Here's the problem with the law. Studies have demonstrated that the problem with the use of cell phones while driving isn’t the fact that we need a hand to hold them – it’s that the concentration required to have a conversation impairs our ability to focus on the road. Researchers tested the ability of drivers to react to changes in conditions under normal circumstances, while talking on a handheld phone, and while talking with the aid of a hands-free earpiece. They studied their “fields of vision” to determine just how much of the landscape was being processed by drivers in all cases. Drivers engaged in telephone conversations, whether they were using a hand-held unit or wearing an earpiece, demonstrated an impaired field of vision – and there was virtually no difference between the two.
Talking on the cell phone does not impair your ability to drive – TALKING does.
So what are politicians going to do, ban conversation? They can’t…and they know they can’t. What they CAN do (to make it look like they’re doing SOMETHING) is ban holding the phone itself. It’s a misguided solution that’s going to create more problems than it’s going to solve. Do you know how hard it is to get that hands-free set plugged in while you’re driving 70 MPH in traffic on the Eisenhower? I do. It's not easy. I needed to use parts of my body like a Swiss Army knife. And then to get the friggin’ earpiece on right? All while the phone is ringing? I’m going to be driving with my knees just to comply with a law. People are going to see me juggling a ringing telephone, a hands-free head set, a portable charger, a grande hazelnut latte, and a 2-ton automobile. And then they're going to yell out their window at me for being unsafe. So then I'm going to have to free up a hand somehow to show them my "ring" finger. This whole law is going to be a complete catastrophe. I may be serving time.
Here’s something else I wonder – is it illegal to hold a cellphone to your head while driving if you’re not talking to anyone?? That would be, theoretically, safer than driving with both hands on the wheel while talking on a hands-free set. And you know what causes more accidents per year than cellphones?
Naked cyclists. What? No! Why would I make THAT up??
Hey - will you keep your eyes on the road already...you're driving like an ass!
For more on the research, go here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-07-12-cell-driving_x.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno
5 comments:
It's the listening that gets people in trouble. While they are focusing on what is being said to them their minds wander and attention deficit comes into play. Then the real ASS is revealed. Mayhem usually results, and it seems it's always an SUV versus a compact or smaller car. People, SUV s are TRUCKS, thirsty ones at that.
in israel we use a hand free sets that come with a speaker and a mic and conected to the batery of the car.
It have a fixed stand so you operate it like it is a part of your stereo system + it have more advantages that it charge by self and when you talk all the people in the car can listen and join the conversation
Nothing like a full-fledged conference call in the car to help drivers focus their attention on the road!
By the way, people can get a free headset for their cellphone here:
http://www.freeheadset.org/home.php
It's legitimate - they charge for shipping and handling only ($3.96). Go nuts!
Ter, I understand your argument, logically. However, I don't think you thought it through all the way.
You're absolutely correct in that it's not the phone that does the distracting, it's the conversation in and of itself.
People are dumber than you or I could ever imagine, and I feel like I've met the majority of them already in my lifetime. Accidents are going to happen because of stupidity.
Here's where the hands-free system makes a difference. If you are swerving to avoid something, try doing it with one hand on the wheel. Kinda hard, huh? Especially if you've got make another quick swerve to avoid something else you weren't paying attention to.
Will people have the wherewithal to drop their cellphones in a situation like this? Probably not, considering that loads of people freak when they're more than 6 inches from their phone at any given time. With the hands free, there's nothing else to drop, except for your pants which, when I'm driving, is a given. If it saves one person's life, I'm for it. Screw the incovenience to everybody else.
One more reason I refuse to join the cell-conspiracy and purchase a cell phone. Some day, I will be the last man on earth without one and I will finally be able to rule my kingdom in peace. - Hoatie
I see you're one of THOSE: "If it saves one person's life, I'm for it." I don't have the time to discuss the merits of that argument today. I will, however, recommend the book "Gimme a Break" by John Stossel and say that new legislation is not the answer to every statistical hiccup.
I understand that two hands on the wheel is better than one - but let's consider the guy changing CDs, or the lady sipping a Starbucks. The hand is no less preoccupied in those LEGAL activities than it is in illegally holding a cellphone. Taking your hand off the phone leaves it free to do other, equally involved things.
Unless we want to make two hands on the wheel a law, too. To change a CD in your car, you must pull over and put the car in park because changing it while driving will leave leave one hand occupied and two hands is better than one in avoiding an accident.
Or we may as well ban the radio, too, because singing along siphons our focus off the road. At some point it gets to be a bit much.
The only defense of the law, in my mind, is that it seeks to curb the simultaneous distraction of both hand and eye. So the law aims to kill two birds with one stone.
But it doesn't even do THAT very well. I can drive, wearing my headset and chat for hours while drinking coffee, doing a crossword puzzle, os sitting on my hand just because I like the way it feels when it's numb if I want. My field of vision is still impaired, and one of my hands is occupied. Just because it's illegal to hold a phone to the head doesn't mean people are going to put that other hand on the steering wheel. They'll just find something else to do with it.
I appreciate where you're coming from on this, as I would like to think the law is going to save lives as it was written. I just don't think it will. But we can measure the merits of our points and counterpoints when the statistics come out in a few years.
In the meanwhile - watch out for me. I'm out there, too - sitting on my hand.
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