Distracted driving surpassing DUI

NFLDERS · Nov 26, 2015

Sadly, those texting while driving do so, and openly admit it.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/owne...d-this-once-you-get-home/ar-BBnliE9?li=AA8hc8

Cannot_Wait_4Disney · Nov 26, 2015

Just one of the reasons I posted I'm more afraid driving to WDW than of terrorists striking it when I'm there in another thread.

sam_gordon · Nov 26, 2015

NFLDERS said:
Sadly, those texting while driving do so, and openly admit it.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/owne...d-this-once-you-get-home/ar-BBnliE9?li=AA8hc8

Sadly, those people who think (act) like texting and driving is the ONLY distraction...

Chocolate Cake · Nov 26, 2015

I can't tell you how many times I have been behind a car that was swerving severely and said "I bet they are texting". Sure enough, next light that we stop at, they are engrossed in their phone.

How can you be on the road with innocent people, going 60mph, and not looking where you are going?

I feel the same way about texting drivers as I do drunk drivers: I liken the crime to attempted murder. Hopefully if they crash, they are the only ones involved. I have no use for people like this.

sam_gordon · Nov 26, 2015

Chocolate Cake said:
How can you be on the road with innocent people, going 60mph, and not looking where you are going?

Many people do it... you look at the radio, change a CD, look at a passenger, look at a billboard, etc.

I assume "that's different" because you're a good driver, right?

cijay · Nov 26, 2015

I won't ride with a friend of mine because of the texting and driving.
But I agree, the difference between texting and looking briefly at something beside you is what? It depends. If you are taking your eyes off of the road to watch a driver you don't trust , that's part of being a cautious driver. There is no reason to be texting.

wilkeliza · Nov 26, 2015

cijay said:
I won't ride with a friend of mine because of the texting and driving.
But I agree, the difference between texting and looking briefly at something beside you is what? It depends. If you are taking your eyes off of the road to watch a driver you don't trust , that's part of being a cautious driver. There is no reason to be texting.

The big difference is looking at a billboard is usually a split second, and changig the radio is the time it take to get your finger on the button, where as texting takes the time to read and type. Most texts probably take 30 seconds to write and send. That time is far more than glancing at a billbord etc.

mnrose · Nov 26, 2015

sam_gordon said:
Many people do it... you look at the radio, change a CD, look at a passenger, look at a billboard, etc.

I assume "that's different" because you're a good driver, right?

It's been shown over and over that people CANNOT safely text and drive. It's a huge problem and comments like this don't help.

Studies show that it takes a minimum of 5 seconds of taking your eyes off the road to text. That's driving the length of a football field without looking. None of the things you mention take anywhere close to 5 seconds. And, some texts take even longer. This is stuff they actually measure. But, don't let the facts stand in the way of your beliefs.

I don't text and drive. Ever. Never have and never will.

My kids are required to lock up the phone in the glove box when they drive. Do anything different and they lose their phone AND their driving privileges.

Some more facts for you:

http://www.distraction.gov/stats-research-laws/facts-and-statistics.html

"But, because text messaging requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarming distraction."

sam_gordon · Nov 26, 2015

Since you like facts so much, can you find how many accidents (or simply fatalities if that's easier for you) are accredited to texting and driving vs other distractions?

BTW, your quote about texting and driving being the "most alarming" is an opinion, not a fact.

sam_gordon · Nov 26, 2015

mnrose said:
It's been shown over and over that people CANNOT safely text and drive.

Sorry, should have brought this up in the other post... so every time someone texts and drives, they cause an accident?

Is texting a distraction? Of course. There's no denying it.
Are there other things that are distractions (and have caused accidents)? Absolutely.

mnrose · Nov 26, 2015

Actually, the NHTSA (citing many studies) views texting as 6 times more dangerous than drunk driving. Since you think texting is ok, are you similarly ok with drunk driving? Heck, lets issue licenses to 6 year old. That would be about the same level of "dangerous" as texting, which apparently is a-ok.

Do you have ANY studies to support that texting while driving is "safer" than these other risks you mention? I sure can't find them.

Squirlz · Nov 26, 2015

sam_gordon said:
Sorry, should have brought this up in the other post... so every time someone texts and drives, they cause an accident?

Is texting a distraction? Of course. There's no denying it.
Are there other things that are distractions (and have caused accidents)? Absolutely.

Of course there are. But this about the one that is becoming epidemic, and is killing and maiming more people than ever. If you text and drive and nothing bad happens, you were lucky. This time.

sam_gordon · Nov 26, 2015

mnrose said:
Actually, the NHTSA (citing many studies) views texting as 6 times more dangerous than drunk driving. Since you think texting is ok, are you similarly ok with drunk driving? Heck, lets issue licenses to 6 year old. That would be about the same level of "dangerous" as texting, which apparently is a-ok.

Do you have ANY studies to support that texting while driving is "safer" than these other risks you mention? I sure can't find them.

Where did I say texting and driving is "safer" than other activities? Where did I say it was "ok"? I agree texting and driving is a distraction and causes accidents, and said that upthread. But in my opinion, if you're going to fight against "distracted driving", I think you should fight against ALL the causes of distracted driving.

Squirlz said:
Of course there are. But this about the one that is becoming epidemic, and is killing and maiming more people than ever. If you text and drive and nothing bad happens, you were lucky. This time.

I've actually searched for stats and can't find them, maybe you'll have better luck...
Are there more accidents now than 20 years ago? I'm sure there are by numbers, but there's also been an increase in the number of drivers and cars on the road. So has the percentage of accidents gone up?

kidshop · Nov 26, 2015

How about the guy we saw swerving wildly side side to side in his lane who we thought was texting....turns out he had his phone mounted right above the steering wheel where a video was clearly playing. He had headphones on as well. I was literally hanging out the window (As a passenger) taking a picture of him and the phone screen (got license plate, too).

He didn't seem to notice, I hope he got himself in a one car accident so he will no longer be a danger to society.

This level of idiocy is scarier than any terrorist

wilkeliza · Nov 26, 2015

I have had 2 friends rear end people at stop lights due to texting or iPod shuffling. I don't ride with someone who does either. It is one thing to have 1 hand off the wheel and pressing until you get to the song you want it is a completely different thing to navagate the windows and choose a song. Both times the rear ends happened they had stopped and decided the red light was the time to text someone or lengthly look door to change the music. Both times the admit they forgot what they were doing and took their foot off the break.

I think it is incredibly silly to say that looking down off the road for even a short period of time (more than a quick glance) is dangerous and that any driver should not be doing those things.

cijay · Nov 27, 2015

wilkeliza said:
The big difference is looking at a billboard is usually a split second, and changig the radio is the time it take to get your finger on the button, where as texting takes the time to read and type. Most texts probably take 30 seconds to write and send. That time is far more than glancing at a billbord etc.

Oh I agree. The radio changing bugs me, to me it's up there with texting as you can wait 'til you're where you want to be to change the radio. I mean there ARE things, though when you're driving that do require your attention to be away from the wheel - maybe there's someone's driving you don't trust so you have to watch THEM in case they're going to cut you off, so you're looking more off to the side but it's necessary. (Sounds nervewracking, I'm glad I don't drive.) Texting is just so - unnecessary. My friend had this annoying habit of texting as she was pulling up to where she was going (usually to a restaurant) "here". Was it so hard to wait another few seconds until she's parked?

katie01 · Nov 27, 2015

DH was just rear-ended two weeks ago by someone who didn't realize traffic had come to a stop on the highway. She admitted that she was texting.

cijay · Nov 27, 2015

mnrose said:
Actually, the NHTSA (citing many studies) views texting as 6 times more dangerous than drunk driving. Since you think texting is ok, are you similarly ok with drunk driving? Heck, lets issue licenses to 6 year old. That would be about the same level of "dangerous" as texting, which apparently is a-ok.

Do you have ANY studies to support that texting while driving is "safer" than these other risks you mention? I sure can't find them.

Where do they get the number six from?

I think the biggest problem with texting is that it can't be proven unless you have it in your hand (though I guess they can look at the minute of the last text sent). If you're drunk or stoned, they can find that out.

ziravan · Nov 27, 2015

http://www.distraction.gov/downloads/pdfs/Distracted_Driving_2013_Research_note.pdf

Government’s own data:

2010:

5,419,000 crashes total, 30,296 fatal crashes, 2993 due to distracted drivers, 366 fatal crashes involving cell phones.

Of total crashes, chance of being killed in an accident involving a cell phone: 7/1000ths of 1 percent, or, 0.0000675

2011:

Same numbers, 5,338,009 / 29,867 / 3047 / 354

Of total accidents, chance of being killed in an accident involving a cell phone: 7/1000ths of 1 percent, or, 0.0000663

2012

5,615,000 / 31,006 / 3098 / 380

Of total accidents, chances of being killed in an accident involving a cell phone: 7/1000ths of 1 percent, or, 0.0000676

2013

5,687,000 / 30,057 / 2910 / 411

Of total accidents, chances of being killed in an accident involving a cell phone: 7/1000ths of 1 percent, or, 0.0000722

All these odds presume that you were in an accident in any given year. Chance of being killed in an accident involving a cell phone if you aren’t in any accidents in a given year? 0.00000

Pretty consistent numbers year over year.

The studies done on distracted driving with a cell phone show that by far the most prone group are inexperienced drivers, 18-22 yrs old.

ziravan · Nov 27, 2015

Texting is six times more dangerous than DUI? Ridiculous.

The gov't's own data destroys that meme:

http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html

Alcohol is involved in 31% of all traffic fatalities: about 10,000 of 31,000 fatalities that will happen this year.

Cellphones? About 350 out of 31,000 fatalities, or, about 1.2% (and that's all uses of cellphones, texting is only a subset of that total).

No. DWI is 25x more likely to cause a traffic fatality than cell phone use.

Distracted driving surpassing DUI

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