Post by: Paddy on July 26, 2010, 09:35:00 AM
Ontario recently enacted a law preventing us from using ANY device - phone, GPS etc. - while driving unless it's hands-free. The problem with that law is that it doesn't prevent driving while distracted - and research shows that people are no safer using hands-free phones.
http://www.ergoweb.com/news/detail.cfm?id=2364
http://mentalhealth.about.com/library/sci/...ellphone701.htm (research on why it's not safer to use a hands-free phone)
When, oh when, will they just ban ALL cellphone use outright while driving?? It's the only thing that makes any sense.
A GPS isn't quite in the same league, as long as you don't fiddle with it while driving - though there have been some real idiots who have followed its directions so faithfully that they apparently haven't noticed that the GPS was WRONG and that they're about to drive into a river etc.! A GPS is fundamentally different from a phone - it's a one-way conversation and requires far less concentration than keeping up your end of a phone conversation, though I have been known to speak back to mine...along the lines of "I don't think so!"
Post by: Xairbusdriver on July 26, 2010, 09:55:52 AM
Of course, the car companies are further encouraging this kind of distraction by making more and more of the accessories voice-activated. What is terrifying to me is that these systems are controlled by a Windows OS!!!
Driver: "My car just crashed!"
911: "Are there any injuries?"
Driver: "No, no. You don't understand, it's the software that crashed. Now nothing works."
911: "No problem. Just step out of the car, close the doors and wait ten minutes. Then, get back in and press the horn button while pressing the brake pedal and turn on the ignition. That should allow a soft re-boot. However, when you get home, you should immediately restore your car with Service Pack 2819 to avoid this in the future...week."
Post by: jcarter on July 28, 2010, 02:23:43 PM
He was completely deaf and blind, so to say.
Our road has very very little traffic, but along came a big pickup going about 35 mph, way too fast for this road. I yelled and waved at the kid, no response, so I dropped my clippers, stuck my fingers in my mouth, and let fly with a very very loud whistle. The kid jumped like I had shot him, I pointed at the truck and he darted into the edge of the woods. The guy in the truck was yakking on his phone. He spotted me waving at the kid and slowed way down.
That would have been not too good! The kid was walking in the shade and not all that visible.
WHEW, it was close!
Later on, I went out and took the clippers and cut the vines and cruddy low trees sticking out into the road, the town isnt bothering with the back roads this year due to budget problems.
I see some kids talking on their phones while riding their bikes, but havent seen one riding and texting yet,,,,
Jane
Post by: Xairbusdriver on July 28, 2010, 03:14:44 PM
Perhaps the teenager might learn to walk/jog/run facing traffic?
Post by: jcarter on July 28, 2010, 03:47:22 PM
Most every body knows or lives on the road, so they all go slow. But you get the occasional summer people, or workmen who dont know that the road has a 90 degree bend that is hard to see.
But that kid will remember this, I hope, and be more careful next time.
Post by: Highmac on July 29, 2010, 06:35:42 AM
After all, it's clever enough that a friend of ours, who had been stopped for "using his mobile" and denied it (he was scratching his ear), got the police to call his phone provider who confirmed the phone was not in use at the time he was stopped... Saved him getting a ticket and three points on his licence.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on July 29, 2010, 10:24:27 AM
Frankly, I'm amazed that the phone company could be contacted within a few hours to get the info...
Post by: Highmac on July 29, 2010, 11:18:32 AM
QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Jul 29 2010, 04:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
WHAT??!!! You mean scratching an ear while driving is not a punishable offense where you live!!! I guess things are much different 'over there!' Probably because of the side of the road you use...
Frankly, I'm amazed that the phone company could be contacted within a few hours to get the info...
Frankly, I'm amazed that the phone company could be contacted within a few hours to get the info...
Not a few hours Jim - while my friend was still standing at the side of the road - and he wasn't held up long. They probably have a special number, and the words "police request" probably still carry some weight, even over here
Post by: Xairbusdriver on July 30, 2010, 01:46:20 PM
Post by: kimmer on July 30, 2010, 07:47:08 PM
Mac was afraid to hit the horn, but he's waving his arms (like she was watching us). Suddenly she looks over, sees us, LAUGHS, slides around us back into the other lane (without looking) and slips in the turn lane behind us. She missed hitting us head-on by about 5 inches, and she almost peeled off the side and back end of our car. She just kept laughing and driving. We pulled into the parking lot and just sat in our car shaking.And this gal wasn't on the phone - she was talking to a passenger. Definitely a distracted driver. I shudder to think what she's like if she's on the cell phone.
Post by: krissel on July 31, 2010, 06:30:42 AM
The other day I was waiting in the left turn lane at a light. A guy comes from the side road (with the light) and cuts soooo close to the front of my car I found myself pulling back on the steering wheel as if to back up the car.
I saw that he had a phone up to his ear with the other hand on the wheel. My window was down as was his, so I shouted, "Hang up and drive!" I saw his head jerk around a bit and he did slow down but I'll bet he didn't stop talking.
Remember those toys we had as kids that fired a dart with a suction cup on the tip? I wish someone would come up with a modern version that had a sign that unfolds as it hits the target. The sign would say, "Idiot driver on cellphone." Or maybe just a graphic:
[attachment=1924:bad_cell...e_driver.gif]
Post by: jcarter on July 31, 2010, 06:51:04 AM
Like the time our daughter and I got hit by a lobsterman's very old tough Chevy pickup in Maine, her newish little Honda was totalled, and the lobsterman had a dented in license plate holder, thats all!
(We are looking for a big diesel Ford or GMC for our next vehicle.
http://www.62-65-dieselpage.com/
http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/superduty/ )
Post by: RNKIII on July 31, 2010, 07:36:44 AM
Bob K. rnkiii
Post by: kimmer on July 31, 2010, 12:23:20 PM
Post by: Highmac on August 01, 2010, 03:38:06 AM
But I did hear another horn which I'm pretty sure was the driver behind him.....
I love it when a plan comes together... even if just by chance.
Kimmer: My father's advice when I began driving was - "drive as if everything else on the road is being driven by a dangerous idiot..."
Post by: gunug on August 01, 2010, 05:48:29 PM
drive by on our cooperatives central drive. But we now have had 8 people killed or seriously injured within 8-10 miles to my east. "Increased enforcement"
has been promised! If the kids miss using the cellphones in the car they might go to this event:
QUOTE
The Dynamic DJ Duo of Knock Knock and Wubba Wubba will be debuting in the intimate red-lit basement
of their beloved Taproom on the luckiest of all days: Friday the 13th! We'll be slamming out dubstep, bootyclap
and glitchy hip-hop all night long. Come get sweaty wet and cool down on the hottt dance floor.
of their beloved Taproom on the luckiest of all days: Friday the 13th! We'll be slamming out dubstep, bootyclap
and glitchy hip-hop all night long. Come get sweaty wet and cool down on the hottt dance floor.
All I know is it was in the local paper and is supposed to take place on Friday the 13th of August. I'm ready with
my dancing shoes; film at 11!
Post by: jcarter on August 01, 2010, 07:12:23 PM
Its mostly bicycles here.
But we sure do have a summer influx of motorcycles. We have a town ordinance for 'no noise' but its really hard to enforce.
And there really isn't that much noise from motorcycles year round, as they are only here in summer, and they dont go on the back roads much. Though its a bit annoying to be kayaking in a secluded swamp and hear one roar in the distance, but you know they will be gone in a few minutes, so what the heck. No different from our CG copters patrolling.
But sadly we do have so many motorcycle accidents here, probably due to the back roads which are twisty and have lots of sand on them. And in Hyannis, its all to do with excessive speed and too much to drink.
But Hyannis is a long way from us.
I hate to read the accident part of the paper in the summer, I tend to skip over it, though its not much for our town.
Jane