Texting While Driving

[Pretzel]

A car I rented has a Bluetooth link that allows all that as well, but texting takes away some of your concentration as well. It's both a visual and concentration distraction. Also, a blood alcohol level of 0.08 is barely something you can feel, but it reduces your reaction time enough to cause noticeably more accidents. Even a short distraction. Accident potential situations come up any time.

There is no visual distraction, it is auditory.I don't look at the phone, I talk to it. It's like having a passenger in your car, except no need to feel like you have to make occasional eye contact (which is a visual distraction). I don't understand how some claim they can text and drive while looking at the screen. It feels like they might as well blindfold themselves and drive, it would have a similar effect. When I get migraines they are accompanied by an "aura", meaning I lose all of my central vision. I can still technically "see" in that I can sense objects coming towards me and I have limited peripheral vision, but I would never drive in this state. People who text and drive can still "see" the road, but that doesn't mean they know what's happening on it.

[Shorty]

Im not gonna lie, I do it.  But I've memorized for the most part where every letter and period is on my phone so I don't even need to look at my phone until I send.  I do, however, limit my texting only in non-busy areas.  If Im in traffic, I try not to text or be on my phone at all.  No, the text really isn't that important, I just respond anyway because I can.  Sometimes the text is for directions or to see where my wife is or if she wants food, so it can be important sometimes.

I would have you jailed and/or fined $10,000.

People are being killed daily because of this attitude.

If you are seriously claiming that you can text at the same time as driving that makes you shamefully irresponsible.

Would you want your child in the passenger seat with a driver who is texting whilst the car is moving? Really?

[Lihu]

Casual conversation is probably no issue if you use a speakerphone, but if you get into anything that requires recalling anything at all it causes a brief lapse in your vision. http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/4751/why-do-humans-eyes-enter-an-unfocused-gaze-when-recalling-a-memory-or-imagining

[JonMA1]

I would have you jailed and/or fined $10,000.

People are being killed daily because of this attitude.

If you are seriously claiming that you can text at the same time as driving that makes you shamefully irresponsible.

Would you want your child in the passenger seat with a driver who is texting whilst the car is moving? Really?

Driving a 3,000 lbs. object at 60 mph, with just a painted line separating a normal day with a life changing tragedy, is a responsibility a lot of people take for granted.

I make a point of not texting and driving. I can honestly say I've never sent a text as a driver with the rare exception of being at a stop light. The few people in this world who I communicate with understand this.

I make a point of not having even a single beer if I know I'm going to get behind the wheel. That doesn't mean I don't have all the confidence in the world I can get home without killing someone. It means that it's a slippery slope from one beer to three or four. If my co-workers think less of me for having a non-alcohol brew after work, so be it.

While these two examples are hardly the only reason for horrific tragedies, they are both very preventable. You just have to make it a point to NEVER do it.

Not being self-righteous. There are times I drive while being over-tired, eating a sandwich, turning on the radio, or looking down to answer the blue tooth, just having my head up my @$$, etc. At times I'm every bit as irresponsible.

My only point is that I can't imagine going through life taking someone else's life and thinking what I could have done differently to avoid it. If we always consider that scenario before it happens, I think we act differently.

[Kenny Lee]

I'm curious. What's the difference between taking your eyes off the road for ONE SECOND to:

a) Adjust the temp in your vehicle.

b) Change the radio station.

c) Look in your rear view mirror.

d) Look at your phone.

Would you advocate sending someone to jail for changing the radio station?

[14ledo81]

I'm curious. What's the difference between taking your eyes off the road for ONE SECOND to: a) Adjust the temp in your vehicle. b) Change the radio station. c) Look in your rear view mirror. d) Look at your phone. Would you advocate sending someone to jail for changing the radio station?

Not certain, but it sounds like you are arguing for texting while driving??

[Kenny Lee]

Not certain, but it sounds like you are arguing for texting while driving??

No. Not at all.

But let's understand the problem. It's the DURATION of the distraction. Not the type of distraction.

Some idiots will look at their phone for 5 seconds to compose a text message while driving.

[Lihu]

I'm curious. What's the difference between taking your eyes off the road for ONE SECOND to: a) Adjust the temp in your vehicle. b) Change the radio station. c) Look in your rear view mirror. d) Look at your phone. Would you advocate sending someone to jail for changing the radio station?

Better not to change anything while driving, but. . . If you are slow or stopped on a freeway it's probably safe enough, but once you are going faster than even 25-30mph there's potential to cause a serious accident. Most steering wheels have "fumble switches" that let you change your environment without looking or really thinking. Most dashes have clocks and dummy lights designed to indicate things with minimal distractions. A cell phone was not designed to be used while driving, right?

[saevel25]

No. Not at all.

But let's understand the problem. It's the DURATION of the distraction. Not the type of distraction.

Distractions are distractions. It doesn't matter the length of it. A split second could mean recognizing a car has applied the brakes in front of you. I had an incident in the winter when I glanced down at my radio for a second. That was enough time for the guy in front of me to apply the brakes. I noticed the red and looked up and had to slam on my brakes with a lot of snow on the ground. I ended up on the sidewalk to avoid a rear end collision.

In some instances any amount of time looking away from traffic can put you in an accident. There is literally no duration in which you should be looking away, though the odds increase the longer you look.

Put it this way. Lets say you are traveling at 40 MPH. Lets say you are keeping good distance between such that you could apply your brakes comfortably, 200 FT. Which is above the stopping distance for a 40 MPH vehicle. Lets say you look down to text only for 2 seconds. You look back up and the car in front of you has nearly come to a stop. The distance you just travelled in those 2 seconds is about 117 FT. Your distance between you and the car is now about 100 FT (assuming the car still traveled some distance to his now stopped location). Since you are going 40 MPH your stopping distance is 170 FT on average. You are going to rear-end the guy unless you make a drastic move to avoid him.

Another example. You are driving at 35 MPH on a local road (speed limit is 35). You look down for 2 seconds. You look up to see a kid run out from behind a parked car. You slam on your brakes but you hit the kid at 30 MPH. The death rate for pedestrians hit at 30 MPH is 45%. Lets say you were paying attention. You notice the kid, and slam on your brakes. You still don't have enough stopping time, but your vehicle gets down to below 20 MPH. The death rate for pedestrians hit by a car at 20 MPH is less than 5%. By paying attention you gave the kid an extra 40% chance to live.

I'm curious. What's the difference between taking your eyes off the road for ONE SECOND to:

a) Adjust the temp in your vehicle.

b) Change the radio station.

c) Look in your rear view mirror.

d) Look at your phone.

Would you advocate sending someone to jail for changing the radio station?

If you look down to change the radio station and you rear-end someone or run over a kid then it's the same outcome as if you were texting. You are negligent in your act of driving a vehicle because you took your eyes off the road.

Though I would throw out (c) because that is also an act of driving. You can actually claim you were performing an act required for driving by looking in the rear view mirror. The other three you don't need to do any of those while driving.

[Kenny Lee]

Good stuff, you guys. I agree with all of your comments.

The point I'm trying to make is texting seems to get all the attention when it comes to distracted driving. Distracted driving takes many forms, many of which are ignored.

I can't tell you how many times I see someone with an anti-texting bumper sticker on their vehicle, and the driver of said vehicle is applying makeup, or combing their hair, or shaving, etc. in heavy traffic at high speeds. But since they're not texting, they see themselves as safe drivers. SMH.

[Lihu]

Good stuff, you guys. I agree with all of your comments.

The point I'm trying to make is texting seems to get all the attention when it comes to distracted driving. Distracted driving takes many forms, many of which are ignored.

I can't tell you how many times I see someone with an anti-texting bumper sticker on their vehicle, and the driver of said vehicle is applying makeup, or combing their hair, or shaving, etc. in heavy traffic at high speeds. But since they're not texting, they see themselves as safe drivers. SMH.

You forgot about steering with the knees. . .

[saevel25]

You forgot about steering with the knees. . .

I remember heading NE on 62 in Ohio. I looked over, this guy had the newspaper on the steering wheel, and was coming down an On Ramp to get onto 62.

[SavvySwede]

Good stuff, you guys. I agree with all of your comments.

The point I'm trying to make is texting seems to get all the attention when it comes to distracted driving. Distracted driving takes many forms, many of which are ignored.

I can't tell you how many times I see someone with an anti-texting bumper sticker on their vehicle, and the driver of said vehicle is applying makeup, or combing their hair, or shaving, etc. in heavy traffic at high speeds. But since they're not texting, they see themselves as safe drivers. SMH.

I can tell you how many times I've seen that scenario, zero. I sympathize with your point, but let's not exaggerate. Besides, what are you doing looking inside of all the other cars? Keep your eyes on the road.

[RFKFREAK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmac20


Toronto.

Wow, they don't play around there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by billchao


It's illegal in NJ too, but there aren't enough police officers around to enforce the law. People are generally smart enough to put the things down when they drive by a cop, too.

I've seen police officers driving while talking on cell phones.

I think unless you look at the data, it's hard to estimate how much crackdown there is for texting and driving.  Even though people are smart enough to put it down, in NY the law says:

Quote:

A  person  who holds a portable electronic device in a conspicuous manner while operating a motor vehicle...is presumed to be using such device.  The presumption...is  rebuttable  by  evidence  tending  to show that the operator was not using the device.

So, in that sense, they really don't give you much wiggle room except in cases of emergency.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu


Or it could also be the "I'm more skilled at driving and have better judgement than everyone, so I can drive while texting." syndrome.

They should redo the UK ad video to show a professional who makes perfectly sensible decisions. Then show him/her texting to respond to an emergency at work or home and an unreasonable situation where if they were not texting they could have barely prevented the accident. Show two endings. One with the same disaster while texting, and the other where he/she ignores the text and ends up crashing into a sign post but everyone survives. Or the like.

It's funny that everyone thinks they are perfect drivers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golfingdad


Bingo. I think you are 100% correct.

I guess they just don't realize that very few of us are.

In all seriousness, though, I find myself having to fight off the temptation of texting and driving.  Even though I know all the horrible things that can happen, it really is a fight between my logical mind that knows anything that can happen at any time and your reaction time to what others might do is substantially lessened by distraction and just responding quickly to a text or what not.  Thankfully, I've adjusted my habits in that regard but it's still a battle.