Do you use your cell phone while driving?
Jun 26th, 2001, 04:55 PM
#1
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Do you use your cell phone while driving?
I was wondering if everyone uses their cell phone while driving, and if so, do they think they do it safely? There's an initiative in New York to make it illegal, which could certainly affect all of us travelers out there.
Jun 26th, 2001, 05:15 PM
#3
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We keep a cell phone in the glove compartment for emergencies only. OK! so we have used it to call in a chinese food order, but we never call as the driver. State laws are many times so ludicrous. Many states penalize drivers for not wearing seat belts (which can only harm the driver) but give no penalty for using a cell phone while driving which could harm all other drivers. Bravo for N.Y.
Jun 26th, 2001, 05:44 PM
#4
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I am guilty of using my cell phone. I try to be as careful as possible, (only dial at red lights or in stop and go traffic) but it really isn't completly safe and I won't be surprised or disappointed if they make it illegal here in CA to drive while using them. I missed my freeway change today because I was using it...you get distracted and keep right on driving...dumb!
Jun 26th, 2001, 05:52 PM
#5
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I have a built in "hands free" phone which I assume will soon be a standard feature.
BTW the "law" in NY goes into effect 11/1/01, but no fines until December, and fines are waived during the next two months if the offender presents the court with a receipt for purchase of a hands free phone system.
BTW the "law" in NY goes into effect 11/1/01, but no fines until December, and fines are waived during the next two months if the offender presents the court with a receipt for purchase of a hands free phone system.
Jun 26th, 2001, 10:09 PM
#6
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I have caller id on my phone. If its a number I know-depending on what driving situation I am (traffic, freeway, or stop light, etc.) I will or will not answer. I have voicemail so if I usually let it pick it up. If I do answer it is a quick call, I never have long conversations.
BR>"Talk on your cellphone & drive or drink coffee & drive, but don't do all three". Thanks Einstein.
Jun 27th, 2001, 05:26 AM
#8
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If I need to use my cell phone, I pull over, unless I am stuck at a standstill in traffic and need to tell my husband. Frankly, there is absolutely no one I need to speak to that desperately that I have to use it while driving. I like to think of my car as a way to get away from the phone. I think there are way too many self-important people out there who think the world will spin off its axis if they don't put down their phone for a little while.
Jun 27th, 2001, 06:09 AM
#10
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Like Gene, we keep a cellphone in the glove box for emergency use.
My observations:
1. Another distraction for a generally inattentive driving population (the US) is just what we need.
2. The notion that one should be constantly available and continually in contact with others is unfathomable to me. I am so glad my socialization occurred before there were such things as pagers and cellphones.
My observations:
1. Another distraction for a generally inattentive driving population (the US) is just what we need.
2. The notion that one should be constantly available and continually in contact with others is unfathomable to me. I am so glad my socialization occurred before there were such things as pagers and cellphones.
Jun 27th, 2001, 06:13 AM
#11
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Yes - I do use my cell phone while driving. I do not feel it is any more a distraction than say, eating a Big Mac, talking to a passenger, or turning around to yell at your kids. In fact, I believe AAA did a study and found those activities seven times MORE distracting than using a cellphone. I guess there is no reason for NY to allow fast food drive thrus since eating in the car will be illegal next.
Jun 27th, 2001, 07:04 AM
#12
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At my boyfriend's and mother's insistence I keep a cell phone in the glove box for emergencies, but resisted getting one for as long as possible. I don't like talking on the phone, don't care to be 24/7 accessible, and my driving is such that I can barely chew gum and drive at the same time, let alone dial numbers and talk on the phone. The few times when I've used the cell phone in the car I pull over and stop to make my call. I have used it when someone else was driving, however.
I live in long island and I can't tell you the number of boneheads I see driving while eating, drinking, smoking, talking on the phone, checking out their hair, etc., anything but watching the road, and they usually have their children in the back as well. I'm amazed each day that I don't see more traffic accidents than I do. And furthermore, I'm sure I'm a dinosaur, but I think people who walk around all the time with a cell phone glued to their ear look silly. I travel to get away from the phone, the fax, email, etc., but these things are great for emergencies and for people who need to in constant touch.
I live in long island and I can't tell you the number of boneheads I see driving while eating, drinking, smoking, talking on the phone, checking out their hair, etc., anything but watching the road, and they usually have their children in the back as well. I'm amazed each day that I don't see more traffic accidents than I do. And furthermore, I'm sure I'm a dinosaur, but I think people who walk around all the time with a cell phone glued to their ear look silly. I travel to get away from the phone, the fax, email, etc., but these things are great for emergencies and for people who need to in constant touch.
Jun 27th, 2001, 07:06 AM
#13
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I use my cell phone a lot while driving, but only a certain type of driving. Stop and go is OK. Sparse freeway traffic is OK. Urban areas, crowded freeway, windy streets are a no. No dialing while moving. No answering the phone while the car is moving.
Made my first cellphone related driving error the other day, though. I was on the cell phone on tiny unfamiliar residential streets, going very slowly, looking for a pedestrian I was supposed to pick up. I turned the street he was on, and every driver I came across was giving me a weird look. I was going the wrong way on a one way street. Better pull over and look for my friend on foot.
Made my first cellphone related driving error the other day, though. I was on the cell phone on tiny unfamiliar residential streets, going very slowly, looking for a pedestrian I was supposed to pick up. I turned the street he was on, and every driver I came across was giving me a weird look. I was going the wrong way on a one way street. Better pull over and look for my friend on foot.
Jun 27th, 2001, 07:25 AM
#16
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I'm sure you realize Cell Phone Use is only a small part of the driver distraction issue. We held a major hearing on this problem this spring. If you're interested in learning more about driver distraction, please access www.nhtsa.dot.gov/hot/, and scroll down to Safety Implications of Driver Distraction When Using In-Vehicle Technologies. Part of our effort to date was a virtual conference on distration held on the internet last July. I hope you'll find this infomation interesting. May I also suggest the lead article in the current New Yorker magazine, which describes how pasenger vehicles are being equipped to offer occupants entertainment and distraction to help compensate for the miseries of sitting in traffic congestion. Drive safely. Ciao
Jun 27th, 2001, 08:23 AM
#18
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Oops---
Why do you say using a cellphone in stop and go traffic is okay? I would imagine that's one of the worst times to use one, since there's a good chance of rear-ending someone if you're distracted for a moment. I can understand making a quick call if you're stopped for several minutes in traffic, but when traffic gets moving again, do you immediately end your call? What about if traffic only moves a few feet forward and then stops again? Seems pretty silly to hang up just for that, right? What happens if the person in front of you slams on their brakes and you need to swerve to avoid hitting them? Will you really be able to do so with one hand on the wheel and one clutching your cellphone to your ear? I doubt it. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm picking on you, that's not my intention. But I have to laugh at all the self-imposed "rules" you and others have listed here. It's too easy to bend them "just this once". As far as I'm concerned, the only real rule is, not while you're on the road and only when the car's in park.
Why do you say using a cellphone in stop and go traffic is okay? I would imagine that's one of the worst times to use one, since there's a good chance of rear-ending someone if you're distracted for a moment. I can understand making a quick call if you're stopped for several minutes in traffic, but when traffic gets moving again, do you immediately end your call? What about if traffic only moves a few feet forward and then stops again? Seems pretty silly to hang up just for that, right? What happens if the person in front of you slams on their brakes and you need to swerve to avoid hitting them? Will you really be able to do so with one hand on the wheel and one clutching your cellphone to your ear? I doubt it. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm picking on you, that's not my intention. But I have to laugh at all the self-imposed "rules" you and others have listed here. It's too easy to bend them "just this once". As far as I'm concerned, the only real rule is, not while you're on the road and only when the car's in park.
Jun 27th, 2001, 08:32 AM
#19
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Actually, I think stop and go traffic is a reasonable time to use a cell-phone. Where I live, stop and go means stop and creep. Under those circumstances, I have to watch one thing and one thing only to avoid causing an accident -- the bumper of the car in front of me. Not hard to do that and talk at the same time.
Now, keeping an eye on red lights, stops signs, cross-traffic, speed, pedestrians and cyclists while using a cell phone -- that's too much. So I don't do it.
I have a perfect 24 year driving record, and I'll keep using my cell phone under conditions I consider appropriate until I'm made to stop.
By the way, studies show that handsfree cell phone use is just as distracting -- it's the conversation that is distracting, not holding the phone.
And as for the idea that using a cell phone impairs me as much as someone legally drunk -- I'm not buying it. The drunk is impaired for the whole trip. The cell phone user is not.
Now, keeping an eye on red lights, stops signs, cross-traffic, speed, pedestrians and cyclists while using a cell phone -- that's too much. So I don't do it.
I have a perfect 24 year driving record, and I'll keep using my cell phone under conditions I consider appropriate until I'm made to stop.
By the way, studies show that handsfree cell phone use is just as distracting -- it's the conversation that is distracting, not holding the phone.
And as for the idea that using a cell phone impairs me as much as someone legally drunk -- I'm not buying it. The drunk is impaired for the whole trip. The cell phone user is not.
