I started in the cellular business around the time of the Calgary Olympics. That is longer than many here have even been driving, or perhaps even alive.
Carphones were the norm, all with handsfree speakers and mic installed into the vehicles. This was quite safe, even safer than talking to someone IN the vehicle as you did not have any reason to turn your head and look at that person while conversing.
Portables became popular, but handsfree kits for those were usually as expensive as the phone itself or moreso, thus less utilized. This began a small but noticeable degradation in safe driving. Between the rarity of portables and airtime still being expensive, you didn't see a lot of people talking while driving, but those that did quite often stood out for their poor driving as they tried to hold these large units to their heads.
Along came Blackberries. And another degradation in driving ability. Again, the effect was a slow one, but noticeable.
Then... boom. Texting from most devices. And the result is now obvious.
Pylon claimed:
Quote:
Originally Posted by pylon
I'm sorry, but nobody here can claim they don't glance at a text message or email at a red light.
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I can Pylon. I can.
I don't even condone using Bluetooth handsfree as it limits your hearing by having one ear partially blocked. You cannot wear headphones while driving, and this is just about as bad.
I remember the initial objections to buying a cell phone in the early days:
"I can wait to get back to my office to get any messages"
"No calls are that important"
"I don't want to be bothered in my car"
etc, etc, etc...
Now people are the polar opposite. People are so self-absorbed that they cannot take a five minute drive without having to read/respond to a text/tweet/email or facebook update.
We, as pioneers in the cellular business certainly found a way to bury those objections over the years.
Sorry about that.