Cell Phone use in the car

[Tink888]

Lol....you couldn't tell by looking at me if I'm talking on the phone or singing. I press a button on my steering wheel and say, "call mom" and my truck dials my phone and mom's voice comes through my speakers. Talking to mother on the phone with two hands on the wheel is no different than singing to the top of my lungs to my ipod, or listening to the baseball game on my radio.

My life is not that busy, but I have a 40 minute drive to work. I personally hate talking on the phone while I am at home so I use the drive to work to talk to my mother. Mostly it's her talking and me barely listening and saying "uh huh" every now and then, so trust me, it's not that distracting.

I'm just curious because I've noticed the same thing in myself that if I'm having a conversation while concentrating on doing something else, I find myself not really paying attention to what the other person is saying.

My question to those who drive and talk on the cell phone and are aware they aren't really paying attention to the conversation is this......if you're not really listening to what's being said anyway, why even be on the phone while you're driving?

 

[MichelleVW]

I'm just curious because I've noticed the same thing in myself that if I'm having a conversation while concentrating on doing something else, I find myself not really paying attention to what the other person is saying.

My question to those who drive and talk on the cell phone and are aware they aren't really paying attention to the conversation is this......if you're not really listening to what's being said anyway, why even be on the phone while you're driving?

Because my mother likes to talk to me every day. The reason I don't listen is because she pretty much tells me the same story every day. I am a good daughter and call my mom because I love her and she likes to talk to me every other day or so. So I would rather get that done while I am driving rather than at home when I'm trying to clean or take care of the animals or all the other things I need to do while I am home.

 

[Disnydad]

I never use a cell phone while driving. Not even hands free. The company I'm affiliated with has banned any cell phone use while in a company car while its moving (even hands free) and if ticketed or involved in an accident while using a cell phone you are subject to instant termination.

 

[brerrabbit]

For two and a half years my primary cell phone is a company provided blackberry. I really don't use my personal phone at all any more. I work for a major Oil Company and the guidelines are very clear. Text, talk or check your e-mails while driving and it is grounds for immediate termination. No questions asked. You have to sign documents that you are fully aware and fully accept the terms. Quite frankly I have no problem with the policy and have read a lot of comments here saying that they have no problem talking and driving and to them I say good for you. However I constantly see drivers on Houston Freeways who drive 70 plus miles an hour till they get a call and then they slow to 50 or less in the fast lane. While individuals may be able to do it in their personal opinion the reality is society as a whole is not able to do it.

I personally wish they would just outlaw talking on a cell phone while driving, with or without a blue tooth. Even with the hands free you have to dial, and even if it's voice activated dialing you still have to punch a button somewhere to activate the thing, thus taking your attention away from the road.

 

[LindaG4458]

I dont like talking and driving, if its really needed I will find a place to pull over and make my call.

I voted sometimes but rarely talk while driving. Most of the time I pull over to answer, and I always wait to make a call until I can stop and pay attention.

I got over the "must be in constant contact" about 30 years ago when we first had notefiles on MS-DOS computers (before Windows - the dark ages). Never got into the CB Radio fad in the late 70s to early 80s. Just have no interest or patience for it.

 

[MickeySP]

I have to for my job sometimes.

Otherwise rarely and if I need to answer or really make a call I usually pull off somewhere.

I would love to see coffee banned from cars, ever see a person who spills hot coffee on their lap drive!! You think cells are bad.

 

[angie@dvcstore]

I do talk on my cell phone while driving but never EVER text.

 

[lspst8]

I talk while driving, but I would NEVER text. I live in PA, and the turnpike here just starting posting all these big "text-free turnpike" signs on all the electronic signs on the turnpike.

I have an hour commute home, so I usually spend some of the time talking to my family. When I am talking on the phone, I always get in the slow lane and never pass anyone. If it is bad weather or I'm on an unfamiliar road, I do not talk on the phone.

 

[cm8]

We don't talk on the cell phone if we are driving. We don't text so that is not an issue. If one of us is driving then the other uses the cell to call and order or get information.

 

[minniecarousel]

It's been illegal in California for quite some time but you'd never know it. I wouldn't text while driving and my car has bluetooth.

Yeah - I see waaaay too many people holding their cellphones. They should get a Bluetooth! It's not that difficult.

 

[Metro West]

I never use my phone while I'm driving. There's nothing THAT important I have to say...it can wait until I get home.

 

[tvguy]

Illegal here, but even when it was legal, I use my landline at home for talking, and the cell phone for emergency calls only.
Of course, since it became illegal, more people are doing it.
It is the subject of a huge campaign here.

http://www.news10.net/hangup/?menuid=342

 

[SouthernExplorer]

I'm also rethinking my cell phone practices as well. My husband and I were also in an accident caused by, well Cousin Eddie (for Vacation fans out there). We were en route to a family funeral, and Cousin Eddie rear ended us at a red light while talking on his cell phone. The police showed up, wrote up a report, and the kind officer dismissed us while issuing Cousin Eddie a ticket. No, he didn't learn his lesson-he ended up behind us again and was yapping on his cell phone Before the accident I very rarely used a cell phone while driving, and I certainly don't use it while city driving. Apparantly, Cousin Eddie, like his own mother, wants to learn things the hard way, I just hope I never have to meet him again. I will give Cousin Eddie this though, he took full responsibility for the accident and was very friendly.

Life is all about lessons, and here is the lesson that I learned. A close family member's death really puts things in perspective.

 

[clutter]

I do. However, I commute 25 miles each way, on an interstate for most of it. There isn't anywhere that a back-up happens unexpectedly that you couldn't see. I stay in one lane, know the places it backs up.I generally don't if I'm on local roads, or I'll use the speaker.

It's really the only way I've been able to keep up with my parents. I just don't have time at home for being on the phone. My late mom, and now my dad are pretty elderly and lonely. So the conversations during the commute are fun, and help pass time.

 

[mrodgers]

Yeah - I see waaaay too many people holding their cellphones. They should get a Bluetooth! It's not that difficult.

Please someone explain what is so distracting to driving with holding something up to your ear? How many people hold the steering wheel properly with 2 hands? When is it going to be realized by the public that it is not the act of holding an object to your ear that is the distraction, but the act of concentrating on listening to the phone and the conversation taking the concentration off the road where it should be.

This is driving me up a wall (no pun on the "driving" intended.)


We have monthly safety meetings at work. Last month, they showed a video of AAA or some organization giving tests to some drivers. They had to drive around a course marked out with cones while a passenger from the organization told them what to text on a phone. It was ridiculous as the course didn't have a straight section to it at all, which is not representative of the majority of roads in the US, as well as there was probably no more than 8 inches on either side of the car within the cones. I don't think any of the 3 drivers would have gone through the course without hitting cones without trying to text on the phone. I would have miserably failed the expected results of the test because I would have been trying to drive the course and wouldn't have been able to text no matter how badly they wanted me to.

This cell phone and driving issue has as much misinformation as smoking marijuana does.

 

[MichelleVW]

I personally wish they would just outlaw talking on a cell phone while driving, with or without a blue tooth. Even with the hands free you have to dial, and even if it's voice activated dialing you still have to punch a button somewhere to activate the thing, thus taking your attention away from the road.

If punching a button on your steering wheel and saying "call John" is taking your attention away from the road, you have no business driving in the first place.