This is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. The thread about the woman who got a traffic ticket for killing a cyclist with her SUV because she was distracted downloading ringtones to her phone finally pushed me over the edge. The fact that that accident happened miles from where I was hit in May didn’t help either.
So I’m challenging ST to the following: GET OFF THE PHONE while you are driving. It is so obscenely dangerous that I’m not even going to list all the hazards. Tell your friends, tell your family, and most importantly, tell your tri club. Phones and ipods (especially video capable models) are death sentences for anyone who likes to run, bike, or use public roads for anything other than gas guzzling.
I know that most people, and hopefully all of us, are very safe drivers and probably capable of using a phone while driving. This is not the point. The point is that it is an unsafe practice and something can go wrong at any minute when you are operating a 2000 pound vehicle.
I know some people have become dependent on their phones, and think that their life/job/marriage depends on answering that call. It’s not true. 15 years ago we didn’t have them and somehow everything was okay if you waited until you got to the office to answer a call.
So put your phones away. Put away your PDAs, cameras, ipods, breast pumps, razors, whatever your use in the car. Just try it for a month, until the beginning of 2007, and see how it goes.
"… use public roads for anything other than gas guzzling. "
Who do you think pays for the road construction / maintenance? Its the fuel tax, so they have every right to do whatever bonehead stuff they want to do. Oh wait, wrong side of that fence. I wonder what the true stats are for accidents with phones / electronics to blame. I prefer to croche while driving; its more relaxing than talking on the phone.
I wish there was some place to get stats on deaths/injuries caused by people doing something other than driving in the car. I bet it would be scary. Unfortunately, I think this is impossible to stop, people consider their car a living room. I bet people would be angry if pilots did all the stuff they do in their car though.
Perhaps, but if you and the Sergio set an example, we will all follow.
Uh uh uh,
The Sergio communicates via mind-meld.
A trick I’ve used on my family is to invoke the “if/when I get hit by a car someday, I hope it isn’t because they were on the phone.” Sans the discomfort of provoking tears, it works brilliantly.
Growing up, my friends dad was a commercial pilot for delta. Back in the day, it wasn’t out of the question to go up to the front to check everything out. The first time I said hi, the door was opened and they had taped all the windows over with newspaper because they were flying right into the sun. Everybody was reading. So I don’t think pilots are all business all the time - E
Yes, ban use of cell phones while driving. From AAA website:
Distracted Driving - including the use of cell phones - is a major contributor to automobile crashes. Between 4,000 and 8,000 crashes related to distracted driving occur daily in the United States. In a year, they contribute to as many as one-half of the 6 million U.S. crashes reported annually. AAA has worked out a ten-point plan to help address this issue. But the best advice is to avoid distractions whenever possible.
Its a sad reality that cell phones have become a necessary evil in modern society. So to think that we can influence others to completely stop using them while driving is a noble, pragmatic, but ultimately very unrealistic objective.
I personally would like to see more states mandate headset use and require all cell phones to have an easy to use/easy to activate “driving mode” that turns on voice-activated dialing and voice activated controls. That, in my opinion, is an achievable objective.
It’s so frustrating. Last week I pulled up to a stoplight next to a cyclist wearing headphones. I got his attention and informed him that it’s against the law to wear them while riding. His response: “Yeah, I know…” Not surprisingly he wasn’t wearing a helmet.
As Ron White says, “You can’t fix stupid.”
Its a sad reality that cell phones have become a necessary evil in modern society. So to think that we can influence others to completely stop using them while driving is a noble, pragmatic, but ultimately very unrealistic objective.
I personally would like to see more states mandate headset use and require all cell phones to have an easy to use/easy to activate “driving mode” that turns on voice-activated dialing and voice activated controls. That, in my opinion, is an achievable objective.
Hah!! They are not necessary at all. i have gone 35 years without one and I work in an IT field and have to be on call. I don’t have a beeper/phone…nothing. All this crap about having to be connected 24/7 is ridiculous, but people fall for it every day.
if you have to be on call, how do people reach you?
Kudos to you for not having a cell phone. My point is not that everyone absolutely needs one (though if I didn’t have one, my personal freedom would be limited greatly), its that it is unrealistic to believe that people will stop using them. Therefore, measures to make their use while driving safer is a more prudent approach than trying to ban them entirely.
"… use public roads for anything other than gas guzzling. "
Who do you think pays for the road construction / maintenance? Its the fuel tax.
Actually most local roads (which we ride on, as opposed to highways) are paid for by general funds (derived from sales and income taxes), property taxes and assessments, etc. The taxes on fuel don’t even come close to paying for the infrastructure. The combined cost of the line item on my property tax bills just for one road, the main road through our neighborhood, which is in an incorporated city, used by far more commuters than people living along the road (and which will be on my tax bill for 20 years) plus just my lot’s share of the lump sum paid by the developer (and cooked into the price of the house) to buy down the original bond before passing it on to the homeowners, is likely more than an individual spends on FUEL in a lifetime, much less on fuel taxes. That’s one 5 mile stretch of road. And the bond was only for a small portion of the cost (improving the road from its original backroad condition).
well true, except while flying there is nothing to hit. I doubt they are chatting on their phones and applying eye liner while taking off and taxing etc. It is a mindset and some people see driving as a distraction to their other activities not the other way around
Distracted Driving - including the use of cell phones - is a major contributor to automobile crashes. Between 4,000 and 8,000 crashes related to distracted driving occur daily in the United States. In a year, they contribute to as many as one-half of the 6 million U.S. crashes reported annually. AAA has worked out a ten-point plan to help address this issue. But the best advice is to avoid distractions whenever possible.