20/20

[LittleBigMan]

John "Give Me a Break" Stossel of television's 20/20 fame did a piece on driving while using a cell phone. (Here we go again.)

I admit I didn't watch the show. :cry:

But the intro went something like this: "Everyone is telling us that talking on a cellphone while driving is a dangerous distraction. Give me a break..."

I confess, this is why I never followed up on the show to see what he was going to say. So if I am "jerking at the knee," please correct me. I am teachable.

But if he really wants me to give him a break, I will. A break from using his cellphone, that is. The only thing I would ask Mr. Stossel to do is to attempt to carry on an intelligent phone conversation while his children are trying to get his attention.

"Please be quiet, kids! How do you expect me to concentrate on my conversation with you distracting me like that?"

Admittedly, driving IS a distraction to talking on a cellphone.
So we should stop driving, not using the cellphone!

:thumbup:

I say, make policework easier. At every car accident, whether with another car, cyclist, pedestrian, dog or lightpost, search for the cellphone.

"Serche la cellphone." (spelling?)

[Jon T.]

I work in a grocery store and blabbing on a cellphone seems to have replaced the common grocery list. People now just go to the shop and call the folks at home and walk through the store describing the items in front of them while someone else tells him/her what to buy.

Kind of rediculous I think but I see it almost everyday. As far as cellphones and driving go, if I owned a cellphone and it was ringing all the time while I was driving I think I'd prolly want to test the thing to see if it was shatter proof!

I have yet to come up with a real reason why I'd actually want or need a cellphone. No , wait, I take that back. I did use a cellphone one time in my life and that was when my wife was pregnant. Other than that, no thanks.

Know what would be cool? Telemarketers targeting cellphone owners! Imagine someone dialing you up on the mobile phone trying to sell you magazine subscriptions while you are negoitiating downtown rush hour traffic. ;)

[Moose]

In my line of work, the cell phone has replaced two way radios for communications, I have used one for over ten years and find it invaluable. I use it while driving and it does take a conscience effort to maintain an appropriate amount of attention to the road. I NEVER carry on a conversation in any traffic that warrants complete undivided attention (i.e. construction zones or busy highway traffic ect...). People that tend to get very engrossed in their conversations or don't truly respect the potential for danger are the ones that wind up in accidents.

I also use my cell phone in the grocery store, it is a great convienience. It's not like your there to socialize with the other customers and by talking on the phone you're somehow bieng rude to them. I have never seen any cell phone related accidents in the store either, although it has probably happened.

[MichaelW]

One of Britains top cycling athletes was killed on a training ride by a truck. The drivers mobile range, and as he was searching in his bag for the phone, he ran down the cyclist.
According to the latest General Motors research, incidents of this kind do not figure in their statistics because it did not result in a crash serious enough to trigger air bag release.

[RonH]

if I owned a cellphone and it was ringing all the time
I've responded to this type of remark before with, "That's what answering machines are for."

I don't own a cell phone and have no desire for one.
We have considered buying one for "on the road" emergencies only, but haven't given in yet. I guess when all the pay phones are gone we may have to. :(

[John E]

One of our local newspaper editors asked readers to tell her what is the rudest behaviour they enconter in today's society. My response, which they actually printed, was talking on the telephone while operating a motor vehicle, since it is a way of saying, "My conversation is more important than your (or my) safety."

[Redhed]

I have not puchased a cell phone yet either, but I can see both advantages and disadvantages. Being female, and sometimes riding my bike alone at night or in rural areas I have thought about the safety of having the phone. Of course if anyone tried anything, I would try to kick their *ss first, then use the phone to call an ambulance for them.

What is totally rude is the people that feel as if they have to SCREAM into their phone, especially at a restaurant or in a store. I know that the reception may not be the greatest, but manners are hitting an all time low in our society.

What ever happened to "Thank you" when you buy something at a store? Also, people have forgotten the "middle finger" etiquette. Since when did the guy who did the wrong deed have the right to use the bird at you?:irritated

Sorry I have to get off the soapbox. Maybe I should go into the rant and rave section.

[Chris L]

Originally posted by Redhed
What is totally rude is the people that feel as if they have to SCREAM into their phone, especially at a restaurant or in a store. I know that the reception may not be the greatest, but manners are hitting an all time low in our society.


I've noticed this too. Is the person on the other end deaf? Screaming at them won't change it. Is the phone that useless that you can't hear a normal conversation? Kind of defeats the purpose of having one.

Sometimes having no money to buy these things is good.

[LightBoy]

Originally posted by Jon T.
I work in a grocery store and blabbing on a cellphone seems to have replaced the common grocery list. People now just go to the shop and call the folks at home and walk through the store describing the items in front of them while someone else tells him/her what to buy.

I worked at Arby's for a few years, and we got this all the time. In the middle of the dinner rush, someone would wait until they got to the head of the line to call, and then make with the, "Yeah Honey, what do you want? No, I don't think they have hamburgers. Well, just pick something..." It got to the point where I started by-passing customers that were too engrossed in their conversation on the phone. This action, of course, got me sworn at.

I agree that in some situations, a cell phone can be an invaluable resource, a life saver, or even just a convienence. Heck, I'll admit it - if I could afford it, I'd have one too. But what I don't understand is why so many people think that having a cell phone give them liscense to be even more rude than they usually are.

Bah.

[Chris L]

But cell phones are such a brain booster! I mean, have you ever noticed that when people are walking down the street talking on those things, they always say really profound things like: "Yeah I'm walking down the street", fascinating!

[Jon T.]

I think I may have just missed some kind of cell phone primo wave or something because I can't come up with a single reason why I would willfully pay for one. Only time in my life I actually wanted to have one was when my wife was pregnant, other than that I clump cellphones in with electric can-openers and coffee mug warmers. Nice but not really needed. ( Note: I said "needed" because I didn't know how to spell "nessecary" <--probably wrong. :) )

[Allister]

My mother has caught the cell phone craze bad. She kept insisting to me that I should get one because 'they're free'. She even actually said this while she had a monthly account for $120 in her hand.

Whilst on the subject, I got this message on my email from a collegue today.


Hi all

I don't know if you've heard, but starting Jan 1, 2002 you will no longer be able use a mobile phone while driving in any country unless you have a "hands free" adapter.

I went to Indooroopilly and they wanted $50 for a hands free adapter!!

I have managed to get hold of some "off brand" units and was wondering if you knew people who would be interested. These kits are compatible with any mobile phone and one size fits all. I paid $8 each for buying in quantity. I'm selling them for $10 (raising funds for full retirement).

I tried them out on Erisson, Motorola, & Nokia phones and they worked perfectly.

A photo is attached. Take a look and let me know if you want one, one dozen, one gross, even one hundred."

[Bikinguy]

Hi All ,

A university in the States did a study on the mobile phone and using a hands free version and found the hands free not to be any safer than the hand held version. But the most important factor in moblie phone safety while driving was the type of call the driver was involved in. They found if the call was a light type of call not involving emotions that the driver was still pretty much in control of the car. But if the call was a in depth business or personel call that involved real emotion the driver then used what the study called the minds eye and minds ear. This means that the person pictured the person and this greatly distracted from the driving ability. They found that a person in a deep business conversation or a deep personel conversation had approx the same awarness of driving as a person that was legally drunk.
Ride safe..yeah right...Dudley

[Palafo]

I have a phone provided by my office that I use very rarely. Usually someone is trying to reach me in the 10-20 minues after I leave work with a question about that night's production. When I ride, I keep it in my seat pack, turned off, so I can call my wife in an emergency. I also take it out when I have a night on the town or when I travel, same reason. If someone else wasn't picking up most of the cost, I wouldn't have one. I don't really understand the attraction of walking/driving around talking on the phone all the time. I was riding next to a guy this weekend at a century ride, down Fifth Avenue at 7:30 a.m., and his cell phone on his belt went off. All of his pals had to stop while he took the call.
This was a Sunday morning. What could be so important?

Why people talk loudly on cell phones: To hear their own voices, usually. There is no feedback mechanism in these phones like in a standard phone at your house. You only hear the other person, not your own voice. People who are not aware of this find themselves talking loudly.

[John E]

Again, it all comes down to civility and the intelligent, proper, polite, and safe use of a potentially very useful and valuable tool. Perhaps cell phones need a call screening mode, in which they will ring only for emergency calls, but of course alot of impatient callers (even telemarketers) will quickly learn to abuse such a system.

My only solution to the driving safety problem is greater legal and financial accountability for motorists and more effective education about how to deal safely with all potential distractions, including car radios, hands-free telephones, unruly kids, etc.

[MikeR]

We have a cell phone. My teenage daughter (who drives) has orders to use it for emergencies only. No one outside the family knows the number. We almost never use it. It just gives peace of mind when my daughter is on the road.

I was witness to one of the goofiest cell phone events. The office building I work in has a lot of metal - cell phone signals don’t get through well. I was next to a bank of 7 standard phones (there for guests to use). Some guy came over toward the window, leaning on the table with the 7 phones. He was screaming into his little cell “How’s that? Can you hear me now?” Then he muttered - “this damn thing. What am I gona do now? I gota get through” He started to walk away still mumbling to himself; then he spun around in a fit of excitement and gasped “Hey, I know!” Then he ran over to one of the 7 phones and started dialing. Now THAT’S an ingenious problem solver!

It also bugs me to see parents who spend all week away from their kids. When they are finally with them on Saturday, they ignore them while they talk to some friend on the phone.

I think that we are witnessing a new psychological malady in which a person can not relate to anyone on a person to person level - it’s too intimate. Instead they put some kind of electronic barrier between themselves and the people around them (like a cell phone or a computer). This may be the result of being raised by the TV.

[D*Alex]

There was a letter in Ann Landers (or some such columnist) the other day from a Rabbi. He was the attending clergy at a funeral, and, while carrying the casket of the recently deceased out of the temple, one of the pallbearers' cell phone began to ring. The man reached into his pocket, and answered the call, while carrying the casket! What gall!!

[Greg]

I got away with not having a cell phone or pager for 35 years until my employer distributed them with orders to keep them on during business hours.

It's like an embarrasing ball and chain.

[Chris L]

Originally posted by John E
My only solution to the driving safety problem is greater legal and financial accountability for motorists and more effective education about how to deal safely with all potential distractions, including car radios, hands-free telephones, unruly kids, etc.

A lot of those things could just be banned anyway. Telephones of any kind and loud radios among them.

[Kevin S]

Originally posted by Allister
A photo is attached. Take a look and let me know if you want one, one dozen, one gross, even one hundred.


:p Thanks, but I've already got a drawer full of the things.

Kevin S

[Kevin S]

Looks like a battle of the networks. One of the TV "magazine" shows had a show where they took people who usually did everything with their phones (took notes, searched their file bins, etc.) while driving. They put these people on a closed course with various obstacles and surprise incidents and had them talking on the phone, looking up numbers, writing a grocery list. All the people failed the test, most failed miserably.

The part where I disagreed was when it called for a ban on c-phones. All of the accidents they cited could have been prosecuted under negligent driving. Here in Georgia, USA, we have a vehicular homicide law that is frequently used for gross negligence, road rage, or drunk driving.

The advantage of broad laws like this is that they can also be used for people who are shaving, using i-pagers, writing down something they heard on the radio, etc. (yes, I've seen people shaving and was almost hit by a woman using an i-pager <honked the horn, she moved back to her lane and immediately started typing again>).

BTW, yes, I have a c-phone. Only turned on for outgoing calls.

Kevin S

[John E]

I agree fundamentally, Kevin, but most states need to get alot more serious about all varieties of negligent, aggressive, and impaired driving. A few months ago, the San Diego cycling community lost a valued member (and lawful vehicular "effective" cyclist) when a motorist veered into the bike lane. The arraignment is scheduled for 1 October -- I will post again when I know the outcome.

[LittleBigMan]

Originally posted by John E
...most states need to get alot more serious about all varieties of negligent, aggressive, and impaired driving.
At the bus stop I use, about 1 mile from home, when I don't ride the bike, lots of school buses pass. It's residential, 25 mph. limit.

Dang, some of those school buses are doing 40.

I would get the number of one of them and report them, yet it does seem unfair that a school bus driver loses a job while the rest of the car drivers are untouched.

:irritated

[Chris L]

I saw two buses having a 'drag race' across a bridge once. F*cking lunatics.

[Allister]

Originally posted by Pete Clark

At the bus stop I use, about 1 mile from home, when I don't ride the bike, lots of school buses pass. It's residential, 25 mph. limit.

Dang, some of those school buses are doing 40.

I would get the number of one of them and report them, yet it does seem unfair that a school bus driver loses a job while the rest of the car drivers are untouched.

:irritated

Well, call me stupid, but I reckon a bus driver with school children in his/her charge should be held far more accountable that the average motorist. If they can't do their job properly, they either modify their behaviour or get sacked. Isn't that how things normally work? They can pursue their racing career elsewhere.

Allister

[Pat O'Malley]

A couple years ago some school kids noticed that their bus driver was driving odd, and smelled of booze. So one of the kids pulled the keys out of the ignition, at a stop, and the driver was arrested, and of course fired.

[AlphaGeek]

Originally posted by Pat O'Malley
A couple years ago some school kids noticed that their bus driver was driving odd, and smelled of booze. So one of the kids pulled the keys out of the ignition, at a stop, and the driver was arrested, and of course fired.

Our youth, our future! Oohrah!
Way to go kid! :thumbup: