FINALLY...doing something about #$@! cell phones

[Luke T.]

They're a wonderful thing regardless. Seriously, you guys are a bunch of luddites.

You are misunderstanding me. I'm talking about cell phones in cars, not outside of them. My only real peeve about cell phones is people talking on them while driving. And then I'm only talking about the ones that are not hands free.

If cell phones in cars were only used to call 911, that would be wonderful. Other than that use, they are a hazard to navigation.

I am also opposed to the driver watching TV while driving, which I have also seen. That does not make me a Luddite.

ETA: I've also said I see no significant difference between a cell phone in the workplace and a landline in the workplace. Ergo, not a Luddite.

 

[Tony]

You are misunderstanding me.

Yes I was. Sorry.

My only real peeve about cell phones is people talking on them while driving. And then I'm only talking about the ones that are not hands free.

I've been talking on cell phones in cars since I was 18 and I've never had any problems. It's really no different than driving with one hand. I think cell phones are just a scapegoat for poor driving.

 

[Luke T.]

I've been talking on cell phones in cars since I was 18 and I've never had any problems. It's really no different than driving with one hand. I think cell phones are just a scapegoat for poor driving.

I've seen too much behavior that is directly tied to cell phone use to accept it is just poor driving. True, the driver may be a generally bad driver to begin with, but the cell phone just seems to amplify poor ability.

The general result of a cell phone stuck to the side of someone's head appears to be a heightened ignorance of their surroundings. Pulling into traffic without looking, driving erratically, and so on. They generally begin to drive more slowly, maybe out of a reflexive knowledge of being less aware of what's going on around them. And they hit their brakes on the highway more often.

 

[HarryKeogh]

I've been talking on cell phones in cars since I was 18 and I've never had any problems.

Me neither. But that's just anecdotal.

It's really no different than driving with one hand. I think cell phones are just a scapegoat for poor driving

Studies show otherwise. We're skeptics. Do you want to go by evidence/studies or anecdotes to base your opinions on?

 

[Tony]

I've seen too much behavior that is directly tied to cell phone use to accept it is just poor driving. True, the driver may be a generally bad driver to begin with, but the cell phone just seems to amplify poor ability.

No more so than driving with one hand or fiddling with the CD player.

 

[Tony]

Me neither. But that's just anecdotal.

Studies show otherwise. We're skeptics. Do you want to go by evidence/studies or anecdotes to base your opinions on?

I think it's irrelevant. I can drive and talk on the phone at the same time. Therefore, I should not be punished for other people's lack of skill.

 

[BPSCG]

I've been talking on cell phones in cars since I was 18 and I've never had any problems.

Using that logic, I believe I will take up smoking, since Mrs. BPSCG's father smoked for 60 years before having a heart attack...

 

[Tony]

Using that logic, I believe I will take up smoking, since Mrs. BPSCG's father smoked for 60 years before having a heart attack...

Too bad that's not the logic I'm using. But go ahead, I'm not going to get in the way of your stupidity.

 

[RandFan]

Here's some info...

Thanks Harry. Just one problem though. It doesn't address my question. I never said that talking while driving wasn't more dangerous than not talking. I asked if there is any evidence that using a hands free phone is more dangerous than talking to a passenger and if so where is the evidence.

But thanks even though I knew that. Any activity other than driving while driving is more dangerous. We really didn't need a study for that.

What I want to know is this, if you are going to ban hands free phones doesn't it stand to reason that you should also ban all conversations while driving? If not and absent data to prove that hands free phones are more dangerous that talking to a pasenger then you are simply being inconsistent.

 

[Katana]

I think it's irrelevant. I can drive and talk on the phone at the same time. Therefore, I should not be punished for other people's lack of skill.

Unfortunately, all of our punishments will come when the poor-drivers-made-worse take us (and our cars) down with them.

Actually, I'm punished on a daily basis anyway by other peoples' lack of skill versus obliviousness when I'm forced to drive behind them going 30mph in a 40 or 50mph zone. Every day, I get stuck behind some idiot who has nothing better to do than just coast along and who I am convinced actually wants to get stuck at the next stoplight. To make it worse, the whole darned road is a "no passing" zone. Ugh! Move it, people!

 

[jimlintott]

Hmm. Interesting study.

What about reading a novel while driving? I passed a woman last week who was quite literally holding a book open on her steering wheel with both hands while driving down the highway.

The fact that people will do such moronic things while driving is the reason that I always drive with both hands on the wheel and my vigilance cranked to max. Lately when I have to take special precautions to avoid an idiot it seems that the idiot is usually talking on a cell phone. Surely you don't think that because someone may drive while reading that it is okay to drive while on a cell phone? In both situations the driver is impaired.

With one hand, you can't drive a car any better than you can drive a golf ball.

 

[BPSCG]

No more so than driving with one hand or fiddling with the CD player.

Fiddling with the CD player takes 3-4 seconds, then you're done with it for an hour. And you can wait a minute or two to fiddle with it until you get through this nasty intersection where three roads merge at 65 mph in the space of a hundred yards. But if you don't talk to the person on the other end of the phone for 2-3 seconds, you get an immediate demand for your attention, while your attention should be focused on that motorcyle who you see in your rearview mirror, weaving in and out of traffic as he overtakes you.

 

[egslim]

I can drive and talk on the phone at the same time. Therefore, I should not be punished for other people's lack of skill.

And I can drive perfectly well after drinking a bottle of wodka. Therefore, I should not be punished because others lack the skill to do so safely.

Do you seriously believe this line of argument? You're human, and just as much subject to human limitations as all those other drivers. Humans are naturaly poor at doing two things at the same time.

 

[Tony]

Fiddling with the CD player takes 3-4 seconds, then you're done with it for an hour. And you can wait a minute or two to fiddle with it until you get through this nasty intersection where three roads merge at 65 mph in the space of a hundred yards.

Yep, it's exactly like that. For everyone, everywhere. That logic is airtight.

 

[Luke T.]

I think it's irrelevant. I can drive and talk on the phone at the same time. Therefore, I should not be punished for other people's lack of skill.

Dude, I drove stone drunk two or three times a week (sometimes wearing a Drunks Against Mad Mothers (D.A.M.M.) T-shirt) for over ten years and never had an accident or a DUI.

 

[Katana]

Surely you don't think that because someone may drive while reading that it is okay to drive while on a cell phone? In both situations the driver is impaired.

With one hand, you can't drive a car any better than you can drive a golf ball.

I didn't mean that at all. It is not ok ever to drive while reading. Not only are both hands holding up the book (at least in this woman's case) rather than focused on the act of steering, your eyes are diverted from the road as is a great deal of your attention. Talking on a cell phone requires only one hand (or less if on hands-free mode), doesn't divert one's eyes, and occupies no more of one's attention than a conversation with someone in the car.

As for the golf comparison, I'm not sure it fits. Driving a car, when it comes down to the actual motions used is pretty simple by comparison. Perhaps, that's why most people can somewhat competently drive a car but so few can drive a golf ball well (even with two hands).

 

[Tony]

Do you seriously believe this line of argument?

No, your portrait of my argument was a strawman.

 

[HarryKeogh]

Thanks Harry. Just one problem though. It doesn't address my question. I never said that talking while driving wasn't more dangerous than not talking. I asked if there is any evidence that using a hands free phone is more dangerous than talking to a passenger and if so where is the evidence.

Sorry I misunderstood your request before

 

[Tony]

Dude, I drove stone drunk two or three times a week (sometimes wearing a Drunks Against Mad Mothers (D.A.M.M.) T-shirt) for over ten years and never had an accident or a DUI.

So did I (not for over 10 years). What is your point?

 

[Katana]

No, your portrait of my argument was a strawman.

Perhaps I'm missing something here, too. How is this the case?