Constantly On Your Cell Phone In Public?

[Abraham]

Or worse, while driving?

Are you who do this really the "Center of the Universe?

Twice this week, I've been almost hit by someone blathering away on their cell phone. Once when on my bicycle and once in my vehicle. In both instances my defensive outlook kept me from being injured from these public menaces.

On both occasions these cretins were inattentive due to their gibbering on a cell phone.

If you're one of these, ahem, individuals - please STOP!

Not only are you a public nuisance, i.e., anywhere in public you force others to listen to your inane prattle (another very recent experience comes to mind - the man who mindlessly and loudly blathered on his cell phone ("WHILE IN THE ELEVATOR" with me) - you're a constant menace to others when driving.

Use your cell phone all you want - when in a safe, private place!

No one wants to be killed because of your selfishness - or tortured by your non-stop cackling!

...or am I the only one to experience this zombie-like phenomenon?

[Oldgringo]

I would add to your commentary the RUDENESS and LACK of ONSIDERATION exhibited by these people you so politely call cretins.

The zombie like trance in which the cell phone puts some of these people; especially, younger people is scary to say the least. "...somebody ought to investigate soon..." - Bob Dylan, "OXFORD TOWN", circa 1960.

[chamberc]

I'd add eating, adjusting the radio, or putting on makeup as well...

[Keith B]

I'd add eating, adjusting the radio, or putting on makeup as well...

Well, now you've done it. All of my drive-time activities have now been nixed.

[Purplehood]

I'd add eating, adjusting the radio, or putting on makeup as well...

Well, now you've done it. All of my drive-time activities have now been nixed.

I saw a woman working on her toenails at a stop-light one time (painting them or whatever you call it).

[Keith B]

Since living in the DFW Metroplex for the last 12 years, I have seen some weird things being done while driving, especially in slow stop & go traffic. Not counting cell phones and texting/surfing, eating, radio, looking for stuff that dropped in the floor, and makeup or changing clothes, reading is a common sight. Have seen a woman knitting, a man playing trumpet, and even a guy shaving his head with an electric razor.

[Oldgringo]

What is really "uptown" is to hold a cigarette in one hand and the cell phone in another while driving all over the road. Only the most cool and important people do that as they rush to their high level appointments.

[WildBill]

Driving or not, people who are constantly on the cell phone are annoying.

[The Annoyed Man]

I'd add eating, adjusting the radio, or putting on makeup as well...

Well, now you've done it. All of my drive-time activities have now been nixed.

I saw a woman working on her toenails at a stop-light one time (painting them or whatever you call it).

How about men shaving? Or women shaving, for that matter!

[Charles L. Cotton]

Well, I guess I'm going to have to be in the minority on this one. There are a lot of activities that inhibit safe driving and a few of them have already been listed like eating and putting on make-up. But there are others like looking at the radio or GPS unit or a map. How about looking for something in your purse or briefcase, or looking in the back seat to see what your kids are fussing about? People take their eyes off the road to read street signs when they are lost or in an unfamiliar area. But other than putting on make-up, I never hear of any complaints about these activities.

For some reason cell phones are the popular target these days. False claims have been made about "studies" showing they are dangerous. Bull, there is no such study and indeed, such a study would be impossible. (I know, some people claim to have conducted "studies," but they are just that -- claims.) Far too often people misunderstand the distinction between correlation and causation. Saying my cell phone caused my accident because I was on the phone when it occurred is as accurate as claiming the wreck was caused by the 1911 on my hip, or the fact that I was wearing a suit.

I know the argument is talking on a cell phone causes inattention. If this is true, and I don't believe it is, then the same thing can be said of talking to a passenger in the car, especially a "back seat driver." The inattention argument also assumes that the driver's mind will be on nothing but the driving task, if they will simply stay off the phone. I dare say that few if any of us have nothing on our minds other than driving when we are behind the wheel.

If a person really can't talk while watching the road and driving, perhaps they shouldn't be driving. Don't buy into the media and insurance industry hype -- talking and driving doesn't require much of a multitasking effort. As a pilot, I have to control the aircraft, scan instruments, watch for traffic, read a map/GPS, write, talk on the radio, read written check lists, and I know I'm leaving something out. Driving and talking on a cell phone simply isn't hard.

I want to be clear that I'm talking about talking and driving, not texting or dialing the phone. Dialing or texting obviously takes your eyes off the road, but voice dialing takes care of the dialing issue.

Chas.

[terryg]

I, as well, am skeptical of many of the studies - especially the ones that 'show' talking hands fee to be no different than while holding the phone. I think its pretty clear that talking with the phone in one hand is more dangerous. In addition to having only one hand on the wheel, checking your blind spots is much more difficult.

But while using a hands-free device, it is little different that having a conversation with someone in the car with you. The main difference I can see is that someone in the car with you will also be aware of driving conditions and will pause the conversation, say for a difficult unprotected left turn, or such. But that's not enough in my mind to make it as dangerous as driving under the influence as has been claimed.

[J Wilson]

Rember pay phones????
I wonder how important most of the cell phone calls are if you had to get out of your air conditioned car and stand in 100deg heat after putting a quarter in the phone?

[Hoi Polloi]

I read a recent study that was fascinating. Apparently it is more distracting to the human brain to hear half of a conversation than to hear the whole conversation. So it is potentially more distracting to the driver for a passenger to be on a cell phone than for the driver himself to be.

Fussing at the kids is actually a major source of distraction in the car. It seems like I read a study which put cell phones about even with all the other regular distractions such as that, but I'm not sure and don't have time to search it out right now. I recall reading a study which said one of the biggest predictors for young drivers having an accident is how many other young people were in the car at the same time.

[pbwalker]

I've read that it's not the act of talking on the phone, but that "people" (whoever they sampled) can't quickly process the need to end a conversation when they are faced with a driving task that requires 100% of their attention. I've been in this situation and never had the issue. I just stop talking and concentrate on the road...when I am safe again, I will say something.

But I personally don't like talking on the phone when I am driving. I'll go hands free through the truck speakers if I have to.

[UpTheIrons]

This thread goes hand-in-hand with my frustration of the vast majority of people who live in Condition White.

Many people think that simply because they are behind the wheel and rolling along, things will continue to roll along without incident (that whole "object in motion will remain in motion" thing), and then they are surprised when an "accident" happens. It's not an accident, it is a wreck caused by someone's inattention or negligence. That negligence/inattention may be caused by distraction or intoxication, but it isn't caused by a single action (cell phone, radio dial, a peek at the GPS), it is caused by the thinking process being interrupted by a person who assumes that another action is more important than the one at hand (driving), and them not being able to allocate their "brain resources" adequately (like Charles' pilot example).

Slightly OT: people who walk through parking lots at night on the cell phone or digging through a purse/bag/backpack really bug me. I know there isn't a bad guy behind every car, but we've all seen enough stories of the times when there was one hiding there. Yakking on the phone isn't keeping the mugger away; it just gives him the chance to get real close to you much more easily.

Yes, I use my phone while driving sometimes - usually on the highway or country roads - but I never use it in heavy traffic or city driving. If I have to talk right then and there, I'll pull over. I know my limits, I wish other people did, too.