DigitalQuirk

Or maybe some zealot in their Prius, seeing their "Enemy" cell-phone-talker-in-an-SUV, went blind with rage, swerved into her lane and threatening to hit her, causing her to react by steering away and therefore skidding out of control.

genec

Well at any rate, she was apparently clutching at the time of the accident as the news report says the phone was still in the hand... so certainly she was doing something with it. No assumption required.

KrisPistofferson

Are you a "Creation Scientist?" You seem to want to complicate a fairly simple set of events with incredibly wild speculation. Your obtuseness is noted, I just don't agree with you.

soda

I use a cell phone while driving.

DigitalQuirk

I find the term "Creation Scientist" to be a contradiction of terms (along the lines of "Military Intelligence"). The answer is no; now may I ask you, are you a fecalfeliac?

Most of what I've been reading here has been "Wild Speculation." My speculation just happens to be a bit wilder, just for fun.

catatonic

Yeah, I got a pretty good chastising on this, now time for my take on it:

A car is a piece of heavy machinery, and one of the fastest forms of heavy machinery.

Like all machinery, the user of this machinery should be operating it in a safe and responsible manner.

There is a fun thing about power steering....it's too easy to oversteer, especially when only using one hand to control it. This is the reason why the "two hands on the wheel" rule taught since Driver's ed was advocated so much. In this case, only having one hand capable of fully gripping the wheel more than likely contributed to the accident.

If I knew the stretch of road, and how the thing suddenly shot into a median...I might be able to say more....however we have seen neglect of safety, and possibly very bad driving skills.

I know we all have our driving snafus....but with a child in the car? You would htink she would be doing her best for the safety of her child, would you not?

Really, unless there was some kind of chase (which again is bad form if she doesn't know how to drive fast safely...in which case it would actually endager them even more so), then there really was no excuse.

Cell phones are a convenience, and if operating a machine is involved, that machine should take precidence over conveniences. I should know, thanks to both hands on the wheel, and giving the road my full attention, I have avoided some outright ugly situations.

Yes, it may be wrong of me for starting this thread, or at the least wording it as badly as I did, but I still stand behind the concept of "a place and time for everything". In this case, it seemed to be the right time for that extra hand on the wheel...maybe she could have gotten the vehicle under control that way....maybe not...but at least she would have known that she gave it her 100%.

77Univega

--- The news item says:
"Her arm was found near the accident still clutching a cell phone."
I do believe this poor woman suffered a traumatic amputation, but I do not believe the cell phone could still have remained clutched in the hand. An URBAN LEGEND in the making.

KrisPistofferson

I commute by bicycle. You win, bro.

sbhikes

So I heard about this guy watching TV on his barcalounger when a meteor comes crashing through the roof. After the dust cleared, they found his severed arm still clutching the remote control...

khuon

If the Star Wars movies have taught us anything it's that a severed hand will remain clutching whatever it was holding prior to being cut off.

KrisPistofferson

So, some mischevious kids came upon a severed arm, and decided to put a cellie in it's hand as a joke?

soda

I commute by bike also. I'll answer the phone too if I can make it a quick call.

royalflash

scarry

Stupid cager. Get off the damn phone and drive.

dobber

Close the thread, Scarry has once again solved the problem.

Good going Scarry !!

scarry

What are you saying? That there are no valid criticisms of cars, and car use in our society?
Anyone who dares criticize cars is an anti-car fanatic?

Get your head out of the sand and smell the exhaust. It's not just cyclists who are concerned about this subject.

slagjumper

I am a bit surprised that none of the BF photo-artists have photo-shopped the severed arm, lying in the roadway, clenching a cell phone. This image would definitely be worth a thousand words.

Blue Order

You and your boyfriend are apparently incapable of distinguishing between news reported by a news organization and an urban myth relayed to you over drinks by a friend who knows somebody who knows somebody. Pity. The difference is obvious.

sbhikes

Yes, the difference is obvious. But so is the similiarity, no?

Blue Order

Yes, I'll agree with you that the severed arm clutching a cell phone sounds just like an urban myth. It just seemed from your previous posts that you actually believed this was an urban myth.

If this were a scene in a movie, or an urban myth, I'd find it amusing. Given the circumstances, it's just sad.

mrkott3r

just another reason to get the hell out of the way when you see a suv/4wd coming, you dont know where they are gonna go

khuon

This is not exclusive to SUVs/4WD. One could make the same argument for any vehicle... including bikes. And many a pedestrian as well as motorists have.

KrisPistofferson

We should make this thread a photoshop competition!

prendrefeu

Woa, woa.... Wait a minute. Not to put this into too much of a political discussion, because there are other places for that, but I read every single entry in this entire thread and, DigitalQuirk, I read your reply about 4 times so far. Each time, I keep thinking "What?!". I don't know you, and I won't make any assumptions about you - but have you traveled? Have you lived outside of the United States? Or, let me be more to the point: do you have any experiences of living in a country that is being manipulated by the United States?
When 9/11 happened I was in shock like most other people in this country, and I felt sorry for those that were lost in the WTC/flights and the other flight of that day but when I saw the cliché response that the US news media threw up on the screens of "zealots" dancing in the streets, I also knew exactly why they were so elated and could very clearly see their side of the issue at hand. I also realize (as I hope you do, too, DigitalQuirk) that what the US news media or most media around the world put up for the public is a cliché answer to further propogate a stance. It's like only interviewing the 'nutcases' and 'conspiracy theorists' at an Anti-War protest when those people do not represent the others who are protesting along side them. How would you feel if the representation of bicyclists in the news media that was spread across the AP network feeds was of a homeless guy riding in a thong on a rusty old huffy while screaming about how people in cars are going to hell? Ah, so the 'zealot' vehicle drivers get their cliché candy, too.

My point is that by claiming some people to be 'zealots' and making a comparison to the incidences of '9/11' you are perpetuating the same lack of perspective and understanding that your 'zealots' are doing. We all need to take into account all sides of a story AND all PERSPECTIVES of a story. Some people will always find something funny, some people will find the same thing shocking and tragic. It's the dynamics of life. Understand them and accept them for what they are. The more enlightened you become to it's hypocracies, the more you'll be able to laugh at anything while simultaneously having loving kindness, sympathy and compassion.

As a driver, I found the story tragic and as a cyclist I found the story ironic, like some "poetic" action that would occur in the closing credits of a Monty Python's Flying Circus episode. It's a dry and quick humor that is understood when one recognizes the screwed up nature of life and how hypocritical, strange, and dynamic this life is. All my practices of Buddhism did not prevent me from sighing out with a little "Ah, a lesson learned the hard way" and a slight laugh. Heck, I can guarantee that the most enlightened of teachers and gurus would even recognize the irony... Some would even give a chortle.

ReptilesBlade 

Took the words right out of my mouth. However you have to wonder how traumatized the child might be after this. The poor kid will probably be in therapy for years. Plus loosing an arm is a hefty price for stupidity; though the woman is lucky she did not kill herself and her kid. Imagine the poor father/husband.