Have You Ever Emailed/Text Messaged While Driving?

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/26/D8E4AGFG3.html">http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/26/D8E4AGFG3.html</a><br /><br />The story linked to above is a horrible tragedy, and both the driver and victim's family will be forever changed. In the US of A, drivers eat, drink, read the newspapers and all sorts of things while driving. I suppose in the age of Blackberries and the growth of SMS messages, this is just the next thing to do besides paying attention to the road. :?

[KTamas]

Where is the "I don't have a car" option? ;)

[dunos]

In the UK it is illegal to use a hand held mobile phone while driving a vehicle. In order to make a call or send an SMS or email you have to pull over and stop the engine. The law is defined as follows:

"The use of a hand-held phone or similar hand-held device while driving will be prohibited. A hand-held device is something that is or must be held at some point during the course of making or receiving a call, or performing any other interactive communication function. Provided that a phone can be operated without holding it, then hands-free equipment is not prohibited by the new regulation."

The penalty is a fine and can be extended to points on your driving licence (points mean prizes whereby if you collect 12 points you get your licence taken away).

You can use a hands free kit and a phone mount to get around the law, however a policeman could stop you for dangerous driving if they thought you were driving dangerously.

You can also get stopped for dangerous driving if you are doing anything that might take your attention away from the road such as eating, reading a paper, playing a video game, sleeping, etc...

It is a shame that quite a few people still ignore this law, especially on the motorway. You often see people driving along swerving in and out of traffic while having an animated conversation on their phone or busy texting away.

A few links about the law:

http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/campaigns/mobilephones/mobilephones.htm
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/page/dft_rdsafety_025216.hcsp

Dan

[unxmully]

[snipped]
The penalty is a fine and can be extended to points on your driving licence (points mean prizes whereby if you collect 12 points you get your licence taken away).


Hopefully you'll forgive me going a bit right-wing on this one but I'm in favour of the death penalty being in place for a short time for offences of this kind. The number of times I've nearly been hit on a pedestrian crossing by some muppet talking on his mobile while driving beggars beliefe.

And even worse, I once phoned a car recovery company because one of their drivers was reading a map while talking on his mobile and jumped a red light at a major crossing. Drives me mad! :evil:

[Duncan]

To my mind the UK law doesn't go far enough. People using mobiles, PDAs, reading, watching TV, eating etc. are clearly not competent to drive. The only penalty that makes sense would be an immediate cancellation of licence - forcing drivers to retake their test.

[Duncan]

Hopefully you'll forgive me going a bit right-wing on this one but I'm in favour of the death penalty being in place for a short time for offences of this kind.

Perhaps a little excessive (!) - but certainly the death caused by the 17 year old in the linked article should be treated as manslaughter (complete with prison sentence).

[PetiteFlower]

Since the guy he hit died, it's highly likely that charges of some kind will be filed

[aroma]

Under Colorado law, the teen could face up to a year in prison.


Wow. He kills someone, and he get a whole YEAR in prison. That's BS. These types of actions, using cells, playing games, reading, watching moves, etc., should be treated MUCH more harshly. They should at least be treated the same as DUIs, which I still don't think are treated with harshly enough. People need to be held more accountable for thier actions, especially when others lives are at danger.

[dMores]

Shirley Price wasn't angry with the teen. "I feel sorry for the teenager," she said. "It was a stupid mistake," she told the Rocky Mountain News.
this amazes me. having lost your spouse, you feel sorry for the person who took him away from you?

back when i got my driver's license, i almost wrapped myself around a tree while trying to change cassettes in my parent's car's radio.

but honestly, i think alcohol is a much greater hazard when combined with motorized vehicles than cellphones.
it saddens me every time i hear of a drunk driver killing other motorists who have done nothing wrong. and most of the time those people survive.

[aroma]

[quote]
but honestly, i think alcohol is a much greater hazard when combined with motorized vehicles than cellphones.

There have been numerous studies showing that drivers using cell phones are just as impared as those driving legally drunk. (In most cases, cell phone users are much more impared (30% slower reaction time, missing more road signs and signals), than those that are a little above the legal alcohol levels.

[jgrnt1]

Dangerous or distracted driving is illegal just about everywhere in the US. Specific laws, such as not using a hand held cell phone or other device, bring more attention to the problem, but until drivers, and the police who must enforce the laws, take the issue seriously, all the laws legislators can pass won't make any difference at all.

I cannot tell you how many times I've seen people reading maps while driving, or talking on the phone, which is in one hand, while they eat a burger with the other (must be driving with their knees), or shaving, or using the rear view mirror to put on mascara.

Even when accidents don't happen, other problems often occur. Have you ever been stuck behind a slow car on the freeway; finally get an opening so you can pass; as you pass the car, you notice the driver is talking on the phone; he/she realizes that his/her car is doing 15 mph under the speed limit and accelerates so you can't pass; you pull back into the right lane to let the speeders pass on the left (to the UK readers, sorry for all the American road references), only to have the car in front slow down again a couple of minutes later?

I spend a lot of time in my car. I have an installed hands-free kit for my cell phone. Even so, I use it as little as possible. I have never found myself drifting across lanes or running red lights, but on several occasions I have missed exits because I was busy talking and didn't pay attention to the exit signs.

I read somewhere that the mentally challenged actually make the best drivers, because they are incapable of multitasking. They have to concentrate on driving. Maybe there should be an IQ test as part of obtaining a driver's license -- If your IQ comes in higher than 85, you don't get to drive.

[Steve Jordan]

In the US of A, drivers eat, drink, read the newspapers and all sorts of things while driving.

Ed, be fair. Sure, some American drivers do all that, and they stick out like a sore thumb. (BTW, you forgot to mention women putting on makeup-- my personal favorite!) But your own poll stats--at least as of Monday morning--suggest that the majority of people don't.

Thankfully I don't get many text messages, but none of them come from close friends. So in the car, the most I may do is check to see where a message came from. But no way would I read it until the car comes to a stop.

And send one? Shyeah, right.

[CedarIsland]

It was the second time Price, an avid cyclist, had been hit by car. He suffered a broken ankle two years ago when he was hit while riding on a bike path. His wife, Shirley, said he had been especially mindful of cars since then.

Apparently not mindful enough. And the first time he was riding on a bike path?

I've text-messaged and emailed via a Blackberry while driving before, including on the highway... once I even penned a complete two-page magazine article and submitted it to my editor via the Blackberry, all while driving on an Interstate. This type of story makes me re-think my behavior. I've had a couple of close calls (almost rear-ended someone once, and have had to slam on the brakes once or twice to avoid it other times). I think maybe this article has proven to me that you can't beat the odds forever, and that I've been lucky so far.

As of today, I'm swearing off texting or emailing while the car is in motion. Honestly.

[andyb]

The big problem is that using a phone while driving still has relatively little social stigma attached. If your friend was drunk and offered you a lift home you would take his keys off him and order a taxi. If the same friend answered his phone while driving I'm not sure whether you'd ask him to pull over, even though you'd probably tut when you see someone in another car driving and talking at the same time.

[dMores]

i'm sure i've told this story before, but i was one of the first people in austria to be pulled over for talking on the phone while driving ... about 5 days after the law went into effect.

bought a bluetooth headset right away (good incentive to get a new gadget, hehe :) ) and i'm amazed at how many people still drive with the phone on their ear.
and they don't care, they pass police cars and don't care if they're seen.

funniest thing i saw on austria's streets is a guy doing an emergency stop at a red light, coming to a stop about 2m in front of the stop-line.
a biker-cop drives up, and the guy puts his phone away, and puts on his seatbelt when told by the cop to do so.
and then the lights go green, the biker-cop waves a salute and leaves.

i mean come on.
almost running a red light, phoning while driving, and not wearing a seatbelt, and nothing happens ???

[Gerard]

Another vote here for not having a car... never had one and never will. Wasteful, smelly, dangerous things. If a bicycle, bus, (non-powered) scooter, an extremely rare plane ride (maybe one short trip every 5 years) or my shoes can't get me somewhere, then I don't go.

I've seen the odd cyclist using a cellphone. Dumb. I even saw one smoking while on the phone once, which was quite hilarious in a sort of 'holy crap, what a dumbass' sort of way. Seems suicidal to me, engaging in a remote conversation while in such a vulnerable position as is any city cyclist.

I started using my first cellphone this summer. In the first month I did dumb things twice while on the phone, neither life-threatening, but both times a bit embarrassing in terms of not paying attention while crossing streets. I learned from those instances and will never more talk on a phone while crossing a street. The calls can wait.

It's been demonstrated in more than enough studies that no one is capable of full attention to driving while making even a trivial phone call. Hands-free or not has been shown again and again to make Negligible difference. Still, I almost always see one or two people with phones glued to their heads at any major crossing, while I wait for a walk signal. Often it's 3 or 4 at a time. These people demonstrate stupid, rude driving behaviors about half the time, if usually not extreme. And the more expensive the vehicle the greater the likelihood of simultaneous phone use! This sort of arrogance seems to be a status thing, in part, though in a time when just about every crackhead can have a cellphone it's hard to see why anyone finds it so.

[dma1965]

When I switched our corporate messaging System from RIM pagers to a web based system using the Siemens SX66, the biggest complaint I got from my regional managers was that they could no longer send messages while driving. It started with one complaint, which I thought was isolated, then another, then another. I finally had to announce in a meeting that this was illegal, dangerous, and stupid. Everyone just stared at me like I was crazy!

[Jason Dunn]

I remember the first day I got a Pocket PC Phone Edition, I was heading downtown for something and decided it would be "cool" to be logged into MSN Messenger on the device, and while I was driving someone IM'd me. So I tried to IM back while driving (mostly at red lights). It was incredibly distracting and made me a dangerous driver. Since that day I never log into MSN Messenger if I'm driving. I still do talk on the phone while driving, which most people in this thread strongly object to, but I suppose I don't think about modifying my behaviour because I make/receive calls so rarely while driving so I don't find myself distracted that often.

[ricksfiona]

When I heard about this 'accident' on the news, I was just blown away.

If you do something that is obviously going to hamper your driving performance: drinking, being high, reading the paper, putting on makeup, text messaging, then the penalty should be the same.

Are we going to have to have ANOTHER law for stupid people?

[Jacob]

You can use a hands free kit and a phone mount to get around the law, however a policeman could stop you for dangerous driving if they thought you were driving dangerously.

In Chicago they recently implemented a similar law that basically is you can use your phone, but ONLY with a hands-free headset. The problem is that studies have shown that it's not the fact that you have a hand taken up by the phone, but the distraction of the conversation so you drive just as dangerously with the hands-free headset.

It pissed me off when the mayor dismissed other issues such as women putting on make-up as non-issues.

Personally I would never check my email on the road. I also try to keep phone conversations to a relative minimum and make an effort to concentrate on the road first. I'd rather ask someone to repeat themselves because I was paying more attention to my left turn than hit someone.

[stevelam]

Hopefully you'll forgive me going a bit right-wing on this one but I'm in favour of the death penalty being in place for a short time for offences of this kind.

Perhaps a little excessive (!) - but certainly the death caused by the 17 year old in the linked article should be treated as manslaughter (complete with prison sentence).

I think that he got it right. If you are not going to concentrate while you are driving a vehicle that could kill someone then you ought to die. Nothing could have been more important that the persons life. If you were in a plane and the pilot decided to IM someone whilst landing how would you feel ... correction you wouldnt feel at all.

[Ed Hansberry]

In the US of A, drivers eat, drink, read the newspapers and all sorts of things while driving.

Ed, be fair. Sure, some American drivers do all that, and they stick out like a sore thumb. (BTW, you forgot to mention women putting on makeup-- my personal favorite!) But your own poll stats--at least as of Monday morning--suggest that the majority of people don't.
I am in no way under the illusion the polls here at Pocket PC Thoughts are 1) Scientific and 2) in any way represent the American public at large. :wink:

[unxmully]

I am in no way under the illusion the polls here at Pocket PC Thoughts are 1) Scientific and 2) in any way represent the American public at large. :wink:

Well considering at least one of the voters is a Brit....

***excessive quoting deleted by mod JD***

[capo]

I drive a car because I have to - public transportation is close to useless for me. I also carry a mobile because I have to - it's a requirement of my job, 24x7. However, after coming very close to backending another moron who decided inexplicably to stop in the middle of a long stretch of rural highway (yes, *another* moron - I was also being one - trying to look up a number in my mobile phonebook while driving) I no longer use the cell phone at all while driving. I resent being called off hours anyway - not a chance that I'm willing to get in an accident because somebody at work has a printer jam and decides it's important enough to call me on the mobile.

[Transfxb]

Both alcoohol AND phone when driving are a nonsense. Like any other distractive activity. A car can kill. One should pay MAXIMUM attention when driving.
Calls should be diverted to voicemail system when driving.
Anyone who calls you knowing that you are driving is equally guilty.

[Jonathan1]

Hopefully you'll forgive me going a bit right-wing on this one but I'm in favour of the death penalty being in place for a short time for offences of this kind. The number of times I've nearly been hit on a pedestrian crossing by some muppet talking on his mobile while driving beggars beliefe.

And even worse, I once phoned a car recovery company because one of their drivers was reading a map while talking on his mobile and jumped a red light at a major crossing. Drives me mad! :evil:


Woah....mark this moment. I actually agree with a right winger. 8O :wink:

Seriously though....instead of death how about castration? . . . Without pain killers. :snipersmile:

[Fishie]

Woah....mark this moment. I actually agree with a right winger. 8O :wink: Seriously though....instead of death how about castration? . . . Without pain killers. :snipersmile:

With blunt, rusty scissors.

[JMountford]

I moved from Topeka KS, which is where my Bio still says that I am, I believe. I work in Parker Colorado and live in Highlands Ranch Colorado. Of all the companies out there, I work for Verizon Wireless. Where this accident happened is right up the road from me. I learned about the accident of all things from a 16 year old customer who came in to get a phone replaced and change her text messaging plan because she needed to have more.

There are so many things that you could get from all of this. As I have only been here with my wife and kids for eight months and have gone through two positions in the company I have not had time to get to know the people in the community, but I can tell you that One; part of the problem is the kids in the community, their responsibility level, their general disregard for anything or any one and then of course the general attitude of all teens is that they are indestructible, Two: there are generally not harsh consequences for anything, and Three: the bicycle lanes in this city are nuts. You will NOT catch me riding a bike around here.

Now I will say that I occasionally text while driving mostly at lights but not always. I have made a decision to not check email or text while in motion from this point forward. Now I do use Bluetooth religiously with enhanced voice dial and I encourage EVERYONE who will be using a mobile while operating any kind of vehicle to do the same. No headset, don't drive. And for peat's sake learn this kid's lesson and pay attention to what you are doing when you drive. I know that I will pay more attention around me.

[ctmagnus]

The problem with common sense is that it's not very common

So true.

[dMores]

I think that he got it right. If you are not going to concentrate while you are driving a vehicle that could kill someone then you ought to die. are you guys serious ? if this was a joke, then i missed the smiley, somehow.
sheesh !

[alizhan]

I remember the first day I got a Pocket PC Phone Edition, I was heading downtown for something and decided it would be "cool" to be logged into MSN Messenger on the device, and while I was driving someone IM'd me. So I tried to IM back while driving (mostly at red lights). It was incredibly distracting and made me a dangerous driver. Since that day I never log into MSN Messenger if I'm driving.

I remember a time I tried to use Pocket Excel to reference a bike shop address list while driving in Albuquerque, NM. I was a hazard of the first order, even with the text size cranked way up so that I could "just glance at it". After a few tries, it became painfully apparent that it just wasn't a good idea, and I stopped.

Point being: use of any device (phone, pager, PDA, Blackberry, other portable electronic device--now the airlines have me saying it, drink cup, make-up/grooming kit, sock puppet, Chinese finger puzzles, or other contraption) which distracts one's attention from driving is equally dangerous. The actual activity is irrelevant.

Driving isn't hard, but it requires fairly constant attention. And discipline. Both of which seem to be lacking in modern America. :(

I still do talk on the phone while driving, which most people in this thread strongly object to, but I suppose I don't think about modifying my behaviour because I make/receive calls so rarely while driving so I don't find myself distracted that often.

Me too, though usually only if I'm alone. And I've been known to ignore calls, or stop talking in the middle of a sentence when the road requires my attention. The road comes first; the caller can wait.

[alizhan]

There have been numerous studies showing that drivers using cell phones are just as impared as those driving legally drunk. (In most cases, cell phone users are much more impared (30% slower reaction time, missing more road signs and signals), than those that are a little above the legal alcohol levels.

For a graphic demonstration of this, hunt up the Mythbusters episode where they take this very "myth" on. The results visibly disturbed the 'busters.

[SteveHoward999]

Specific laws, such as not using a hand held cell phone or other device, bring more attention to the problem, but until drivers, and the police who must enforce the laws, take the issue seriously, all the laws legislators can pass won't make any difference at all.

They could start by stopping cops from smoking, using cell phones, readimg maps and sticking their arms out the window to hold the roof on while driving their cruisers. If the cops ignore all common sense, they are not going to enforce it on anyone else!!!!!

[alizhan]

The problem is that studies have shown that it's not the fact that you have a hand taken up by the phone, but the distraction of the conversation so you drive just as dangerously with the hands-free headset.

Or without any phone at all. Witness those drivers who feel compelled to Stare... Right... At... You... while talking. I've been in cars where the driver went right off the side of the road because they kept looking at me instead of where they were going. 8O

Come on, people: think! The social rule that not looking at someone while talking with them is rude obviously should not apply to the driver.

[martin_ayton]

In defence of 'phone conversations when driving, I have found a situation when it helped: I used to work away from home during the week and had a 300 mile drive home on a Friday night. After a hard week, that could and did occasionally result in my driving tired. Now, I'm good when I get tired: I stop at the first opportunity, but on some of the motorways I travelled, the 'first opportunity' could be 20 miles away. Plenty of time to fall asleep :( . I found that when having the radio on as loud as I could stand and screaming and slapping myself wasn't working, calling home and having a conversation was a very effective way of waking myself up and improving my concentration and alertness.

I don't make a habit of long 'phone conversations whilst driving, and I do always explain to the other person that I'm driving and I might just have to shut up and drive. I also admit that I have had the occasional coffee whilst behind the wheel. Surely the point is that the driver is responsible to ensure that s/he is behaving safely. Drinking a coffee / making a call is safe on a straight, simple highway with little other traffic. It is not safe approaching a junction or on a busy or twisting road. Like the man said, 'the problem with common sense...'

[Steven Cedrone]

Getting a text message while driving is SO annoying! Just yesterday, I was flyin' down the road mixing myself a rum and coke and all of a sudden... Text message! Heck, I nearly spilled my drink juggling two bottles a high ball glass AND my damn Pocket PC! One has to be able to quickly adapt, so I slapped on the cruise control put the two bottles on the floor, steered with my knees and sipped my drink while I quickly tapped out my "I would be honored to speak at the local PBA benefit this year" message...

Hey, if you don't like the way I drive, stay off of the sidewalk... :wink:

Edit: I guess I should point out that this post was made in jest. The only thing I do while driving, is drive!

[Darius Wey]

Hey, if you don't like the way I drive, stay off of the sidewalk... :wink:

So which computer game are you talking about? ;)

[Carlos]

There is a big difference between using a phone handsfree and holding it while driving. Every now and then I'll forget my BT headset and drive a car that doesn't have BT in it like mine, and I do feel like a danger to myself and others if I try to use the phone. There is something more distracting about holding the phone to your head, plus it creates a blindspot. I've noticed people holding a phone will look into my lane, not see me because the phone is in their way, and move on over.

I've been using a PDA in the car since I got my Newton in...what was that, 1992? Managed not to hit anything or even come close so far. It is important to have it in a car mount in the normal field of view and to not concentrate on it. It's pretty easy to write using Calligrapher and not look at the screen.

[jimg_uk2000]

:?:
Whilst I agree that the law needs to get tougher, how do you guys justify sat. navs?

Surely these are just as bad as pdas &amp; mobiles, especially when you consider the many pdas that now have sat. navs?

[bnycastro]

there should be an additional choice of 'Always read and reply' and/or 'Always read then call'
--
With my PPC phone I always read and call...
With my smartphone I always read and reply to sms [or call if it's important]
--
sometimes I use a BT headset but usually just hold the phone up to my head...

[weatheryoko]

What's sad to me is how many more people are we going to allow to be killed until we pass a national ban on "Talking/Text Messaging" while driving. One day I hope we'll realize that stupid people operate dangerous equipment and cannot use (or don't have) good judgement. To all the people who posts "I only check....", honestly, WTF is so important that you're willing to endanger someone else's life? It's real simple, cell phones have a little thing called voice mail. Use it. Turn off your phone and drive. What's a real trajedy about this story is this guy's life could have been spared if the driver executed some judgement. The whole cell phone thing while driving. I just don't get it. In Japan you couldn't use a cell phone AT ALL while driving. Their economy didn't crumble. Business didn't come to a grinding halt because business men/women were unable to talk with their clients instantaneously. Business continued as normal. What's so ***king important that you HAVE to connected to the world at all times? BTW, I think the 17 year old should be tried as an adult and charged with vehicular manslaughter. He's old enough to drive, he's old enough to go to jail for a while. He can go to college when he's 40. I guess in CO a human life is worth/valued at about 1 year prison time. I think my wife is worth more than that. Yeah, I'm pissed about the whole thing. Have been for a while.

[Carlos]

Pass the laws. Won't stop me from doing it, as it won't stop most people. There are laws against speeding, but the NHTSA'a own stats say that 85% of people speed most or all the time.

[CedarIsland]

I worked with a guy who had a great "guys-only" story he told at sales meetings. Seems this guy had been pretty stressed out at work and at home, and was driving somewhere like 3 hours away one night... and decided that he was bored in the car as well as um... lonely. So he took matters into his own hand, as it were, and ended up running off the road and hitting a tree. He was okay, and managed to zip up before anyone stopped to check on him, but nonetheless was quite chagrined to say the least.

It made for a good story, too.

If only he'd had a hands-free kit. :devilboy: