More Americans talk and text while driving than those in other countries

[mike123abc]

I spot a lot of poor multitaskers when I dive. I will be following a vehicle and going about the same speed. Suddenly they slow down, and as I pass them I see them trying to text or talk on the phone. Some go by you fast, start messing with their phone and slow way down, then when they are done they catch back up to you.

 

[stardust3]

[
those people need more sleep or should never drive take your pick.
or they lack discipline to be able to concentrate on the task at hand.

multitasking while driving ......... no words for this... just take public transportation.


no just concentrate on the task at hand.
and put the ______ phone down

ever been rear ended by someone driving 60mph ?

here's what happened
stopped at the end of the line of night time bridge constuction looked into my rear view mirror seen a car coming 3/4 of a mile away
i had enough time to tell the wife and my best friend "this guy is coming very fast " " he's not slowing down" " hold on he going to hit us"
and he did. Don't know what multitasking he was doing but it was not watching where he was going !

I don't dispute anything you have said nor promote distracted driving. However there isn't a person here who hasn't been distracted in some way or another, the list is endless. However cell phones & texting has taken center stage in what is my opinion only a small part of the bigger problem.......way more idiots.

 

[Rey]

some people just lack the capabilities for multitasking. to them i say don't walk and chew gum at the same time or you may fall

 

[jevans64]

i have seen most of these especially the ones reading a book or a paper. the ones shaving or putting make up on, just do it at home. get up earlier and DO IT AT HOME. geez!
i'll add another. i have seen this only once but a driver was on his ipad while on the highway. i looked at him a few times and am not sure when he looked up to watch the road. oh and i've always seen these irresponsible drivers do this on the highway.

I use an Asus Transformer tablet for GPS. I generally have it sitting in the passenger's seat and will occasionally glance over to make sure it hasn't dropped satellite link. I've seem a lot of folks using their tablets while driving. I'm betting they probably have on-line navigation on and are looking for a good place to eat, cause an accident, etc.

There was an incident not too long ago about someone having an accident while receiving a blowjob. I personally know two folks ( not me ) who have had accidents caused by this.

I think driving too fast and following too closely causes way more accidents than cellphone use. Plenty of idiots around here love to tailgate. Any closer and they would be in my back seat.

 

[Rey]

I use an Asus Transformer tablet for GPS. I generally have it sitting in the passenger's seat and will occasionally glance over to make sure it hasn't dropped satellite link. I've seem a lot of folks using their tablets while driving. I'm betting they probably have on-line navigation on and are looking for a good place to eat, cause an accident, etc.

There was an incident not too long ago about someone having an accident while receiving a blowjob. I personally know two folks ( not me ) who have had accidents caused by this.

I think driving too fast and following too closely causes way more accidents than cellphone use. Plenty of idiots around here love to tailgate. Any closer and they would be in my back seat.

i can understand that. i've seen folks properly set up their tablets in a vehicle to use for navigation etc. but this guy was holding it with both hands leaning on the steering wheel and what appeared to be reading or maybe even surfing on the pad . i'm only speculating at this point

 

[Jimbo]

Don't know about studies, you can get what you pay for. looked and found this one first googled
hands free cell phone accident statistics
head line
WATCHDOG REPORT: Statistics show hands-free cell phone use while driving is just as dangerous.

but if you Read it hands free is safer was done in New Jersey .......
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/top_three/article_dcab06b6-6614-11df-9e65-001cc4c03286.html
"State Department of Transportation’s accident records for 2006-08, the latest available, show that crashes involving hands-free cell phones
injured 1,834 people and killed 10 statewide. Crashes with people using hand-held phones injured 2,317 people and killed 16 in those
three years.
Hand-held cell phones were a part of 738 local crashes, which injured 345 people and killed seven from 2006 to 2008 in Atlantic,
Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean counties. Hands-free devices factored into 360 crashes, where 137 people were injured locally
and one person killed."

this shows 12 lives saved, well worth it If one was Your mom dad wife etc

but when my wife and i first got cell phones noted that there is a world difference in holding the phone
and not holding it. much more like just talking to some who is in the car. even talking to a person in a car is a distraction.

having studied the brain at University (psychology major) , it can only perform so many tasks at once.
summarized:
holding a phone works the shoulder bicep forearm wrist and all fingers lot's of work. just common sense, not allowed to teach that in school
anymore.

imho > 25% of people should never drive anyway but they do. almost everyone in this country does, can everyone be a doctor. lawyer,
waitress, construction worker,auto tech, etc ? no people have different skills. but everyone can drive and kill 40,000 avg every year
of my 50+ years. over 2 Million lives lost. more than three times the total of American lives lost in all the wars in the past 100 years
(626,000).
just put it down
If the Aliens ever come they will take these death machines from us & give us safe transportion. GOD I HOPE

The Human Brain can handle a whole lot more than your giving it credit for.

 

[Jimbo]

I
I think driving too fast and following too closely causes way more accidents than cellphone use. Plenty of idiots around here love to tailgate. Any closer and they would be in my back seat.

My neighbor is a Car Hauler, good friend, he asked me one day, "Do you Tailgate when driving?"
I said No, I don't, but often have a hard time Not tailgating as whenever I have a comfortable distance between me and the car in front of me, someone else decides to slip in between,,m then I no longer have typical safe driving distance between us ... this is very common ...
Is this tailgating ?

 

[madmadworld]

The Human Brain can handle a whole lot more than your giving it credit for.

75% yes
25% NO
over 2 Million American people are pretty quiet on the subject now. and that's just us.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate
2007 total 1,230,000 worldwide

 

[truckracer]

I think when it comes to multitasking, everyone is different. It would be hard to pass a law that fits everyone.

 

[JohnL]

I know everybody can relate to this. Have you ever been driving somewhere and you start thinking about your day or schedule and try to reason something out in your head. Then all of a sudden you notice your attention is snapped back to your driving and you think, WOW I don't remember how I got here.

This is because once you start this kind of behavior (Not concentrating on your driving), you driving duties are handed off to your unconscious mind. The only reason it works is because for most, driving has become a routine duty. The problem with the unconscious mind is that it can handle routine tasks, but when driving, any number of things can happen. Somebody runs a very yellow light, somebody lane drifts, a pedestrian steps off the curb, etc. The unconscious mind is NOT good at reasoning on what to do when a non routine event happens, this is why distracted driving is dangerous. There is no way of knowing how your unconscious mind will handle that spurious event. Sorry, but driving is NOT a task that is suited to being done with other tasks at the same time. One half second of inattention at exact the wrong moment can be deadly.

If you are driving correctly, in addition to constantly being aware of your position in your lane, as well as concentrating on any and all traffic control devices, you also should be aware of all other vehicles, their position and what might happen if, a tire blows out, a Deer runs into the road, somebody doesn't notice you and turns against you or out on you from an intersection, etc. Driving is not about doing the bare minimum to be safe, its the opposite assume, the worst may happen and have a backup plan or reason out a way to avoid a costly or deadly encounter. Human beings are terrible about risk engagement, and assessing danger. Look at all the hand wringing over things that could kill somebody or something, and we ignore the behaviors that happen on a daily basis that can kill, instead many times fixating on things we have no control over.

PUT DOWN the PHONE, BOOK, NEWSPAPER, MAKEUP, TABLET, etc.. Now, just worry about getting to your destination safely.