Do you use your cell phone while driving?
Jun 27th, 2001, 08:54 AM
#21
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Oops---
I'm glad to hear you have a perfect driving record, but don't you think it may give you a false sense of security? It doesn't even have to be your error, but if you're distracted at the very moment some bad driver screws up, there goes your perfect driving record, and you'll be lucky if that's the only thing lost. I'll agree with you that hands-free cellphones are still a distraction. And I'll agree with Dave and Ess that eating, drinking, fixing makeup, smoking, etc are distractions too, distractions that I've certainly been guilty of in the past. But why add a cellphone to the equation and make things worse? Oops--- you said that using a cellphone while driving isn't like driving drunk because the cellphone user isn't impaired for the entire trip, but what about when they ARE on the phone? Would you agree that they are impaired then?
I'm glad to hear you have a perfect driving record, but don't you think it may give you a false sense of security? It doesn't even have to be your error, but if you're distracted at the very moment some bad driver screws up, there goes your perfect driving record, and you'll be lucky if that's the only thing lost. I'll agree with you that hands-free cellphones are still a distraction. And I'll agree with Dave and Ess that eating, drinking, fixing makeup, smoking, etc are distractions too, distractions that I've certainly been guilty of in the past. But why add a cellphone to the equation and make things worse? Oops--- you said that using a cellphone while driving isn't like driving drunk because the cellphone user isn't impaired for the entire trip, but what about when they ARE on the phone? Would you agree that they are impaired then?
Jun 27th, 2001, 09:05 AM
#23
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I do use mine while driving, but I am not a big cell phone user anyway and get annoyed by how many I see in distracting places like classrooms and museums. Unlike what you would expect from someone who tends to drive fast up and down the highway in a Mustang, I think I use mine very carefully. Other than the speeding, I am a very attentive and law-abiding driver. I wouldn't like to see a law against using them at all while driving, but at the same time people need to pay a lot more attention to what is going on around them (look in the mirrors, use the turn signals, etc.), and many have a hard enough time doing this without the phone. A radio personality here was talking yesterday about actually seeing someone riding down the highway on a moped trying to light a cigarette. He also had seen a semi driver with a phone in one hand and a sandwich in the other.
Maybe they should just be outlawed on extremely busy highways, and the law should not extend to standing traffic. If I am in a traffic jam, I should be able to call my wife to tell her she needs to pick up my daugther at daycare.
Maybe they should just be outlawed on extremely busy highways, and the law should not extend to standing traffic. If I am in a traffic jam, I should be able to call my wife to tell her she needs to pick up my daugther at daycare.
Jun 27th, 2001, 09:42 AM
#25
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Say No,
I appreciate your rationale discussion of this subject, and you should know that I'll abide by whatever law is passed. I really don't feel that strongly about it. But I do question the research, because everything I've read shows that, despite the boom in cell phone driving, traffic accidents and fatalities continue to decline. So I think the jury is still out on whether this is really a problem.
Yes, I probably don't drive as defensively when talking on a cell phone, so someone else could hit me while I'm talking. But I figure it's my risk and my choice to risk a fender bender on the freeway that someone else caused.
And while I'm on the subject of traffic safety overkill, I'll also criticize those red-light running cameras. My husband got one of those tickets for blazing along at 18 mph in a business zone and being .4 second too late at a red light. Had he gunned it, he would have avoided the ticket. Anyway, he went to court on it and won! The picture of the infraction was so unclear that the judge could not honestly tell what color the light was.
All those cameras do for me is alert me to the intersections at which I'd better gun it if the light goes yellow on me.
I appreciate your rationale discussion of this subject, and you should know that I'll abide by whatever law is passed. I really don't feel that strongly about it. But I do question the research, because everything I've read shows that, despite the boom in cell phone driving, traffic accidents and fatalities continue to decline. So I think the jury is still out on whether this is really a problem.
Yes, I probably don't drive as defensively when talking on a cell phone, so someone else could hit me while I'm talking. But I figure it's my risk and my choice to risk a fender bender on the freeway that someone else caused.
And while I'm on the subject of traffic safety overkill, I'll also criticize those red-light running cameras. My husband got one of those tickets for blazing along at 18 mph in a business zone and being .4 second too late at a red light. Had he gunned it, he would have avoided the ticket. Anyway, he went to court on it and won! The picture of the infraction was so unclear that the judge could not honestly tell what color the light was.
All those cameras do for me is alert me to the intersections at which I'd better gun it if the light goes yellow on me.
Jun 27th, 2001, 09:56 AM
#26
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I am an avid cell phone user for my work and am on the phone a lot while driving. I have to say that I have heard of the dangers of use while driving so I try ot be very careful. I alos agree with the previous poster that careful use is no more dangerous than doing things like eating, putting on make up, reading maps, yelling at children in the backseat et. while driving. I do not use my ellphone beause I am self-important. My job requires me to be on the road 4-6 hrs out of 10 hr day. I call on clients and a lot of times my office is my car. specifically I may be in some city and realize that I will be late for my next appt. and it is important for me to call. Furthermore, I may deide I'm done early with one lient so I should call another and ask if I can swing by there. If I pulled off every time I made a call, I would never get anywhere. Besides many tiems I will be traveling 80-100 miles between appointments and this gives me time to discuss at length issues with my clients. Some days I on't even go to my offie, others I may only be there an hour or two. If my clients can not get hold of me on the road, they would never be able to get hold of me! On another note, what do you people who do not use cell phones while driving do if you don't know where you are going? I would all the person and have the person talk me through the route as I drive it.
Jun 27th, 2001, 10:03 AM
#27
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Dan, your comment reminds me of our trip to Italy last fall.
I was driving in Florence, amazed by the lack of appropriate lane usage on the 6-8 lane major streets in the city, where Vespas (their generic term for motor scooters) outnumber cars by a 3 to 1 ratio.
I was passed by a beautiful 20-ish young woman in a nice business suit, on a Vespa, cigarette in one hand, cell phone up to the ear in the other hand, peeling along at 40 mph in traffic so dense there was no more than 2-4 yards average between vehicles.
It was like something out of a strange movie the way all these vehicles buzzed along at relatively high speeds, switching lanes constantly without signals and almost no passing room....yet I never saw an accident or evidence that one had occurred.
I was driving in Florence, amazed by the lack of appropriate lane usage on the 6-8 lane major streets in the city, where Vespas (their generic term for motor scooters) outnumber cars by a 3 to 1 ratio.
I was passed by a beautiful 20-ish young woman in a nice business suit, on a Vespa, cigarette in one hand, cell phone up to the ear in the other hand, peeling along at 40 mph in traffic so dense there was no more than 2-4 yards average between vehicles.
It was like something out of a strange movie the way all these vehicles buzzed along at relatively high speeds, switching lanes constantly without signals and almost no passing room....yet I never saw an accident or evidence that one had occurred.
Jun 27th, 2001, 10:16 AM
#28
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Beth---
I just have one question: What ever did you do before cellphones were invented?! All that time wasted in the car, in restaurants, museums, grocery stores, etc, when you could have been talking to clients. By the way, I use a map to get where I'm going.
I just have one question: What ever did you do before cellphones were invented?! All that time wasted in the car, in restaurants, museums, grocery stores, etc, when you could have been talking to clients. By the way, I use a map to get where I'm going.
Jun 27th, 2001, 10:30 AM
#29
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Let's bring this back to travel-related topics. (Yeah, I know, car driving IS travel, yaddah yaddah yaddah)
Has this ever happened to you:
At the dolphin show at Chicago Aquarium, a father of two answers his cell. Starts yelling, because there is so much noise in the public forums. No one speaks up or ushers him away... everybody trying not to make a fuss.
Or the scenic view of Devil's Tower on a brisk morning with spouse and no one else in the park -- except for the other couple holding separate conversations on their separate phones.
Theaters, sporting events, restaurants, restaurants, restaurants!
ARGH!
I have started to become a hardball over people using cell phones in public travel arenas. I like to make "nonsense" talk in the background, so the phone user has to go to a more private place. Or when they hang up, ask if I can borrow their phone so they can hear my babble about what to pick up at the grocery store.
Just trolling along...
Has this ever happened to you:
At the dolphin show at Chicago Aquarium, a father of two answers his cell. Starts yelling, because there is so much noise in the public forums. No one speaks up or ushers him away... everybody trying not to make a fuss.
Or the scenic view of Devil's Tower on a brisk morning with spouse and no one else in the park -- except for the other couple holding separate conversations on their separate phones.
Theaters, sporting events, restaurants, restaurants, restaurants!
ARGH!
I have started to become a hardball over people using cell phones in public travel arenas. I like to make "nonsense" talk in the background, so the phone user has to go to a more private place. Or when they hang up, ask if I can borrow their phone so they can hear my babble about what to pick up at the grocery store.
Just trolling along...
Jun 27th, 2001, 11:00 AM
#30
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"Say No" I hate to be rude (I'm a regular poster usually don't get that way) but . . . since you were, I will answer. First off, I do not use my cell phone constantly on my own time so I probably wouldn't be using it in museums, grocery stores etc. I specifially said I use it for work and during business hours. I am a consultant so yes I do travel for work and call on my clients. this is not only common but a must in the business. As for what I did before cell phones were invented, I am 30 years old and have had a cell or car phone since I was in college and certainly all my working life. It didn't bother me when they weren't around because I was too young then to need one. By the way, if you use a map to get around and don't pull off to the side of the road to look at it, you are even more dangerous than a phone user!
Jun 27th, 2001, 11:06 AM
#31
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Actually research is beginning to show that the focus on cell phone DISCUSSIONS reduces concentration on the driving task. There are other issues as well. Did you read about the 27-year old model Nicki Taylor's crash in Atlanta three weeks ago ... her boyfriend was driving, and his phone rang ... he looked down in reaching for it and front-ended a power pole. Nicki, although belted, went critical at the scene with a ruptured liver, and for the next two weeks was touch and go in ICU at Grady Memorial. She has survived, thankfully.
Funny letter in the Post a year ago, from a man extolling all the new in-vehicle conveniences. He described how he received e-mail and phone calls, sent messages, used GPS, watched news on his car TV, and so on. He said he was writing the letter from his hosptial bed at GW University in DC ... because while he was using all his new communication toys and getting the jump on business competitors, he'd failed to notice traffic coming to a halt. Traffic fatalities in 2000 actually increased to 41,800 ... distraction, plus rage, are major new culprits. Be glad NY took the lead ... as NY did with the first mandatory safety belt law in the spring of 1984, and with county-option for belts on school buses in the mid-1980's. Distraction from cell phone calls is no joke!! Ciao
Funny letter in the Post a year ago, from a man extolling all the new in-vehicle conveniences. He described how he received e-mail and phone calls, sent messages, used GPS, watched news on his car TV, and so on. He said he was writing the letter from his hosptial bed at GW University in DC ... because while he was using all his new communication toys and getting the jump on business competitors, he'd failed to notice traffic coming to a halt. Traffic fatalities in 2000 actually increased to 41,800 ... distraction, plus rage, are major new culprits. Be glad NY took the lead ... as NY did with the first mandatory safety belt law in the spring of 1984, and with county-option for belts on school buses in the mid-1980's. Distraction from cell phone calls is no joke!! Ciao
Jun 27th, 2001, 11:32 AM
#32
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No one asked, but here's my observation:
We are a society of WASTE. Do we REALLY need to be using a cellphone while driving a car? Do we REALLY need to receive a fax while driving a car? Do we REALLY need to be using a cellphone as we shop for groceries? Do we REALLY need to get a new computer every other year? Do we REALLY need GPS (Global Positioning System) in our cars? Do we REALLY need to have a VCR and TV in the car so the kids can watch a movie on the way to school? Do we REALLY need hulking, gas-sucking SUVs (and how many drivers of these SUVs ACTUALLY go off-road)? C'mon, people.
We are a society of WASTE. Do we REALLY need to be using a cellphone while driving a car? Do we REALLY need to receive a fax while driving a car? Do we REALLY need to be using a cellphone as we shop for groceries? Do we REALLY need to get a new computer every other year? Do we REALLY need GPS (Global Positioning System) in our cars? Do we REALLY need to have a VCR and TV in the car so the kids can watch a movie on the way to school? Do we REALLY need hulking, gas-sucking SUVs (and how many drivers of these SUVs ACTUALLY go off-road)? C'mon, people.
Jun 27th, 2001, 11:35 AM
#33
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You are incorrect in your thinking "Oops...".
Even if traffic accidents and fatalities were declining annually, that does not allow one to conclude that cell phones are not causing more accidients.
Fatalities started going down long before cell phones were commonplace. If cell phones contribute to more fatalities, that may simply SLOW the rate at which the overall decline is ocurring.
That's all theoretical.
The actual FACT is that the insurance industry has carefully documented that cell phones MARKEDLY increase rate of accidents and fatalities.
This is not a controversial or debatable issue.
Even if traffic accidents and fatalities were declining annually, that does not allow one to conclude that cell phones are not causing more accidients.
Fatalities started going down long before cell phones were commonplace. If cell phones contribute to more fatalities, that may simply SLOW the rate at which the overall decline is ocurring.
That's all theoretical.
The actual FACT is that the insurance industry has carefully documented that cell phones MARKEDLY increase rate of accidents and fatalities.
This is not a controversial or debatable issue.
Jun 27th, 2001, 11:47 AM
#35
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Sorry Beth, I meant my questions more for all cellphone users in general than just you. If that came off as rude, I apologize, I should have made myself a little clearer. As for using a map though, I make sure to study my route before I start driving, so I don't need to read it while I drive. I will grant you that I have seen many a driver trying to read a map while they're on the road, and I agree that it's terribly dangerous.
Jun 27th, 2001, 11:57 AM
#36
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Mary, traffic deaths in the US are actually increasing, not decreasing. The number was up by 200 plus from 1999 to 2000, to about 41,800. The fatality RATE increased as well. However total injuries were down slightly, but still well above 3 million. More deaths occurred due to more crashes associated with impairment and more motorcyclist deaths (much of this attributable to the repeal of helmet usage laws in states like Texas and Florida). Deaths in crashes with large trucks were up as well. Road rage, impairment, and now distraction, plus the fact that more seniors are driving, represent some of the leading causes of crashes. The role of the SUV is insidious ... its lack of compatability with other passenger vehicles produces override, and thus occupants in non-SUV's are the worse off. Curbing how cell phones are used in vehicles is necessary. Ciao
Jun 27th, 2001, 01:30 PM
#39
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This discussion made me think of something that I saw on the freeway in stop and go traffic a few weeks ago.
A woman using the rear view mirror to shave her armpits!!!
I've seen the application of makeup but this was a first...YUCK.
People think they are invisible in their cars and no one sees them!
A woman using the rear view mirror to shave her armpits!!!
I've seen the application of makeup but this was a first...YUCK.
People think they are invisible in their cars and no one sees them!
Jun 27th, 2001, 02:29 PM
#40
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Mike: Your description of the vespas is right on. Do you know that the work means "wasps"?? And, where is it that has made it illegal to eat while driving---I think it might be the UK. Is this correct? No, I don't use mine while driving. I find Bay area freeways insane enough but many drivers are whizzing along in the fast lane with cell phone.
