Cell phones and driveing

A pickup driven by a 26-year-old River Ridge man plunged into the lake from the southbound span a couple miles from the south shore, authorities said.

According to the driver's recollection of the incident, he lost control of his truck when he reached over to grab his cell phone.
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You know, some people can"t chew gum and walk, much less drive and talk on a cell phone. The problem is it"s idiots like this that cause our elected officials to think we ALL need new laws to protect us ALL from ourselves.

Personally I can very easily talk on a cell phone and drive, or do pretty much anything else for that matter...it"s not that hard to do. Seriously, years ago I routinely controlled the throttle valve on one of an aircraft carrier"s main engines, monitored and logged a wall full of gauges, along with taking in, and dispersing info over a headset from a minimum of 4 different watch standers. When we had a causality, there were even more people I had to both listen and disseminate info both from and to, along with doing my normal job. Throw in keeping track of everything the emergency manual said to do and doing my part there, plus logging in the necessary info on every piece of machinery effected, and anything else that needed to be done that got threw my way.......By the time I was done doing that, I had, and still have, absolutely no problem talking on a phone, eating, or anything else when I drive. But, if I see what I"m doing has a potential to cause me a problem, or make me do something that will cause me a problem I will gladly hang up before I end up in the swamp like this idiot.....
 
Happens more everyday, people can"t seem to leave them alone when driving. Driving a truck everyday see it all the time, quit counting how many times I"ve had to drift onto shoulder to keep from getting hit cause people are texting or on the Internet while driving. But people can"t seem to survive without the phone in there hand all the time. Just my 2 cents. Scott
 
I do object to banning TALKING on a cell while driving. Obviously, texting or internetting take your eyes off the road- but I don't see how talking is any more distracting than talking to a passenger, eating, etc.
 
Yeah, I used to laugh at the idiots, all those morons who can"t talk on phones,until I called the old office, and my old friend [woman] suddenly ansdwered the phone, and I was surprised to talk to her, thought of her, and ran right through a red light on Highway 60. Realized what a distracted moron I was.
 
Mike, they've done studies and determined that talking on a cell phone is indeed more distracting than having a passenger in the car. A passenger is aware of what's going on around the car and (hopefully) knows when to STFU because you need to concentrate on traffic. A passenger will (usually) tell you if you do something stupid. Not so when you're talking to someone who isn't in the car.

One study found that a driver on a cell phone is four times more likely to miss an exit than a driver with or without a passenger. (link below)

That said, I think it's unrealistic to ban cell phones while driving.
University of Utah cell phone study
 
I was following a white van a couple of weeks ago. Guy was driving along nice and steady for several miles. Apparently his phone rang,he slowed down, he started weaving in his lane he sped up.
I finally passed him,and the phone was stuck to his ear.
I try not to use the phone while driving and won"t make a call if driving. If my phone rings I glance at who is calling and either ignore it or pull over to talk. The wife has Bluetooth in her car and it gets a lot of use.
 
Talking is bad enough, but I would bet that at least 30% of drivers are texting while driving as well. The number of people texting while driving is unbelievable.
 
Personally, I hate dealing with any electronic device, such as a phone while driving, well you have all the modern conveniences today, including all the fancy features in new vehicles that sync things together, hands free and all that, but I'm driving, please leave me the heck alone, most likely it can and will wait, too many other distracted drivers to look out for. The busy 2 lane road I live on, someone will dart out in front of you just to get onto the road when traffic is busy. I've seen many commercial truck drivers using a handset while driving, seen heavy equipment operators on job sites, using a hand set, you can't tell me its anything important, to have a casual and seemingly useless conversation, while operating anything, really, I don't care how good you think you are multitasking, have some respect for yourself and others, pull over somewhere safe, let it go to voice mail, don't put yourself or others at risk, it's an unsafe habit. If its an emergency, well now you're really distracted, you still have to get somewhere safe and you have to obey the laws, so what difference does it make, you are informed, but its no excuse to be stupid. You'll have to pardon me, having a strong dislike for those who do this while driving, your focus should be the road, and what you are driving at all times, safety, not some inane conversation about nothing.

I see a lot of things on the roads today, especially with commercial vehicles, heavily loaded, and these younger drivers, leaning them into turns, running too fast for conditions, now add other distractions? Really ? Just the other day, a truck blew a tire on the stretch of busy 2 lane road near me, it sounded like a full stick going off from 600 yards away, which is the actual distance measured using a range finder. This happens in an instant, and you want to be on the phone or otherwise distracted ? I've never heard one so loud before, then down the road it goes, whap whap whap...... driver trying to maintain control and get off the road. A good time to call someone and talk about nothing right ? LOL !!!! fire away now.....
 

Just as bad if not worse than talking while driving, is often pulling over and talking. Who has not had to come to a stop because someone has pulled partway off the road and stopped? Or worse yet, when someone has pulled part way off on the other side, and suddenly an oncoming driver is swerving into your lane to go around the stopped car and of course the problem is not his, it is the problem of the people coming towards him to get out of his way.
 
There are ways to control things like talking on a cell phone when driving. How about, if there is an accident, the cell phone records of both individuals involved are discussed in court. The distracted driver then foots a larger part of repair bills, medical bills etc.
 
(quoted from post at 22:40:52 05/31/14) You know, some people can"t chew gum and walk, much less drive and talk on a cell phone. The problem is it"s idiots like this that cause our elected officials to think we ALL need new laws to protect us ALL from ourselves.

Personally I can very easily talk on a cell phone and drive, or do pretty much anything else for that matter...it"s not that hard to do. Seriously, years ago I routinely controlled the throttle valve on one of an aircraft carrier"s main engines, monitored and logged a wall full of gauges, along with taking in, and dispersing info over a headset from a minimum of 4 different watch standers. When we had a causality, there were even more people I had to both listen and disseminate info both from and to, along with doing my normal job. Throw in keeping track of everything the emergency manual said to do and doing my part there, plus logging in the necessary info on every piece of machinery effected, and anything else that needed to be done that got threw my way.......By the time I was done doing that, I had, and still have, absolutely no problem talking on a phone, eating, or anything else when I drive. But, if I see what I"m doing has a potential to cause me a problem, or make me do something that will cause me a problem I will gladly hang up before I end up in the swamp like this idiot.....

With all due respect, no sir, you can't. Driving is not the same as what you describe. There aren't other cars, deer, kids on bikes, emergency vehicles, birds, people with dogs, etc. in the engine room of a ship. I've heard the same thing a million times from other people and while it sounds to me like you're a cut above the average teenage dead head texting, everyone has limits to multitasking. That's why airplanes crash and cars crash and we back over shopping carts in parking lots.

No offense, really, but the odds are against you no matter how good you are.
 
I object to doing ANYTHING (other then driving) that's distracting or impairs concentration while driving regardless, if its texting or drinking alcohol or constantly yakking on a cell phone grrrrrrrrrr lol

John T
 
Can't even count how many times I have seen someone come well-over the center line on the road!

When they get closer... YEP, they have a cell phone stuck to their head.
 
Mrs B&D and myself were ploughed into from behind while we were stopped in traffic by a cell phone yacker . I was surprised insurance repaired the vehicle , it was never right afterwards. We were pretty sore for a while too.
 
Distracted driving is distracted driving. If talking on the phone causes you to swerve over the center line or run stop signs then it is distracted driving. If you are on the phone and not swerving or running lights then it is obviously not a distraction. Driving while tired or daydreaming or yelling at your kids on the backseat are just as dangerous as any other distraction (and I'm guilty of all of them at one time or another).
If it is the danger of bad driving how many of you are in favor of putting an age limit on drivers licenses?,say maybe no licenses for anyone over 75 years old. I think we can all agree that it really depends on the abilities of the driver not a one size fits all approach.
 
I have wondered , with all the other apps they can put on cell phones, why not make them speed sensitive and not work when in motion! Mark
 
Talking/texting on a cell phone is illegal here too with fines if you are caught. It does not seem to make much difference from what I have observed. Out here in the open spaces with long range visibility and low traffic flow it is not as much a hazard. In the city driving, I don't even want to think about using a phone while trying to navigate around all the other dangerous drivers.
 
Mark

It would be easy to put a app on a phone that would make it not work while in motion.
It would also be just as easy to pass a law that says you can not use a cell phone in a car and make the fines very stiff.

The problem is the first one is business suicide. No one is going to buy a phone that does not work in a car.
The second one would be political suicide. No elected official is going to make a law that restricts cell phone use in a car.

They made a law here that says no texting while driving. Cops started writing tickets and when it got to court driver says I was not texting; I was on facebook.
Took them a few months to re-word the law to include multi media.
 
If you aren't a good enough driver to talk on the phone while driving you shouldn't do it.
Those of us who are would appreciate you leaving off making all your silly laws to prevent it.
Cell phones are a major time saver.

Texting is not the same as talking btw.
 
(quoted from post at 10:22:12 06/01/14)
If it is the danger of bad driving how many of you are in favor of putting an age limit on drivers licenses?,say maybe no licenses for anyone over 75 years old.

Greg
I'll bet you'll have a different outlook on the 75 year age limit when you get to be 74!!!!! Whom has more accidents 75 yr old's or teenagers?? TEENAGERS so make them wait to get a license until they're adults!!!
 
That's exactly why I mentioned it here
knowing the audience. I would also bet the
audience does not use cell phones on a
regular basis so part of the negative
outlook. Its always the other guy doing
things wrong, never ourselves. I'm not
saying they don't have the potential for
distraction, I'm saying any distraction is
dangerous and a special law makes no more
sense than a law saying drunk driving with
beer is worse than drunk driving from
whiskey.
 
The passengers in the car couldn't use them either then. No calling for directions or saying I'll be there in a half an hour unless you pull over. Couldn't use them on a bus either then. Not saying its a bad idea just pointing out the unintended consequences.
 
There is a solution 4 in the morning going to work got behind a kid that was sleeping going down the road but it was ok the horse knew where he was going it was an amish kid had to through that in
 
Always fun riding along with someone who is perfectly capable of using the cell phone while driving. Nice to keep a note book and record the events he overlooked and then read them off to him or most likely HER when trip is finished.
 
(quoted from post at 08:06:59 06/01/14) If you aren't a good enough driver to talk on the phone while driving you shouldn't do it.
Those of us who are would appreciate you leaving off making all your silly laws to prevent it.
Cell phones are a major time saver.

Texting is not the same as talking btw.

UD, don't forget that something like 85% of drivers are better than average drivers, so how is it determined that one is a good enough driver to talk while driving? A hundred yard test?
 
[i:654c4848f0]"UD, don't forget that something like 85% of drivers are better than average drivers"[/i:654c4848f0]

I'm trying to get my head around that one.
It's kind of like saying 85% of people are smarter than average isn't it?
Maybe it's just the new math - and I'm in a lower bracket when it comes to that.
:)
 
(quoted from post at 11:24:59 06/01/14) [i:cb54dc30d1]"UD, don't forget that something like 85% of drivers are better than average drivers"[/i:cb54dc30d1]

I'm trying to get my head around that one.
It's kind of like saying 85% of people are smarter than average isn't it?
Maybe it's just the new math - and I'm in a lower bracket when it comes to that.
:)

That is how people answered the questionnaire. 85% percent said that they were above average, so it would translate that even though statistics show that phones are a distraction, just one of many that leads to higher accident rates, most individuals would be confident that they would not be distracted. Same concept as seat belts, except that lack of wearing a seat belt rarely hurts anyone else.
 
Last week we just had a young lady cross the center line while texting and go head on with another car. Cost both of them their lives. Years ago while driving an ambulance and talking on the phone I darn near ran into the back of a car stopped on the freeway. I know that I am distracted by cell phones and make every effort to pull over when using them
 
I was walking down the street the other day and watched a guy ride by on his scooter (not a motor cycle). One hand on the handle bars, and the other running the cell phone. No helmet either. His guardian angel must be exhausted.
 
Can you hold a conversation with the person in the seat beside you, or in the seat behind you? Can you keep up with what your children are doing in the backseat and admonish them when they do something wrong? Can you listen to, and maybe even sing along with, a song on the radio? Have you ever listened to, or talked to anyone on a CB radio? If you can do any of these things then you have the mental capability to both drive and talk on a cell phone.

What it comes down to is that the ability to divide your concentration onto more than one task at a time and talk on a cell phone is no different than it is in any of the above mentioned, everyday tasks. Like I stated originally, some folks can't walk and chew gum, so any of the above mentioned tasks are well above what they have the ability to do. "They" say that you can't train yourself to do these kinds of things, but I can tell you when I started handling the duties of the watch I described above, it was a lot harder to keep track of everything than it was several months in, and by the end of a year or so I was quite proficient. Granted I wasn't 'trained' by anyone, it was just a matter of being put in the situation and having you adapt your thought process to handle it.

As far as it being different than something jumping out in front of you, that's nothing more than the ability to prioritize the tasks your performing and change the priority of those tasks at any given time. Think about this. When you've got half a dozen people, or more, that can give you, or anyone else in the space an order (via you) at any given time, a wall full of gauges that you have to monitor and let others know when they get out of spec, keep an eye on the time to accurately log the status of all equipment in the plant as it gets shutdown, started, or anything else, plus keep an eye on a wall full of gauges and notify other watchstanders both in and out of the space when one gets out of spec, and log all of that, and then do anything else required to keep the plant operational or get through a casualty, it is MULTITASKING at it's most extreme. To do all of that at once means you have to keep all of your different tasks prioritized, and change those priorities in a split second to insure everything gets taken care of.

To do otherwise, especially in a casualty situation, could easily mean the loss of, or damage to, millions of dollars worth of equipment, or worse. Thing is when your dealing with steam running at 1200 psi and 900 plus degrees, it also means that a misstep by the person tasked with all of those responsibilities can easily mean the death of the watch stander involved with that equipment.

The ability to drive, talk, eat, listen to the radio, or any one of the million other things people routinely do in their vehicles, is nothing more than multitasking, just like I have been describing. The responsibility, and abilities involved to pay attention, prioritize, and do all the things needing done is no lesser or greater, just because your in a vehicle.

To give you even more to think about. As I said earlier, "They" say the ability to multitask can't be trained, and to be honest I agree. I know for me it took doing it to learn to handle it. Before I got that watch I had seen others do it and wondered how they could handle so many things at the same time, but they did it, and made it look easy. That said, while us civilians supposedly aren't smart enough, or have the ability to even talk on a cell phone, (which by the way doesn't require taking your eyes off the road), those given the responsibility to 'keep us safe from ourselves" (ie the police) now have computers in their car. In years past they radioed a suspects info in and got his report back on them that way. Nowdays they have a computer in their cars. In other words when one pulls in behind you and wants to know more about you, he had to take his eyes off the road to type in the info on your tag, etc, and then look at, and read the screen to get the info he requested. Now, please tell me, who "taught" that officer to drive, and be any safer performing a task that requires him to take his eyes off the road, than we are talking on a cell phone that doesn't?

In the end it's all about having the ability to multitask, know when that ability is exceeded, and the smarts to remedy the situation before things become unsafe.

If you have that much common sense then you can easily drive and talk on the phone, listen to and sing along with your radio, keep up with your newborn who is facing backwards in the back seat, admonish your older kids when they act up, and talk to your spouse in the seat beside you.....

What no one can do is reach down into the floorboard to get their phone when they drop it, or do anything else like that that causes them to give 100% of their attention to the task at hand because not only can they not see the road, they couldn't turn the wheel, or hit the brake, or anything else for that matter, because they aren't sitting properly in the seat. Nor can they spend 5 minutes looking down at their phone typing/texting instead of looking at the phone. Those are the kinds of things that cause the majority of accidents, not someone simply talking on the phone. That said, read the caption with the photos in the link. Basically the person that ran off the bridge wasn't talking, they leaned down to get their phone, or something to that effect...regardless it's completely different than simply holding a conversation.....
 
I really think there should be laws against driving while on the phone.

You can't have an open container in the car. Why can you have a cell phone turned on in the car???

If you cause an accident while on the phone. Your insurance should be void.
 
Don't think my wife would think that was such a good idea........and I didn't have to multitask my thought process to come up with that conclusion....it was a one step thought process and took the whole of my knowledge to realize it.....LOL
 
(quoted from post at 06:39:06 06/01/14) Talking is bad enough, but I would bet that at least 30% of drivers are texting while driving as well. The number of people texting while driving is unbelievable.

jon, I agree. It has gotten completely out of hand. I drive 30 miles on an expressway each way to work every day. Lately, I pass 3-4 young people texting or surfing EACH WAY. I now honk my horn at them as I go by. Some of them jump when I do it and look up real quick, obviously they were not paying attention to the road. Noticed a lot of them have their phone at the top of the steering wheel and they're texting away with 2 hands. Guess they figure that makes it SAFER. :roll:
 
(quoted from post at 15:43:32 06/01/14) Can you hold a conversation with the person in the seat beside you, or in the seat behind you? Can you keep up with what your children are doing in the backseat and admonish them when they do something wrong? Can you listen to, and maybe even sing along with, a song on the radio? Have you ever listened to, or talked to anyone on a CB radio? If you can do any of these things then you have the mental capability to both drive and talk on a cell phone.

What it comes down to is that the ability to divide your concentration onto more than one task at a time and talk on a cell phone is no different than it is in any of the above mentioned, everyday tasks. Like I stated originally, some folks can't walk and chew gum, so any of the above mentioned tasks are well above what they have the ability to do. "They" say that you can't train yourself to do these kinds of things, but I can tell you when I started handling the duties of the watch I described above, it was a lot harder to keep track of everything than it was several months in, and by the end of a year or so I was quite proficient. Granted I wasn't 'trained' by anyone, it was just a matter of being put in the situation and having you adapt your thought process to handle it.

As far as it being different than something jumping out in front of you, that's nothing more than the ability to prioritize the tasks your performing and change the priority of those tasks at any given time. Think about this. When you've got half a dozen people, or more, that can give you, or anyone else in the space an order (via you) at any given time, a wall full of gauges that you have to monitor and let others know when they get out of spec, keep an eye on the time to accurately log the status of all equipment in the plant as it gets shutdown, started, or anything else, plus keep an eye on a wall full of gauges and notify other watchstanders both in and out of the space when one gets out of spec, and log all of that, and then do anything else required to keep the plant operational or get through a casualty, it is MULTITASKING at it's most extreme. To do all of that at once means you have to keep all of your different tasks prioritized, and change those priorities in a split second to insure everything gets taken care of.

To do otherwise, especially in a casualty situation, could easily mean the loss of, or damage to, millions of dollars worth of equipment, or worse. Thing is when your dealing with steam running at 1200 psi and 900 plus degrees, it also means that a misstep by the person tasked with all of those responsibilities can easily mean the death of the watch stander involved with that equipment.

The ability to drive, talk, eat, listen to the radio, or any one of the million other things people routinely do in their vehicles, is nothing more than multitasking, just like I have been describing. The responsibility, and abilities involved to pay attention, prioritize, and do all the things needing done is no lesser or greater, just because your in a vehicle.

To give you even more to think about. As I said earlier, "They" say the ability to multitask can't be trained, and to be honest I agree. I know for me it took doing it to learn to handle it. Before I got that watch I had seen others do it and wondered how they could handle so many things at the same time, but they did it, and made it look easy. That said, while us civilians supposedly aren't smart enough, or have the ability to even talk on a cell phone, (which by the way doesn't require taking your eyes off the road), those given the responsibility to 'keep us safe from ourselves" (ie the police) now have computers in their car. In years past they radioed a suspects info in and got his report back on them that way. Nowdays they have a computer in their cars. In other words when one pulls in behind you and wants to know more about you, he had to take his eyes off the road to type in the info on your tag, etc, and then look at, and read the screen to get the info he requested. Now, please tell me, who "taught" that officer to drive, and be any safer performing a task that requires him to take his eyes off the road, than we are talking on a cell phone that doesn't?

In the end it's all about having the ability to multitask, know when that ability is exceeded, and the smarts to remedy the situation before things become unsafe.

If you have that much common sense then you can easily drive and talk on the phone, listen to and sing along with your radio, keep up with your newborn who is facing backwards in the back seat, admonish your older kids when they act up, and talk to your spouse in the seat beside you.....

What no one can do is reach down into the floorboard to get their phone when they drop it, or do anything else like that that causes them to give 100% of their attention to the task at hand because not only can they not see the road, they couldn't turn the wheel, or hit the brake, or anything else for that matter, because they aren't sitting properly in the seat. Nor can they spend 5 minutes looking down at their phone typing/texting instead of looking at the phone. Those are the kinds of things that cause the majority of accidents, not someone simply talking on the phone. That said, read the caption with the photos in the link. Basically the person that ran off the bridge wasn't talking, they leaned down to get their phone, or something to that effect...regardless it's completely different than simply holding a conversation.....

There is a difference between taking a quick call to update you on a situation and taking multiple calls, dialing, etc. on a phone. It's not the guy getting the call from the wife telling him to pickup milk on the way home, it's the people dialing, arguing, having in depth conversations, etc. I've investigated accidents where the passenger distracted the driver or the kids, or the guy who rides with the dog in his lap, or any of a number of other distracted scenarios. Maybe you're superhuman and have the ability to concentrate far beyond that of mortal men. Maybe. All know is that 98% of the people out there, and I include police, firemen, EMS, etc., can't do multiple things at at the same time as they drive. We had 2 young Troopers recently out of the academy that both got in accidents with Troop cars at the precise same moment. They were best buds and while it was never able to be proved they were gabbing on the phones, (this was some years back when they were fairly uncommon), it was pretty obvious that's what was going on.

I know I can take a brief call and not have problems. I also know that I have enough problems without taking calls that it's in everyones best interest that I pull over to a safe spot to take it, especially if there's directions, instructions, etc. that need to be paid attention to.

The odds are against anyone doing too much at once and trying to drive. I used to be able to drive 125mph with lights an siren going, dodging cars driven by people with cranial/rectal inversions, making it through red lights safely, all while talking on the radio and giving and receiving updates and instructions from multiple sources, often a night or in inclement weather. I never had an accident doing that. That doesn't mean it's a good idea to do that on a regular basis. The odds were sooner or later I'd kill myself or someone else.
 
(quoted from post at 15:43:32 06/01/14) Can you hold a conversation with the person in the seat beside you, or in the seat behind you? Can you keep up with what your children are doing in the backseat and admonish them when they do something wrong? Can you listen to, and maybe even sing along with, a song on the radio? Have you ever listened to, or talked to anyone on a CB radio? If you can do any of these things then you have the mental capability to both drive and talk on a cell phone.

What it comes down to is that the ability to divide your concentration onto more than one task at a time and talk on a cell phone is no different than it is in any of the above mentioned, everyday tasks. Like I stated originally, some folks can't walk and chew gum, so any of the above mentioned tasks are well above what they have the ability to do. "They" say that you can't train yourself to do these kinds of things, but I can tell you when I started handling the duties of the watch I described above, it was a lot harder to keep track of everything than it was several months in, and by the end of a year or so I was quite proficient. Granted I wasn't 'trained' by anyone, it was just a matter of being put in the situation and having you adapt your thought process to handle it.

As far as it being different than something jumping out in front of you, that's nothing more than the ability to prioritize the tasks your performing and change the priority of those tasks at any given time. Think about this. When you've got half a dozen people, or more, that can give you, or anyone else in the space an order (via you) at any given time, a wall full of gauges that you have to monitor and let others know when they get out of spec, keep an eye on the time to accurately log the status of all equipment in the plant as it gets shutdown, started, or anything else, plus keep an eye on a wall full of gauges and notify other watchstanders both in and out of the space when one gets out of spec, and log all of that, and then do anything else required to keep the plant operational or get through a casualty, it is MULTITASKING at it's most extreme. To do all of that at once means you have to keep all of your different tasks prioritized, and change those priorities in a split second to insure everything gets taken care of.

To do otherwise, especially in a casualty situation, could easily mean the loss of, or damage to, millions of dollars worth of equipment, or worse. Thing is when your dealing with steam running at 1200 psi and 900 plus degrees, it also means that a misstep by the person tasked with all of those responsibilities can easily mean the death of the watch stander involved with that equipment.

The ability to drive, talk, eat, listen to the radio, or any one of the million other things people routinely do in their vehicles, is nothing more than multitasking, just like I have been describing. The responsibility, and abilities involved to pay attention, prioritize, and do all the things needing done is no lesser or greater, just because your in a vehicle.

To give you even more to think about. As I said earlier, "They" say the ability to multitask can't be trained, and to be honest I agree. I know for me it took doing it to learn to handle it. Before I got that watch I had seen others do it and wondered how they could handle so many things at the same time, but they did it, and made it look easy. That said, while us civilians supposedly aren't smart enough, or have the ability to even talk on a cell phone, (which by the way doesn't require taking your eyes off the road), those given the responsibility to 'keep us safe from ourselves" (ie the police) now have computers in their car. In years past they radioed a suspects info in and got his report back on them that way. Nowdays they have a computer in their cars. In other words when one pulls in behind you and wants to know more about you, he had to take his eyes off the road to type in the info on your tag, etc, and then look at, and read the screen to get the info he requested. Now, please tell me, who "taught" that officer to drive, and be any safer performing a task that requires him to take his eyes off the road, than we are talking on a cell phone that doesn't?

In the end it's all about having the ability to multitask, know when that ability is exceeded, and the smarts to remedy the situation before things become unsafe.

If you have that much common sense then you can easily drive and talk on the phone, listen to and sing along with your radio, keep up with your newborn who is facing backwards in the back seat, admonish your older kids when they act up, and talk to your spouse in the seat beside you.....

What no one can do is reach down into the floorboard to get their phone when they drop it, or do anything else like that that causes them to give 100% of their attention to the task at hand because not only can they not see the road, they couldn't turn the wheel, or hit the brake, or anything else for that matter, because they aren't sitting properly in the seat. Nor can they spend 5 minutes looking down at their phone typing/texting instead of looking at the phone. Those are the kinds of things that cause the majority of accidents, not someone simply talking on the phone. That said, read the caption with the photos in the link. Basically the person that ran off the bridge wasn't talking, they leaned down to get their phone, or something to that effect...regardless it's completely different than simply holding a conversation.....

Wayne, the main problem with what you are saying is that there is no measure of multitasking ability. If you had 100 people that got into serious accidents due to driver distraction, and had the ability to go back in time to before the accident and ask them to rate their multitasking ability, how many would have answered that they did not have very good multitasking ability?
 
You keep harping about talking on the cell phone being no different than talking to someone else in the car, multitasking, blah blah blah blah blah...

Yet, here we are. Everyone knows someone who either wrecked or has a story about almost wrecking while trying to talk on the phone.

You *NEVER* hear about people wrecking while talking to a passenger.

If there was no difference, then how do you explain the above?

I'm not saying there should be a law. I think people should be allowed to off themselves through their own stupidity, and if they happen to take someone with them, it's tragic but it's the price of living on this planet.

Our politicians, and most people, seem to think we can outlaw accidents and freak occurrences. We can never chalk anything up as either a true accident or freak occurrence, we always have to talk it to death and eventually outlaw it.
 
In Illinois it's against the law to talk on a cell phone while driving, unless drivers use a hands free device.... Bluetooth sales are up . Police have issued tickets. In Decatur first offence $75 second $75?, third $150 .
I personally think its great.
 
(quoted from post at 05:40:55 06/02/14) You keep harping about talking on the cell phone being no different than talking to someone else in the car, multitasking, blah blah blah blah blah...

Yet, here we are. Everyone knows someone who either wrecked or has a story about almost wrecking while trying to talk on the phone.

You *NEVER* hear about people wrecking while talking to a passenger.

If there was no difference, then how do you explain the above?

I'm not saying there should be a law. I think people should be allowed to off themselves through their own stupidity, and if they happen to take someone with them, it's tragic but it's the price of living on this planet.

Our politicians, and most people, seem to think we can outlaw accidents and freak occurrences. We can never chalk anything up as either a true accident or freak occurrence, we always have to talk it to death and eventually outlaw it.

mkirsch, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. You are dead wrong on that. It is very well documented that young inexperienced drivers are FAR FAR more likely to have a problem when there is a passenger in the car. As a result many more responsible parents don't allow passengers in the first six months or a year. So sure you can say that this is just kids, but in reality passengers still distract, but maturity makes it less of a problem, but still a problem.
 
I don't care who you are, what your background is, how young or old or experienced you are. The more miles you rack up, the higher the odds of an accident. The more distractions you have- same thing. It's bad enough we have to be on guard against other drivers, animals, weather, etc. Add in a cell phone, a hot cup of coffee and a big greasy cheeseburger and sooner or later some metal is going to get smashed.
 

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