OK. Cell phones - I have a question.

[Katie H]

There was a report on our evening news tonight. It reported about talking on a cell phone and driving and the frequency of accidents because of same. Mostly among our youth. It saddens me that we, well not me, that our young folks have become so dependent on cell phones that their use is the cause of serious accidents.

Now...my question. What is sooo important that makes us HAVE to talk/answer our cell phones when we are driving? We seemed to get long pretty well before cell phones came long.

 

[sattie]

I agree Katie!!! I am dissapointed with the manners that have developed over the use of cell phones.

 

[Katie H]

I'm so confused/disappointed, sattie. Buck and I have had a TracPhone for about 5 years. We only use it when we are away from each other or when we are traveling (together) in unfamiliar territory. Otherwise, it's turned of and on the shelf in the cabinet. At this time, I believe we may have over 3 hours of unused minutes. Omigosh! What shall we do?!

I don't understand the constant telephone connection with people. I simply don't have the need to be talking to someone 24/7. This might be an indication of my "age."

 

[buckytom]

sadly k.t.e., it's one of those things that's going to have to be learned at a high cost. much like the wearing of seatbelts was just a few decades ago.

when police started ticketing people for no seatbelts, it helped.

i drive a lot in heavy traffic, and can always pick out who's doing something other than paying attention to their driving. slow moving traffic, for some reason, makes people think that it's time to read papers, or text message, put on make-up, drink and eat, or even use laptops. even in flowing traffic, you can tell when they're dialing their phones or using their crackberry because they don't move at the same irregular rates of the rest of traffic, holding back then speeding up, and often swerving a little on top of that. you can pretty much extrapolate the effects at higher speeds, and therefore the increased danger.

i'm normally not in favor of lowering the bar for "probable cause" for the police, but i think it is going to become necessary with cell phone usage and driving.

or, for the younger set: see dick drive; see dick talk on cell phone; see dick crash and kill a mother and 2 children. do you know what the motto is?

 

[Barbara L]

I don't get it either. Even sadder is that when everyone finally gets home, they can't even sit and have a conversation longer than 3 minutes. Talk, talk, talk, text, text, text all day, but sit and have a conversation with your family? No time for that.

Barbara

 

[sattie]

I don't either Kaite. And I work for a cell company. Get cell usage for free and I don't even use it. But then you are talking to someone that can't chew gum and drive at the same time either. I have to FOCUS when I am driving. Even when I am running at the local trails, I'm always dodging someone yappin or texting on the phone.

 

[NAchef]

I work in retail and the one thing I hate is when you are talking to someone and giving advice and they get a call and tell you to hold on a minute! Grrr....

I walk away and go back to my work, when they finish their call I keep working for a minute and then get back to them.

 

[Maverick2272]

I never drive and talk on the cell phone, and get upset when DW does it. I had thought they had made a law against that out here... maybe it didn't pass?
We have no home phone, just our cell phones, and most of the minutes are used my DW for her business. I have mine set so there are different rings for different call groups, and DW has her own personal ring. When I get a call from DW I don't even have to look at the cell phone to know it is her. I just pull over next chance I get and return her call.
Anybody else, I wait till I get where I am going. I fail to see what is so important that you have to jeopardize your life over it. Even if it is an emergency, its not like I am the first call (911 better be the first call they make), or likely that there is anything I can do from across town.

 

[quicksilver]

N.J. started enforcing that law about 1 month ago, that it could be primary cause for pulling someone over. Hooray!
I wish Florida would do it. With so many out of towners not knowing where they are going and talking on the phone, redlight running is epidemic. And it's not just women drivers folks. Knowing men can only do one thing at a time....Ha Ha Ha. Seriously. Then you add no seatbelts on, eating, playing CDs, checking out your do in the mirror. The brain is not that good.
I drive a stickshift and refuse to have one of those earpieces. I've been in stores and thought someone, a total stranger, was talking to me, I go to talk back and realize the phone piece is on the ear I can't see, and the person gives me a look like "who are you? What do YOU want. I feel like an idiot and kick myself every time.
I agree with BarbaraL.

 

[miniman]

Over here it is a £60 fine and points on your licence (12 points gets your licence revoked for 12 months)

 

[buckytom]

lol, quicksilver. florida is just the southern part of ny/nj, except with more pest control and air conditioner repair places.

it used to be you'd cross the street when you saw someone talking loudly to themselves. now, it's a bluetooth that makes people look like lieutenant uhura.

 

[mikki]

Its been against the law to talk on the phone and drive for a few years now in NY, doesnt stop people from doing it though. Police need to enforce the law for it to work. I have a cell,use it while driving but only with a hands free head set. With one DD in college,another DD thats 15 and into everything, a hubby that works different hours then I do, the cell is about the only way to know whats going on with each other. One thing I dont do is answer it in a checkout line or if I'm getting assistance from someone, thats just plain RUDE!!!

 

[pacanis]

I don't understand the constant telephone connection with people. I simply don't have the need to be talking to someone 24/7. This might be an indication of my "age."

True. I'd much rather be online 24/7.....


I don't get it either. When the girl who used to work for me got a cell phone and a car, I don't thing I ever saw her pull in or drive out where the cell phone wasn't pressed against her ear. At least she knew not to be on it while she worked.
Personally, I don't like to get a call while I'm driving. It is NOT the same as holding a conversation with a passenger, even with a bluetooth. At least a passenger can help pay attention to your driving.

PA has the law, but I don't think they enforce it much. I think they use it as an "add on" if they pull you over for something else.

Totally off topic.... PA also passed a law in '06 (I believe) that says your dog must be in a seatbelt harness, crate or behind a barrier while being transported within the state. With no part of their body hanging out the window. This was passed for the same reason as the cell phone law, someone determined that loose dogs in cars were causing too many accidents. I know someone who got an $85 ticket for a loose dog in her van, but don't know anyone who has ever gotten a ticket for talking on their cell phone.
The cop that lives next to me routinely drives up the road with his cell phone to his ear.

 

[quicksilver]

RELATED: In 2005, I think, AAA said national law for you to move to left lane when you see a traffic stop. How many times have you seen the news shots of officers being hit/side-swiped, driver didn't stop, and when caught, claimed they had no idea. I wonder how many were on cell phones. Their brains didn't even register the stop to begin with, let alone to move over. Scary, scary stuff!

 

[Andy M.]

A study I saw on TV a while ago suggested the primary cause of auto accidents was the driver's doing something else while driving. That can be reading, writing, eating toothbrushing, putting on make-up, shaving, picking your teeth, computing or talking on the phone, and, most of all, talking to others in the car with you.

Focusing on cell phones may be the easiest target to attack but it's not nearly the whole story.

 

[suziquzie]

It's amazing what you see people doing in cars besides driving. I saw someone reading a book once! I get really upset about that. They are on the road with MY FAMILY in the car!
The only thing to be doing when driving a 2,000 pound missle is to be driving it!

 

[GB]

most of all, talking to others in the car with you.

Focusing on cell phones may be the easiest target to attack but it's not nearly the whole story.

I am glad you brought this up Andy. I was going to play devils advocate and ask why cell phone usage was such a problem, but nobody seems to have an issue with talking with someone in the car with you.

I will admit that I am a cell phone user in the car. I do it hands free though and will hang up if road conditions get to the point that I feel my attention is being compromised by being on the phone. I know it is not the safest thing in the world. The calls I am on in the car are things that need to be taken care of at that time. OK need is probably not the right word. An example might be talking to my wife on the ride home to coordinate who will pick the kids up and where. This is not always something we can work out head of time and my commute is over an hour and the kids might need to be picked up in the opposite direction. If I were wait until I get home to have that conversation then it would be too late.

I have almost never noticed my driving being impaired from being on the phone. I know that does not mean that it has not been of course. What I have noticed though was when I got my iPod that seriously impaired my driving. I would scroll through looking for a song and almost run off the road. i quickly realized I could not play with the iPod and drive at the same time and now I no longer do that.

 

[Andy M.]

I have had a cell phone for years. I don't use it a lot, but don't hesitate to use it when I feel the need. I still don't get texting. It's a telephone, it's made for talking!

Cell phones are the easy target but eliminating them won't solve the problem. I've come a lot closer to a fender bender trying to eat a whopper and fries than talking on a cell phone.

...but I've never been known for my coordination.

 

[sattie]

Very few folks can master driving and talking on the cell phone. I think it is the act of trying to find your phone when it rings. Or trying to dial the persons number, or worse yet, try to text someone while you are driving that makes it such a major target. I have to agree with buckytom that when I am on the road, I can pretty much tell who is yappin on a cell phone just by the way they are driving, or swaying on the road I should say. Out of all the close calls I have come across lately, involving myself of someone else, it has always been someone on a cell phone.

Now granted... I get a little teed off when I get behind someone putting on their makeup. That just drives me insane! Can you not get up a little earlier to put that crap on or just put it on after you get to work!

I have seen the make up thing, reading thing, and once I saw a guy eating a bowl of cereal as he was driving. I'm sorry, but there is a time and a place for multi-tasking!

 

[Maverick2272]

There are a lot of different causes for accidents and plenty of things people try to do while driving other than actually driving. Cell phone usage is just one of the newer things and therefore gets more attention.
One of the worst things I have seen was a woman entering an accident zone while trying to put on her make up. She had no idea people had to merge and just about caused a couple more accidents of her own, completely oblivious to it all.
The cops were right there, but so bored they didn't even pay attention despite repeated honks from others. I finally had enough, and when I was next to her, leaned out the window and yelled "OMG you ran him over!!" right into her passenger window.
That woke her up, and she stopped just long enough for me to pull in front of her while she tried to figure out what had happened. I stayed there letting everyone else merge in front of her until the cops made me move forward.
When the cops asked me why I blocked her in, I just shook my head and told them if they had been doing their job of traffic control and paying attention, they would have seen her putting on her making and not paying attention to traffic, and I was just providing her a safe place in which to finish the job...