I'm quite aware that there are people who can talk on a phone and drive ah..pretty good, but why ...

[BlueJazz]

...in the Hell do I seem to meet up with the ones that can't. :mad:

Damnit...for the 5th time in about..umm..9 months, I've almost been "Creamed" by some $#%^&^ talking and/or texting
on their phone.
Was at a light today...saw a car coming up on me...then saw a car coming up FAST on me...and at the point of (almost) no return.
He slams on his brakes to avoid giving my truck a new rear-end.
He squeals to a stop and naturally, he has a f***ing cell phone in his hand.

Oh..me...sigh.. :)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. There's a new cell phone ban in Oregon.

I'm thinking maybe next time I see a cop I'll put my hand next to my ear, then let him explain himself as to why he pulled me over.

[sandnsea]

5. My daughter said "good"

and admitted that texting while driving was probably worse than driving drunk and she's glad they're finally stopping her!! lol.

[virgogal]

8. You think that's funny?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. Yup.

Especially if I can convince a bunch of people to do it.

[Ron Green]

23. Well, there's no accounting for

assholes.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Because they can't that is why

I don;'t care how many claim they can.

Here is the cold reality... it is like driving drunk

As a medic back in the day we knew who caused the accident... you guessed it.

And family who are cops, that is almost an auto question these days to assign fault, who was texting or talking.

[imdjh]

6. You bet. The last accident I had, the last thing I saw was the light of the cellphone in his hand. n

[MercutioATC]

13. Sorry, but some people CAN effectively multitask.

I'll agree that texting is different (because it requires that you look at the phone instead of the road) but people who can't drive while talking on a cellphone are just incapable of multitasking driving and talking (or, most likely, driving and doing ANYTHING else)...it has nothing to do with talking on a cellphone while driving being an inherently dangerous act.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. And all the science is against you...

sorry.

And yes they have done plenty of it. To protect the industry they have tried to suppress those studies, but it got to the point that we knew... cill phone involved... crash.

I WAS an Emergency Vehicle Operator, and was trained to use a radio while driving an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens

Why do you think our protocol said to use that radio MOSTLY before leaving a scene or after arriving and coming to a full stop?

Could it have anything to do with the risk of radio use by the driver? Of course if I had my partner by my side, then he
she was free and clear to use the radio, In fact, that is the person that took the radio with directions to call.

Even emergency workers are aware of this. And I have not stepped on the wheel of an emergency vehicle in years. Funny, I still refuse to answer phone calls, or any other stupid shit behind the wheel.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. Maureen Dowd nailed it very nicely today -

http://tinyurl.com/lagta3

I had the same experience she did, and, like Dowd, I never again talked on a phone while driving.

Of course, there are the "ever so special" people who will tell you that none of this applies to them because they've been driving and talking on their cells FOR YEARS and nothing bad has happened.

They're so gifted, you see. They're beyond the constraints of us mere mortals. :sarcasm:

Until they're not.

I'm glad you ducked that one, but, man, it's deadly out there........................

[CrispyQ]

10. Please tell me this isn't true!!

snip...

Auto companies are busy creating new crack hits for our self-destructive cravings. Ford is developing a system that would let drivers use phones and music players and surf the Internet with voice commands and audible responses.

:wtf:

[malaise]

15. Thanks for that link

Let me send it to my Florida sister who refuses to acknowledge that she cannot drive and talk. So far she's only hit a kerb.

[EFerrari]

4. Don't remember where now, but I heard a report about a study

that says hands free cell phone use does not mitigate the driving risks at all.

[gratuitous]

7. And the next time you hear some yammerer going on about the nanny state

Remind them that we're all living in a country where people don't have a lick of common sense when it comes to driving without the distraction of a cell phone plugged in their ear or texting some breathless bit of information: "About to rr end car b4 me. CU L8R if I srvive."

[customerserviceguy]

9. There are two kinds of cell phone drivers

Lookers, and people who can do it the same way that they would if there were a person in the passenger seat that they were talking with.

Why some idiots need to "look" in the direction of a phone that is propped up against their ear, I'll never know. And I'm glad that NY is going to make texting illegal, the very worst drivers around here are doing that.

I'm in favor of totally banning texting, but we're going to have to lose a million lives to it before that will happen. Or maybe the life of somebody important, or especially the life of somebody loved by somebody important.

[Berry Cool]

18. It's not just the people who have to look at the phone who are dangerous.

How about the people who can't talk on the phone without making gestures with the other hand? They're so used to talking with their hands that whenever they're on the phone, the other hand is waving and gesturing wildly around (even though, of course, the party on the other end cannot see it at all).

Get one of these people behind the wheel with a cell phone and you will find them constantly lifting their "driving hand" off the wheel to gesture with it while they talk into the phone held with the other hand. If they were wearing a headset, they'd still pick at least one hand up off the wheel frequently to gesture with it. When they have no headset, they're spending enormous stretches of time driving with NO hand on the wheel at all.

And yet, if you were to tell them this, they'd deny it. You'd have to show them video to prove it. Otherwise they'd say they had at least one hand on the wheel at all times--even during the "OMG!"s and "I cannot believe that"s and other moments in which they are waving, pointing and pounding as they talk.

[customerserviceguy]

20. Ah, yes, the gesturers

I forgot about them.

We have tests for people who want to get motorcycle endorsements on their licenses, perhaps we could have similar tests (involving cameras and computers) to spot lookers and gesturers. Then, if you could pass both tests, you'd get a specially designated plate.

[Raine]

11. Here in CA you're supposed to use an ear piece but

I always see people holding the phone and jawing as they drive, weaving all over the road as if they were drunk. :mad:

[HopeHoops]

17. There have been several studies that show there is no difference.

It is the distraction of the detached conversation more than whether it is handheld or handsfree. Talking to someone in the car with you isn't nearly as distracting for some reason, but the speculation is that they are also semi-alert to the surroundings, unlike the detached voice on the other end of the phone.

[orleans]

14. you know, we are all just so fucking self important and self absorbed

and we all have something so fucking great to say that none of it can possibly wait until we get to our destinations.

oh, and don't forget we are all in such a hurry and our time is so damn valuable that we have to multitask continuously

[Fumesucker]

16. Two way radios are very common in motorsports..

Drivers and riders talk to their pit crews quite a bit, if it were truly impossible to be a good driver while talking to someone else not in the vehicle then this would not be done, racing demands the ultimate concentration on your driving since you are right on the edge of disaster every moment.

That being said, the great majority of people really don't need yet another distraction in the car after food, drink, car stereos, crying toddlers, fighting kids, stinging bugs flying in the window, etc, etc..

I have a relative that is one of the worst drivers I have ever had the terrifying experience of riding with, she has rear ended a school bus, run head on into a tanker truck of gasoline when she got on the interstate going the wrong way and a great many other automotive misadventures, all before the era of cell phones.. She talks on the cell while driving quite a bit I know for a fact.. :scared:

[damntexdem]

21. For one thing, if they also try to chew gum at the same time ...

dial 911.

[Roon]

22. My ex-roommate almost got nailed in the parking lot

when he was walking by someone who was talking on their cellphone.She was driving a jeep and had the top down and my and my roomie at the same time yelled,"CELLPHONE!" She heard us and took off quickly..lol

[sarcasmo]

24. It's fun when you look in your rear view and you are stopped at the red light , the driver behind

you is texting and looking down and still coming at you, makes for a fun trip home. It happens way to often now days and the sad thing is there are not enough people to enforce common sense.