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12/15/09
Now, texting while driving... that's just courting Darwin.
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But I know the exact same people that really NEEDS to stop using their cellphones while driving will never respect such a recommendation or even a law if it existed, so AT LEAST people should user speaker systems... not headsets, but speakers.
It'd be closer to having someone on the passenger seat talking to you.
Another comment nailed it though: the problem with all the car crashes isn't the cellphone or whatever... it's just lack of common sense from drivers.
People just don't realize anymore the dangers of driving, and how they are dragging around tons of metal in high speed which requires very little to kill people around.
And this will never change unless the entire society drastically changes on so many levels that- well, I think we are closer to creating a system that enables cars to crash without killing it's passangers inside than changing the mindset of it's users.
12/14/09
June 29, 2006 -- Three years after the preliminary results first were presented at a scientific meeting and drew wide attention, University of Utah psychologists have published a study showing that motorists who talk on handheld or hands-free cellular phones are as impaired as drunken drivers.
[www.unews.utah.edu]
Using a driving simulator under four different conditions: with no distractions, using a handheld cell phone, talking on a hands-free cell phone, and while intoxicated to the 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level, 40 participants followed a simulated pace car that braked intermittently.
Researchers found that the drivers on cell phones drove more slowly, braked more slowly and were more likely to crash. In fact, the three participants who collided into the pace car were chatting away. None of the drunken drivers crashed.
[news.cnet.com]
The studies just go on and on, this is not climate change, this is settled science.
Anecdotal evidence is for kids.
I remember the same trash talk about seat belts...
12/14/09
I also think that car manufacturers should stop this stupid sh*t with making cars that have all these "safety features" designed to prevent you from backing up into something.... or to apply the brakes if you're about to smash into something. Sure.... let's create cars where ignorant people can become more ignorant because they think that they can just press the gas pedal and use the steering wheel, and their car will brake automatically for them. Airbags.... electronic traction control.... 4 wheel drive..... panic flashing brake lights..... i can understand those. they're designed to protect the occupant, and warn those around the vehicle. The idea of stopping one's vehicle is something that the occupant should have the mental capacity to do on their own if they see something in the road that's quite close to them.
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I regularly drive on the Belt Parkway in both bumper-to-bumper traffic and while going 70 mph in a 50 zone while talking on the phone with a headset. I also talk on the phone while doing 90 in the left lane on the Jersey Turnpike.
At the same time, I leave stopping distance, regularly check my mirrors, and keep a close eye on the cars immediately around me in case they decide to cut me off.
If you can't handle doing two things at once, you shouldn't be driving on busy highways at rush hour.
12/14/09
I makes it very easy.
With that said, you should avoid all telephone use while driving.
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That was easy.
Next
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Hypothetical posturing doesn't make a difference in my reasoning or logic.
I'm quite certain any number of you can come up with whimsical examples that excuse you into dangerous behavior.
Statistics and studies speak for themselves. And frankly I don't give a FUCK if you are the superhuman who can drive and talk on the phone. Most people can't, law doesn't make exceptions for you're special powers.
12/14/09
The government shouldn't create a law for every circumstance where people are able to make a decision where they hurt themselves or others.
I think eating McDonalds cheeseburgers or sipping hot ass Starbucks coffee is super dangerous when driving but where do you draw the line from a legislative standpoint?
12/14/09
I draw the line when you put me and my family at risk. Eat 50 of those cheeseburgers if you want. Unless you trip and fall on me I feel just fine with that.
12/14/09
I'm sure you are just so irate right now that you didn't read my post correctly...
12/14/09
Again, just keep coming up with examples that have nothing to do with the issue. Rolling up you windows, changing the radio station, using the blinker.
All these are things too hard for most of you to grasp. How do I know this? Because you don't get that a person on the phone is fighting for you attention.. ASKING you to listen, wanting to know why you are not paying attention to THEM.
The cheeseburger, the windows and the radio can wait. Does this even begin to register? I doubt it if you're still clawing for a reason.
If you think that the majority of the people talking on the phone while drive to other people talking on the phone while driving are actually safe, you're not worth the arguement.
But please, make up more fun examples that avoid the subject.. it's great to watch you think of ANYTHING but what the issue is. What about reading the speedometer.. that's a good one.
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Now terribilism... stop the world!
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Reverse psychology, people, don't fall for it.
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