32 dies texting she's HAPPY

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by strombad

Because people ARE more busy and important than they were 30 years ago. As society changes, so do things like "cellphone requirements" and the like. Saying something like "things haven't changed in 30 years" is borderline ridiculous. Of course they have, they've change extreme amounts in the last 30 years. It's not just the technology that has changed, but EVERYTHING.

I get what you're saying, but don't criticise people for making hollow arguments by making your own ridiculously hollow argument along the lines of "Well if it was good enough 30 years ago it's good enough for me!" because that speaks an awful lot to something else you said, what was it?


The fact is, technology, society, and the requirements and abilities of both of vastly changed over the last 30 years. Things have made people faster, better, more efficient, safer (the ability to call 911 at any time for instance) and yes, more unsafe at times (texting while driving is an abuse of the benefits mobile technology offers).

Whether you like it or not, it's the way life is. We can all agree that texting while driving is dangerous and stupid, but don't make some ridiculous comment like "things haven't changed since 30 years ago!" because it makes you look like you're scrounging to make a point you really don't have to try that hard to make.

First of all I said, 'a lot of these things haven't changed'. I never said nothing has changed. Are we busier than we were 30 years ago, sure I can admit that. But are we as busy as we think, or are we so busy we need to do something that is very obviously and very statistically dangerous? No. That's an illusion and an inflated sense of importance. As I said, there are workarounds for every single thing people have said here. And I think most would agree, that a lot of what we think or feel as busy, could easily be lessened by a simple change in priorities, one of which I am arguing here. It is more important to drive safe, that to engage in all this phone stuff, 99% of which isn't necessary.

Things do change. But it doesn't mean we can't legislate and re-evaluate as they do. We have a near zero tolerance for alcohol and driving because it is the right and smart thing to do. Drinking and driving is very unsafe, and impedes on others freedoms to get around safely. That, is taking away freedoms as much as saying you shouldn't be on the phone while driving. One could make the argument that no one ever NEEDS to drink, so I'm not going to say they are the same, but as far as safety vs freedom and safety vs inconvenience it's a decision we've made as a society because it makes sense.

Texting and driving is as dangerous as drinking and driving. You can't simply brush it away by saying phones are more important because the fact of the matter is, they aren't nearly as important as you think. You can pull over, you can wait a few minutes, you can do so many things other than picking it up while driving.

I also find it funny that people here will defend using phones while driving, but are so quick to say in other threads that people use their phones too much, or society, and especially kids, are needlessly addicted to their phones, or why don't people pay attention when they walk instead of looking at their phones? It's the exact same thing. Why do these people all of a sudden become so self important when it's them with their phone in their car?

Are we busier? Sure. But is it as busy as people want to think, or so busy we can't slow down to do important things like drive safely? No.

[strombad]

Originally Posted by Daradon

First of all I said, 'a lot of these things haven't changed'. I never said nothing has changed. Are we busier than we were 30 years ago, sure I can admit that. But are we as busy as we think, or are we so busy we need to do something that is very obviously and very statistically dangerous? No. That's an illusion and an inflated sense of importance. As I said, there are workarounds for every single thing people have said here. And I think most would agree, that a lot of what we think or feel as busy, could easily be lessened by a simple change in priorities, one of which I am arguing here. It is more important to drive safe, that to engage in all this phone stuff, 99% of which isn't necessary.

Things do change. But it doesn't mean we can't legislate and re-evaluate as they do. We have a near zero tolerance for alcohol and driving because it is the right and smart thing to do. Drinking and driving is very unsafe, and impedes on others freedoms to get around safely. That, is taking away freedoms as much as saying you shouldn't be on the phone while driving. One could make the argument that no one ever NEEDS to drink, so I'm not going to say they are the same, but as far as safety vs freedom and safety vs inconvenience it's a decision we've made as a society because it makes sense.

Texting and driving is as dangerous as drinking and driving. You can't simply brush it away by saying phones are more important because the fact of the matter is, they aren't nearly as important as you think. You can pull over, you can wait a few minutes, you can do so many things other than picking it up while driving.

I also find it funny that people here will defend using phones while driving, but are so quick to say in other threads that people use their phones too much, or society, and especially kids, are needlessly addicted to their phones, or why don't people pay attention when they walk instead of looking at their phones? It's the exact same thing. Why do these people all of a sudden become so self important when it's them with their phone in their car?

Are we busier? Sure. But is it as busy as people want to think, or so busy we can't slow down to do important things like drive safely? No.

To clarify, I never once said that texting and driving wasn't dangerous, I said the very opposite.

My point is that you are making broad sweeping generalisations about cellphone use. 99% of cell phone use isn't necessary? Really? In today's society? Show me one study that says that and we'll talk.

The fact is, because you (clearly) don't work in a job where your phone being ready and immediately available is a requirement, you're not understanding the basic fundamentals at work here. Texting is never necessary, ever. Looking down at your phone for 5-10 seconds is crazy. But phone calls? You bet they can be necessary. People have head sets. It's what they're for.

As someone noted above, studies have shown that eating and drinking in your car is statistically more dangerous than using your phone. Should we ban drive-thrus? Is your hunger so important that you can't wait for that coffee, burger, or whatever until you get to where you're going? I'm not using the argument that we can't fix one problem because there are others, but it's very important to grasp that food has been around a lot longer than cell phones, and is more dangerous than even drunk driving. I don't see you ranting about coffee and cheeseburgers, just alcohol and texting

What it seems to me, is that people take the things that are unimportant to them and push against them harder than things they're OK with, regardless of what actual data shows. It's great that you don't use your cell phone much, good for you, but if we're going to rock this conversation about distracted driving, then let's be real about it. Cell phones are the LATEST problem, but they aren't the biggest. You can't, logically, state that 99% of people don't NEED to use their cellphone, while completely ignoring the fact that 100% of people don't NEED to eat in their car.

Personally, I'm going to keep using my hands free. You keep rocking that double double. I'm comfortable guessing who gets into a mess first.

[mustache ride]

Originally Posted by Daradon

Texting and driving is as dangerous as drinking and driving.

This is still just not true. I have already posted links in this thread. Speeding is as dangerous as drinking and driving. Drinking and driving and speeding both kill over double the people cited as being distracted drivers but there is still no statistic that breaks down what being a distracted driver means. Are they texting or reading emails? Maybe. Did they drop food or a cigarette? Were they arguing or doing some other random crap? Until someone actually has real data on texting while driving deaths and accidents then it's just some bogeyman without substance.

[Daradon]

Again, your misunderstanding my comment, but I don't think it's on purpose, I think you're just reading too quickly. I also didn't mean to say, that YOU SAID texting and driving wasn't dangerous. I don't think I did to be honest, again I think you're reading too quickly. I was stating my opinion and defending it, not trying to put words in your mouth. But if I did, it's not what I meant and I'm sorry. We're probably both a little amped up on this discussion right now and reading too much into what the other is saying so I'll try and calm it down here a bit.

Your last remark seems to be a direct challenge and insult where I have made none so maybe we can tone this down a bit? For the record, I don't like Timmy's, I don't have a car right now anyway, and I have said multiple times that hands free is fine in my opinion, so your comment was not only unnecessary, but incorrect at all levels.

When I said '99% of phone stuff isn't necessary' I was meaning in context with driving and answering it immediately as opposed to, 2-15 minutes later when most people could safely. That's all. Not phones in general, and as I mentioned above, not hands free devices.

Also, while I don't have a job like that now, I did have an outside sales job in telecom years ago where I had. So I know the game. The distractions and the temptations. And I will admit, there was a few months when I started where I did text and drive occasionally. I was on call, had to be re routed to other service or sales jobs, etc. I stopped doing it because I realized how dangerous it was. And of course, this was way before all the data on it came out. In fact it was about 10 years ago, around the time of the original Blackberrys.

Lastly, I don't eat while driving either. I guess the most dangerous thing I did when I did drive regularly was change CD's, which I admit might fall into the realm of unsafe driving, but still isn't the level of texting and driving. And, given todays technology and MP3's I don't do anymore anyway.

So to recap, it appears we agree on most things. I have said in two posts before this one that hands free was ok in my opinion, my biggest beef was with people who text and drive or otherwise handle and look at their phone while driving, which is what this thread started off as anyway.

[habernac]

Hang up and drive, people. It's pretty simple. No, you aren't that important. Yes, your call can wait.

[strombad]

It's entirely possible I'm just extra feisty this morning and looking to get into it.

As you said, I don't think we're far off. I'm just crazy this morning. Still, I'm right with the argument that eating is a far more dire problem than making a phone call. I know a lady who would always have a bowl of cereal on the way to work. That's just insane to me.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by strombad

It's entirely possible I'm just extra feisty this morning and looking to get into it.

As you said, I don't think we're far off. I'm just crazy this morning. Still, I'm right with the argument that eating is a far more dire problem than making a phone call. I know a lady who would always have a bowl of cereal on the way to work. That's just insane to me.

Thank you for that. (That's a sincere thank you, not a snarky one)

That is insane, agreed. Same with putting on makeup, and not to single out women, but a lot of other things. Which is why there is a blanket distracted driving law. I just think texting and driving has become so commonplace, and is so dangerous, that perhaps it can have it's own law and set of punishments, like drinking and driving.

To be fair, a lot of distracted driving should be punished harder. I just don't think you see as many people eating cereal as texting.

[ernie]

Originally Posted by pylon

Backup cameras were just made mandatory by the NHTSA for the 2017 or 2018 model year I believe.

You will see hands free joining that requirement very soon as well. Apparently it is the next one, and V2V is going to be not far behind. If you think my solution is too Alex Jones, tinfoil hat, big brother. Wait until your car automatically brakes and steers into the ditch to avoid you plowing into a mini van loaded with kids while you are instagramming a picture of your dessert you ate 5 minutes ago.

My one car doesn't steer into a ditch for me but it does automatically brake if I approach a car too fast from behind or if someone darts off a sidewalk in front of the car. It's the city safety system from Volvo (other companies have other similar systems). It's becoming a much more common option on the car and having had a skateboarder come flying off his board right into the path of my car a few months ago it's one I will get every time if offered. I preferred having my car automatically slam on the brakes instead of a guy coming through my windshield.

I believe Volvo has made a target of a zero casualty car in the next few years. This fits in with sweden's overall Vision Zero. They want no road deaths period. Last year they had 264 which is half that from a decade ago. They believe it can be done but because they are wacky socialists I can never see the US following suit. Hell, daytime running lights aren't even mandatory down here.

edit: Volvo program is Vision 2020: Zero injuries, zero fatalities, zero emissions

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

Hmm, touché. Funny, when the law came into effect they said they were illegal.

No, they were clearly listed under the permitted activities section of the act.

[Looch City]

Is there anything in the law that says you can't fap while you drive?

Would it be under personal "grooming"? haha

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Is there anything in the law that says you can't fap while you drive?

Would it be under personal "grooming"? haha

i don't think there is a law as such on the books anywhere cause you know they wouldn't word it like that. But I do know for a fact there has been at least one charge for something like that. Wasn't there a story out of Florida like that a few years back?

But yeah, that would fall under most places distracted driving laws, you don't need to single the act out for it to be illegal.

[Northendzone]

^ then you guys would really be happy while driving

[DuffMan]

If only they built an app into phones that would translate voice into text, and vice versa.

I used to roll, ah cigarettes while driving, thankfully well before texting brought the spotlight on bad driving.

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

If only they built an app into phones that would translate voice into text, and vice versa.

I'm pretty sure Google Now has that ability.

[harmony]

isn't texting a lot more dangerous than drinking and driving? punish it on par, or close to drinking and driving, and it should get better, fast.

[Jimmy Stang]

I'm all for throwing the book at those caught texting, talking, etc. while driving.

But jamming signals, locking/kill switch based on movement, etc. is absurd. What about a passenger legally using their phone? Emergencies? I use my phone for navigation AND for streaming web audio while I drive, and I don't ever have to touch it. Perfectly safe and legal.

Phones are a lot more than expensive texting toys. Penalize the behaviour, not the technology.

[mustache ride]

Originally Posted by harmony

isn't texting a lot more dangerous than drinking and driving? punish it on par, or close to drinking and driving, and it should get better, fast.

Once again, no its not

[ernie]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

I'm pretty sure Google Now has that ability.

I believe Mercedes the last couple of years has had total voice texting. It reads the text to you and of course will do voice texting. You are notified you have a text and you can play it.

The only thing missing from most smartphones right now is a voice activation trigger so you don't have to handle the phone at all. Same with the car as you usually need to fiddle with a button or two to bring up the voice commands.

[DuffMan]

Siri will also do it.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

I used to roll, ah cigarettes while driving, thankfully well before texting brought the spotlight on bad driving.

Jazz Cigarettes.