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.
So do I. I just get perplexed with an author avers a thesis in the title, and then the body no only doesn't give any support to the thesis, but barely even addresses it.
Journalism isn't what it used to be!
Nope! In fact, I doubt it ever was what it used to be! :-)
When the OTHER drivers fire THEIR phones up to report it!!!
it is enforced, they give out an astounding number fo tickets for that.
"I would imagine the number of accidents involving cell phones is hugely underreported"
--- Actually, they are probably OVER stated for because the nanny state has determined that cell phones are bad. (I've not commenting on whether or not they actually are).
Remember the gov't induced panic about having a cell phone at a gas station. The studies were later proven to be bogus, but it is still illegal in certain states to have a cell phone on at a gas pump.
The way the statistics are collected is slanted to over reporting of cell phone as a contributing cause. I was parked, engine stopped, out of my car putting money in the meter when a driver going the wrong way on a one way street swerved to avoid oncoming traffic resulting in hitting my parked car. Because I had a cell phone, the incident is listed on the official police report as a "moving vehicle accident involving a cell phone."
You ignore the rules you want (speed limit) and I'll ignore the rules I want to.
Enjoy your passive-agressiveness. I assure you, others don't.
I've already admitted that men are probably more dangerous drivers than women. I'm merely saying that as far as I've observed, women seem to do the most talking on cellphones while driving. I in no way exculpate men from quite a bit of criminally insane driving.
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