Ok, just don't use your cellphone while driving
By Peter Rojas 
posted August 26th 2005 4:36PM
posted August 26th 2005 4:36PM
Ok, we get it: we just shouldn't use our cellphones at all while we're driving. There have already been a bunch of studies that have determined that talking while driving is plenty dangerous even if you're using a headset or a hands-free setup, now a study published in the journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology concludes that listening to your cellphone (like checking voicemail, we presume) while driving is just as dangerous as talking.
Ok, is there something wrong with people? Do people get in this many accidents talking to a passenger? What is about a peice of plastic in your hand or on your lap that makes you disfunctional?
Get a grip people.
Is talking on a hands-free set really as distracting as talking to the person sitting next to you while driving?
Dangerous? ...if you are merely of average IQ or below, maybe. Should someone have to curtail their behavior because the world is full of stupid/incompetent half-wits?
Oh wait, that's why the law exists AT ALL.
Sincerely,
Your strident elitist
Personally I find talking on a hands free more distracting than when I talk with the handset to my ear. Does anyone else feel that way? I think it's because I worry more about where the microphone is as it dangles, so some of my "concentration cycles" are taken up thinking about that and not about the road.
Anyone else feel like the hands-free isn't much better than the handset and maybe even worse?
Actually, yes. I have many bad experiences with drivers talking on the cellphone. They tend to drive very slowly (i.e. ca. 45 mph on freeway) , ignores the traffic condition, and even drive on the wrong lane (I've seen them all - one of them even called the cops on me when I honked at her for blocking the straight offramp driving at 15 mph!).
For the posters above: Yes, there is a very distinct difference between talking to a passenger than talking on the phone. The passenger (usually) tends to mind their own safety, so they will notice dangerous situations and stops talking or gives warnings to the driver. The person on the other end of the line in a phone conversation does not see what's going on in the car unless the driver tells them - unfortunately, driver is also engaged in the conversation. I hope you get the picture.
I've tried to use google on my Treo while driving and almost died!...I need independent eyes!
We already had the "Please do not talk to the driver" notice in public transportation and it now seems that we are slowly enforcing it on private vehicles alike. BTW can't be listening to music distracting and thus dangerous too? Shouldn't we just ban all sources of loud sounds? Ok, then what about that > 90 db toddler in the back seat? (now quietly smiling :-)
Well stated Steve.
I for one would like to encourage a national "Talk while you drive all day" campaign. Those of us not wishing to be involved, can sit on the side, (prefer 2nd story+) eat popcorn and enjoy the finer points of evolution.
A cell law is, almost as dumb as a seatbelt (for adults) or helmet law. It's just that celldrivers annoy the piss out of the rest of us. The other two just quietly expire (but still slow traffic for gawkers).
Text while talking, messing with your mp3 players and try to read your gps devices. PLEASE go now so we can start the holiday weeked a little bit early this year!
I cannot afford the increases in insurance premiums or car repairs due to an accident. I am now driving in complete silence. I have removed my car radio and drive using ear-plugs. I can’t get any safer than this – unless studies start to show that visual stimulation causes accidents. Then I will be forced to drive with a blind fold.
To #7. I'd say you've just escaped from the natural selection process now in operation in our modern world :-).
... and I am a "survivor" too. I didn't need silly new laws to quit surfing while driving.
Of course, since all those people were driving poorly while talking on cell phones, it must mean that the cell phone is the cause of the bad driving. After all, before cell phones existed, no one ever did any of those things.
ANYTHING can distract your from driving. You could be just as distracted because you are thinking too deeply about the fight you just had with your wife/husband, or that guy at work who's stealing your promotion. So how exactly are you guys that want to make cell phones illegal in a car going to legislate that?
I think it's a problem because while most of us here are pretty tech-y, the cell phone hasn't really intergrated into our life like we think it has. Widespread adoption doesn't equal integration.
For example, how many of us can talk on the phone at home and type at the same time. I know a lot of people who can do this. Talking on the phone AND typing is a far more complicated matter than driving. It doesn't seem that way, I know, because we're used to it now. Typing isn't something that's new or impressive anymore. It truely is integrated into our lives.
Or how about listening to music, singing, and playing video games at the same time? Sound complicated but most everyone here can do it.
Maybe within 20 or so more years cellphones will be truely integrated into our lives.
so wait a minute... doesn’t this mean i shouldn't be speaking with passengers either.... what about kids in the back screaming... annoying in-laws questioning my life... all of this seems more unsafe than listening to my vmail through a bluetooth headset... and btw...does this make talk radio more dangerous than music!?!?!
so wait a minute... doesn’t this mean i shouldn't be speaking with passengers either.... what about kids in the back screaming... annoying in-laws questioning my life... all of this seems more unsafe than listening to my vmail through a bluetooth headset... and btw...does this make talk radio more dangerous than music!?!?!
#6 makes some good points. I find myself getting quite distracted and absent-minded when talking to a passenger, especially since I moved to NYC a few years ago. In small towns and highways it's not such a big deal, but in the city, everything is happening so quickly and there are so many decision to make, you really have to be at least "sub-consciously focused" on what's happening. Other people have told me I'm a good driver, but when talking to people in the car, I miss turns or take a wrong turn every few months. I've even driven the wrong way down a one-way street (Third Avenue, to be specific) a few times. At first I couldn't figure out which variable in my driving equation had changed, but then I realized that it's the level of concentration required in the city. It's like driving down the highway and missing an exit because you're talking to someone, except in the city, the opportunity to screw up comes up every 5 seconds.
Maybe they should just make a law that says if you get cause an accident while under the influence of distractions(cellphones, texting, surfing, watching tv on your visor, dicking with your radio, operating a myriad of distracting gadgets) you take a major points raping on your license, then you inturn pay higher insurance for the period until those points expire.
Oh my GOD you stupid retards! to quote Gone in 60 Seconds, "i know i cant swim, so i keep my black ass out da pool!". I KNOW for a FACT that my phone distracts me from driving safely just as i'm sure it distracts just about every other person! when i get a call or i need to make one, i pull the hell over and make my cal so as not to piss people off and risk killing them and/or myself! why cant you understand this!? it took your dumb ass 3 tried to pass your drivers test and now you dont get off your phone while making your already feebly attemps to drive a car? WHY?! you KNOW you're gonna crash because of it, if not sooner then later! just DONT do it! its not that hard! if youre in a rush and cant stop to take a call, just dont answer your goddamn phone! its as easy as that! if a 17 year old can be mature about it, so can you! now put down your damn phone and drive!
Just to make this clear, I think making the cell phones illegal is a bad idea - law doesn't fix people's bad behavior. It's the cell phone technology that needs to address this issue of driving and talking rather than limit people's ability to communicate. Law is ineffective outside of the court and won't save anyone's lives (except lawyers' livelihood) - it's the cell phone needs to evolve.
i'm surprised noone has done a study about how listening to the radio while driving is dangerous and we should ban that.
I agree that accidents happen and they should be prevented. But why stop the usage of mobile phones. The reason they exist and are being used is instant contact. Stopping the use of mobiles in certain conditions would be like getting a pager and calling later. It comletely kills the reason why we bought the mobiles in the first place.
I think that Stopping some one from using their mobile while driving is a bit extreme. Instead people should be told that they should try to minimize their time on the phone while driving. That way they can attend to important calls and can also save themselves and others from getting harmed.
i am not for banning much of anything while driving. i think that different people have different risk factors and contrary to some of the comments they are not universal. Some people, i am sure can talk fine on the phone while driving just like some people can drive safely at high speeds while others cannot. I think a small law and large enforcement would curb a lot of road hazards (highway at least). for example .. there is a passing lane and traveling lane and sometimes even a slow lane. So why is it that i constantly find myself behind someone in the passing lane who is not passing any cars. I think the law should be taht if you are talking you should at the very least be in the travelilng lane and if one is available you should be in the slow lane and if you get caught i think you should get a substantial ticket. people cry about unjustified punishment but they do not realize they are playing with people's lives ..
n e way ..long day at work.. i've vented .. no offense intended towards anyone.
People should just keep using cell phones while driving... those that die will improve the gene pool such that only people who are good at driving while talking on the phone survive. Those that are killed by poor cell phone-using drivers will strengthen the gene pool of innocent by-standers such that accident avoidance becomes the necessary trait to pass on genes.
why dont you people undertand that the people with phones arent just hurting themselves? theyre hurting ME, theyre crashing MY car, theyre raising my MY insurance costs, and they are putting MY loved ones at risk. i dont care if they do acid and destroy their brain or whatnot but if talking to your girlfriend about joe schmoe that you made out with last night is gonna leave me paralyzed below the neck or paying 20Gs for a new car, then PLEASE outlaw call phones in cars!
#20 - they dont just likk themselves, they kill me too
#19 - i'm not saying not to take the calls, i'm saying pull over and answer them! i do it, its gonna cost you an extra 5 minutes and might save your life, or someone elses.
come on people, just some common sense.
You go Gelb!
People love to invoke "freedom" to justify their supposed right to do whatever they want.
However, a freedom is not a real freedom if it deprives others of their rights (e.g. to live).
This country would be a better place if more people adjusted their definition of freedom!
You go Gelb!
People love to invoke "freedom" to justify their supposed right to do whatever they want.
However, a freedom is not a real freedom if it deprives others of their rights (e.g. to live).
This country would be a better place if more people adjusted their definition of freedom!
A point i've always held .. u r right .. i wish more people would adjust to selfless freedom and not selfish freedom.
Just don't do it. It's not that hard. For example, if you are in a rush and cannot stop to take a call, just dont answer your phone.
why dont you people undertand that the people with phones arent just hurting themselves? theyre hurting ME, theyre crashing MY car, theyre raising my MY insurance costs, and they are putting MY loved ones at risk. i dont care if they do acid and destroy their brain or whatnot but if talking to your girlfriend about joe schmoe that you made out with last night is gonna leave me paralyzed below the neck or paying 20Gs for a new car, then PLEASE outlaw call phones in cars!
#20 - they dont just likk themselves, they kill me too
#19 - i'm not saying not to take the calls, i'm saying pull over and answer them! i do it, its gonna cost you an extra 5 minutes and might save your life, or someone elses.
come on people, just some common sense.
Why is it that everyone is focusing on the act of talking on the phone? It isn't when people are talking that its dangerous. Its when they are dialing, looking up the next person to call, or looking at caller ID. For most people all of these things require you to take your eyes off the road and give you focal attention the the phone in your hand.
I am able to do just about anything on my stereo without looking at it. I can type without looking at the keys but on my Treo I am not able to dial very well by touch or find a contract without looking at the screen. So spend more time screen about the other things that we do with our phones that causes us to be dangerous drivers.
Oh yeah and voice dial doesn't seem to be an answer b/c I always end up looking at the phone in disbelief due to the fact that only 2 names are stored. One that is one syllable and another that is 3 and is still can't figure out which one I'm screaming at it multiple times.
Thank you #16.
I can't beleive how many studies have been done that show that it's a bad idea and unsafe. I ride my bike to/from work. On the way home 75% of cars' drivers are on the phone. I KNOW that they can't see me well - most of the time their hand and phone covers their view.
The problem isn't people talking on the phone. The problem is bad drivers, in any sense of the word. I can drive much better on my phone then my 90 year old grandpa.. but they just renewed his license (no joke). What we need is computer simulation tests where all kinds of crazy stuff happens, and you need to avoid so many of them to pass. Then, if you can do it with a cellphone, you can drive with one. Me? You'll see me on the I5 messing with my touchscreen carputer playing mp3s or family guy episodes :) (and ive never been in an accident, nor any tickets)
Its the same concept of driving on Ice, I've been in the car while my mom was in 2 accidents sliding on ice in the winter. I could have avoided them, cause i would spin cookies in parking lots as a kid and know exactly what the car is going to do, and how to make it do what i want. Some people drive better then others, plain and simple.
I am still shocked at the number of people who are indignantly protesting their right to use a phone and drive. Just because you are not dead yet doesn't prove that it is safe. Like most, if not all of the posters here, I am not a neurological expert, therefore I have to rely on the preponderance of data provided to me rather than professional knowledge on the issue. And the number of studies reporting the dangers of cell phone use and driving is difficult to dispute. I agree with many of the posters above that laws are not the way to change these things. The simple answer is education, and if we still have a long way to go, then we just gotta keep trying.
I read recently that death from motor vehicles is heading towards becoming the number one cause of mortality worldwide. We've still got many years to go before that is likely to be the case, but it is a sobering thought nonetheless.
If solely listening to your phone is an issue then how is that any different from having a radio playing in the car??
you know how we should solve this? Make a special test when you get your license where you must go with the car with the instructer talking to you through a headset. If you can focus and still complete the course problem solved
"I am still shocked at the number of people who are indignantly protesting their right to use a phone and drive..."
We're in agreement, but: this is a gadget site. You may as well lecture a nursery full of babies about giving up their pacifiers.
driving is a privelege, not a right. and the control of a 4+ ton object on public roadways should be taken seriously. sadly, many drivers routinely multitask regardless of the potential risks to themselves or others. i choose not to talk on the phone when driving because it does interfere with my ability to concentrate on the road. however, i don't like the idea of a law telling me that i can't talk while driving if i wanted to. (i also don't like being told i have to wear a seat belt, eventhough i choose to.)
You know the thing that really ticks me off about all this "anticellphone" crap, is the politicians and do-gooders area always trying to look out for us. HELLO you idiots....we already have laws on the books that are not being used for this crap.
If someone drives WRECKLESSLY ie: tuning the radio and crossing the line, talking on a phone and speeding/slowing down...etc.... why do we need "new" laws when C&I (careless and imprudent) will work in 99% of the cases?
The only reason that there will be "new" laws is so politician X can say they did it to "save" ourselves....what a bunch of crap.
This country was founded on FREEDOMS, but the politicians are slowly taking it away. If someone does something stupid driving a car, you write them up for C&I, or take away their drivers license. Not punish everyone else because of one stupid individual!
However NOT using your brain while driving is still permitted. Carry on.
Oh my god, this has been said an infinite amount of times.
PEOPLE WHO ARE SITTING IN THE CAR WITH YOU KNOW WHEN TO SHUT UP. THAT IS WHY IT IS GENERALLY PERCEIVED AS BEING OK TO DO THAT, AS OPPOSED TO TALKING ON A CELL PHONE WHERE THE OTHER PERSON HAS NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON.
You've all probably read or at least heard of the report that says that chatting on a cell phone puts you on par with driving drunk - what more convincing do you need? If that's true then why don't you guys push for allowing drunk driving, seeing as that it is clearly also an infringement on your rights?
I'll be all for talking on phones when the ONLY person who will ever get hurt by talking on their cell phone while driving is the ass who had it glued to his/her face. Until then, just put the phone down. It'll be OK, really.
"You know the thing that really ticks me off about all this "anticellphone" crap, is the politicians and do-gooders area always trying to look out for us."
You've got that all wrong. I'm not trying to look out for you, I'm trying to look out for myself and the ones I care about. If it would be true that the only ones who could ever get injured while driving with a phone would be THOSE drivers, I'd be all for it. That isn't the case, however, and failing to acknowledge that is where that argument always breaks down.
There is a degree of personal responsibility here. If you're just hurting yourself, fine, but don't try justifying an action that could potentially hurt me because you couldn't seperate yourself from the social umbilical cord for the duration of your drive. Trust me, it's not that we're trying to be do-gooders and save you or whatnot, we're trying to keep you the hell away form us.
I have certainly seen idiots holding a phone up to their ear while drifting into oncoming traffic during a left turn, but headsets usually solve that problem. As for being distracted, I certainly agree that SOME people are more distracted when they are talking on the phone, but plenty of other people are busy day dreaming when they are driving (like the woman at work who told me yesterday she sailed through the EZ-Pass lane @ the toll plaza--even though she doesn't have an EZ Pass--just because she was lost in thought). I certainly don't think using your mobile phone properly with a headset so both hands are on the wheel is any more distracting than the NUMEROUS people I see daily putting on makeup, shaving, fiddling with their NAV systems, or literally TURNING AROUND to fight with their kids. Please, distracted drivers is caused by much more than phone usage. Use some common sense people.
So in the above comments, there are at least 10 different scenarios for being distracted in the car, and the pro-law contingent keeps talking about passengers helping you drive. Calling those who can safely talk on their cell phone (and do intelligently consider the safety of doing so, and only do so when appropriate) babies and invoking your family and friends is exactly the kind of knee jerk prejudice the law makers 38 spoke of play to.
Yes we should talk about safety. But we have to temper it with reason and personal liberty. Making talking on a cell phone illegal is setting a precedent, leading to the law makers being able to determine exactly what one can and can not do in a car and beyond.
A comment about the radio vs. a cellphone: If you're listening to a news story or something on the radio and something is happening in traffic that requires your attention, it is easily tuned out. When on the phone, you need to listen to the person talking. Most people will give their full attention to the person on the phone; focus on your conversation can't be tuned in and out as if you were listening to something on the radio.
I live in Western Australia and ver here It Is ILLEGAL to drive on a mobile phone, you are allowed a hands free kit as they were only able to impliment it that it took a hand off of the wheel. To be honest it does not bother me at all, i only have a cheap phone that does calls and a few other features, i run the sh!&&y cable that came with it aound my head rest and it works fine, in all honesty you do not miss it.
As for the radio/passenger debate, for me a passenger is a lot easier to talk to than someone on the phone, you commnicate with body language a lot more and with me and my mates we point stuff out on the road that the driver may not have seen. As for the radio well i feel tat radio is not the best, several times i have become distracted by it when presenters are talking but music is fine, you can filter it out and it is easy to listen too.
I really dont think that there is any need to ban teens from talking on their cellphones while driving. why just teens? why not adults too? so if im 18 (considered an adult) will i get in trouble if im on my cellphone too? this law is ridiculous. okay so what if a TEEN has an emergency and has to call her mother or someone important while driving, are they going to get pulled over for that too? i think that you need to get a life and find something new to do, your always banning things for ALL TEENAGERS or ALL ADULTS because of the stupid people that cant drive, like no offense, but if they are going to ban talking while driving, you mind as well ban old people from driving also, because they can cause a lot of accidents, driving too slow, pissing off people behind them, ummm lets see, not driving in the right lane, rarely using signals, etc... so why dont you find something better to do...just one question though, will i get in trouble if i talk while driving even if im 18 and considered an ADULT?