"Get Off Your Cell Phone And Drive!!!!"

[JFN1]

Ever said that to some idiot jabbering away on their cell phone in traffic? Well, you're not crazy for doing so:

Drivers talking on cell phones are probably making your commute even longer, concludes a new study.

Motorists yakking away, even with handsfree devices, crawl about 2 mph slower on commuter-clogged roads than people not on the phone, and they just don't keep up with the flow of traffic, said study author David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah.

If you commute by car an hour a day, it could all add around 20 hours a year to your commute, Strayer said.

"The distracted driver tends to drive slower and have delayed reactions," said Strayer, whose study will be presented later this month to the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. "People kind of get stuck behind that person and it makes everyone pay the price of that distracted driver."

This isn't exactly news, to the rest of us...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. I'm always yelling at people who yell at cell phone drivers.

They should focus on the road instead of yelling at people who are on their cell phones.

[Sugar Smack]

5. You crazy!

:rofl: :loveya:

[tandem5]

50. wow, no, that's so strange because I actually am always...

yelling at people who are yelling at people who are yelling at cell phone drivers. Nobody hears me though - 60-70 mph, windows up... ah well.

-sniffing a little-

You know I just want to be a part of the yelling action - it gets lonely on the road and nobody calls me on my cell phone. You know I flip it open every once and a while, swerve... yep its still on.

[Quantess]

2. I have never appreciated hearing the hostile demand,

"GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE!!!1!"

I understand your point, OP, but, I would like to be the devil's advocate and remind everyone that hostility to cell phones often masks a fear of technology and change.

[Kutjara]

7. Actually, it's probably more likely to mask...

...a fear of being rammed by an SUV-driving halfwit who's so busy yapping he/she doesn't see the red light. Just about every time I see some car making a truly idiotic maneuver on the road, the driver is far away in "blah blah land."

[magellan]

13. One of those nearly caused a three car crash with me included recently

She was still yakking on the phone as she pulled over to let the rest of us get on with driving.

Talking on the phone while driving is as bad as driving drunk.

[Kutjara]

17. It definitely is, as several studies, here and abroad, have shown.

Unfortunately, cell phones aren't even the whole picture. A study conducted by the UK equivalent of the NTSB a few years back showed that eating, drinking, tuning the radio, talking on a cellphone (handsfree or not), yelling at the kids, even chatting to a passenger are all major distractions that significantly diminish a driver's ability to operate their vehicle safely.

Given that I regularly see other drivers doing two or more of the above things simultaneously, I'm amazed the average driver lives past the age of 30.

About three months ago, I was tailgated at 75 mph by a woman in an Escalade who was having a blazing row with someone on her cell phone. I mean, she had tears rolling down her face and was screaming into the phone, all the while perched four nanometers off my trunk lid. I moved over to let her past, but she just pulled in behind me and continued to tailgate, by this time purple-faced with rage. It took two more lane changes and a bit of crafty maneuvering to scrape her off my bumper onto some other unlucky sod.

Honestly, I think a significant proportion of the population mistake their cars for their living rooms.

[Sugar Smack]

16. The same happened here.

I almost freakin' died, too.

[mtnester]

8. Or the unfathomable irritation at being cut off and nearly killed

by someone whose most apparent phone conversation (cell phone in ear) was obviously more important than looking to see if anyone was in the lane they just jumped into.

[Lint Head]

12. I think it's more like being in fear of the idiot that doesn't know how

to drive when he's 'not' on the cell phone being distracted when he is. I've read recently about several people dying in vehicle accidents that was directly caused by cell phone distraction. :dem:

[goodgd_yall]

19. True

Do you ever notice that a lot of ultra conservatives have this thing about cell phones---it even bothers them to see people walking and talking on them. Maybe the hostility also has to do with a fear of communication and connectedness too.

[JFN1]

20. And their normal nosiness

and need to control everyone and everything around them...

[Quantess]

22. The hosility toward people who use cell phones in public, in general,

is really what I was talking about.
Back in 1999 when I got my first cell phone, complete strangers who passed me by on the sidewalk would yell and insist I get off my cell phone. These little gems of technology can really bring out a streak of shrieking caveman in some people.

However, talking on the phone while driving is a bad idea, I agree.

[Kutjara]

27. I don't think that being irritated...

...by someone braying "uh huh...really?...nuh uh...uh huh...fer shure...uh huh...totally...so I'm like...and he's like...uh huh...get outta here...uh huh" endlessly at a volume sufficient to carry across town is the particular preserve of "ultra conservatives." Unfortunately, many cell phone users seem to believe they live in a world of one, entitling them to disregard the sensibilities of those around them. That sounds far more like the actions of ultra conservatives to me.

My absolute favorite cell phone fascists, however, are those dolts who've bought the whole "phones cause cancer" meme, and so switch their phone to speaker and use it like a walkie-talkie. Then everyone within a tri-county area gets the pleasure of both sides of an insipid exchange of idiocies.

While there's no reason why someone shouldn't use their phone on the street or in wide open spaces, blathering away in restaurants, cafes, bookshops, cinemas or anywhere else that people have a reasonable expectation of a little peace and quiet is just rude.

[Telly Savalas]

39. So if I'm against people having sex while they're driving

does that mean I'm uncomfortable with my own sexuality?

[Quantess]

41. Um... it means you're a prude, sorry to tell you.

LOL, just kidding!:D

[Initech]

3. Ha! I knew it!

I cant even begin to tell you how many times I've had near-collisions with idiots talking on their cell phones and not paying attention to the road. :argh:

[maveric]

31. from my own observations,7 out of 10 drivers on San Diego freeways...

are yakkin on the goddamn phone, weaving all over the road!
I had to slow down to 50 the other day, in the fast lane while this twit was TEXTING WHILE DRIVING!
Its a really bad problem down here and I do yell and display the "universal getsure" quite often.

[timtom]

34. Well, there it is!

According to post # 19, you must be an ultra-conservative who desires to control others.

[Initech]

35. That's nothing.

One time I was making a left hand turn and this IDIOT (underline idiot with a big exclamation fucking point) almost got me into a head-on collision because she was in the opposite left hand turn lane, talking on her cell phone and swerved her car right into the path of mine. It was like from then on I've been on a crusade to get people to shut the fuck up and drive.

[Occulus]

4. It's very dangerous to talk on the phone and drive

and the people who do it do so it no matter the conditions. This is one of the reasons I call the cellular phone the "electronic leash".

We just got seventeen inches of snow, and the roads are slick and slippery, and I still saw three people on the phone behind the wheel while I was out today- and I'm certain there were many, many more.

Take out the battery when you drive, people. Remove the temptation to answer or use the damn thing, if you have to. You're endangering other lives if you don't.

[shanti]

15. california just passed a new law on Jan. 1

no talking on cellphone while driving....so some states are stepping up to the plate.

[haele]

33. Law takes effect on July 1 2008 - and it's against handheld devices only

Though it's a good idea to go ahead and save up for that bluetooth or headset device if you need to answer calls for work.

It's pretty much impossible to get people to drive without distractions, anyway - especially once you exit the driveway on a shopping excursion. There's always going to be something, and pretty soon we'll be required to have separate, isolated driver's areas in all our vehicles to keep us with our concentration focused properly and both hands always on the wheels.

No stick shift,no passengers in the front, no friends, kids or pets in the back, no food or drink, no radio, voice activated everything - and we'll still have distracted drivers as they try to do anything to keep their concentration on their driving on their way to whatever errand they're driving to. Cell phones aren't the worst things a driver can be engaged in while they're driving.

Jus' sayin'

Haele

[CRF450]

43. Personally I think the bigger issue is the attention span of the driver

"No stick shift,no passengers in the front, no friends, kids or pets in the back, no food or drink, no radio, voice activated everything - and we'll still have distracted drivers as they try to do anything to keep their concentration on their driving on their way to whatever errand they're driving to. Cell phones aren't the worst things a driver can be engaged in while they're driving."

Thats way extreme. I enjoy driving a manual, and I like to listen to the radio. Passengers, I can deal with, but it wouldn't bother me to drive without any passengers. About the attention span thing, people can even cause an accident from being distracted by just focusing on some object or building, maybe just a place that there trying to find. Not just cellphones, radios, or passengers.

[RB TexLa]

6. I drive more than 2mph below the speed limit talking on the phone or not

[Quantess]

9. Thanks for impeding traffic. (eom)

[RB TexLa]

11. I drive at or slightly above the minimum speed limit

[CRF450]

24. Screw that, 55 is just too slow on open roads and highways

I usually cruise at 8 or 9 over the speed limit, but I do stay close to the speed limit in densly populated areas in town.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

51. You must have had the TV on...

:evilgrin:

[RB TexLa]

52. No, sometimes I use my laptop in the car, but no TV

[SeattleGirl]

10. Grrrrrr! People who talk on cell phones while driving make me nuts!

And yes, I have a cell phone, but when I get in my car, it's for the purpose of driving, not yakking on the phone.

[Initech]

36. I hear ya! I get a serious case of road rage when I encounter these idiots.

Thank god I have a bluetooth hands free link in my car. I dont want to be like these people.

[TheDebbieDee]

14. I think it should be legal to shoot people in the head

IF they are talking on the cell phone while sitting behind the wheel of the car!

These drivers might as well be pi$$y drunk or legally blind because that's exactly the way they drive.

[burythehatchet]

38. what's yr position on gun control?

:)

[TheDebbieDee]

40. Don't worry, I don't have a gun!

But if I ever get one, you better not be on the phone while driving in Kansas City.

[dysfunctional press]

49. use two hands, and aim carefully.

:hi:

[Warpy]

18. The last time I yelled that, I forgot my window was open

The driver pulled over to the side of the road and waved me past, along with the rest of the parade behind him. I gave him a wave back.

Cell phone addicts just don't realize how distracted they are when they're on those things. They're addicted to them.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

21. I started commuting on a scooter this summer and I realized ...

I shouldn't yell at bad drivers when I'm not safe within my own steel and glass cage.

:7

[JFN1]

23. Sure you should

Don't you yell at yourself, when you do something stupid?

[CRF450]

25. Please dont be upset at me, even I use my cellphone while driving...

...Sometimes, conversations are kept short though. And when I'm doing my summer job, and the boss calls, I have to answer it. So far, no accidents, not even a close call but it still doesn't mean an accident cant happen.

[horsewithnoname]

26. It always seems to be the people in giant SUV's

who are talking on the phone and driving. So not only are they causing everyone else to be in danger, they are guzzling gas, pumping CO2 into the air, and putting money into the Oil companies pockets (who go and put money straight into Bush and Cheneys pockets)

Every democrat I have ever seen driving and talking on a phone has been using a hands free device, I guess its because we are more advanced and embrace technology instead of being stuck in the old days like the repubs.

[CRF450]

28. Which I call BS on because I see people in all types of vehicles on the phone

Not just in SUV's.

[dysfunctional press]

44. hardly.

"Every democrat I have ever seen driving and talking on a phone has been using a hands free device"

1. how do you know it's a democrat?
2. how do you know that someone is on a hands free phone call in another car?

as to the suv observation- it's completely mistaken. i see people with cars of ALL sizes and shapes using a hand-held cell phone while driving.

[Beausoir]

45. "Every democrat I have ever seen driving and talking on a phone has been using a hands free device"

Bwahaa!

And you can tell the Democrats from the Republicans...how?

Thanks for the laugh! Enjoy your stay with us.

[Beausoir]

46. Awww...the troll is gone already. That was pretty fast!

[KT2000]

29. 2 mph under? Try 15 mph under

Senior citizens are using them now too and I think they slow down even more.

I am sick of people crossing the centerline while they are talking on their phones.
I'm sick of drivers on cell phones smashing into the back of cars when they fail to realize that traffic has stopped.
I am sick of fatal accidents where a driver was looking at the phone to dial instead of the road. (Now we have texting) It always seems the innocent person is the one to die.

I have deep appreciation for the considerate people who pull off to the side of the road to use their phones.

Talking on a cell phone while driving is inconsiderate and sometimes murderous.

[Fleshdancer]

30. It doesn't bother me that they're slower, it's that they're dangerous.

I would be ok with cell phone drivers if the only issue was going 2 mph slower. If I could have the slower driving WITH the use of turn signals, without the swerving, and without the tailgating, I wouldn't be so pissed off about their actions.

[timtom]

32. A-flipping-MEN!!

It's not enough that they can't find Iraq on a map! They've gotta be in constant communication...with...someone!!

I have some engraved personal invitations to such people to kindly stick their cell phones up their giggi!

Oops! Did I say that?

What I meant to say was "Thank you. Have a nice day."

[slackmaster]

37. What really amazes me is the ones who hold the phone in one hand and gesticulate with the other

Are they steering with their knees?

[TahitiNut]

42. Amen. Bizarre as hell ... stupid, stupid, stupid people.

:puke:

[nadinbrzezinski]

47. I will add... yaking on your phone makes you dangerous on the road

thought you'd like to know that

[Blue-Jay]

48. I just set the cruise control and drive with my knees.

That way, I won't need to worry about losing that extra 20 hours when I'm talking on my phone.