Should Drivers Hang Up? State Officials To Weigh In

[vta]

YES!



Link


Highway safety officials from the 50 states meeting this weekend in Kansas City, Mo., will decide whether to recommend banning all cell phone use by drivers.

Such a ban would include handheld and even hands-free devices.

"I think it's prompted by concern that, regardless of law, any type of cell phone use while driving is dangerous. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Carnegie Mellon and a whole host of other entities have shown that just because you're hands-free there's no safety benefit to that," says Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association. More than 5,000 highway deaths were attributed to distracted driving last year.

Adoption of the resolution wouldn't be binding; each state legislature would need to act. But there is clearly some momentum behind the notion of banning or restricting cell phone use in cars. Eight states and the District of Columbia now ban handheld cell phone use; 30 states ban texting while driving.

Automakers say they're doing what they can to keep drivers' hands on the wheel. Louis Tijerina, a senior technical specialist with Ford, says the company's onboard computer system called SYNC is aimed at helping drivers avoid fiddling with navigation and music systems.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Highway safety officials from the 50 states meeting this weekend in Kansas City, Mo., will decide whether to recommend banning all cell phone use by drivers.

That should take all of 5 minutes.

 

[Faerluna]

At minimum, you should be required to have a bluetooth headset if you are on the phone while driving.

I really don't see any difference in that and talking to another person in the car with you. For me personally, anyway.

 

[Cythim]

At minimum, you should be required to have a bluetooth headset if you are on the phone while driving.

I really don't see any difference in that and talking to another person in the car with you. For me personally, anyway.

The difference is the person in the car has situational awareness and you will not feel obligated to pay more attention to them and less to the road.

 

[rkell87]

ban hand held use? ok
texting? yeah duh it is worse than talking cause you have to take your eyes off the road.

hands free use? no way in hell. you cant tell people they can not talk on the phone at all. plus it would be silly because you couldn't enforce it unless you ban the devices that enable you to do so.

and don't give me the safety speech because drinking and driving has been proven to kill more people this month than the article says cell phone distracted people were killed all of last year.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

ban hand held use? ok
texting? yeah duh it is worse than talking cause you have to take your eyes off the road.

hands free use? no way in hell. you cant tell people they can not talk on the phone at all. plus it would be silly because you couldn't enforce it unless you ban the devices that enable you to do so.

and don't give me the safety speech because drinking and driving has been proven to kill more people this month than the article says cell phone distracted people were killed all of last year.

Two studies out of England and Germany last year showed that a person engaged in a conversation has statistically the same level of driving impairment as someone legally drunk. The major difference of course is that a person on the phone starts drifting into another lane they have the ability to clear the mind and pull back into the correct lane.

 

[rkell87]

Two studies out of England and Germany last year showed that a person engaged in a conversation has statistically the same level of driving impairment as someone legally drunk. The major difference of course is that a person on the phone starts drifting into another lane they have the ability to clear the mind and pull back into the correct lane.

link?

id like to see the method used to to scientifically prove this as i don't believe you could conclusively prove that

 

[Kevinicus]

and don't give me the safety speech because drinking and driving has been proven to kill more people this month than the article says cell phone distracted people were killed all of last year.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make hear? That drinking and driving is worse? Yeah, probably. Good thing it's illegal then huh?

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

they just banned hand held here in February but of course the irony is you often see the fuzz driving with a hand held.

I don't have a blue tooth as I think they look ridiculous so if I have to call, I look around, make sure the fuzz isn't around then use speaker phone.

 

[Warick]

At minimum, you should be required to have a bluetooth headset if you are on the phone while driving.

I really don't see any difference in that and talking to another person in the car with you. For me personally, anyway.

^^^^^ This ^^^^^

It is annoying when you are driving down the highway, and the car next to you swerves in your lane, you honk at them, they ignore you, then you pull up next to them they are texting. That and people who drive 45 on the highway in the fast lane because they are talking on the phone.

A lady I work with was rear ended a few months ago by some kid that was too busy texting to notice her. She just bought the car too.

I agree that banning blue headsets is going a little overboard though.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

link?

id like to see the method used to to scientifically prove this as i don't believe you could conclusively prove that

Google is your friend.

The experimental design would be exceptionally simple.

1. Control group. Asked to answer any series of questions, perform some controlled tasks, or drive on a closed course without any impairment at all.

2. Alcohol: Same tasks, questions, or driving while at a certain level of blood alcohol level.

3. Phone: Same thing while maintaining a conversation which would include them having to respond to questions while on the phone.

Very simple. Scores on the questions, timing on the controlled tasks, or mistakes while on the closed course are then weighed against the mean of the unimpaired. Standard regression model to find the statistical significance and measure the number of standard deviations from the mean.

IIRC, hands-free didn't make one bit of difference. If your mind is elsewhere, it's elsewhere.

 

[Faerluna]

The difference is the person in the car has situational awareness and you will not feel obligated to pay more attention to them and less to the road.

When I'm on the phone, the person on the other end knows I'm driving, so they have as much situational awareness as someone in the car.

I don't need an "in person" passenger to help me navigate the car because it suddenly becomes monumentally difficult with the addition of their person to the passenger seat.

For me personally, and I'm guessing anyone that can at least walk and chew gum at the same time, it's no more distracting than billboards or store marquees.

There will be bad drivers that can't drive period, but that should be up to the person individually. You should know your limits with regards to anything going on while you drive, but don't punish me because Mr./Ms. Tiny Brain can't speak and pay attention to the road at the same time.

 

[Eskimo]

This thread reminds me of the days when people used to think they could drive just fine when intoxicated with alcohol.

Driving is a privilege and not a right. People need to drive responsibly. I'm in the medical field and I do have to take some calls right away but I just pull over on the side of the road and then take the call.

I do know up here there is legislation against doing distracting activity when driving (texting, cellphone, eating, drinking). Right now hands-free calling is still being allowed, unfortunately.

 

[jimmy40]

When I'm on the phone, the person on the other end knows I'm driving, so they have as much situational awareness as someone in the car.

nothing personal but that's the silliest thing I've ever heard.

 

[Faerluna]

nothing personal but that's the silliest thing I've ever heard.

So I'm supposed to depend on the person in the car to tell me how to drive as we speak? How is the passenger being aware of being in the car affect the manner in which I drive in the least?

I don't think it's silly at all.

 

[vta]

This thread reminds me of the days when people used to think they could drive just fine when intoxicated with alcohol.

Driving is a privilege and not a right. People need to drive responsibly. I'm in the medical field and I do have to take some calls right away but I just pull over on the side of the road and then take the call.

I do know up here there is legislation against doing distracting activity when driving (texting, cellphone, eating, drinking). Right now hands-free calling is still being allowed, unfortunately.

Hand held has been illegal in Jersey for some time now, but it gets ignored and I can't imagine why. At first, an officer wasn't allowed to pull someone over for it, it had to be incidental, but then it changed to an offense worthy of being yanked to the side of the road for, but it still isn't being enforced and people are doing constantly.

And even if they're not swerving or being erratic, their lack of attention to how they're slowing down and causing others to get angry and pass them on the right is enough for this to be problematic. Traffic is rough enough without them, and allowing this to continue is just plain dumb.

I'm sure some op-ed as an after effect concerning an incident of 'road rage' will force some to take it seriously, but until then no one is.

(And sorry Mods for the infraction in the initial post, this topic does hit home and I do express my feelings on it pretty abrasively.)

 

[jimmy40]

So I'm supposed to depend on the person in the car to tell me how to drive as we speak? How is the passenger being aware of being in the car affect the manner in which I drive in the least?

I don't think it's silly at all.

if you think a person talking to you on the phone has as much situational awareness as someone riding in the car with you your clueless. Like I said that is the silliest thing I've ever heard.

 

[Faerluna]

if you think a person talking to you on the phone has as much situational awareness as someone riding in the car with you your clueless. Like I said that is the silliest thing I've ever heard.

The person on the phone knows I'm driving my car.

The person in the passenger seat knows I'm driving my car.

Don't get the confusion.

 

[Teren_Kanan]

I drive with one hand, regardless of what I'm doing with the other. I Often ride with a passenger. I never rely on a passenger to um.. assist me in driving in any ways, to do so is moronic.

I see no difference from a good drivers perspective. I can drive with one hand and talk to a passenger, but I can't drive with one hand and talk on the phone?

Obviously driving takes precedence. If I'm in high traffic, merging, turning, whatever, the person on the line gets to **** cause I'm busy, there are even times when I simply put the phone in my lap. But if I'm driving down the road in a clear lane they can bite me, I'll use the phone all I want.

I'm with Fae on this. Don't punish me because people are idiots and pay more attention to their conversations than driving.

 

[Kevinicus]

The person on the phone knows I'm driving my car.

The person in the passenger seat knows I'm driving my car.

Don't get the confusion.

The person in the car can see what's going on around you and adjust how they carry on the conversation (when to shut up and let you concentrate more, etc.) the person on the phone can't.

Of course, I hate drivers that have to turn and look at the passenger every time they say something to them. They're 2 feet away, look at the damn road.