I'm in!!!!! Reality is I don't use a cell phone now so kinda cheating but hey why not.
I will challenge my high school students to do the same. I will try and get a picture of their reactions. Great Monday discussion starters for Mr M's Social Studies classes.

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"There are no problems in life, just many leadership and learning opportunities." SED

I can honestly say, that if my phone is near my hands, I will be tempted to pick it up at a traffic light when it beeps. I will put it down before putting the car back into first gear, but it's distracting. I made a deal with my wife a few months ago that I would not and stuck to it. But it may as well be in the trunk. No way to "cheat".

I got my license in 1983 and did all my military service and the first part of my commercial career with no phone and magically got around and got things done without the phone messing with my driving. Time to go back to being more organized before I get into my car. On a side note, if I can get organized to not need my phone while riding my bike, no reason why its not possible while driving.

This would kill me! And I'm retired, older than Dan and don't text and drive. I do answer calls and look if it beeps when I'm at a light.

dev just turn it off. Turn it right off and it cannot get you. I have a cell phone and a pager. I give my pager number to the hospital and nursing home and my nurse and my wife. If for some reason if it goes off I can wait until I pull over to check it. I mainly use the cell phone to make outgoing calls. The damn cell phone rings or vibrates or whatever and it is just too tempting to take a look and see. But I guess if you can't turn it off sticking it in the trunk works. I think this is a good challenge. We all need to work on this. This whole cell phone thing has given me some insight to the whole drinking and driving thing. They think they are okay they think they can do it safely but they can't.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Yes, I can put it into sleep mode but most times, I just won't. So better to just throw it in the trunk where even if it is on inadvertently we can't get to it! I remember once on a drive from Austin to Dallas, the weather was crappy, and I had to take a conf call, so I just pulled over and put the flashers on and took the call stationary. A cop pulled over to check what was going on around 20 min in. I was so into the call, I did not even see the blinking flashing Ranger lights when he got out and pulled up beside me. I was startled, and got kind of interrogated and said, "honestly, I am just here being safe and not driving distracted due to this call". The Ranger thanked me and moved on. But most times, I'd just take the call even in a crazy torrential storm and choose work over safety.

I was born after '92 and I manage just fine. Few things: "kids"/people my age early 20's don't drink and drive, period. Obviously a few idiots do, but I don't count them as people. I'm actually impressed with EVERY party I go to, people call ubers/taxis or get rides with dd's, or sleep over, and make sure everyone gets home safe without drinking and driving. The only people who drink and drive are old drunks who grew up doing it.

Texting and driving is another story, everyone does it. Young, old, blond, smart, you name it, they text and drive. They don't even think it's a bad thing. My brother and his friend were driving home this past summer and his friend got busted for texting and driving, iirc the fine was $600 and 3 demerit points.. His parents weren't even upset that he got caught and continued to let them drive without telling him to stop texting.. I can't believe how acceptable texting and driving is.. Over 6000 people were killed because of texting and driving last year in the US alone.. Whenever someones driving and I'm with them and they pull out their phone to text I tell them three things: Hand me the phone and let me do it, which most say no (wtf I don't get why people don't let me text for them if it's so important?), put down your phone, or pull over and let me out. Twice I have had people stop and let me out, only to say sorry and try and get me back in the car, which I will only do if they hand me their phone and let me put it in my pocket.

I wish their was some car system in place to check if the drivers use their phones, but I'm sure automated cars will be the norm before anything like that would be implemented.

I will never text and drive.

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OlympicHopeful.com - Interviews with aspiring Olympians | Strava
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“More often than not bad luck meant bad plans” -Joe Abercrombie

[/quote]

Texting and driving is another story, everyone does it. Young, old, blond, smart, you name it, they text and drive. They don't even think it's a bad thing.[/quote]


Exactly...if a meeting runs late after 5 PM, I am the only one remaining in the parking lot making the call/texting from my parked car....(which has bluetooth, voice control, etc.).

All others first start up their cars, then dial and continue to text, talk while driving off.

Yeah, that's my
"You can pry that phone out of my cold dead hands"
brain-dead slug coworkers with low IQ and EQ.

Gotta get out of there.....

Not really a challenge, but again I got my driving licences (car, motor bike, light truck, power boat) way before 1992 ;)

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Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
http://www.swimrunfrance.fr
http://www.worldofswimrun.com

Or just have a passenger in the car with you (NZ road safety PSA)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-bc3VN0XdU

I've got much better at ignoring everything and pulling over to check the phone.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

In 1980 no one used a cell phone while driving, in 2017 almost everyone does. Even with that, driving has gotten significantly safer in that time.

I don't want to be the pro texting-and-driving guy but the road carnage certainly isn't what this thread plays it up to be. The middle aged guy picking up his phone to see that his wife wants him to pick up milk on the way home isn't the problem.

I remember my dad and his friends discussing the dangers of distracting driving when they were first putting tape players in cars.

OK, I remember growing up and drinking and driving was no big deal but we know better now. I put the middle age guy checking his phone while driving because he wife wants milk as an equivalent threat. It's why I won't fiddle with my phone while moving in the same vein that I won't fiddle with my phone while riding my bike. It really can wait till I am stopped and not a hazard to myself or anyone.

In any case, today is day 1. If you don't want to participate that's cool, but you're the guy we're going to be bitching about when we are riding and you are checking for your wife's "get milk" message while you are in motion in the car and we're on the same road with our bikes.

I plug my phone in to the car and listen to audio books while driving. It aids with attentiveness in much the same way that talk radio/ NPR do only I get to decide the content. I can't see the screen and I don't touch it while driving. It's unlikely that I will put in in the trunk. No signal back there.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

LOL....OK people are already asking for passes. I wonder if Kosmo Kramer asked Jerry Seinfeld what is and is not permitted for their "master of your domain" bet. Is this like "hearing porn vs watching porn"....OK OK, sorry, I had to have some laughs on Monday! Sounds like you are good since you're just using the phone as an audio player. Maybe we make a rule that you have to go on airplane mode so you can't be interrupted by the external world and GPS off and screen locked.

Um, I'm not listening to THOSE kinds of books. Then I'd definitely be distracted.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

My dad taught me, "the phone is for my convenience, I'll answer it if I want".
My job does not depend on it. So I can answer it hands free in my car if I choose. Texts are never time urgent for me. So no need to hide the phone, but I agree with the concept.

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Team Zoot So Cal

Driving has got safer because of seatbelts, airbags, better cars, driver education, graduated licensing, better roads etc. That doesn't mean we have to say, Oh well its the best we can do. I agree with dev we are now at the stage with distracted driving that we were with drunk driving 30-40 years ago. People thing they are okay and its no big deal but it is.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

But if I put my cell phone in my trunk, the person I have stowed in there might call the police and give some lame story about kidnapping. :)

Seriously, I don't have a trunk. Does the rear of my CRV count? And in my backpack for the motorcycle?

Driving Challenge: hard level. Keep your cell phone in your pocket and resist the urge to look at it when it rings or beeps or otherwise attempts to get your attention.

First rule of driving: drive first, everything else is second.

My cellphone is a $10 Tracfone. I'm not going to put in the trunk but I'll enter the contest to see who can go the longest without looking at the phone while driving.

I did a long ride on Saturday. 90% of the ride was done on multiuse paths, and one path crossed a major thoroughfare at an exit off an interstate. I'm always on the lookout when crossing the intersection (in the crosswalk since the path runs parallel to the exit ramp) for right crosses from motorists coming off the exit ramp. I was waiting at the red light with an SUV exiting the interstate. The light turned green, the crosswalk signal turned white, I started riding across the intersection and the SUV started to turn right in front of me. I moved into the SUV's path, it stopped and the driver was holding a phone in his hand in a position that indicated he was looking at the phone while making the turn. I gave him the traditional righteous sermon about putting down the f-ing phone and paying attention to the road. Of course, his facial expression revealed no concern for my well-being or guilt for his action, but it did make me feel good and angry. I decided I'd describe the feeling as blanger, combining the words blissful and anger. The Urban Dictionary has a much different definition for blanger.

I started pretty much the same thread almost exactly 10 years ago. I hope this one gets more traction.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/Get_off_the_PHONE!!!!_P1092582/?search_string=phone#p1092582

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

You do know it is illegal for you to be operating your phone while stopped as well correct? It is still a hazard.

http://news.nationalpost.com/...o-appeal-court-rules

Directed at anyone who uses their phones while driving:
Texting and driving is worse than drunk driving so congrats to all you idiots still doing it. you are officially worse than drunk drivers.

http://www.techtimes.com/...le-driving-study.htm

I have 0 tolerance for people who use their phones in the car.

I now know that you are not allowed to fiddle with your phone when stopped in Ontario. I only found that out when I was in traffic court around 2 months ago to defend myself for a ticket (pedestrian jaywalking while I was driving....I got the charges dismissed by the judge).....but the guy beside me was about to defend himself for a $480 ticket for picking up his phone at a stop sign. Also just because its illegal does not mean most of us don't do stupid illegal things (almost everyone speeds and rolls through stop signs, although I would argue that both can be done in a safe manner). So I'd rather put the phone away so I not tempted to do mess around with it.

I do this already, or at least have it in a hard to access pocket, to avoid the temptation to glance at an incoming message when I'm sat at a red light. GPS is built into the car so no issues on the navigation front, but I do still take a lot of calls over Bluetooth (works just fine even with the phone in the trunk). I genuinely think that talking on a good hands free system is no more distracting than listening to and singing along with music which is always what I did before we had phones, and definitely less distracting than fiddling around trying to tune the radio or change a cassette/CD. I can even place a call using a button on my steering wheel and voice recognition so my eyes never leave the road. So I'm going to keep the occasional phone call I'm afraid, and will have the radio on when I'm not on the phone, but I do draw the line at conference calls where I have to dial in a PIN, unless I can get onto the call while parked somewhere before I set off.

And my trip to work tomorrow is by bike...

"Driving has got safer because of seatbelts, airbags, better cars"

none of that helps the cyclist.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman