On Monday, August 17, 2015 at 9:36:22 AM UTC-4, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per John Robertson:
Probably the same idiots who regularly have accidents are the same
idiots who drive while distracted. Distracted driving can be caused by
conversation, something you hear on the radio, a leaf blowing by, or a
smudge on the windshield - drivers who are easily distracted may well be
the same ones who have accidents whether or not they are using a cell phone.

So, the idiots will kill themselves (and other innocents) off at the
same rate regardless of the source of distraction.

I would not agree.

A cell phone conversation is fundamentally different from a CB
conversation (which was not alluded to), talking to a passenger, or
listening to the radio.

The difference is that there is no unspoken agreement that driving comes
first. i.e. the person on the other end of the conversation has no
expectation of anything but the partner's 100% involvement.
--
Pete Cresswell

That was the tree that I was barking up too. You can't compare
being engaged in a phone conversation with listening to the radio,
reaching for change for a toll, or even talking to a passenger in
the car. We have some learned behavior that you can't just drop
a phone call mid sentence. Reaching for the radio, change, etc,
you can just stop it, no consequences, no once else involved.
With a passenger, you can also stop talking, and
also it's very likely the passenger is going to see why you did
that, eg someone just pulled out into the road, a kid on a bicycle
is wandering on the edge of the road, etc. The passenger will
likely stop talking too. And then there is the added factor that
looking up a person's #, dialing a cell phone, texting, is way
beyond just talking or listening.