Cell phone use while driving

[triplets_93]

Someone please make this make sense. In most states you're supposed to use a hands free device to talk on your phone. What's the point? I always use a hands free device to talk on the phone, but only to free up the hand not on the wheel to hold a coffee, or cigarette. And apparently that's just fine. But God forbid it's a phone you're holding, that's a ticket.

What's the difference between holding the wheel with one hand, and a cigarette/coffee/BigMac or phone in the other? Some will say, the phone is distracting. It's distracting with or without a hands free device. I can see and agree with laws against looking at your phone while driving. But taking up one hand doesn't seem to make any sense.

I still want your device not in your hand to stare at it.

I don't smoke, and when I take a drink of water from a bottle of water, I can quickly set it down in the bottle holder. Many driver's won't set their precious phones down that quickly.

I use my car's Bluetooth to answer any incoming calls.

When I notice a vehicle going to slow, usually in city traffic, and not holding their lane well, it's almost always some jerkel with a phone in their hand!

I wish that Texas would pass a hand free law. Other states have. I wonder those states accident rates went down???

As for distracted driving, you can't ever legislate to zero. I have seen many cases of the driver having an animated conversation with someone in their vehicle.

Or, some people have an animated conversation with themselves.

 

[Flamma]

I still want your device not in your hand to stare at it.

I don't smoke, and when I take a drink of water from a bottle of water, I can quickly set it down in the bottle holder. Many driver's won't set their precious phones down that quickly.

I use my car's Bluetooth to answer any incoming calls.

When I notice a vehicle going to slow, usually in city traffic, and not holding their lane well, it's almost always some jerkel with a phone in their hand!

I wish that Texas would pass a hand free law. Other states have. I wonder those states accident rates went down???

As for distracted driving, you can't ever legislate to zero. I have seen many cases of the driver having an animated conversation with someone in their vehicle.

Or, some people have an animated conversation with themselves.

You're familiar with road crews, right? The guys that plow snow, put cones on the road, put up signs, stuff like that. None of those guys have a hands free device. They either use the radio for short interactions, or phone to the ear if a supervisor wants to talk. That's how they communicate.

That guy you see not holding his lane with a phone to his head, it's because he's looking at his phone, not because he's holding a phone to his head. I think most of the accidents come from some form of distraction. From my experience on the road, accidents cause accidents on the other side of the road through rubbernecking. People are distracted. Also driving too fast for road conditions.

 

[Vtwin]

I never had any problem with things like digging through the cassettes to find the right one, or dialing in the equalizer, or managing the stuff I just got at the drive thru, or rolling a joint with a beer between my legs and steering with me knees, but the first time I tried to deal with my new flip phone while driving was an eye opener. Even I struggled with it and I'm the best driver in the world. ;-)

 

[DanteEXT]

Not saying it was a good thing to do. At all. But before smart phones texting wasn't AS distracting for me. Messages were usually short so a quick glance no longer than looking over for the right cassette tape or CD. And it was very easy to memorize the keypad layout to respond without looking. If I tried now, even with swiping, it would be a jumbled mess of incoherent responses.

 

[Montanalo]

The incident rate for driving while using a cell phone is roughly the same as driving while intoxicated.

There have been similar studies involving eating while driving, grooming (in particular, brushing your hair), or other distractions. Anything that even very momentarily takes your eyes of the road or distracts your focus on driving, increases the likelihood of a road incident.

Cell phones just happen to be statistical the worst distraction because the driver is often reading emails or texting while driving.

 

[1942willys]

For one thing, people tend to look at their phones more when they're holding them. Also, if they drop it, then they have to try to catch it, or pick it up as soon as it hits the floor...just like a cigarette. But it honestly seems to me that when you're holding your phone, it becomes more immersive than it does when using Bluetooth. And when you're holding a drink or whatever, you just put it down the moment you need to, whereas with a phone, you're more likey to try to keep it where you can hear it and speak to it.

Now, none of that is as distracting as having a cockatoo on your arm while driving (which I've seen) or a dog on your lap (which pisses me off, because that's not a good substitute for an airbag), but there are so many people I see all day long, every single day, who simply find their phone calls more engaging than their driving is.

In short, maybe you can drive and talk on the phone just fine, but most people have enough trouble driving without a phone in their hand.

There are way too many bad drivers on the road as it is to add to the problem

 

[America's Cowboy]

During my fire rescue/EMT years, I saw way too many people die at crash scenes simply because they were distracted with their phone, instead of paying attention to the road and traffic while driving. Same goes for people who would have survived a car crash had they simply been buckled up. Seen so many families destroyed simply because their deceased loved one would have been still alive today had they not been messing with their phones while driving. We only live once. One's life is not worth giving up just because one can't wait 20 - 30 minutes to get to your destination first.

 

[lukin2006]

It's been a while since I read the law, where it pertains to truck drivers, but I think if I get caught it's potentially a $2750.00 fine for me, and up to $11,000 for my employer.

Edit: Just looked it up, and I remembered correctly.

That’s a steep price to pay. And possible loss of job?

 

[Runwildboys]

There are way too many bad drivers on the road as it is to add to the problem

Absolutely. Being on the road all day throughout New England and NY (including NYC and Long Island) I still see things almost every day that surprise me, even after 37 years of truck driving.

 

[Runwildboys]

That’s a steep price to pay. And possible loss of job?

Well, if I cost them $11,000, they'd probably fire me. If it was just my ticket and fine, probably not. I'm a pretty valuable employee...but I wouldn't say definitely not.

 

[Creeper]

I don't understand it either. Texting while driving I get. But talking on the phone is like talking to the person sitting in the passenger seat or in the back seat, isn't it?

I got a ticket once for talking on the phone while driving in NYC. It was a long time ago before blue tooth in cars. It cost me $110. I was a little shocked, but very guilty. I thought is was selective enforcement because everyone was doing it at the time, but my car had NJ license plates.

 

[triplets_93]

During my fire rescue/EMT years, I saw way too many people die at crash scenes simply because they were distracted with their phone, instead of paying attention to the road and traffic while driving. Same goes for people who would have survived a car crash had they simply been buckled up. Seen so many families destroyed simply because their deceased loved one would have been still alive today had they not been messing with their phones while driving. We only live once. One's life is not worth giving up just because one can't wait 20 - 30 minutes to get to your destination first.

The News is hesitant to reveal in most cases, if those killed or injured in a car crash, no matter on what "end" of the crash they were on, whether they caused the crash, or not, IF THEY WERE WEARING A SEATBELT!!

 

[America's Cowboy]

The News is hesitant to reveal in most cases, if those killed or injured in a car crash, no matter on what "end" of the crash they were on, whether they caused the crash, or not, IF THEY WERE WEARING A SEATBELT!!

I hear you loud and clear. I always remind my close friends and loved ones to always buckle up. Whenever I'm driving, I never drive off until myself and anyone with me buckles up. People don't realize how big of a difference it can be between surviving a car crash or not simply by buckling up.

 

[1942willys]

The News is hesitant to reveal in most cases, if those killed or injured in a car crash, no matter on what "end" of the crash they were on, whether they caused the crash, or not, IF THEY WERE WEARING A SEATBELT!!

the good thing is that from what I could find the estimated seat belt use is 91% and steadily climbing to at least there is that

 

[Runwildboys]

I don't understand it either. Texting while driving I get. But talking on the phone is like talking to the person sitting in the passenger seat or in the back seat, isn't it?

I got a ticket once for talking on the phone while driving in NYC. It was a long time ago before blue tooth in cars. It cost me $110. I was a little shocked, but very guilty. I thought is was selective enforcement because everyone was doing it at the time, but my car had NJ license plates.

NYPD does seem to let locals get away with a lot more than out of staters. I've seen flatbed trucks driving around stacks of cinder blocks with no straps, but if I had one marker light out, I'd be getting a ticket.

That said, I don't think holding a phone is the same as talking to someone in the passenger seat. Try cooking a meal while holding a phone to your ear...even something simple that you can do with one hand...and compare that to doing it while using speaker phone. The very act of holding the phone up is slightly distracting, but when you have a conversation with someone that way, it seems like you get more absorbed in the conversation.

 

[Runwildboys]

I hear you loud and clear. I always remind my close friends and loved ones to always buckle up. Whenever I'm driving, I never drive off until myself and anyone with me buckles up. People don't realize how big of a difference it can be between surviving a car crash or not simply by buckling up.

It doesn't take long before wearing your seat belt becomes second nature, and you feel like something's missing if you forget to buckle up.

 

[America's Cowboy]

It doesn't take long before wearing your seat belt becomes second nature, and you feel like something's missing if you forget to buckle up.

You're correct, Runny.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

I used to not answer the phone while driving. If someone kept calling or called at an hour not normal, I would pull over to answer it as I was afraid it was an family emergency.

However with most cars past a certain year now you can pair it with your stereo in your car and not have to worry about holding the phone anyway.

The problem I see still is idiots texting and driving and that is an accident waiting to happen IMO.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

During my fire rescue/EMT years, I saw way too many people die at crash scenes simply because they were distracted with their phone, instead of paying attention to the road and traffic while driving. Same goes for people who would have survived a car crash had they simply been buckled up. Seen so many families destroyed simply because their deceased loved one would have been still alive today had they not been messing with their phones while driving. We only live once. One's life is not worth giving up just because one can't wait 20 - 30 minutes to get to your destination first.

I still remember the last time I was at the DMV to renew my DL.
Some old man in there complaining about wearing his seatbelt..
He was ranting and raving and people were pretty much ignoring him.

Then he says...what are you going to do when you have your seatbelt on and then wreck and go into the water...like he made some great point.

I looked at him and said...unhook your seatbelt. Just like you would in any other scenario.

One other guy laughed but the old guy just shut his mouth lol.

Seatbelts are for you to help save your life. If you don't wear one and it results in your injury or death...so be it.

Texting and driving does not just hurt you, chances are it will hurt others are you wreck and involve other cars into the wreck.

 

[Runwildboys]

I used to not answer the phone while driving. If someone kept calling or called at an hour not normal, I would pull over to answer it as I was afraid it was an family emergency.

However with most cars past a certain year now you can pair it with your stereo in your car and not have to worry about holding the phone anyway.

The problem I see still is idiots texting and driving and that is an accident waiting to happen IMO.

Yet my idiot dispatcher insists on texting me while I'm making deliveries, instead of calling, even though he knows my truck is equipped with Bluetooth, and before that, I had a Bluetooth earpiece.