DIYbanter - View Single Post - They finally found proof texting bans

F Murtz

Muggles wrote:
On 1/20/2016 2:36 PM, Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:
Muggles wrote:

On 1/20/2016 4:12 AM, Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:
Paul M. Cook wrote:

On Wed, 20 Jan 2016 19:59:18 +1300, Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:

I have to wonder at people who think not looking at the road and
thinking about something else as well, isn't dangerous.

Driving isn't an inherently safe thing to do, so, sure, of course
there are myriad distractions inherent in the mere act of driving.

The fact that almost anyone can drive means that driving is,
essentially, in the scope of the easiest tasks humans can do.

So, it's *easy* to drive and *not safe* to be distracted.

Since most of us never have a single accident in our entire lives,
and yet, most of us have been distracted a billion times while
driving, what that means is that we constantly safely handle
distractions.

That *some* people can't handle distractions is probably partially
why the accident rate remains at the low level that it is today.

However, the fact that this accident rate was wholly unaffected
by the absolutely astoundingly huge increase in cellphone ownership
numbers (hence, most people assume, in cellphone use distractions),
simply means exactly what it shows.

That is, cellphone use is not any more distracting than any other
distraction that most drivers handle safely every single day.

It is simplicity itself to demonstrate that TXTing while driving impairs
reaction times, as many have shown, for many years now e.g.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...g-how-dangerou
s-is-it

But continue to deny that you are affected by distractions, and that
magically you are a better driver and better able to multitask than
others.
Of course an accident resulting from distractions such as TXTing would
never happen to _you_! That is only something that happens to '_other_
people'. _You're_ special :-)

I guess some people never quite manage to mature past the teenage
feeling of invulnerability, to instead deal with reality and take
responsibility...

I'm reading this thread from the repair group, so I don't recognize the
names of the people in this discussion. I do have a question about your
last comment, here.

Do you think that since teens and those who grew up using cell phones
are more adept at using the technology and would, therefore, also be
more inclined to use it while driving without it being a bigger
distraction to them than say listening to a radio?

In my personal and unscientific experience those who have grown up with
the technology are often more adept and comfortable with firing off a
quick TXT as they drive. A previous younger girlfriend in her 20's was
very comfortable with this, but comfort doesn't equal safe. However as
she was very quick at TXTing one handed while driving, I suppose she
lessened the danger time compared to worse TXTers. Still, given her age
she lacked the experience of older drivers that has been shown to
improve their responses to dangerous situations, so I still wouldn't
have said she was safer at TXTing and driving.
And the last couple jackasses to try to run me down while TXTing were
over 30. But I see as many over 30's TXTing while driving as I do
younger drivers.
Though the more scientific tests I've read show _anyone's_ reaction time
is affected by TXTing, even the most familiar and comfortable with the
tech.

I really don't like TXTing, let alone trying to do it while driving. I
just don't get what's so important that can't wait a few minutes 'til
you get stopped. I may look at an incoming text when I'm sitting at a
red light waiting for it to turn green, but I'm not coordinated enough
to drive and txt at the same time. Maybe I'm just old, or maybe I'm
just lazy at txting. I have been known to answer a phone call using
wi-fi in stop and go traffic, but on the interstate I just let it ring
and go to voice mail. It's scary enough dodging all the nuts without
trying to talk to someone on the phone at the same time.

The difference between passively listening to radio and TXTing, is
TXTing requires removing a hand from the vehicle's controls, and some
amount of looking at the mobile device instead of the driving
conditions.

I've been told that some new cars have hand controls on the steering
wheel that allow the stereo system to answer phone calls AND text calls
and convert the text to voice msgs and any voice responses to text. I
don't understand why the technology is being put in new cars if the
trend is to stop people from using the technology while driving.

Tests I've read have shown listening to the radio can also
affect concentration and reaction time if the driver doesn't retain
focus on driving, but not to the same degree as TXTing. A comparable
distraction would be fiddling with tapes and CDs as one drives, in that
a hand is removed from the wheel and the eyes from the road.

Sneezing while driving is just as bad as any other distraction, I think,
but the difference between fiddling with a CD is many people have
mastered inserting cd's without ever taking their eyes off the road.
Sneezing while driving a person nearly ALWAYS has to shut their eyes
when they sneeze. "UH officer! I swear I wasn't texting - I SNEEZED and
then I rear-ended the guy in front of me!"

Sneezing can be much worse, it can cause blackouts.