a petition to stop cell phone users - Page 2

People like to think that hands-free will help, but the evidence is very clear that it makes little difference. A highly-respectable peer-reviewed journal called Human Factors recently had a special issue devoted to this topic which might be of interest. A synopsis can be found here:

http://www.hfes.org/web/DetailNews.aspx?ID=72

Note that other forms of distraction can indeed be just as dangerous as cell phone use. However, it seems unlikely that most of the other forms of distraction are quite as widespread as cell use.

i drive with one hand just fine. I think its just that poor drivers yapping on phone and talking to someone then start crying and yelling or watever they do that causes them to lose concentration that causes the accidents. I mean what about people who drive manual with one hand?

So i'm not sure if its really fixed with earpieces... although driving with two hands is safer. If people have to talk on the phone while driving might as well make sure they using both hands on the wheel.

You know what can really cut down on reaction time and hampers the ability to drive is growing old.

http://www.luhs.org/depts/injprev/Transprt/tran3.htm

Why not make it illegal to drive when you get older? Or require more frequent "recertification" for elderly drivers?

There was an unfortunate incident where a elderly man drove into a farmer's market in Santa Monica, CA. But the fact of the matter is, nothing will be done about in the near future. It is just as likely as banning male drivers under the age of 25 whom are statistically more likely to cause traffic accidents.

We can try to legislate against every single distraction, but the real problem is that we are spending entirely too much time in our cars, and there are way too many of us on the road. So we end up bringing our personal activities that were normally spent at home in the car, since we spend so much time driving. Living in Los Angeles, CA, this is the most painfully apparent.

I have seen some pretty ridiculous things done in a car, make up being applied, reading a book (the driver!), working on a laptop computer. All of which is far more distracting than talking on a cell phone, and it is illegal of course, but hey, it's not really that news worthy anymore, cell phones are the hot topic these days.

In the end, I'm really hoping I'll get to be an old fart sitting in my autodriving mag lev car, talking about how in the old days we used to have to drive by ourselves, and talk with these primitive communicators that had an ear piece you could wear to talk to people while you had to drive with your own hands and feet. None of the direct brain control. Darn those kids and their holographic conferencing, they just won't plot the correct course on the mag lev lane, I miss having a steering wheel...

-Ed

well we have no choice but to drive. We have no true subway system like new york, tokyo, seoul, etc

public transportation is absolutely crappy and not to mention the weird people on them.

Lack of taxi drivers.

Its just not possible to get anywhere without a car in LA.

I actually think that having carpool lanes is the biggest mistake on high traffic highways... most of the people who use them do it illegally and cause more accidents. What do you think they do when they are in carpool lane and they have to get out because they see a cop? they rush in to the next lane causing near accidents.

And i also noticed how the most erratic drivers usually are in large cars... obviously they know they get into a lot of accidents so now they are putting others at greater risk so they themselves have better survival in case of an accident. I mean there are more problems to the way people drive then just cell phones...

We should also outlaw women from driving... I saw some lady putting on makeup , eating some bar thing, drinking coffee, and reading what looked to be a novel all at the same time

I completely agree that people will do the dumbest things while driving (eating, putting on make-up, look at maps, read newspapers, etc, etc.) But one of the most wide spread problems is talking on a cell phone. When 90% of drivers admit to talking on the phone while they drive we have a huge problem. I promise you not 90% of all drivers are putting on makeup when they are driving.

I'm currently living in SoCal also so I know what you guys are talking about, (damn the 10!!!).

Which is ironic since getting caught in the HOV lane is only a ticket with no points or citation, but crossing a double yellow is. The HOV lane is nicknamed the "Mercedes Lane" because you can get as many tickets as you can pay for, there really is no enforcement for repeat offense. Getting pulled over is just an "audit" to pay your "fee".

I'm still all for HOV lanes since it takes a few cars off the road, but I really want some auto driving lanes where the car does the driving. May sound science fiction, but it exists and it works. Toyota and GM have been working on this in San Diego.


Yeah, it really seems unfair that SUV's and trucks can have more and more weight and higher bumper heights that are technically illegal, and I can't have explosive reactive armor and point defense missiles for my smaller and much more fuel efficient car. It's just not fair.

-Ed

Yeah, but with how few CHP we have and how long we spend in the car, the outright ban of cell phone use in cars just isn't going to happen anytime soon, and even if it did, it would rarely be enforced.

-Ed

Just because I can run you over doesnt mean you should cry about it... oh yah and I got me some nice armor... 1/4" steal between me and any object that hits me... well accept for little cars that just hit my tires.

the people with the small crap cars are the crazies back home

Yeah, but piece of crap small car can go faster and drive farther than your oversized behemoth. You'll run out of gas before you can catch up.

Driving a small car makes me much more of a defensive driver.
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I get really defensive when I hear about SUV's.

But seriously, because of how much I have to pay attention to all the morons drifting back in forth on the roads in SoCal, I really don't talk much on the Cell phone anyways.

-Ed

Contrary to popular belief it's more dangerous to be driving a bigger SUV than it is to be driving a smaller sedan. There is just more momentum in a heavier object so that when it hits something it hits harder. The only exception I can think of it that if a big car actually goes head to head with a small car in which case of course the smaller car will lose . And let's not forget that most people that drive big SUVs have bigger blind spots, longer stop times and most of these drivers don't know how to handle a big car when there's an emergency.

edit: oh, and forgot to mention the higher center of gravity on SUVs, some people just don't understand that you can't make a turn or change lanes quite as fast in a Surburban as you can in a Corolla.

Chicago not only has a law but is cracking down hard!

you can drive with a headset but not on the phone itself.


I agree with it, I will answer a call on the road but I let them go quick.

Ha! my jeep is a stroked and supercharged V8 (585HP)... not much can outrun me ...I happen to like jeeps and off-roading a bit more then audio ...its where the other half of my money goes

I also have a 22 gallon tank and get about 15mpg so I can make it pretty far


NJ also has laws that a headset must be worn btw

the problem isn't how well they can do it... they do it anyway... its just that if it does hit another car... it makes a huge dent on the small car while their car is almost fine. Its like they driving a bumper car, they think they can just hit anyone they want.

Haven't seen stats for three years, but at that time 81% of all two automobile accidents resulting in fatalities in the U.S. involved a SUV or small truck.