Advocacy & Safety - Texting while driving -- what we already knew

This time, it's from a car magazine.

Article:
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/texting_while_driving_how_dangerous_is_it_feature

Video (3 minutes):
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/texting_while_driving_how_dangerous_is_it_video

Why am I bothering to post this? Well, this isn't some bunch of safety-nanny hippies ranting about how many preschoolers are made into hamburger every hour by drunk teenagers texting while having sex at 300 mph. This is a car enthusiast publication which regularly focuses on the driving dynamics and performance capabilities of cars and trucks (in this same issue, they published a comparison test of summer high-performance tires).

I know that it'll fall on some deaf ears anyway among drivers, and car enthusiasts are very much a minority of car owners, but at least the hazards of texting-while-driving are getting more press.

Related article at cnbc.com, which quoted data from the C&D story:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/31545004/site/14081545

I am amazed that we even need to have laws against texting while driving a motor vehicle (or a train, for that matter!). It is tragic and disgusting that so many people don't see that engaging in texting and other forms of distraction while motoring is grossly immoral.

people texting and driving make me fear for my life. not just when I'm on a bike either.

HOW HOW HOW can anyone possibly get it into their head that it's safe to try and drive a car, a moving vehicle, while doing something THAT MAKES YOU HAVE TO LOOK AWAY FROM THE ROAD. it defies all logic and common sense to me.

and I text A LOT. it is how my band communicates with each other alot of the time and me and my classmates often arrange stuff via text message. so I do a lot of texting. but never has it EVER crossed my mind even for a second to do it while driving. if I hear the text message received sound on my phone I either let it wait until I'm off the road or pull over if its really urgent.

o-dog is obviously about the only one of his generation who's AWAKE. Goodonya, man!

A lot of the problem is how easy it is to GET a license, and how HARD it is to lose one!

There only way I see an end to texting (or twittering, or updating your myspace page, etc) while driving is under one of two scenarios:

1) Wide sweeping legislation with severe fines, a commitment to reinforcement, and an innovative way to catch offenders (think high-tech snooping, not the standard of seeing it happening).

2) Legislation to disable phones while moving over X miles an hour. Clearly this is easily done, but then prohibits passengers in cars, trains, etc from using their phones.

None of this will happen until a few "important" people are killed due to texting while driving.

I am amazed that we even need to have laws against texting while driving a motor vehicle (or a train, for that matter!). It is tragic and disgusting that so many people don't see that engaging in texting and other forms of distraction while motoring is grossly immoral.

+100

I really have to agree here... what in the world are these people thinking... have they lost all sense of responsibility?

Of course we could go further and ask, why all the "toys" for the inside of cars? And what about simple common user interfaces in cars... no doubt there are motorists out there trying to figure out some aspect of their new "audio entertainment system," or how to "play" their GPS or other on board devices.

There only way I see an end to texting (or twittering, or updating your myspace page, etc) while driving is under one of two scenarios:

1) Wide sweeping legislation with severe fines, a commitment to reinforcement, and an innovative way to catch offenders (think high-tech snooping, not the standard of seeing it happening).

2) Legislation to disable phones while moving over X miles an hour. Clearly this is easily done, but then prohibits passengers in cars, trains, etc from using their phones.

None of this will happen until a few "important" people are killed due to texting while driving.


Actually there is a third plan in the works... autonomous drive vehicles. It has been predicted that cars will self drive some time in the next 15-25 years. At that point the people inside can do what ever they want. Self parking cars are only the beginning. DARPA programs are already testing concepts for self drive military vehicles... and the civilian world will eventually benefit from those tests through self drive cars for non military use. No doubt there will be a transition period, and probably some "issues" and problems, but these will be ironed out over time.

Here is an interesting read on the subject: http://www.templetons.com/brad/robocars/

Self-driving cars will be needed for demographic reasons, because we cannot keep the coming huge crop of elderly moving via mass transit alone.

If you look at the presence of cell towers, they are concentrated along highways, even in rural areas. Obviously, the amount of traffic from cars is rather important component of the cell phone business.

If you look at the presence of cell towers, they are concentrated along highways, even in rural areas. Obviously, the amount of traffic from cars is rather important component of the cell phone business.

Yes, but the decision on how and were to use the cell phone is up to the driver.

And frankly it is the cell phone use in places other than freeways that tends to worry me.

o-dog is obviously about the only one of his generation who's AWAKE. Goodonya, man!

A lot of the problem is how easy it is to GET a license, and how HARD it is to lose one!

well I'm 27 so I'm not sure which generation you're talking about but thanks nonetheless.

and you're 100% right on the 2nd point. you don't even have to take a road test to get a license here, you just have to drive on an obstacle course for 10 minutes.

The slaves must be able to get to work.
And the slaves must be able to be reached, anytime of day.

Hence Car and Phone culture.

You've got no damn excuse from being where your debt-based responsibilities deem you to be! :)

Texting while driving is plain dumb. I suppose it's acceptable if you're sitting in traffic. Talkng while driving? Probably dumb too considering I see some people walking with their phones and absent mindingly crossing the road.

Phone talking and driving is banned in UK. What will they do next people ask. Will they stop us talking to passengers in the car? It sounds babsurd. but similarly, I've seen people talking to each other and walking, and also absent minidngly crossing the road. I hope it doesnt become law, and I hope people will become less stupid (I cant call it anything other than stupidity, it's certainly not ignorance).

AFAIK, the law in UK also stands, that you are not allowing to consume food/drink while driving.

Texting while driving is plain dumb.

Sure it is... but it was inevitable.

15 years ago, when I was a slogging commuter between Cocoa Beach and Melbourne, FL, it was newspaper readers and makeup appliers that were the bane of safe users of the road.

Frankly, modern vehicles make it too damn easy for drivers not to concentrate on the task at hand.

Texting while driving is plain dumb.


Sure it is... but it was inevitable.

As a friend of mine and I remind each other, never underestimate the stupidity of the left half of the bell curve.

HOW HOW HOW can anyone possibly get it into their head that it's safe to try and drive a car, a moving vehicle, while doing something THAT MAKES YOU HAVE TO LOOK AWAY FROM THE ROAD

Lit cigarette falls on the floorboards.
8-Track jams in the player.
Kids are screaming in the backseat.

This isn't a function of modern communication devices.
It's a matter of society never addressing (in a comprehensive way) what it means to pilot a 5000lb bullet at breakneck speeds, down public rights-of-way.

The intoxication of the car just seems to leave us glossy-eyed over the 50,000 or so killed, annually.

Had this thought --

They've investigated phone records in accidents with mass transit, for example finding that the California train operator was texting with some kids about what it's like to drive a train.

I might not be averse to checking them in regular "civilian" accidents. The gray area would be whether texts received, but not read, would count against the driver -- how would it be known whether they were reading those texts or not at the time of the accident?

One really good thing about the self-drive cars -- road rage will be a thing of the past! A computer doesn't get impatient!

I don't think texting is the issue, per se. The issue is, and always has been, distracted driving. I think the definition of distracted driving needs to be broadened and the laws changed accordingly.

Lit cigarette falls on the floorboards.
8-Track jams in the player.
Kids are screaming in the backseat.

This isn't a function of modern communication devices.
It's a matter of society never addressing (in a comprehensive way) what it means to pilot a 5000lb bullet at breakneck speeds, down public rights-of-way.

The intoxication of the car just seems to leave us glossy-eyed over the 50,000 or so killed, annually.

No, it is NOT a function of modern communication devices... but bear in mind that those new devices (and many more that are now available for in-car use) are only ADDING to the moments that drivers are NOT paying attention.

The point is that since the early '80s, speed limits have gone up (used to be 55MH nation wide), Big Gulps have become standard fare (and other "super sized" menus), cup holders have become standard, air conditioning has become more common, (isolates driver from road and speed) radios have become less standard (sure, custom radios existed before, but the proliferation of fancier radios has skyrocketed...) along with GPS, car DVD players, satellite radio, even games in the dashboard... AND the cell phone, with TEXT messaging, have all lead to nearly countless reasons that we might find a motorist voluntarily NOT paying attention to what should be a number one priority when driving.... that is pf course, actually driving.

The dropped cigarette, or jammed 8 track occur at a frequency far less than someone CHOOSING to either call or text someone else, when they should be focusing on the road.

I had to travel with a colleague the other day, and when I got in his car I was dismayed at the wide array of "toys" at his dash... to the left was a Sirrus radio display, to the right was a window mounted GPS, on the dash was a video screen that displayed car status... the moment we were on the freeway, he locked on the cruise control, and whipped out his cell phone and proceeded to make a call while leaning on the center console. (at this point I am expecting the Lazyboy... )

First and foremost he had two devices right at eye height at his windshield, partially blocking his view.

Now granted, we were on the freeway... where few if any cyclists ever go; but none the less... how does he see and drive when in a crowded intersection??? One only wonders.

Add to all this a pack of screaming kids???

And I should take a lane :eek:

Now granted, we were on the freeway... where few if any cyclists ever go; but none the less... how does he see and drive when in a crowded intersection??? One only wonders.

To be fair to your friend, I'd say he doesn't drive like that through a crowded intersection at all.

To be fair to your friend, I'd say he doesn't drive like that through a crowded intersection at all.

Those distractions (the sirrus and the gps) still blocked his view on turns... he tended to have a "might makes right" driving manner.

So while he did not use cruise control on surface streets, there were still more visibility blocking distractions he had to deal with beyond "the jammed 8 track."

And the real point is that so many other drivers also CHOOSE to drive with their own cornucopia of distracting devices.

Where does it end? Driving with a thumbpad while viewing a video screen??? :twitchy:

What I meant was, I'd think he wouldn't be leaning over on the center console with the cell phone in his ear.

Well, then again...

What I meant was, I'd think he wouldn't be leaning over on the center console with the cell phone in his ear.

Well, then again...

:D

I think the phone in his case is used quite often, and he did not bother with "hands free," in spite of state laws.

But again, this is just an example... that I see repeated, in some form, quite often.

I gotta say, when I'm driving with a passenger and my phone goes off, they're surprised when I hand the phone to them and go, "Answer it for me, I'm driving." :D If I'm riding with my mom and her phones rings, I do the opposite -- I take it from her and handle the call myself.

I don't want to succumb to getting a turn-by-turn nav system because of the distraction it can cause. I hardly use paper maps anymore because my phone does such a good job of finding where I am -- but I'd rather just know what road sign I need to see next, not watch for a TomTom's arrow to point in a new direction.

C&D is a great magazine. Many years ago their editor (forget if it was Jean Lindamood or Dave Davis) editorialized for the death penalty for DUI. They care about responsible driving, period, even if they do it through a high-performance tint.

This is one of my least favourite motorist bad habits. I've had close calls on a few occasions with drivers using a "mobile device". What is astounding was that the recent change to ban the use of hand held phones whilst driving WAS NOT extended to include texting.... an activity that requires you look at the device as well as listen to it.

Once in a while, should I happen to be stopped at a red light alongside a "telephoner" or "texter" I'll attract their attention and ask them please not to do that. Reactions are mixed, as you might well imagine...