Distracted driving...yet another viewpoint!

[2porscheguy]

Even though DD is now illegal in most states and provinces, like many of you, if anything, I'm seeing more and more of it on the road all the time. I'll see drivers seemingly engaged in lengthy conversations on their c phones while doing 120 km/hr on our freeways, all the while weaving all over the place, oblivious to all others on the road....not only dangerous but a major PAIN to other law abiding drivers!

So it got me thinking...what about the person at the "other end of the line", the guy or gal that they are talking to? If they are aware that they're talking to someone who's operating a motor vehicle, how can that sit well with them? If it was you wouldn't that piss you off a little? Wouldn't you loose a little respect for the other person?

So here's my unofficial poll:

If someone makes a non-urgent phone call to you and you find out that they are in the process of operating a motor vehicle, do you:

(A) Tell them to STFU and that you are terminating this conversation immediately!..and then give them a piece of your mind when you talk to them next.

(B) Suggest they pull over when safe but carry on the conversation.

(C) Carry on the conversation..."it's not my problem!"

[Oh Haha]

My wife is about the only one that calls me and I can tell when she is driving while she is talking to me. I sternly but gently tell her to call me when she is stopped. Myself>I try not to talk while driving although I have and will in the future. Not TEXTING but talking.


Today I took my kids for an afterschool milkshake. A young gal pulled in to a spot not far from us. She was on her phone when she pulled in, got out of the POS car, into the store and all the while she was in line to pay for her stuff. I can only assume she continued the conversation once back in her car but we didn't leave until after her. What could be that important that you couldn't tell the person on the other end, "hey, I will call you right back. I am running into to grab a few things at the store."? If I take my phone into a store it stays in my pocket until I leave. You need me, I will call back in few.

[onlycafe]

what's wrong with you?
don't you realize that some of these people are so important that they cannot be out of touch with their homies for even an instant?

[2porscheguy]

Lol...how true that is! Sorry I forgot!....my bad...

[aigel]

I talk in the car all the time over bluetooth. Voice activated commands - press one button on the steering wheel, say who I want to call, verify it is going through on the dashboard between the gauges and on my way. I hear the other person over the stereo speakers. How is that more distracting than having a discussion with the passenger in your car? I don't even have to look at my counterpart.

Texting and fondling your phone, including holding it against your ear are different ...

G

[onlycafe]

i've seen people alone in cars having violently animated conversations while driving, poking the air and waving their arms wildly.
scary and amusing at the same time.

[MrScott]

The difference is lack of shared context.

Older study but interesting findings: Car Cell Phone Use More Hazardous Than Chat With Passengers

[Tervuren]

Varies with the person, and if I've ridden with them and they've been on the phone, I watch their eyes, and how well they can pay attention. If I haven't ridden with them to observe their driving, I base things off other keys I may know about them. I also would take time of day, traffic level, and what roads they would likely be on into play.

People have a base driving level that having someone else in the car, or being on the phone, subtracts from. Some people are also more powerfully distracted. A high driving score + able to drop their phone into the nether regions of their car should something come up.

I don't call people that often. I feel its safer to call some one on a cross country long distance drive, it can help keep them awake and focused.

[Holger]

Originally Posted by aigel

I talk in the car all the time over bluetooth. Voice activated commands - press one button on the steering wheel, say who I want to call, verify it is going through on the dashboard between the gauges and on my way. I hear the other person over the stereo speakers.

Same here, we have bluetooth connection in both cars.

Originally Posted by aigel

How is that more distracting than having a discussion with the passenger in your car? I don't even have to look at my counterpart.

It IS more distracting, you have to concentrate a lot more while on the phone, this taking away resources for other activities (like driving).

[Jim Richards]

Being a city dweller/pedestrian, I have to contend with DDs when I'm in crosswalks, and distracted walkers on the sidewalks and in the crosswalks. I feel like I'm living in a pinball game.

[aap1966]

There is evidence that distracted driver laws actually INCREASE the incidence of distraction related accidents.
The possible explanation is that in States with distracted driver laws, drivers still use their mobile devices, but attempt to hide the device out of sight. This results in greater time with eyes off the road. So the laws to decrease the incidence of these traffic accidents paradoxically may increase them.
The ideal solution may be a campaign to make device use socially unacceptable, but not illegal.

[ckelly78z]

I guess i'm old school (back when cell phones didn't exist) because I have a nice Samsung Galaxy S4, but half the time, I don't even know where I left it (in the car, or on my desk at work). I don't need that phone for ANYTHING except emergency calls, and yet, i'm a fully functioning member of society, even though I have never once sent a text, or had to check my phone for directions, only who's calls i've missed. If I carry it along with me, it is in my pocket, and not part of my palm. For some reason, I can go into a waiting room, or a check out line, or be a passenger in a car without being electronically stimulated. I truly believe that "advancements" in electronis technology is the downfall of us a caring compassionate human race.

[oldE]

Originally Posted by aap1966

There is evidence that distracted driver laws actually INCREASE the incidence of distraction related accidents.
The possible explanation is that in States with distracted driver laws, drivers still use their mobile devices, but attempt to hide the device out of sight. This results in greater time with eyes off the road. So the laws to decrease the incidence of these traffic accidents paradoxically may increase them.
The ideal solution may be a campaign to make device use socially unacceptable, but not illegal.

That is a misinformed piece of "reasoning". Holding the phone to your face is not the cause of the danger.

The problem with cel phone usage by the driver of a motor vehicle stems from our brains fruitless search for visual clues to support the message from the person on the other end of the conversation. We do this automatically when we speak to another face to face. It is part of the communication process. (A. Mehrabian UCLA)

In a telephone conversation, the other person is not visible and the part of the driver's brain normally engaged in the search for the visual component of communication happens to be that same part of the brain which would normally be aware of our surroundings, exits, hazards, etc. A niece of mine was involved in studies at U of Toronto a couple of decades back monitoring the brain activities of subjects with MRI while the subjects were engaged in activities simulating driving and speaking with someone not physically present.
The amount of time it takes to dis-engage from the mental process of determining the missing visual clues in the conversation in order to react to the driving situation is equivalent to legal imparement.

It might be inconvenient but just hang up and drive. We're just not wired to do both at the same time.
Best
Les

[Baz]

B.

I've often felt (and said) the same thing.

"Are you driving right now?"

"Let's talk later when you are no longer driving, please."

It's the responsible thing to do.

[dave 911]

did anyone else read the article in R&T this month about distracted driving? It talked about the rise in injuries/deaths related to it, and the current lack of enforcement/strong penalties, and that eventually the insurance companies will probably raise rates to cover the increasing lawsuits associated with it. They would then potentially have discounts for folks that agree to have their cell phones disabled while driving. That sounds like a good potential fix to me.

[R K T]

Scariest is seeing the moron right behind you tail gating while texting or yelling at the phone....

[2porscheguy]

Good to hear that BC and Ontario have now increased fines for DD to now include at least three demerit points as well as fines ranging from around $200 to $1000! Hopefully more provinces and states will soon follow suit!

The worst case I witnessed this week?...some young lady driving a Range Rover on the Transcanada Highway (doing about 120 Km/hr!)...lipstick in one hand and eyeliner in the other! She would occasionally grab the wheel to straighten out her vehicle....just WTF!

[Por_sha911]

When I come across someone texting while driving I blow the horn when I'm passing them (they're usually going way below the speed limit). I really lay on it. They get scared a look up. I make a sign to say hang up the phone (thumb and pinky rotated to a downward position like hanging up a receiver) and go on. I hope it makes them think twice. If ever challenged, I'd say I was concerned that they weren't looking where they were going and wanted to be sure they didn't cross the line into my lane.

Distracted driving is nothing new. Tune in the radio, get on the CB (remember those?) or, as happened this week, a airhead middle aged woman putting lipstick on with the mirror on her sun visor while driving in a 45 mph zone!

[2porscheguy]

Was she at least "hawt"?

[Tobra]

If they are driving and call me, I will get off the phone quickly. I don't talk on the cell and drive ever.