Safety above all else: Driving drunk with a cell phone

comsnark

comsnark

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Apr 10, 2007
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So. . .after all the whoohah in the Honda generator thread, I have an off topic issue I would like to discuss.

Last month, we had a corperate mandate come out saying "Driving with a cell phone is a hazardous is as bad as driving drunk". Recently, the corperate mandate was clarified to include the use of phone headsets.

See this link . . it is becoming a "fact". http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=062206-1

- - -

My take: If talking on a cellphone headset is as hazardous as drunk driving. . . .I really shouldn't limit myself and drive drunk more often.

What is your take?
 
I hear you.. But in the interest of safety, you should keep both hands on the steering wheel while driving. You will need to replace your bluetooth headset with one of these.

It even comes in blue :smt038

beerhelmet.jpg
 
Between business and pleasure I drive 20,000 miles a year and use the handsfree phone quite frequently. I dont think it is a bad as driving drunk (haven't done that so I guess I can compare) BUT in my mind there is no doubt that talking on the phone is detremental to your driving. I wouldn't be suprised if it is eventually outlawed. I would miss it dearly but then again we survived for nearly a hundered years driving without being able to talk on the phone.
 
It's nonsense. But there is a certain segment of the population with limited mental faculties who are concentrating more on Betty's gossip about what Sue said to Steve rather that what that big round thing in front of them does.

BTW, did you know that every airline pilot and co-pilot, plus most general aviation pilots fly drunk? Yup, they're talking on radios! Not just talking, but they also have to push the button to talk and pay attention to the words since the sound quality isn't as good as a cell phone. While flying the pattern, I would not only be flying, but also talking and listening to everyone else on the channel. Let's outlaw aviation radio sets, too. Hope that Osama fixes this problem, too.

Best regards,
Frank
 
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It's not so much the talking as it is the dialing the number, looking up a contact, reading text messages, sending text messages, entering your password, putting your headset on because you forgot to put it in on before you put it in drive, reading email on the little screen, etc, etc... ALL while driving 75MPH with only two feet of lee way on either side of your vehicle
 
Well. TEXT messaging is one thing. TALKING is another.

I guess I should never call the admiral while on the road again. . .
 
fc3 said:
It's nonsense. But there is a certain segment of the population with limited mental faculties who are concentrating more on Betty's gossip about what Sue said to Steve rather that what that big round thing in front of them does.

BTW, did you know that every airline pilot and co-pilot, plus most general aviation pilots fly drunk? Yup, they're talking on radios! Not just talking, but they also have to push the button to talk and pay attention to the words since the sound quality isn't as good as a cell phone. I would not only be flying, but also talking and listening to everyone else on the channel. Let's outlaw aviation radio sets, too. While flying the pattern,Hope that Osama fixes this problem, too.

Best regards,
Frank
Click to expand...

Jeeze, do you despise comsnark that much now because he disagreed with you on using a port gen or maybe your becoming a troll.
Lol, maybe I'm a troll.
 
Where did you get that idea? Did your football team lose? I guess that can be very traumatic for some men.
 
Our society, abetted by the tort bar, has lost its ability to make fine distinctions. Yes driving while talking on a hands-free cell phone is more distracting than not making a cell call while driving. And texting while driving is more distracting still. Eating and putting on makeup while driving are distracting, as is reading USA Today while driving. Perhaps most distracting is your copilot insistently and loudly trying to give you directions to someplace you already know how to get to and know you are right! When will we outlaw talking to the driver when he should be paying attention to the task at hand?
 
In reference to texting, a young mother of two with her two children in the back seat of her little car was so busy texting that she did not realize that she had crossed the centerline and hit a Freightliner tractor head on, truck ran over the front of her car, to see the car you would have thought noone survived, but strangly enough the mother had bruises and a couple of broken bones and the two childern we fine. This happened at the end of the driveway where I work.
 
midway said:
In reference to texting, a young mother of two with her two children in the back seat of her little car was so busy texting that she did not realize that she had crossed the centerline and hit a Freightliner tractor head on, truck ran over the front of her car, to see the car you would have thought noone survived, but strangly enough the mother had bruises and a couple of broken bones and the two childern we fine. This happened at the end of the driveway where I work.
Click to expand...

Luck: 1
Darwin: 0

Let's hope that mommy learned her lesson before she removes herself and her progeny from the gene pool.
 
That was kind of my point in my post...I just may not have gotten it accross to well. Just having the phone with you [these, many don't have just a phone...they have all-in-one devices] lends to accessing all the other apps that the devices are capable of.

Text the average person while they are driving and then see if they don't pick up the device and read the message....and better yet....reply.
 
It's not just the newfangled devices which cause problems, though.....today on the way in to work I passed someone who was reading while driving. Not a map or directions, but a book!
 
osd9 said:
That was kind of my point in my post...I just may not have gotten it accross to well. Just having the phone with you [these, many don't have just a phone...they have all-in-one devices] lends to accessing all the other apps that the devices are capable of.

Text the average person while they are driving and then see if they don't pick up the device and read the message....and better yet....reply.
Click to expand...

So. . because some aspects can cause trouble if you are an idiot, then logically we can't use the primary function of the device (the phone part).

Sad. . but I think you are on target.
 
comsnark said:
Last month, we had a corperate mandate come out saying "Driving with a cell phone is a hazardous is as bad as driving drunk". Recently, the corperate mandate was clarified to include the use of phone headsets.
Click to expand...
comsnark said:
See this link . . it is becoming a "fact". http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=062206-1
Click to expand...
There aren’t driving problems caused by either cell phone usage or alcohol.

There are two types of vehicle operators.

The first category, I call “drivers”. That group is engaged in the task of safely and efficiently operating the vehicle. The “driver” group constantly seeks to improve skills and learn from mistakes.

Cell phone usage in the “driver” group is acceptable, because they’re devoted to driving and allocate appropriate time slots to phone usage.

Alcohol usage in the “driver” group is also acceptable because it’s limited to an acceptable level so that vehicle operation remains safe and effective.

“Drivers” account for 5% to 10% of the population of vehicle operators.

The second category, I call “motorists”. That group also has their butt planted in the seat behind the wheel, but that’s where the similarity to “drivers” ends.

The “motorist” group is not focused on safe or efficient vehicle operation. They are focused on a multitude of distractions and feel the task of vehicle operation is the distraction.

Cell phone usage for the “motorist” group is actually a benefit, as they would become cranky and erratic without that stimuli, with a deleterious result for other motorists.

The effect of alcohol usage on “motorists” is meaningless. How can the transition from bad to horrible driving be quantified.


My controlled testing on blood alcohol content for “drivers” revealed that the effect on vehicle control and reaction time versus BAC was negligible until 0.10%, so the existing US limits of 0.08% and 0.05% are reasonable, with a sufficient margin.
 
fc3 said:
It's nonsense. But there is a certain segment of the population with limited mental faculties who are concentrating more on Betty's gossip about what Sue said to Steve rather that what that big round thing in front of them does.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly.

In any event, you can say the same about every single distraction in the car...what about gps devices, the ipod, car radio, people eating in the car, conversations within the car, kids, the hot chick in the convertible....crash. Sorry, that last one was most distracting. Let's outlaw hot chicks driving.
 
wingless said:
Solutions, please!

Is there an alternative proposal for these hot chicks, that are no longer driving?
Click to expand...

I will set up a private driving business. Entrepreneurism is in my blood, and I like to help people. Plus, I like boobs.
 
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