Posted on 12/25/2005 3:13:57 AM PST by Libloather
Cell phones prove deadly
Contributor in 14 fatalities this year on Toll Road, police say
By Joshua Stowe
South Bend Tribune
Posted on Sun, Dec. 25, 2005
ELKHART – Nick Vilders sees his cell phone as a lifesaver.
The Orland man said he’s placed countless calls to stay awake while driving home after a day’s work as a building maintenance employee on the Indiana Toll Road.
“I have a cell phone, I ain’t gonna lie,” Vilders said.
Police and safety experts say Vilders’ attitude, while common, puts him at risk. They say it’s a mistake to think a person can safely juggle driving and talking on a cell phone, a claim many motorists, Vilders included, just don’t believe.
For First Sgt. Dennis Boehler of the Indiana State Police, the ongoing debate about cell phone safety is far from academic.
Boehler blames distracted drivers for the high number of fatal accidents on the Indiana Toll Road this year.
At least 14 people have died on the Toll Road this year, he said. That’s up from nine deaths last year and just four in 2003, he said.
Boehler said cell phone usage is the root cause of many accidents that police see – both fatal and non-fatal.
“Most accidents are caused by driver error,” he said. “People don’t multitask as well as they think they can.
“People are so busy these days that driving time is wasted time for them,” he said. “They’ve got to get ready for that next meeting,” often by making or taking a call.
Karen Aldana, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, agreed.
“People casually talking on the phone while they’re driving, that creates a hazard for other drivers,” she said.
Like many motorists one spots in traffic, Vilders can’t do without his cell phone.
“Anymore, you can’t stop people from talking on their cell phone,” he said. “People are gonna do what they’re gonna do.”
Some drivers, such as Scott Mills of Cleveland, swear by hands-free technology.
Mills, who runs a leasing company, was returning from Minneapolis.
Armed with a BlackBerry and a headset clipped to his right ear, the businessman eyed the blustery conditions outside the Toll Road travel plaza where he’d stopped.
“When you’re driving someplace, you need to concentrate,” he said. “Definitely, having a hands-free (device), it’s a big help.”
It took Mills just seconds to demonstrate how he retrieves his BlackBerry from his belt, checks to see who’s calling and thumbs his keypad to accept or decline the call.
The sequence takes his eyes off the road for a brief moment, he said, but allows him to focus better than a typical cell phone would.
“It’s huge,” he said.
Although many motorists can’t refrain from calling, some do. Penny Holderbaun of Elkhart said she never reaches for her cell phone while driving to her job as a travel plaza cashier on the Toll Road.
“I don’t use my cell phone,” she said, even when she’s not on the road.
For those drivers who can’t resist the urge to phone a friend, Boehler said the best alternative is to pull over to a safe spot before calling.
“It’s not necessarily that they need to keep an eye on their own driving,” he said, “but they need to keep track of the vehicles around them.”
Boehler said he sees plenty of cell phone users while patrolling the Toll Road, something he doesn’t like but usually can’t do anything about.
Unless someone’s driving looks unsafe, he said, police can’t issue a ticket. The only thing they can do, he said, is try to warn people of the dangers cell phones pose on the road.
That won’t do much good, Vilders said, just as speed limits don’t slow lead-footed drivers.
“It’s everyday driving anymore,” he said.
I love the women who leave their house in the morning, get in the car, and start dialing their cell phones while negotiating their car out of the driveway on their way to work. You couldn't call before you left the house???
Well, yeah! But if they're SMOKING in their cars then let's just throw the damn book at them because we all know how them SMOKERS are, unpolite, preoccupied, bad drivers, slow drivers, drivers at all.......
Cell phones are cumbersome in cars when in use and I can see where they might cause problems, but I also think like you that it isn't the only culprit...unless they make Draconian laws for all cases, then leave the cell phones alone....Fault is still fault, no matter what caused the negligence...
A "brief moment" is all it takes to kill someone.
No kidding. In the last 3 years, I've been rear-ended while my car was stopped at traffic lights 4 times by people driving while talking on their cell phones. And I've been nearly run off the road, or hit, more times than I care to think about while on my Ducati. If any of those rear-enders had hit me while I was on my bike, I would be dead.
Mark
I can't tell you how many times I've almost been hit by someone talking on a cell phone. The number is well beyond 200 times. It happens every, and I mean EVERY, day I'm out in the car. People who talk on cell phones and drive are the most (I'm sorry if this offends anyone) dangerous drivers, other than the impaired driver, on the face of the earth. Talking on cell phones in cars should be outlawed in every state and the offender fined a huge fine.
You'd a thunk he got enough sleep at work.
Women drivers and cell phones are a deadly combination.
AMEN
Slower traffic keep right.
I agree with slower than the speed limit traffic should stay in the right lane, absolutely. Now you agree that the speed LIMIT is the same in all lanes. Merry Christmas! ;9)
I'll agree that it is.
I'll also assert that speed limits are set more for revenue generation than for safety.
My son almost collided with some stupid chick on a cell phone a couple of months ago. I watched her in disbelieve as she zipped through the parking lot with a phone attached to her brainless head, not stopping or slowing for other cars.It's just a matter of time for this knothead and countless others who should be paying attention to the road. It's dangerous and no one can convince me otherwise! Only a moron would use a phone while driving!
I worked with a guy whose grandfather could not imagine the horror of using the bathroom IN THE HOUSE. He couldn't fathom anything more foul and disgusting....
Lots of photos here:
http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/incars.htm
Cel phone jammer? Possession/use of same might well be a felony in the US.
The number of posters who assert that cell phones make no difference in accident probabilities, driving habits, etc., on these threads never ceases to amaze me. It looks to be over a 3rd of all posters at least present this general view.
I see people in SUV's talking on their cell phone, getting out and going into the grocery store. Never once do they get off the phone. They are on it the whole time, in the store and when they get back in the SUV to drive off....scary!
Driving while talking on a cell phone has been shown to be the equivalent of driving under the influence.
I refuse to talk to people if they tell me they are on the road. I have had absolutely no luck in trying to talk them out of using it on the road.
I have this feeling that one day, I will be talking to someone who calls from the road and then hear a loud crash!
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