silvershadow

my pet peeve is people talking on cell phones while driving. It seems that 9 out of 10 time you see someone doing something stupid while driving - they are also holding a cell phone to their ear. The worst are the ones that hold a cell phone to their left ear and then pull over to the left right on top of you because they can't see to the left and haven't figured out how to (or don't have enough brain capacity left to) use the outside rear view mirror.

Studies show that distracted driving causes accidents, and cell phone proponents say that cell phones don't cause more distraction than changing the channel on a radio or looking for a CD. My retort to that is that those are fairly short term incidents - it may only take a few seconds to complete either task, whereas talking on the cell phone takes minutes.

I personally believe that there is some correlation between talking on the cell phone while holding it to your ear and fine motor function - meaning that the act of holding a phone to your ear and talking lowers your capability to do fine motor skills (like steering a car).

I also believe that use of an earpiece (wired or Bluetooth) would alleviate some of the mental overload that most experience when talking on the phone (with the phone to your ear) while driving. In Australia, they have a hands-free law - you can only talk on a cell phone hands-free while driving - which I think makes a lot of sense.

I have often commented to friends of mine that I would love to figure out how to make selective cell phones explode in their users hands - maybe melt down would be better than an explosion - you don't want to blow peoples fingers or ears off. Any revolutionary cell phone engineers out there willing to help design/build such a community service device?

dean

It's one of my major pet peeves, and I see far too many people totally oblivious to their surroundings. I'm concerned that one of these days one of them is going to cause me to get in an accident. If I survive, someone is going to end up with a cell phone suppository, and I'll be off to jail.

Dean

ajlafleche

I don't think we'll ever get accurate statistics on cell use and accidents since the person using the cell and causing an accident would simply leave that information out of the equation.
The two worst habits with cells are the ones leaning over to hold the cell "hands free" distorting their perspective and those who hold their phones to the left ear with the right hand and palce their left hand on the right side of the wheel. Impossible to make an emergency maneuver and hard to control under normal conditions.

Lainey

Actually, I had to give up using the cell phone while driving. Not enough hands to do that, as well as put on some lipstick, comb my hair, change the radio station and if driving the "S" I need a hand to shift the car.

Truthfully, I seldom use the cell phone while driving. I'm chained to a desk with a phone most of the day, so no need.

After hours, I only turn it on if something is happening within the family. Otherwise folks can leave a message at my house, or on the cell phone.

If I owned a business, or had a different type of job, I probably would feel different about cell phones. Right now, I get extremely aggravated when two out of every three people turning at the intersection are talking on the cell phone, and don't appear to be paying all that much attention to the road.

DiamondDave2005

I think the biggest problem with cell phones is the person on the other end of the line.

If you're having a conversation with a passenger, and an 18-wheeler decides to change lanes and is about to cut you off, your passenger tends to notice, and shuts up until you've performed your evasive manouever (or stomped on the brakes, if that's your thing).

A person on the other end of a phone line doesn't know what's going on in traffic, and will just keep yakking on no matter what, which I would find very distracting if I used a phone in the car.

I tend to concentrate on my driving to the extent that my wife says I never talk to her in the car. It's not that I don't want to talk, I'm just playing Schumacher movies in my head.

rjosey8385

I, too, run an office from my car much of the time and make an attempt to be extra attentive to what's going on around me when I'm on my cell. I think that a distracted driver is going to be a distracted driver regardless of cell phone use, conversing with a passenger, reading the billboards, thinking about Happy Hour or little Johnny's pregnant girlfriend, and at least with the cell phone to his ear, one has a red flag to be on the alert. My biggest distraction when driving is watching other drivers (not only for potential traffic issues, but the usual fun stuff they're doing in their cars....picking noses, putting on mascara, conducting the orchestra). If they'd just remove everybody else from my roads, my motoring could once again be safe and enjoyable

frank b

My observations are that many of the people making boneheaded moves in a car all too frequently are jamming a phone in their ear. I am to the point where I look for it when something nutty happens. I am rarely disappointed. From the combining two pet peeves section; It seems that poeple driving big SUVs while operating a cell phone should have their own category! I attribute this to the fact that big SUVs can seem to isolate the driver almost completely from the driving experience. I feel better that I bitched about it, but nothing will ever be done because there's just too much damn money involved. Just try to be a little careful out there.

FO2K

In CA, the issue of driving while using the phone came up in the legislature. Cellphone use was deemed no more distracting than drinking coffee or eating while driving.

I completely disagree with this conclusion. Next time you are drinking coffee or eating a sandwich in your car (assuming you do) notice how you choose when to take a drink or bite. It will be at lights, on straights with no one around, etc. In other words the driver has control over the attention he or she must use.

Talking on the phone on the other hand puts the timing of the attention on the party the driver is talking to!

Some things I have noticed:

Drivers on phones slow down below the speed limit when on the phone, but stay in the left lane on the freeway thus creating a hazard.

Drivers on phones miss the fact that a light has turned green. A real PIA at those 5 second green lights that intersect main roads.

Drivers on phones "wake up" just before they need to turn and are prone to dangerous lane changes.

Maybe S2K drivers are more attentive than most, due to driving a car that requires a little more input than a Ford Crown Vic.

Morris

I think DiamondDave hit on something. Why is it more distracting to talk to someone on the phone, even a hands free one, than someone sitting in the passenger seat? Part of it is what DD said,; a passenger knows when something is ocurring outside the car and will shut up. But isn't it more than that? Don't you concentrate harder on the phone to listen, shutting off extraneous noises and motion around you? If a person is sitting next to you, you get not only their voice, but hand/arm movements, facial expressions and other clues that keep you in tune with the conversation. You try to compensate for that on the phone by listening harder. Are there other things? Does hearing with only one ear (on a hand set) effect your brain also? Any psychologists out there have some thoughts?

Morris

OMG I caught Matt's disease. Thread-Killer. Say it aint so....