Don't text and drive. No cell-phone use while driving. This is an ingenious and very, very effective ad.Though some here will argue against this commercial; I applaud it.
Many states in the US forbid talking on the phone while driving but for a long time didn't forbid texting while driving. So laws are only more recently being passed to prohibit texting while driving. But as you can understand it is hard to enforce a law that bans texting while driving. Usually the penalties if caught simply means a fine of some sorts around $200 or more. I think it works better to try and figure out a way to convince people it is not worth the danger to themselves and others rather than to just put some monetary penalty on it.
I think all phone use should be banned while driving. Even hands off Bluetooth. We're steering a 2 ton moving object and all our concentration should be on driving.
If the lawmakers were really serious about this then we would have long had unhackable devices in cars that inhibit cellphone frequencies the second the vehicle is in motion.
The 2 problems with this are: 1) A legit emergency that necessitates using the cell; 2) There's tons of money to be made in the fines.
The Missus uses hers while driving, though at least she uses speakerphone. But it still drives me nuts with anxiety.
I think all phone use should be banned while driving. Even hands off Bluetooth. We're steering a 2 ton moving object and all our concentration should be on driving.
And are you going to ban listening to the radio and books on tape too? That also takes some concentration off driving. Sure the level of distraction isn't as high but it is still there.
If the lawmakers were really serious about this then we would have long had unhackable devices in cars that inhibit cellphone frequencies the second the vehicle is in motion.
The 2 problems with this are: 1) A legit emergency that necessitates using the cell; 2) There's tons of money to be made in the fines.
The Missus uses hers while driving, though at least she uses speakerphone. But it still drives me nuts with anxiety.
And..lobbyists from the many various phone companies, their subsidiaries, and others that would be financially 'harmed' if people were made to have to 'wait' to use the devices. Lawmakers take in contributions during their elections. Lawmakers will then act in the favor to those who contributed big bucks to their successful elections. Here in the town where I live it takes a good five minutes to drive all the way through town. But when you enter the town there are signs posted 'hand-held devices prohibited'. Then your out of town and you start using your other hand again on the key pad because the law varies from town to town and county to county. Montana is a HUGE state too, 4th largest in the country. So the likely-hood of getting caught? Almost zero.
I think all phone use should be banned while driving. Even hands off Bluetooth. We're steering a 2 ton moving object and all our concentration should be on driving.
And are you going to ban listening to the radio and books on tape too? That also takes some concentration off driving. Sure the level of distraction isn't as high but it is still there.
Talking to someone else is a lot different than listening to music. Music can be heard subconsciously and it doesn't require your attention from the road. Ive seen ppl drive in anger because their having an argument on the phone. I've seen ppl not move when the light turns green, or run red lights, etc. Clearly one's attention is on the conversation and not the road.
Our Governor in Texas, Rick Perry, vetoed the last law that came to his office to ban texting and driving. His personal philosophy is that people are responsible enough to do the right thing, even though we have deadly accidents related to cell phone use every week here. The fact is that people are not smart enough, and often do not do the right thing when they have a cell phone and car. He has recently got his large rimmed 'I am an intelligent man" glasses, so he is probably running for President soon.
Yeah, I am with Solium, music listening is a passive thing, and conversation is not, yeah, i know we might conduct the orchestra at the red light, but you know what I mean.
The problem with having a phone conversation while driving (hand-held or hands-free) is that the other party is not at all aware of your environment, as opposed to someone sitting in the passenger seat. This forces the driver to partially remove himself from concentrating on his own environment.
The problem with having a phone conversation while driving (hand-held or hands-free) is that the other party is not at all aware of your environment, as opposed to someone sitting in the passenger seat. This forces the driver to partially remove himself from concentrating on his own environment.
Totally agree Ray and I have personal experience of that;
A few years ago I was driving home - a route I knew like the back of my hand of course. 5 mins into the journey I had a phone call (I have hands free) that turned out to be a complicated discussion with a barrister on one of my investigation cases. The call lasted the entire duration of the trip home and it ended literally as I turned onto my driveway.
And as I got out of the car I realised I had absolutely no recollection of the journey at all. Not a single thing. I'd done the whole thing on autopilot because my focus was on the call. It actually scared me a bit to be honest and certainly demonstrated to me that a telephone call can massively divert your attention away from driving, to a dangerous degree.
And when you realise that a car is a lethal weapon, that is not a good thing.
Around about 2010 I was working silly hours, busting my gut on my investigations, starting work at 5am and finishing at 11pm most days, working weekends, you name it.
And that non stop work extended to any time I was in the car, including, I'm ashamed to admit, attending to emails. At that time I was getting over 300 emails a day so the fact I was driving was (stupidly) not going to stop me from dealing with them.
So this one time I'm driving home down the always-busy A127 and typing out an email response. I pressed "send", looked up and my heart literally skipped a best as I realised the traffic in front of me had all come to a halt. Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I like fast cars and tend to drive them that way and on this occasion I wasn't exactly hanging around. In that split second I thought, at best, I was heading for a very nasty shunt but potentially a terminal one.
I literally had to stand on the brakes, causing a cloud of burned rubber in my wake. Fortunately I had a pretty decent car with amazing brakes so by some miracle I stopped without hitting anyone, albeit you could barely get a sheet of tissue paper between my front bumper and the car in front of me.
I was seriously shaken up by that experience. Luck was in my side that day but it highlighted how stupid I'd been. Bad enough to injure or kill myself but the idea of doing that to an innocent party really woke me up and I've never done it since and take a very dim view of anyone who does.
The problem with having a phone conversation while driving (hand-held or hands-free) is that the other party is not at all aware of your environment, as opposed to someone sitting in the passenger seat. This forces the driver to partially remove himself from concentrating on his own environment.
Totally agree Ray and I have personal experience of that;
A few years ago I was driving home - a route I knew like the back of my hand of course. 5 mins into the journey I had a phone call (I have hands free) that turned out to be a complicated discussion with a barrister on one of my investigation cases. The call lasted the entire duration of the trip home and it ended literally as I turned onto my driveway.
And as I got out of the car I realised I had absolutely no recollection of the journey at all. Not a single thing. I'd done the whole thing on autopilot because my focus was on the call. It actually scared me a bit to be honest and certainly demonstrated to me that a telephone call can massively divert your attention away from driving, to a dangerous degree.
And when you realise that a car is a lethal weapon, that is not a good thing.
Yep, I'm sure we've all experienced this. Even without any distractions I've become lost in thought on rare occasions. Gone shopping (a routine done the same way all the time) and subconsciously drove from my home to the store and back without it really registering.
The problem with having a phone conversation while driving (hand-held or hands-free) is that the other party is not at all aware of your environment, as opposed to someone sitting in the passenger seat. This forces the driver to partially remove himself from concentrating on his own environment.
Totally agree Ray and I have personal experience of that;
A few years ago I was driving home - a route I knew like the back of my hand of course. 5 mins into the journey I had a phone call (I have hands free) that turned out to be a complicated discussion with a barrister on one of my investigation cases. The call lasted the entire duration of the trip home and it ended literally as I turned onto my driveway.
And as I got out of the car I realised I had absolutely no recollection of the journey at all. Not a single thing. I'd done the whole thing on autopilot because my focus was on the call. It actually scared me a bit to be honest and certainly demonstrated to me that a telephone call can massively divert your attention away from driving, to a dangerous degree.
And when you realise that a car is a lethal weapon, that is not a good thing.
Yep, I'm sure we've all experienced this. Even without any distractions I've become lost in thought on rare occasions. Gone shopping (a routine done the same way all the time) and subconsciously drove from my home to the store and back without it really registering.
Not necessarily meaning to make light of your description in your last sentence, but that sounds almost like waking up in the middle of the night and driving when you took an Ambian tablet an hour earlier to fall asleep. That, or your on you're one step away from becoming a 'Stepford Dad'.
Yep, I'm sure we've all experienced this. Even without any distractions I've become lost in thought on rare occasions. Gone shopping (a routine done the same way all the time) and subconsciously drove from my home to the store and back without it really registering.
Not necessarily meaning to make light of your description in your last sentence, but that sounds almost like waking up in the middle of the night and driving when you took an Ambian tablet an hour earlier to fall asleep. That, or your on you're one step away from becoming a 'Stepford Dad'.
I think all phone use should be banned while driving. Even hands off Bluetooth. We're steering a 2 ton moving object and all our concentration should be on driving.
And are you going to ban listening to the radio and books on tape too? That also takes some concentration off driving. Sure the level of distraction isn't as high but it is still there.
Not a fantastic argument you have there, old chap.
