No!!!!!
01-12-10 | 11:31 AM
#26
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
Here's a question for everyone praising how much "safer" it is to be "handsfree" while using their phone: what is so damn urgent that you "have" to use the phone in the car while driving, like it's some kind of birthright? I'm only 29, but even I remember the days where people lived perfectly healthy and probably more healthy lives without being attached to their portable electronics with a Bluetooth umbilical cord.
You know, I'm big on personal responsibility, but it saddens me to say that I think it's safe to conclude now that people simply aren't responsible enough for this kind of thing. Statistics clearly demonstrate just this. Safety is more important than watching catching up with Twitter on the road, so if it was up to me all of this kind of thing would be illegal. It is a distraction whether you're holding a device or not - why is this so hard to understand? Distracted driving is now a part of popular culture. I see it all the time in movies. It's unbelievable, and it's no wonder so many Americans are afraid to commute on bike. We are truly nuts.
I too was giving Ford credit for not crying for money, but this has pretty much nullified that feeling.
Peak Oil couldn't come soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.
You know, I'm big on personal responsibility, but it saddens me to say that I think it's safe to conclude now that people simply aren't responsible enough for this kind of thing. Statistics clearly demonstrate just this. Safety is more important than watching catching up with Twitter on the road, so if it was up to me all of this kind of thing would be illegal. It is a distraction whether you're holding a device or not - why is this so hard to understand? Distracted driving is now a part of popular culture. I see it all the time in movies. It's unbelievable, and it's no wonder so many Americans are afraid to commute on bike. We are truly nuts.
I too was giving Ford credit for not crying for money, but this has pretty much nullified that feeling.
Peak Oil couldn't come soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.
I remember what those days were like. Those were the days when people crashed their car because they were looking for a cd, which was located in the back of the car on the passenger side. Of course it also held between 500 and 10,000 cds so it too a few minutes to find a cd. That was the time when you crashed your car.
Those were also the days of crashing your car be cause you were reading a full size map while driving. Now we have GPS. Enter the address before you go and no fussing with a map.
Do you have to read a map while driving? No. Will people find directions while navigating their car? Yes. Sure you might like to outlaw these things but someone is always going to do something to distract themselves while driving. Might as well try to make it safer and not a distraction to driving.
01-12-10 | 06:35 PM
#27
50/50 Road/eBike Commuter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 791
Likes: 1
From: Valparaiso, IN
Bikes: Specialized Roubaix, Specialized Fatboy, Specialized Sirrus, Nashbar Campus, Taga 2.0 Trike
Are you serious?
Okay, YOU pull over and park to have a half-hour conversation with your boss on a crowded freeway while you've got forty miles left to drive and an hour to get there. Just how well do you think that will work out?
This thread is just about stupid and ignorant enough to qualify for A&S.
Okay, YOU pull over and park to have a half-hour conversation with your boss on a crowded freeway while you've got forty miles left to drive and an hour to get there. Just how well do you think that will work out?
This thread is just about stupid and ignorant enough to qualify for A&S.
It is a distraction and it is unsafe - this is well documented. All the attempted justification in the world doesn't make it OK.
01-12-10 | 06:46 PM
#28
genec
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 27,072
Likes: 4,533
From: West Coast
Bikes: custom built, sannino, beachbike, giant trance x2
Are you serious?
Okay, YOU pull over and park to have a half-hour conversation with your boss on a crowded freeway while you've got forty miles left to drive and an hour to get there. Just how well do you think that will work out?
This thread is just about stupid and ignorant enough to qualify for A&S.
Okay, YOU pull over and park to have a half-hour conversation with your boss on a crowded freeway while you've got forty miles left to drive and an hour to get there. Just how well do you think that will work out?
This thread is just about stupid and ignorant enough to qualify for A&S.
1) the boss had better be paying for the car and insurance and cell phone time
2) the boss should know that even the government recommends not driving and using the cell phone for government employees
3) your boss was stupid and should have briefed you before you left.
01-12-10 | 06:52 PM
#29
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,863
Likes: 6
From: Washington, DC
Bikes: Some bikes. Hell, they're all the same, ain't they?
This is part of the reason why I do everything I can to not get forced into an hour-long commute. I'd simply lose my mind if I had spend two hours (or more) in the worst traffic of the day, so I got a place that's less than ten minutes from my job (20 if I walk). I listen to the stories from the other guys about how their usual 45-minute drive turned into an hour and a half because of some stupid wreck blocking traffic, and I don't even comment.
01-13-10 | 11:01 AM
#30
I see it this way:
Fact: Driving while distracted is dangerous
Fact: Human beings are highly social and will engage in social behavior whenever possible.
Fact: Technology has allowed us to be social practically anywhere.
Fact: Human beings will engage in social behavior (texting/phone calling/web surfing) anywhere they can.
Fact: Controlling or modifying human behavior- especially with regards to social interaction is virtually impossible and often a form of denial of reality and/or a form of totalitarianism.
So the reality is that it's going to be extremely difficult to get people off their cell phones and technology while driving- even through legislation and enforcement. Hard line thinking makes those of us with the personal discipline to restrain our impulse to use these devices while driving feel really virtuous and good about our own actions but will do little to change the behavior of others. While I'm not a big fan of large automobile manufacturers, texting, phoning while driving etc. I see the efforts on the part of Ford as one way of dealing with a reality we'll be living with for many years to come.
Fact: Driving while distracted is dangerous
Fact: Human beings are highly social and will engage in social behavior whenever possible.
Fact: Technology has allowed us to be social practically anywhere.
Fact: Human beings will engage in social behavior (texting/phone calling/web surfing) anywhere they can.
Fact: Controlling or modifying human behavior- especially with regards to social interaction is virtually impossible and often a form of denial of reality and/or a form of totalitarianism.
So the reality is that it's going to be extremely difficult to get people off their cell phones and technology while driving- even through legislation and enforcement. Hard line thinking makes those of us with the personal discipline to restrain our impulse to use these devices while driving feel really virtuous and good about our own actions but will do little to change the behavior of others. While I'm not a big fan of large automobile manufacturers, texting, phoning while driving etc. I see the efforts on the part of Ford as one way of dealing with a reality we'll be living with for many years to come.
01-13-10 | 11:34 AM
#31
50/50 Road/eBike Commuter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 791
Likes: 1
From: Valparaiso, IN
Bikes: Specialized Roubaix, Specialized Fatboy, Specialized Sirrus, Nashbar Campus, Taga 2.0 Trike
This is part of the reason why I do everything I can to not get forced into an hour-long commute. I'd simply lose my mind if I had spend two hours (or more) in the worst traffic of the day, so I got a place that's less than ten minutes from my job (20 if I walk). I listen to the stories from the other guys about how their usual 45-minute drive turned into an hour and a half because of some stupid wreck blocking traffic, and I don't even comment.
01-13-10 | 03:28 PM
#32
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,863
Likes: 6
From: Washington, DC
Bikes: Some bikes. Hell, they're all the same, ain't they?
I figure, if someone can't pay attention to their driving while speaking hands-free, they should also tell their passengers to not speak a word, and be just as silent if they're riding in someone else's car.
I've never seen that happen, though.
I've never seen that happen, though.
01-13-10 | 03:58 PM
#33
Very, very Senior Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,224
Likes: 1
From: Chicago
Bikes: 2012 Surly Troll, 1999 Hardtail MTB
For myself, I know I am terribly distracted when I am on the phone and my focus is no longer 100% on the road.
But., all of us here are anyway superior beings who've figured out a better way to get to work than driving, right
01-13-10 | 04:25 PM
#34
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,863
Likes: 6
From: Washington, DC
Bikes: Some bikes. Hell, they're all the same, ain't they?
I'll just stick with what I said. I've seen drivers who can't keep their attention forward while talking with a passenger, so they're surely just as incapable of going hands-free as they are riding with someone.
01-13-10 | 04:56 PM
#35
Very, very Senior Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,224
Likes: 1
From: Chicago
Bikes: 2012 Surly Troll, 1999 Hardtail MTB
I'll just stick with what I said. I've seen drivers who can't keep their attention forward while talking with a passenger, so they're surely just as incapable of going hands-free as they are riding with someone.
01-13-10 | 05:48 PM
#37
Pedaled too far.
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 12,851
Likes: 9
From: La Petite Roche
Once I arrived on the scene of an accident immediately after it happened, and helped other people doing the initial cleaning and caring.
It was a two lane highway and a BMW had crossed the line and run into a mini van. The driver of the Bimmer was lucky because she was thrown from the car, but unhurt.
I overheard her saying to someone, "I was dialing my cell phone and the car, JUST WENT OUT OF CONTROL!"
It was a two lane highway and a BMW had crossed the line and run into a mini van. The driver of the Bimmer was lucky because she was thrown from the car, but unhurt.
I overheard her saying to someone, "I was dialing my cell phone and the car, JUST WENT OUT OF CONTROL!"
__________________
"He who serves all, best serves himself" Jack London
01-13-10 | 06:03 PM
#38
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 13,863
Likes: 6
From: Washington, DC
Bikes: Some bikes. Hell, they're all the same, ain't they?
My dad was telling me about an accident he saw where the driver who caused it got out of their car with their phone still held to her face. He stayed around and told the other driver, and maybe the cop, about what he saw and offered to be a witness. I don't think he got called for a followup, so maybe there wasn't any argument about what the stupid driver did.
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