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texting while driving

Can't bear to watch! The utter stupidity of drivers who text or use any form of cell phone (or floss their teeth, discipline their kids, read, etc.) while driving just makes me crazy. I'm close enough to going over the edge already and don't need a shove.

pete
 
Can't bear to watch! The utter stupidity of drivers who text or use any form of cell phone (or floss their teeth, discipline their kids, read, etc.) while driving just makes me crazy. I'm close enough to going over the edge already and don't need a shove.

pete

:stick
 
I didn't watch either. We have a major construction project currently happening on our property, and a couple days ago one of the young guys didn't show up. Learned that looking down to pick up his cup of coffee he ran off the road. Totaled the car, a number of bruises on his body, and a ton of paper work and the cost of replacing the car. Now back at work - to earn the money a moments inattention cost him.

This nice young man is, I believe, you and me. We can all be distracted for a few moments for reasons that continue to mount as the electronic distractions in our car or bike mount - not to mention the placement of the coffee mug.

Maybe some of you have suggestions. On the bike, I lack all the stuff which would entertain or support me; (no radio, gps, etc.) In our newer car I seldom need directions and enjoy the satellite radio (jazz and classical have both been great on longer trips) but very important to get them programmed so a thumb switch takes a half second while I am still involved (mostly) in driving.

Doug
 
Can't bear to watch! The utter stupidity of drivers who text or use any form of cell phone (or floss their teeth, discipline their kids, read, etc.) while driving just makes me crazy. I'm close enough to going over the edge already and don't need a shove.

pete

Just to rub it in a bit, I use "flossers" while driving:thumb Texting, however, makes me cringe!:banghead Are you saying that you never talked to your children in a car?:laugh If we go that route it would require a taxi(or both parents on board:scratch) to get them to various locations?:laugh
 
Distractions...

Interesting thread....as an "old" (65) aviator (42+ years)......distractions at critical times in aviation can be deadly.......no BS in the cockpit until "cruise" (low threat), etc. My dear wife of 31 years long ago realized that while we chatted in the 4 wheelers.....I was NOT going to look at her......it bothered her for a while....but then she realized she married a pilot....we talk to each via ICS/intercom in aircraft....turning the head to talk in a car @ 100 feet per second is dangerous!!!!!

I'm afraid many in our society just can't focus well at ONE task.......keeping the cage in lane, on speed, etc........4 wheelers have become rec-rooms....let's do lots of stuff while motoring...BTW the industry encourages this!!!! Rant over!:p
 
this is an important topic and we need to keep it active with our group and others........................

pass it on!


jason
 
It's not just texting as we all know. I drive for car dealers so get to try out a variety of vehicles. The controls for heating, A/C, radio, clock etc are a real problem. There is no way one can adjust any of these things without looking at the console. Even redirecting the air within the car requires looking to find the right button to push since they all feel the same. Then one has to watch the LCD screen until the correct setting displays. Those who wear polarizing sun glasses may not see anything on these LCD panels. All this is very distracting and some operations require multiple inputs, GPS and clock setting for example. Varieties of information about gas consumption and engine conditions that can be displayed are also distracting.
 
Heater knobs, etc..

Hey Walt.......in aviation this is known as "cockpit fam"......most "big iron" (75,76,77) are very similar cockpits....but it still takes sitting in the office (cockpit) and studying the layout before the first training flights......kinda like picking up a rental auto at an airport......check things out BEFORE you pull out into traffic....in a strange city!!!:thumb
 
I'm afraid many in our society just can't focus well at ONE task.......keeping the cage in lane, on speed, etc........4 wheelers have become rec-rooms....let's do lots of stuff while motoring...BTW the industry encourages this!!!! Rant over!:p

Well, to me, it's the fact that people just can't let go of being "in touch" 100% of the time. Reading and answering text's, reading and answering e-mails, reading Facebook...all from the convenience of a phone.

While my wife's vehicle is equipped with a Sync that is connected to her phone, I don't have that luxury in my vehicles. No big deal. If I'm driving, I rarely if ever answer the cell phone. It can wait. Text messages? No way, don't even look at them until I'm off the road.

I'm not kidding myself. I'm definitely NOT a good multitasker when driving, and that would include when there's other people in the car with me.

It's the bad behavior from 4-wheeled drivers that just may make me hang up riding motorcycles on the road. I just hope it's my choice and that I'm not forced into it by an incident.
 
Any distraction is bad.
I caught myself staring at instrument cluster out riding the other day. Woke up in time.
Guilty!!!
 
Per #6 above throw in with the notion that "many in today's society cannot focus on more than one thing" with the absolutely huge number of ADD's out there & you have dangerous drivers that(here comes my all time favorite thing to rant on) have no benefit of having gone through a driver training program. A basically untrained driver can familiarize with the techy controls for a long time but they still are untrained and driving when it's all said and done! Read a car/PU review these days & the stuff that takes attention to control (stuff I don't want or need in a vehicle) is, in large part, what impresses many modern car drivers & makes them less safe too.
 
Just to rub it in a bit, I use "flossers" while driving:thumb Texting, however, makes me cringe!:banghead Are you saying that you never talked to your children in a car?:laugh If we go that route it would require a taxi(or both parents on board:scratch) to get them to various locations?:laugh

We do talk to passengers in our cars. IMHO that is not distracting unless you look at them..I also use headphones when I use the cell instead of one hand on the wheel and trying to tilt my head with the other hand glued to a phone and then to my ear. Rub it in? Yeah..tell us where you are driving..I want to stay away..

I am not looking forward t you saying OOPS!! I never thought..
If I am pissing people off..so be it. Dont floss your damned teeth in my road..or anyone elses..
Oh Yeah..Sorry to rub it in :(
I hope I saved someones ass
 
We do talk to passengers in our cars. IMHO that is not distracting unless you look at them..I also use headphones when I use the cell instead of one hand on the wheel and trying to tilt my head with the other hand glued to a phone and then to my ear. Rub it in? Yeah..tell us where you are driving..I want to stay away..

I am not looking forward t you saying OOPS!! I never thought..
If I am pissing people off..so be it. Dont floss your damned teeth in my road..or anyone elses..
Oh Yeah..Sorry to rub it in :(
I hope I saved someones ass
It was toothpicks before they invented the flossers. :wave And yes I'm an attentive driver/rider...:brow
 
Riders as drivers...

I have a feeling that most folks on this forum...and probably in the MOA are among the best 4 wheel drivers on the road!!! Jus' my Oh-pinion...:thumb
 
While I'm all in favor of education on the dangers of distracted driving/riding, if the penalties for using a cell phone or texting while in control of a vehicle are severe enough, that deterrent will be even more effective. (Pretty hard to prove that someone was reading, eating a hamburger, grabbing their coffee, looking at their GPS, changing a CD, etc. when they crashed. But cell phones including texting leave time/date trails.)

In British Columbia we may have some of the harshest "drunk driving" laws on the planet. In most jurisdictions the legal BAC is under 0.08. In BC if you blow 0.05 in a roadside check, you will be issued a three day roadside suspension. This means a fine of over $300, the cost of your vehicle being towed, the cost of redeeming it from the place it is towed to, and the cost of a taxi to take you wherever you were driving. So is the law effective? I believe so. With at least the same level of enforcement (spot checks on all drivers,) the number of drunk drivers is down considerably.

If the same three day roadside suspension applied whenever a cop saw you using a hand held cellphone or texting while driving (of course, texting while driving should have the same penalty as driving with a BAC of over 0.08) THAT would get the attention of a lot of people. But I don't see this happening.

I think distracted drivers (like deer) are just something we have to deal with - and there are no real answers to how to always deal with either threat. Stay alert when you are behind the wheel/bars yourself so you are not part of the problem and look for distracted drivers (cell phone, erratic driving) and get out of their way quickly. Unlike deer, bad or impaired drivers usually give you some clues if you are paying attention.

If anyone has better ideas of how to avoid becoming a statistic of distracted driving, we'd all love to hear it. This problem is likely to get worse rather than better.
 
A couple of computer geeks on last nights news were demonstrating how that Apple had/is able to track everywhere they had traveled(and more) over a long period of time via cell use. It showed a North American map with red dots from here to yonder & the data was very specific.
If you really want to scare yourself take a look at the % of people that are "supposed to have" ADHD and what type of pill they are taking as a "supposed solution" to the issue. it sure doesn't end there either. We are out there on the road with people popping billions of pills (that have a marked affect on driving) at an unbelievable rate & they are NOT! all the so called "druggies" that we want to attribute such use too. This not withstanding the regular stay drunk & drive crowd that's still there too. Many are grandpa/grandma or your soccer mom,etc.. Folks it's a zoo out there on the road,beware... :cry
 
Distractions

Laws and education can probably help with visual distractions like texting, eating, etc. but, what about cognitive distractions. How can we teach people not to take their mind off of driving. How many times have you driven somewhere and for a short period of time had no memory of what area you just drove through. If you have never done that, good for you. But, I've done it and I consider myself a very safe driver. I've had no accidents in a car ever in 50 years of driving and only three traffic violations. But, I have had some near misses that were my fault mostly because I had my mind on something else. How do we fix that?

DW
 
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