The driver is engaged in a cell phone tete-a-tete and didn't notice the light had changed... because he/she wasn't paying attention to the light. Sometimes, because of the delay, the light changes just as you reach it. The cell phone-distracted dawdler makes it through, though.
* You're driving along with another car beside you. It suddenly begins to drift into your lane -- almost hitting you before its driver notices you're in the path of his SUV. (OK, it's not always an SUV...but still.) He was too busy talking to check his mirrors.
* You're on the highway in the supposedly "fast" far left lane, but there's a car ahead doing just exactly the speed limit or a few MPH under it, oblivious to the dozen other cars stacking up behind. He (or she) is preoccupied by Urgent Business, which is probably nothing more "urgent" than babbling with a friend about last night's game.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
As well, cell phones should be limited in the stores just as a matter of courtesy to others.
It was bad enough having to listen to the idiots with the cell phones but now I am seeing the people with the speakerphone on so I get to hear both sides of the inane conversation. Grrrrrrr.
That excludes the elitist Critter in the limousine.
I got hit a few months ago by some bimbo talking on her phone while executing a left hand turn at a very dangerous intersection. She almost caused a serious three car wreck. Fortunately, we all drove away.
So, people who *can* walk and chew gum at the same time — or drive and talk at the same time, or drive, talk, eat a hamburger, drink a coke, and smoke a cigar at the same time — are to be punished for those who can’t?
Instead of telling me that I can’t multitask, how about this: add driving and talking on a cell phone to the driver’s test. If you can’t do it, no license.
It’s still legal in Idaho. Had a police car behind me the other day. I think he was waiting for me to mess up so he could ticket me for weaving or not signaling. Too bad for him.
It does seem to me the problem isn’t so much the cell phone itself, but the lack of overall driver training.
Military pilots, as just one example, fly and talk at the same time over radio, switching frequencies as a matter of routine.
They are also monitoring a myriad of important engine indicators, checking fuel consumption, and navigating via map at places they’ve never been before, and in the dark at night - using night vision devices.
They don’t do it with a cell-phone stuck in their ear though - so a hands-free device like a bluetooth seems acceptable. Another whole issue not talked about much here - when I was stationed in Europe I noticed that drivers training is a serious affair. It costs the equivalent of several thousand dollars. The more training required, the more it costs. Night driving, city driving, night city driving, etc - it’s all very thorough. I don’t know what kind of drivers training is being conducted here these days, but clearly not much.
“Military pilots, as just one example, fly and talk at the same time over radio, switching frequencies as a matter of routine.”
Us ship-drivers did a bunch-o-tasks at the same time, too.
“It costs the equivalent of several thousand dollars.”
They have that in Japan, too. Don’t know about Europe, but in Japan it’s not so great. More of a racket. Recently licensed drivers are called “paper drivers,” as in, “a driver, but only on paper.”
Shhh... you might educate someone. I drive and converse (in NY with a bluetooth) frequently. I also listen to audio books during my commute. Both of which require some of my attention. But I manage the situation: I turn off the radio and do not use the phone in traffic or in metropolitan areas. When I am talking to someone, I occasionally will sound distracted or seem rude because I have my focus on driving.
As a pilot, I was taught that your first responsibility is to FLY THE PLANE everything else is subordinate. If you approach driving with the same attitude, you will be fine.
Car radios were kind of an afterthought, they weren’t installed in car dashes until the 1940s. Early advertisements stressed the safety angle of not taking eyes off the road to fuss with the radio, so the ON/OFF switch and volume controls were via a footswitch, much like the old style bright/dim switch.
Now I have to watch out for some schmuck downloading and watching pron movies! Sheesh.
They did a study that showed people at just the legal limit were less impaired than drives using their cell phones.
With all the blue tooth and hands free sets out there AND SPEAKERPHONE OPTIONS (what I use like a walkie talkie if I need to take a call while driving,) can someone tell me why these people always on their phones with their hands up their ears?
Some will say there are other distractions but tuning the radio or playing with the heat doesn’t distract me at all, I know where the dials are and I don’t really touch them if I’m not in the total clear or at a stop light or sign.
For godssakes, at least press the speakerphone button so you are not blocking off your head’s movement by holding your hand up to your ear (notice how they almost never turn their head in the direction of the cell phone?
I think bluetooth is different. Yes, it may still be a distraction but the big clincher is the disembodied voice on one ear and your arm holding the phone up to the ear. It usually impedes mobility and unconsciously influences the person’s head movement (which is critical.)
I think we can all, so long as we make the operation of the vehicle primary, deal with some distraction. Sometimes you’re on an empty road and you aren’t even going so fast you couldn’t brake easily. I wouldn’t fuss with the radio during a turn in heavy traffic or while passing a truck on the highway.
It’s not that someone is ‘on the phone’ it’s that they hold the thing up their ear and are just yapping away like it’s important. Irks me to no end because you can always drive up to car and discover they are on the phone. The worst would be to rear ended by someone not paying attention on the highway, as someone I knew was...
Well, the convo might be stupid but I think I prefer it to one-way talking. I think that’s what annoys me about being in a place sitting and hearing a cell phone, it’s the unnatural nature of the conversation and responses.
At least if you hear both sides your brain could be fooled into thinking it’s two people conversing on the bus or something like that.
It costed ~ $600 in Spain on the '80s for a license. I had an international one. A lot of those autopistas are built right on top of old Roman roads and have no bumps. I bought a used Seat 127 from a Chaplain who was retiring. That little 4 cyl car hauled ass in 4th gear. Europe is where you really, really learn how to drive.
Another thing that irks me is being with someone who is constantly talking or texing someone else. My daughter does this to me when we're out, and I have left her and walked off. The other day we were playing a game (Family Feud on DVD, btw, it's really fun, I highly recommend it) and there she was texting someone after I asked her to stop. I just got up and put my stuff away and started doing something else. She thinks these are her friends, but I told her if she had so many friends she would be with them and not texting them. It's bad enough when kids do it to other kids, but when adults do it, as I've witnessed, its reprehensible. I have seen countless mothers on cell phones or blue tooths with children in their shopping carts completely ignoring the child while chatting away in some inane and endless conversation.
(s)
Auto drivers should be in a hermetically sealed seperate section of all autos. A seperate chamber an all old cars will be banned.
No talking,
No radio,
No eating food,
No gum chewing,
No make up putting on
No shaving
No talking to passengers
NOTHING BUT DRIVING UNDER PENALTY OF TORTURE.
FIRST OFFENSE WATER BOARDING UNTIL CONFESSION
SECOND OFFENSE DEATH BY NAGGING FEMINSTS
Zero Tollerance to go with the Zero Inteligence of regulator happy nanny staters.
(/sarcasm off)
motorcycle ridres do differnt things with each foot and hand whil operating a motorcycle. Clutch, Shifter,Front Brake AND THROTTLE,Rear Brake.
Some drivers can not master turn signals and changing lanes at the same time.
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