[Not for the faint of heart.] Texting while driving

[KSoD]

Its funny. I live in NY, where we have had a law in effect for years now about not using the handset while driving. Yet i still see cops and state troopers doing it. While in the Squad Car!

I got pulled over once by a cop who was on his phone. I took a picture with my phone and presented it as evidence when i went to court. Yeah i got the case thrown out cause i wasnt the one driving. Despite what the cop thought. He just saw someone on a phone.

The judge wasnt too happy when he seen the pic. I think he was a bit upset.

So yeah while i think this would be great, i dont know how effective it will be. NY is in the works for putting a law into effect that bans texting while driving as well. See how well that works out....

 

[synergy]

Well...all you need to do is read my rant in the OT thread to know how I feel about texting while driving. That video did a great job of putting it into reality. If it WAS shown here in US schools you'd get a bunch of whiners complaining about it and it'd get pulled anyway.

 

[kmote]

Blimey. Don't text while driving!

 

[wafflehammer]

i honestly started laughing after the first 40 seconds :\ Very uhmm..fakish (i know it's slowed down a lot and stuff ...and is fake)

but i do agree..this should be shown at schools

 

[Tim]

tbh, texting whilst driving is faaar more dangerous than making a call, as you're always looking at the screen. People who do it are just idiots

 

[hikaricloud]

tbh, texting whilst driving is faaar more dangerous than making a call, as you're always looking at the screen. People who do it are just idiots

Thanks for calling me an idiot in so few words...

You don't have to look at the screen the whole time, especially if you have a regular non QWERTY phone. I remember what key has what letters and how many times you have to push the button to get them.

I've been texting and driving for about 3 or so years now, never got in an accident. It's like with anything else, if you aren't a moron about it, you'll be fine.

 

[zmatt]

Anyone who talks on the phone or texts while drinvg is an idiot in my mind. Sorry Hikari, nothing personal.

To me it's way to much risk to put yourself and others at to answer a stupid phone call.

When it comes to driving I tend to follow the German mindset. I drive to drive, not to necessarily accomplish something else. I don't need a dvd player, a Big Slurp, or a cell phone. My attention should be 100% on driving.

I wont go as far to say that cell phones in cars should be banned, that is just fascist, but I think that people should seriously grow up and learn that talking isn't always the most important thing. When I am driving I ignore calls. I return them once I get where I was going.


EDIT:

Thoughts on the actual video,

That is the best produced psa I have ever seen. They don't make them like that here. It really drove the point home.
Some of the realism was lost on me though. are English cars that unsafe? The parents in the third car hit them head on, which is the best place to wreck. Yet they died. It looked like they went into the windshield, were they not wearing seat belt? Or do English cars not require airbags?

All in all, I think it was very effective.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

^^ Agreed, peoples should give driving their full attention. If you want to do other stuff on your commute take a bus.

 

[hikaricloud]

Sure, I'll start taking a bus to get to my customers.

GPS in this town is screwed, so in my current job (and eventually when I finally get my business license) I have to call people while I'm delivering to make sure I know where I am going and I don't get lost. Not to mention I'm on a time schedule. Going from point A to point B is all fine and good...if you know where you're going. I'd like to think this doesn't make me an idiot.

I guess I'm an industrious person in the fact that I actually like getting things done faster, and I happen to be on the road a lot. So making a general blanket statement about how anyone who uses a cell phone while they are driving is an idiot and doesn't have to is pretty wrong.

That being said, there are plenty of people who need to not be on the phone while they are driving, which goes back to my point about people who can't multitask or are just flat out retarded while they are driving and on the phone. So, as I've said, varies from person to person.

EDIT: You know, after thinking about it, it makes sense for you to not use your phone considering you drive a stick shift. But not everyone does.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

This thread is about texting while driving not talking on the phone while driving. While I generally think both should be avoided at least the risk from the latter one can be minimized by using a bluetooth headset and/or a phone supporting voice activation which allows you to keep your hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

It's interesting that almost everyone who texts while driving claims they are an above average driver. It's probably true in some cases but everyone can't be above average