Using Your Cell Phone While Driving
 

aephi alum's "hit and run" thread made me think of this...


I cannot stand when people are talking on their cell phones and are driving. It's one thing to call someone because you are lost or running late. I can understand that. But to have a full conversation on your cell phone while you are driving is just insane. Most people I know can't watch TV and talk on the phone at the same time because it's a distraction. Yet, they think driving and talking on the phone is perfectly acceptable.
:rolleyes: I don't know any statistics, but I am sure that a nice percentage of automobile accidents are caused by people talking on their phones. And you have to love when people are yapping on the phone when it's snowing outside. AGHHHHH

Opinions?

I use an ear piece or that radio thing so I can use both hands. I hate it when people are driving and can not turn there car/truck/suv becuase of the phone and then almost hit you and they get mad at you!


People are stupid.

While I hate it when I get cut off or almost in an accident by someone who is usually on their cell phone, I am guilty of driving down the road while having a full conversation. What's worse is when you see someone driving, talking on the phone AND smoking. How do they do that?

Actually the idea of banning people from cell phones is ridiculous. The money could go towards something that saves more lives in a cost-benefit analysis. In fact, talking to people in your car, playing with the radio, etc. all distract you.

-Rudey

I am with you. If they ban people talking on phones (some states even with an ear piece) they might as well say no radio or passengers are allow.

Anything you do in your car besides keeping your hands at the 10-and-2 position and your head straight looking out the windshield is a distraction. Singing along to your radio, changing the station, having a conversation with a passenger, drinking a cup of coffee are all distractions. The cell phone is just one more distraction. I'll read in papers about an accident and how it may have been caused by a person who was distracted by a cell phone conversation; you never hear the media report that there was an accident caused by someone distracted from changing radio stations or putting on their lipstick but I'm sure it happens frequently. I'm sure all of us have changed radio stations or adjusted the volume and realized that we're steering our cars off the road a bit. It happens and it's not just from cell phone.

ETA:
Are there states that have made driving and talking on your cell phone illegal? I've heard that there are a few.

I don't use my cell phone without my earpiece unless it is an absolute emergency! It's not the talking that is so much the problem as having one hand on the wheel and fidgeting with the phone with the other.

ZTAngel, I know that you cannot use a cellphone in NY State without a headset or some sort of hands-free device. And I know that some counties in PA also don't allow cell phone use without a headset.

I use an earbud that my dad got free at a trade show four years ago and I love it!!!

Allison

I use an ear piece normally. People think I talk to myself. I'm cool like that. Basically this law says it's ok to drive and talk but not ok to drive and talk with one hand. Thus one handed driving should be banned they're saying. Mmmmkay

-Rudey

I Know that hand held cell phones while driving are banned in the entire state of new york, and santa fe, new mexico. They recently passed a ban for the entire state of New Jersey (previously it was banned by individual towns) however, they can't pull you over specifically for talking on the phone. If they pull you over for something else, and you are talking on the phone - then you can get cited for it.

heres talent. talking on the cell phone, smoking a cigarette, changing the radio station, and drinking a keystone, all while driving your car. ive seen it with my own two eyes:eek:

in new york it is illegal to drive without an earpiece. and you cannot physically dial while driving, you are supposed to pull over. i think it's a great law but not enforced enough

Uh-uh http://www.greektalk.com/forums/html...minfingerx.gif
Talking to your cell-phone while driving is a big NO-NO for me.

As a couple of people have said, it is illegal in NY to talk on a cell phone while driving unless you have a hands-free device. There is an exception if you are calling 911. Some lawmakers are trying to pass a similar law in CT, which I think is a great idea.

The NY law is routinely ignored. All the time, I see people with a hand-held cell phone in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, trying to steer with their wrists or knees or whatever. :rolleyes:

I do sometimes talk on my cell while driving, but always with either the hands-free unit installed in my car or with my earpiece. To me it's no more distracting than talking to someone else in the car. If I need to dial, I will pull over or ask a passenger to dial.

BTW, I didn't see if the person who hit me was using her cell phone, but I did see her holding a cigarette in one hand, which was nowhere near the steering wheel.

Same here. Happens all of the time. Especially in the supermarket. People kinda get out of my way because they think I'm talking to myself! lol

I have T-Mobile, and all of their phones come with an earpiece. If only more people would just use them!

my tidbit of info.
 

I wish I had access to a study that my Business Comm. prof told us about.. he said a study showed that of all the accidents that happened that remotely involved cell phones, most of them were accidents that occured following the conversation and not during the cell phone conversation. They think this is because people tend to think more about the conversation after it was over.

If people talking on the phone bothers you, move to Dallas. I've seen people using laptop computers and driving.

;)

Didn't they have this same debate when they first put radios in cars?

If you don't think you're safe w/ a cell, don't use one in the car.

If you grew up with a phone attached to your head (me), why not?

I've had all my wrecks, tickets and close calls while not talking on the cell phone.

So I guess I'm safer when on the phone :D

Jadey,

I am the worst driver in the world. I can't drive and read street signs at the same time! I can't imagine using a cellular at the same time. I don't know what Canada is like now, but they were thinking of banning using cellulars in the car last time I was there.

Wow, I talk on my cell phone in the car all the time. I drive over an hour to work, and I'd probably die of boredom or fall asleep if I didn't talk on the phone sometimes. It's only a problem if you can't concentrate on more than one thing at a time.

It really does depend on the person. Some people can multi-task like crazy and some people can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

However, it does seem like every time I see someone hanging out in the far left lane of the highway going slower than the speed limit oblivious to the pissed off traffic piling up behind them, that person is on their phone.

No cell phones for me when I'm driving. I have severe attention issues behind the wheel and will probably end up flipped over in a cornfield.

Re: my tidbit of info.
 

OMG! I would never want to see that. :eek:

I just wanted to add that I totally agree that there are several other distractions while driving (changing CDs, putting makeup on). Those get on my nerves also. And yes, several people are talented enough to multi-task, but most people aren't. Maryland isn't known for the best drivers, especially when it's snowing, and that's when I see the most people talking on the phone. Crazy I tell you!

If you think cell phones are distracting, try getting a blow job while driving . . . have they made that ilegal? But I guess you can keep both hands on the wheel . . .

James, does idiocy run in your jeans!:rolleyes:

If you are so talking , reading, or working on a lap top while driving, I hope you burn in hell when you dimwits kill someone for your stupity!:mad:

Thank you for your attention of being totally ignorant! Driving at 70 mph your attention span is shorter than you can imagine while you are riding someones bumper!:eek: Oh, how damn long does it take for your 2500 to 3900 lb. vehicle to stop on the pavement before you run into someone and kill them and others!

Yep all of you fu*king Mornons say I am better, you anit S**T. Just someone else in a hurtingly peice of metal out to kill someone!:mad:

Never have to pick someone up from a wreak that takes 6 people to put you into a body bag because you have no solid bones to pick up, so you slither them into the BodyBag!:( :eek:

WOW, I am neat, I can do multitasking!:p

My commute to school is an hour and I always talk on the phone to both my mom and my fiance. We've got unlimited mobile-to-mobile. It makes the drive much better.

I DO use a headset, though. I use a full-on headset like you'd get for a cordless phone. Those earbuds hurt my ear.

I don't talk on my cell while driving unless I need to call someone to tell him/her that I'm on my way or I'm late. When someone calls me I tell them that I have to call back. It's just me, I'd rather not risk getting into an accident because I'm talking on my cell. If people can do it while concentrating on the road that's great. It's the people who aren't paying attention to the road and talking on their cells that bug me.

Re: my tidbit of info.
 

Case in point, I am driving right now. I have seen people reading books, doing makeup, all sorts of crazy stuff. All the while they are doing 80. Just nuts...

Re: Re: my tidbit of info.
 

hahaha....I guess you've met me??? LOL....I definitely have eaten, put on makeup, read, talked on the phone while driving!

I used to change into my Poms outfit while driving from work to practice after school....now THAT's talent right there.

I figure if I always stayed in the lines and never hit anyone doing that, talking on my cell is a piece of cake.


However, there are people like the idiot shit I was behind this morning who simply cannot function in society while their ear is on the phone. Apparently he knew the dangers of driving while holding a phone to your ear, so instead he drove with both hands and TILTED HIS HEAD to keep the phone on his shoulder. I am not even kidding you, he drove diagonally and rolled in and out of his lane the entire way to school.
:rolleyes: I'm seriously considering never leaving my house again.

I do talk on my cellphone in the car sometimes.. its usually when someone calls me.. I usually have the phone sitting right there.. I wouldnt go looking for it while driving..

also I never call people unless I do pull over or dial while at a stoplight. Yeah I def cant look at numbers while driving.. plus I usually drive down to school each weekend to see friends now that I have graduated. I use a headset usually and have voice activated calling.. so its not really distracting while doing the three hour drive.