There are studies about talking and driving already that show that it impairs you, and analysis of the data shows that hands-free does not appear to be any safer than handling the set.
Thanks for the quotes. I find the results baffling in that when I'm hands-free and have both hands on the wheel, I feel much more in control. I guess that's just an illusionary feeling.
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Well, perhaps it is comforting that these stats are measuring all drivers. If you are cognizant of the fact that you need to concentrate on the road, you are probably doing so better than somebody who has no idea that hands-free operation is that much more risky.
I do not think that banning cell phones is at all politically feasible - it would be similar to declaring alcohol an illegal drug and prohibiting its use again. I think a reasonable solution is to increase the penalties for traffic infringements if it can be demonstrated that you were distracted by a cell phone at the time (i.e., your phone is found with parts of a text message typed, or it can be easily shown that you were talking at the time of the incident.) If a running a traffic light ticket was doubled with the first offense, quadrupled with the second, multiplied by eight with the third, etc., (or jail sentences for vehicular manslaughter were similarly multiplied), then we'd have no prohibition but instead a strong deterrent. You still read in the news sad stories about drunks with multiple offenses, driving without licenses, killing innocent people. You can't stop that with legislation, but with reasonable deterrents perhaps they can be minimized.
As for me, I minimize my hands-free use as much as possible because I do not want to end up hurting somebody else because of something that I have done.
As for me, I minimize my hands-free use as much as possible because I do not want to end up hurting somebody else because of something that I have done.
Or yourself, for that matter.
Part of it also depends on where you regularly drive, of course. In New York, there's always a million cars on the road, and something interesting's happening at every intersection. If I was driving on an empty road in the Midwest, then I might begin to consider talking while driving.
If you are cognizant of the fact that you need to concentrate on the road, you are probably doing so better than somebody who has no idea that hands-free operation is that much more risky.
That's what I'd like to think. What I'd LOVE actually would be if there was a way to be tested - to find out of it's all in my head, or if there are some people who, by focusing more on the road than their call, can drive unimpaired. I realize though that it's human nature to think that oneself is different and "special".
Quote:
Originally Posted by doogald
If a running a traffic light ticket was doubled with the first offense, quadrupled with the second, multiplied by eight with the third, etc., (or jail sentences for vehicular manslaughter were similarly multiplied), then we'd have no prohibition but instead a strong deterrent.
I like that idea!
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Another thing I'd like to see studied is the nature of the hands-free experience and whether it makes any difference what type of hands-free device you use. I don't talk on the phone very much when I drive because I feel distracted, both when holding a handset and when using my BT ear bud headset. (Heck, I don't talk much on my cell phone period, but that's another story.) In both cases, my attention wants to contract to inside the vehicle to whatever is going on with the device. That's not a good way to drive and so I usually just let my phone go over to voicemail and return the call when I get where I'm going. As some others here have mentioned, it depends on the traffic situation.
But recently I got a new GPS that actually has a usable hands-free built-in (previous models that I owned had such poor quality as to be useless) and I find that I don't respond the same way to it that I do to holding the phone or a headset. Talking through the GPS feels more natural and doesn't seem to require the same level of concentration as the others. Of course, I'm only one person and may or may not be typical in this regard, but it has made me question whether a conversation that more closely simulates that of another passenger might not be different in terms of the attention it requires.
BTW, I noted that the quotes doogald provided answered the question that arose elsewhere in this thread. Talking on a cell phone makes your accident risk 4 times higher than without a distraction and texting makes your accident risk 23 times higher. That quantifies my original contention that, while talking on the phone is dangerous, texting is dramatically worse.
Some people are capable of being fighter pilots, requiring incredible multi-tasking of reading and sorting through displayed information (albeit in a Heads Up Display), filtering out all but the important items while simultaneously steering a multi-ton piece of steel in three dimensions while also simultaneously avoiding other aircraft.
Other people can't walk and chew gum at the same time.
Laws are often written with the "lowest common denominator" in mind.
... and that's OK.
However, there are already laws against reckless (and even, in many places, "distracted") driving. The only issue I have with outlawing texting while driving is that it gives the false impression that grooming, reading, eating, etc. are somehow OK.
Somehow, it's OK to ban something technological where something mundane is just as likely to cause an accident.
My $0.02: Let the police issue citations for anyone who exhibits dangerous behavior like shifting lanes without signaling, turning in front of traffic, rapid speed changes, and so forth, regardless of whether it's because the idiot behind the wheel is texting, farding (putting on makeup), or searching for that french fry that fell into his/her lap.
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If you think talking while driving is dangerous, check out this moron. He is a future Darwin Award winner.
Quote:
Police said a Buffalo-area tow truck driver was texting on one cell phone while talking on another when he slammed into a car and crashed into a swimming pool.
Niagara County sheriff's deputies said 25-year-old Nicholas Sparks of Burt admitted he was texting and talking when his flatbed truck hit the car Wednesday morning in Lockport.
My $0.02: Let the police issue citations for anyone who exhibits dangerous behavior like shifting lanes without signaling, turning in front of traffic, rapid speed changes, and so forth, regardless of whether it's because the idiot behind the wheel is texting, farding (putting on makeup), or searching for that french fry that fell into his/her lap.
Hear, Hear. Couldn't agree more, with the possible exception of this very obvious, demonstrably dangerous and clearly enforceable item. I have a lot of personal conflicts on things like this, leaning mostly towards personal responsibility rather than the nanny state. Sometimes though, I can stomach the government helping to protect me, and my loved ones, from the preponderance of idiots out there.
I do wonder about the relative level of distraction between talking on the handsfre set, or having an animaed conversation with the passenger in the back seat. (or the front seat for that matter). How about the rabid sports fan listening to the game on the AM radio? Maybe vehicles should only be single seat with no entertainment appliances. If you need to move kids, take them on the bus, the driver of which should be in a sound proof enclosure.
One reason to specifically ban texting as a separate statute is that it is a fairly easily provable case. Specifically banning makeup application, fiddling with the radio, etc., would be difficult to prove in court. Texting leaves a very specific electronic trail of evidence. And it's not like it suddenly makes the criminal justice system so bogged down because there is suddenly this one specific statute that could be lumped with another. We have separate statutes dealing with vehicular manslaughter and vehicular homicide that haven't so completely complicated the courts that we have ended up with anarchy, right?
He is a future Darwin Award winner.
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