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Fleck
Nov 3, 09 5:52
Post #1 of 16 (311 views)
Cell Phone Usage
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The province of Ontario recently instituted a hand-held cell phone ban in cars( hands-free still allowed) Say what you want about that. Personally I was all for it. In anticipation of this, a few months ago, I started either turning off or ignoring my cell phone while in the car and driving. It was interesting. The world did not end. Family, friends, customers and clients said I was no harder to get a hold of. No business was lost, in fact Nineteen has gone through significant
growth and expansion
in the past few months! A nice upside to this reduced cell phone usage was that I was able to reduce my monthly cell phone bill by $50/month. That's a nice advantage. I have put that extra money towards my RRSP.
Steve Fleck
http://www.nineteenwetsuits.com
http://stevefleck.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/stevefleck
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by Fleck on Nov 3, 09 6:11)
JasoninHalifax
Nov 3, 09 6:00
Post #2 of 16 (304 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [Fleck]
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you're no harder to get hold of because you are answering emails on your blackberry!
(jk, just a bigger pet peeve of mine than cell phones).
It'll be interesting to see if the ban actually does anything. I still see plenty of drivers here with a cell phone held up to their ears, plenty of traffic tickets though. It appears to be a revenue stream for the local gov't, but not much else.
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"I'm a dirty girl" - Katy
Yknot
Nov 3, 09 6:05
Post #3 of 16 (302 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [Fleck]
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The majority of people use their cell phones while driving. The majority of people support the government banning cell phone usage while driving. Ponder that for a moment. A large percentage of the population voluntarily does something that they feel is unsafe and these same people support the government regulating this behavior. If you don't think talking on the cell phone while driving is safe, don't do it. Why do we need the government to get involved?
Sorry for the rant. I just think more people should choose to put their cell phones away (like you did) on their own rather than clamoring for government regulation.
Fleck
Nov 3, 09 6:22
Post #4 of 16 (289 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [Yknot]
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The majority of people use their cell phones while driving. The majority of people support the government banning cell phone usage while driving. Ponder that for a moment.
Indeed, it says a lot and nothing too good I am afraid, about where we are at these days at a societal level.
Steve Fleck
http://www.nineteenwetsuits.com
http://stevefleck.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/stevefleck
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S. Pinkfontaine
Nov 3, 09 6:35
Post #5 of 16 (274 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [Fleck]
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I very rarely use my phone in my car. If it rings while driving, I don't pick it up. If I have to call someone will driving, I'll pull over to a parking lot or something and talk.
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"You're awesome!"
--Steve Pinkfontaine
Patience isn't a virtue. Patience is a waste of my time.
http://trainingoferic.blogspot.com/
(PM for permission)
coachjoegold
Nov 3, 09 7:13
Post #6 of 16 (255 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [S. Pinkfontaine]
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Bingo. That is what voice mail is for. If I have to call 30 minutes later when I'm not driving, then so be it.
Phones are a nice convenience, but you don't have to be a slave to it and pick it up every time it rings. Patience is a commodity that is getting more scarce every year with the invention of new technology.
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slowbern
Nov 3, 09 8:27
Post #7 of 16 (229 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [Fleck]
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It will be interesting to see what happens. I am curious as to why a change was needed. To reduce accidents? It is pretty well established that the problem of distracted driving is not whether you are using your hands or not...rather that you are distracted. So the phone-use (hands-free or not) is the real distractor. Unless you implement a complete phone ban, I doubt there will be any real change in the number of accidents. People will always find something to distract them be it a drink, make-up, radio, CD, iPod, food, shaving, reading a newspaper, smoking. All of this stuff does essentially the same thing as talking on a phone. The main difference is that there is a live person (and physically disassociated with the driver) who is serving to distract the driver.
I recognize that you know this and have taken the additional step of not using your phone while driving. In my view, this should be the focus of the law instead of hand-phone use only.
Bernie
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"Slowbern has always made astute observations."-Casey 03/10/2009
trail
Nov 3, 09 8:51
Post #8 of 16 (207 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [Yknot]
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In Reply To:
I just think more people should choose to put their cell phones away (like you did) on their own rather than clamoring for government regulation.
Your solution is great, but it won't happen. It's the Lake Wobegon effect. Everyone thinks they're a good driver, and it's other people who cause all the problems.
TwinDad
Nov 3, 09 9:37
Post #9 of 16 (193 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [trail]
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Your solution is great, but it won't happen. It's the Lake Wobegon effect. Everyone thinks they're a good driver, and it's other people who cause all the problems.
x2. I was just about to post the exact same thing when I saw yours. Including the reference to Lake Wobegon.
Just a sec... stop light...
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chrisesposito
Nov 3, 09 10:03
Post #10 of 16 (171 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [slowbern]
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People will always find something to distract them be it a drink, make-up, radio, CD, iPod, food, shaving, reading a newspaper, smoking. All of this stuff does essentially the same thing as talking on a phone.
This isn't quite true, in that not all these secondary tasks (with driving as the primary, and primarily visual, task) interfere with the primary task to the same extent or in the same way. There is a rich body of work in the cognitive & perceptual psych literature about the differences, but I'd hope that your average legislature would get some expert assistance from someone that already understands the research findings instead of trying to figure it out for themselves.
Fleck
Nov 3, 09 10:10
Post #11 of 16 (168 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [coachjoegold]
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Patience is a commodity that is getting more scarce every year with the invention of new technology
Agreed. As mobile communication technology keeps advancing, there are now expectations built in with it, with regards to response times between customer and vendor. Customers/clients, in many businesses now expect immediate response on things and because many businesses are so competitive, the vendor needs to respond ASAP, or risk loosing the business!
It's also impacted the way people at certain levels in certain businesses take and deal with Holidays. It's almost impossible now to completely un-plug for a week or two. Your boss, and your clients/customers, expect that you are still reachable even-though you are on Holiday.
Steve Fleck
http://www.nineteenwetsuits.com
http://stevefleck.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/stevefleck
Fleck
Nov 3, 09 11:11
Post #12 of 16 (143 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [slowbern]
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I recognize that you know this and have taken the additional step of not using your phone while driving. In my view, this should be the focus of the law instead of hand-phone use only.
Bernie,
Have you talked to a cop recently - most of their time these days is spent, not dealing with people breaking the laws and bylaws, but dealing with people completely lacking in common sense and rational thought. "Baby sitting idiots", is how one police officer I know put it. Few seem to get it.
If you take the time to read the research and you apply some basic common sense to it, you'll come to the conclusion that, you'll be safer on the roads if you turn the cell phone off and focus on driving. No you can't control what others do, but you can certainly control what you do. These people get it.
Steve Fleck
http://www.nineteenwetsuits.com
http://stevefleck.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/stevefleck
slowbern
Nov 3, 09 11:36
Post #13 of 16 (130 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [Fleck]
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If you take the time to read the research and you apply some basic common sense to it, you'll come to the conclusion that, you'll be safer on the roads if you turn the cell phone off and focus on driving. No you can't control what others do, but you can certainly control what you do. These people get it.
Maybe you misunderstood what I was saying. I AGREE with YOUR action (to not use the cell phone at all). If there was no cell phone use on the roads, that would probably make a difference.
I DISAGREE with a law that only bans hand cell phone use but allows hands-free cell phone use. That will make no difference as the distractor is the cell-phone use not the fact that you have to hold it in your hand while you talk.
Have you talked to a cop recently - most of their time these days is spent, not dealing with people breaking the laws and bylaws, but dealing with people completely lacking in common sense and rational thought. "Baby sitting idiots", is how one police officer I know put it. Few seem to get it.
I talk to cops all of the time. I also see the results of many car accidents. I have seen some car accidents that have been caused by distracted driving. But I think I respond to far more accidents caused by DUI. For that matter, I would wager I see more accidents that are secondary to a medical problem (heart attack, seizure, insulin shock). That last could be biased somewhat as that seems to have happened a lot recently (in the last 2 weeks I have responded to 3 such accidents).
That said, I am not necessarily against an all out ban on cell-phone use.
Bernie
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"Slowbern has always made astute observations."-Casey 03/10/2009
Sully
Nov 3, 09 13:03
Post #14 of 16 (107 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [Fleck]
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Wait. Does that mean your salesmanship is so poor that talking to people actually decreased sales and when you were made less available sales increased?
JK, think your a great resource on the forum and will definitely consider 19 if I look into wetsuits. Totally crushing on your R3 as well.
FJB
Nov 3, 09 13:13
Post #15 of 16 (97 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [Fleck]
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In anticipation of this, a few months ago, I started either turning off or ignoring my cell phone while in the car and driving. It was interesting. The world did not end.
I have never owned one and despite being told that people "can't function" without one, and that they are for "emergencies" I don't buy it. People actually lived in the world before cell phones and got by quite nicely, I remember.
Most people must have a different definition for "emergency". Running out of milk for example, does not qualify, at least in my book.
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Fleck
Nov 3, 09 15:40
Post #16 of 16 (68 views)
Re: Cell Phone Usage [Sully]
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Does that mean your salesmanship is so poor that talking to people actually decreased sales and when you were made less available sales increased?
Ah, but Sully, my good friend, good sales-people listen more than they talk!! That's why God gave you two ears and only one mouth! Talk less and listen more! :)
Joking aside, despite what I said in my previous post about how "urgent" everything is in business these days, my end of the sporting goods business is casual and laid-back to a fault. It's usually me pushing the agenda and not the customer.
Steve Fleck
http://www.nineteenwetsuits.com
http://stevefleck.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/stevefleck
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