hang up and drive!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't you think that insurance companies have data on cellphone-related accidents? If it was such a huge problem, it seems to me that they would put some provision in one's policy about driving while on the phone. It's annoying, I know, but is being on the phone any BIGGER distraction than any of the other myriad distractions (radio, makeup, pets/kids, etc.) that drivers can't prioritize?

After an accident, I don't think most people admit to being on the phone - unless a witness actually saw them. So I would say NO, they probably don't have accurate info on cellphone-related accidents.

Also, I'm too lazy to google it for you, but there was a huge study of just how distracting cellphones are in a car - the study results were very dramatic.

And lastly, it's against the law. I'm always amazed at how many people think that they are "above" the law -

it is not agaist the law everywhere -- in fact, virginia just rejected legislation on the matter last year. as to insurance companies, i agree that most people wouldn't admit they were on the phone. besides, a provision in a policy isn't going to do anything but deny coverage to an injured person who tries to collect against the chatting-while-driving-accident-causer.

abd yes, i think it is bigger than the other distractions you mention, if for no other reason than it takes up more time and concentration than hitting a button to change a radio station (and in many cars you can do that from the steering wheel).

[Anonymous]

Here it is: drivers using cell phones are FOUR TIMES as likely to get into a car crash:

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/bmj%3b331/7514/428

PLEASE hang up and drive!

[Anonymous]

Oh my God, I'm so with you on this one. It's a huge pet peeve of mine. You can tell the drivers who are on their phone, too, before you even see them because they act like drunk drivers.

[Anonymous]

http://www.wftv.com/news/17540805/detail.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about those who text while driving? There is no excuse for it.

As much as I hate drivers talking on cell phones, texting has to be such an all-time SOB thing to do. I'd like to believe that natural selection will take them off the human grid, but they will seriously injure & maim others in their bonhead inspired accidents.

Oh, the texting is out of control. I see these little AU snots driving around my neighborhood, in their Land Rovers from New Jersey, blowing through stop signs, tap-tapping away on their slutty little chocolates (phones). I wish I could just pull them over myself and throw their phones on the ground, back over them and then smack their overly made-up little faces. Yes, I am a little bitter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

After an accident, I don't think most people admit to being on the phone - unless a witness actually saw them. So I would say NO, they probably don't have accurate info on cellphone-related accidents.

Also, I'm too lazy to google it for you, but there was a huge study of just how distracting cellphones are in a car - the study results were very dramatic.

And lastly, it's against the law. I'm always amazed at how many people think that they are "above" the law -

I'm not debating how distracting it is. It is very distracting. My point was if it is any more distracting than all of the other potential distractions that drivers face. I know it is illegal (in some places) but it is usually a secondary offense, as in you have to be doing something else wrong as well to be pulled over for it. Keep in mind also that probably a fair number of cellphone drivers get killed every year so that weeds some out too.

[Anonymous]

That study was done in Australia. Keep in mind that Australians are 41% more likely to have their other hand occupied with an oilcan of Foster's. I'm at the HaHa Hut all week, no minimum.

[Anonymous]

We see so much texting/talking while driving on our daily MD-DC commute via Conn Ave... any time you see a distracted driver (missing lights, not following traffic) they are almost always on their blackberry. Yesterday at an intersection near Conn Ave we pulled up next to a young woman who had been driving somewhat erratically - it turned out she was eating cereal (with a spoon, from a mug) and texting, all while driving. We were totally astonished. (Of course the greater hazard turned out to be the helmet-less biker who passed us on the left while we were turning right in a right-hand turn only lane... the stupidity of all these people just blows me away!)

[Anonymous]

I used to make fun of my husband for his idiotic little bluetooth headset, til I realized he was going to talk on his phone in the car, with or without it. Not that I think the headsets are a huge improvement. You're still dialing, fiddling with the positioning of the thing, and concentrating on a conversation instead of the road. But every little bit has to help.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I won't ride in a cab if the driver is on a handheld phone. I tell them to hang it up, or I'm getting out, and not paying the fare. I don't have to pay if the driver is breaking the law, and I make it very clear. Not sure if it helps. Probably not. But every near-miss I've had in DC traffic has been with some douchebag on a cell phone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to make fun of my husband for his idiotic little bluetooth headset, til I realized he was going to talk on his phone in the car, with or without it. Not that I think the headsets are a huge improvement. You're still dialing, fiddling with the positioning of the thing, and concentrating on a conversation instead of the road. But every little bit has to help.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I won't ride in a cab if the driver is on a handheld phone. I tell them to hang it up, or I'm getting out, and not paying the fare. I don't have to pay if the driver is breaking the law, and I make it very clear. Not sure if it helps. Probably not. But every near-miss I've had in DC traffic has been with some douchebag on a cell phone.

The cellphone study cited above said it's just as dangerous, statistically speaking, to drive using a headset. I don't know why....

[Anonymous]

It is illegal in DC. My husband got pulled over for it (he only answered because I was 40 weeks pregnant). The people I hate the most are the suburbanites who do it. Get out of my town if you can't obey the laws. I live in Georgetown and I have grown to detest all the commuters whizing through on their phones as they head towards Key Bridge. I would love nothing more than rigid enforcement, like the parking enforcement in my neighborhood. I worship the parking cop.

[Anonymous]

It should be illegal everywhere. Why are some of our lawmakers so stupid and clueless to not get it that driving while using a cell phone is dangerous and annoying. Is there anything we can do to make this a country wide law?