Hang up and drive!
 

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1700846,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

ianc

i can't tell you how many stupid bleach blond clams i see driving around paying attention to everything BUT the road ahead of them.

Sometimes, I wish I they would realize that they are just not that important. (hello, i wonder what they did before they had a cell phone??? - they got by just fine). Or maybe it's because they know they are superfluous...

Very frustrating.

I am on the road on the way to work at 5:30 AM and I see people on their cell phones. Who the heck do you have to talk to at that hour???

It seems to me that as traffic volume grows, people use cell phones as a means of amusement in their cars.

If they're stuck in traffic, or just on a boring commute, they call someone in lieu of anything better to do. It's like TV. They do it when they're bored.

Interesting the way talking on the phone interferes so much more with your driving than speaking with a passenger or listening to the radio.

ianc

I had a g/f a few years ago that would call me when she left work, and expect me to entertain her during her drive home.

Probably half of them are calling someone to report the traffic conditions, or to have them check the online traffic maps.

I do this all the time. Traffic avoidance is a top-priority task when driving around here. If that means using a cell phone driving, guess what? I'm using the cell phone driving. I don't care. The ends justify the means.

just saw something in the news that people on their cell phone actually drive 2-5pmh slower. so if you all get of the phone looking for the traffic report the traffic will actually move faster, and you wont need that report,

And why is it that people wait until they've gotten into their car before even starting a cell phone conversation? I see people walking out of the gym, put their stuff in the back seat, fire the car up, put it in reverse and THEN start dialing while they're trying to back out of a parking spot. WTF? Why can't they make their call before that? When I used to take the metro to work, I'd always see people driving around the parking garage, looking for a space while talking on their cell phone. What business are they conducting at 7:30am? See how flamed I got in my thread on cell phone jammers. Seems plenty of folks think there's no reason for others to be on the phone, but jamming their own call would be a gross violation of their rights.

You guys must be really bad drivers then......................

I can drive using a cell phone, chat to passengers, drink coffee and enter data on my pda, all the while I'm adjusting the volume on the dvd which I'm watching on the small screen in my sunvisor.

Maybe you all need some driver ed, so you can be as good as me :D

Matt

What, you don't have a plug-in coffee pot?

It's now a $285 fine in Washington State to be on your cell phone while driving a car. It's okay while the car is not moving, but if the car is moving you can be fined. This new law is being aggressively enforced. To quote the newspaper article, "State D.O.T. officials say the accident rate has risen rapidly because of cell phone use."

I long for that day in VA. Doesn't matter though. Laws here are so selectively enforced, it's ridiculous.

I long for that day in CA too. It's been known for quite some time that cell phone use while driving leads to decreased situational awareness and higher accident rates, but now that they can actually generate some revenue from that, they might decide to do something about it...

ianc

I'm not 100% sure, but I think in the UK it is illegal or they are trying to make illegal, the use of any phone in the car, including hands free.

There's been a study where it was determined that it is the distraction of talking rather than the holding of the phone that causes most accidents.

It is illegal in the UK. Big fines at the moment but they're in the process of trying to change it to prison terms according to the news.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7153070.stm

Thank God. There is some semblence of justice in this world still. I think there should be chain gangs for cell phone chatters. No different than drunk driving and far more common.

Yea, I thought about the irony of it too when I wrote that post, but to be honest, when I'm doing this stuff I'm normally cruising along in the middle lane with the cruise control on. . .

If you get stuck in traffic around L.A. you're lucky to be doing 2-5 mph at all!

If I'm not mistaken, the law goes into effect July 1st of this year, (I think only for hand held devices.) I hope it's enforced.