Using a Cell Phone in a car == Drunk driving

[Analog]

" The New England Journal of Medicine in 1997, examined traffic accidents experienced by cell phone users in Toronto..."

"Using a cell phone while driving increased the chances of getting into an accident, with the same level of impairment as driving with a blood alcohol level high enough for one to be arrested in most states."

Text

 

[BatmanNate]

Or driving sleepy....or driving female.

 

[minendo]

Drunk driving and talking on the cell phone is fun though.

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: minendo
Drunk driving and talking on the cell phone is fun though.

Remind me to stay out of Indiana but the sad thing is that it probably happens all the time.

 

[conjur]

I think being a teen male increases your chances of having a wreck even more!

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: conjur
I think being a teen male increases your chances of having a wreck even more!

Change male to female and you have the right idea. Now if we're talking about fatal accidents, leave male just how it is (it's not my fault everyone my age and sex wants to end up in a bodybag by the time they're 20).

 

[DrPizza]

I just read the first couple pages.. it seems to be implying that their general use isn't the problem, it's their use in certain situations. ie There are distracting things that drivers just don't do in heavily congested traffic that don't pose much of a risk while on more open roads such as finding a CD to put in.

 

[GasX]

worst driver ever: black female teenage asian soccer mom with a cell phone in one hand, a fifth of Smirnoff in the other and two screaming rugrats in the back...

 

[JoeKing]

With the wide use of hands free sets now (I think they give them away free with all phones) I think that 1997 study is null.

 

[Kyteland]

Originally posted by: Joeyman
With the wide use of hands free sets now (I think they give them away free with all phones) I think that 1997 study is null.

Actually, it's not the holding of the phone that is the problem, it is the talking part. When you focus on talking to somebody else you are not focused on driving, and that increases the chances of getting in an accident. Hands free doesn't help that any.

 

[rh71]

Talking on a cell phone == talking to the person sitting beside you.

Driving with one hand/arm isn't impossible - people do it normally anyway.

 

[Compton]

I was sitting at a red light a few weeks back and I almost had a teenage girl (who was on the phone) crash head on into me. She swerved away at the last second. It scared the crap outta me. There should be a ban on using the phone while driving.

 

[ScottyB]

Originally posted by: rh71
Talking on a cell phone == talking to the person sitting beside you.

Driving with one hand/arm isn't impossible - people do it normally anyway.

Actually not. When talking to a passenger they are aware of road conditions too, unlike someone on the other end of the phone.

 

[IGBT]

No doubt..cell phone induced stupor..I see em blowing stop signs and red lights and straddling lanes...with a cell phone in hand slapped up against the side of their head..

 

[C'DaleRider]

Originally posted by: rh71
Talking on a cell phone == talking to the person sitting beside you.

Driving with one hand/arm isn't impossible - people do it normally anyway.

I highly doubt talking to a passenger is anything like talking on the phone. Don't know about you, but most people become rather zoned in on teh conversation on a phone for whatever reaseon.......so much so that people become oblivious to their surroundings. just watch anyone talking on any phone, not just cell phones. Some people like to wander when on the phone, some become very animated, some blank out to the outside world....and that's just at home................so why would they act any different when in a car taling on the phone? The answer is they don't.........they lose track of their surroundings and seem unable to hold phone conversations and drive simultaneously. They can point the vehicle in a general direction, but they can't drive.

 

[Freejack2]

Some people just can't drive and use a phone. I always use a headset and I won't hesitate to tell someone to hold on if I'm in a difficult traffic situation. If I have to call someone I usually try to do it on lightly travelled interstate.
Cell phone use doesn't have to be banned, it just has to be used responsibly.

 

[MAME]

Uhhh....I don't think so.
You have to take a percentage, not a total amount.

Unless they actually did that in which I think they picked the best drunks or the worst cell phone drivers

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
worst driver ever: black female teenage asian soccer mom with a cell phone in one hand, a fifth of Smirnoff in the other and two screaming rugrats in the back...

LOL....

Now there's a scary sight.