"Mark & Juanita" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 26 Sep 2005 14:33:36 -0500, "Amused"
wrote:


wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 26 Sep 2005 11:49:25 -0500, Patriarch
wrote:

David wrote in
:



The only one I can control is me. If you find the cell phone
distracting, let the call roll to voicemail, have a passenger take the
call, or pull over safely. I think that what I do behind the wheel is
the major factor in the safety of my trip, regardless of the driving
habits of the others around me.

As to influencing the behavior of young women, that's an area in which I
have very little track record of success...

Patriarch


We may be putting to much on cell phone use. Is that really any more
distractiong than one of those "100 button" CD player/radios or a
satellite navigation system?
The heater A/C has become a mind boggling thing to run.
New car dash boards look like the bridge of the star ship enterprise
these days.
Add a cup of hot coffee, a cigarette, an Egg McMuffin and two
screaming kids in the back seat ... it's no wonder we need air bags.

Nope.

While there are certainly bad drivers that don't use phones, ANY telephone
usage, including ear phones and speaker phones, dramatically reduces ANY
driver's attention, and ultimately, ability. It's not the instrument,
itself, it's the nature of the activity. Listening to the radio is
essentially a passive activity. By it's very nature, talking on a phone
is
an active distraction and ironically, the more important the phone call,
the
greater the distraction.

It's not gender-specific or age-specific, either. Anyone talking on a
phone
and driving a car is not devoting the appropriate amount attention to
either
activity.


... and how do you separate this as being any different from being
engaged in a conversation with a passenger in the automobile? That also is
an active vs. passive activity. Do you really want to go down the path
of
making the car a sterile environment?

Sterile?

I drove a medical transport van for six years around a large-ish Midwestern
city. (Non-emergency. No lights. No siren).

I've personally witnessed people blowing right through red lights and stop
signs while they were obviously engaged in telephone conversations. I saw
one lady that drove up over the curb(!), and the look of surprise when she
found herself in the median was priceless. I've seen people drift across
lanes on high-speed expressways, obviously more engaged in their
conversation rather than driving. I've seen any number of near collisions
(and a couple of actual collisions) when an unexpected showdown occurs and
following drivers were slow to react.

Any number of times, I've personally witnessed one of the MOST dangerous
situations, and that's someone stopped at red light, totally engaged in
conversation to the point that they never notice when the light changes
green. They sit, 'till someone blasts their horn, then they, involuntarily,
slam the gas pedal down, charging across/into the intersection, without ever
looking to see if that green light is now yellow, or even red.

When I started driving the van, I would chatter on my cell phone as much as
anyone. Slowly, it became apparent that me that I (a trained, specially
licensed, highly experienced driver) was every bit as distracted by the cell
phone as anyone else. I no longer talk on the phone and drive at the same
time. If the conversation is important to make the phone call, it's
important enough for me to give it my full attention, and pull out of
traffic.....

If the conversation is not important enough to pull out of traffic, it's not
important enough to have in the first place. (Part of the problem, I'd
surmise, is that you'll never be able to predict in any conversation, when
something is said that literally demands your full attention, for whatever
reason. I'd also advance the idea that with the increase in just plain
scary drivers, there has been a corresponding increasing in frustrated
drivers, i.e. road rage.)

And yes, I've seen people that were also distracted by....

Changing CD's/or radio stations...
Reading papers across their steering wheel....
Putting on makeup...
Arguing with kids...especially in the back seat.
Cleaning their glasses...blind
Drunk...
Stoned...
Incompetent/daydreaming

But for sheer volume of poor/dangerous driving practices...nothing (with the
possible exception of driving drunk) rivals the cell phone. People talking
on a cell phone are every bit as imparted as a drunk driver.