The reality is that when you are driving a car you are just not typically having two hands on the wheel paying perfect attention. It may have nothing to do with cell phones. If you ever have more than yourself in the car you obviously are not paying attention to just one thing namely driving. So I think it’s kind of silly to suggest that we can only do one thing at a time properly. Life doesn’t work that way.
Should Hand Held Cellphones Be Banned While Driving?
by minimus 56 Replies latest jw friends
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stillin
Unfortunately, Min, not all people actually can do those two things at the same time. And most people feel that they can, even if they really can't.
I do feel that texting requires more eyes off the road than talking. I know two people who have been hit by drivers texting. But I don't know anybody (yet) who has been hit by somebody talking on their phone.
But that's just me.
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minimus
Texting yes, I agree. But the reality still is the same we do more than one thing all the time and we still get by without killing anybody
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stillin
I use voice texting often while driving. Never in traffic. Even so, I have caught myself with two wheels past the center line.
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cofty
I don't know anybody (yet) who has been hit by somebody talking on their phone.
Studies show otherwise. Among all the common distractions you might experience in the car using a phone is uniquely dangerous. The research is easy to find online. The death toll speaks for itself. There was a time people boasted that drinking and driving might be a problem for others but not for them.
I could not count how many near misses I have seen caused by drivers chatting on the phone.
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Simon
The trouble with all these laws is they don't really target the issue, bad driving, they target what is a potential cause for some people.
The reality is that some people are terrible drivers and dangerous even if they are not drunk or distracted. Some people are still better drivers even if they are slightly distracted or have some blood alcohol They should prosecute for people doing poor manoeuvres, not for a potential cause of it.
Not everyone starts from the same level of ability before adding something else to the mix.
The problem is that it's harder to prove "bad driving" so they look for a concrete "thing" that someone has done instead as a proxy for it. Took a sip from a water bottle while driving? OMG, you are "dangerous" (even if you are cruising along an empty highway). Driving 10 kph over the speed limit on a clear sunny day? OMG, you are "dangerous" even though it's safer than some idiot driving 10 kph under the speed limit when conditions are icy.
It's a bit like hate crimes. What does it matter why something happened, if what happened was a crime? Likewise, if you crash a car, you crashed a car! Who cares if you were using a phone, putting make-up on or driving to the very best of your ability and your ability was shit - you were unable to meet the minimum standard and should be prosecuted for it. Same as if you drive dangerously for whatever reason without having an accident ... yet.
35+ years of accident free driving.
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minimus
Simon, do you ever use a phone while driving or eat or drink something while you are behind the wheel??
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Simon
I rarely use my phone while driving but it depends on the context - would I answer the phone if I'm driving on a straight road with no traffic while not looking at it? Maybe, if anyone ever called me! I probably speak on my phone twice a month if that, it's mostly a Pokemon Go device. I literally panic and wonder what the strange music is when it rings, LOL
I'd drink or eat something that was not distracting - a mars bar takes no mental effort to eat for instance. but I wouldn't eat something like a burger and fondue is right out of the running. The key things is not taking your eyes off the road and being able to use your hands still. But I rarely do because I can stop and eat something or have something before I set off / after I arrive - I personally think it's mental that people are fed on planes, unless it's a 6+ hour flight just do it at either end, you're not going to starve!
I'm an excellent driver - hands at the 10-to-2 position nearly all the time, checking my mirrors constantly and aware of what is happening. I want to know where every other vehicle around me is and what they are doing and if one of them isn't paying attention or has an unusual closing speed - reading the traffic is important, you should be able to tell and anticipate what other drivers are going to do and adjust accordingly. I regularly drive on Deerfoot in Calgary, the "highway of retards in trucks", you have to be prepared.
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stillin
Maybe it's just one of Nature's ways of culling the idiots
out of the herd. Studies may show a connection, but the ones who are stupid about when they talk on the phone be the overwhelming majority of the ones who get into accidents.
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cofty
the ones who are stupid about when they talk on the phone be the overwhelming majority of the ones who get into accidents.
And take others with them.