Do you text and/or use your cell phone while driving?

[zoebartlett]

Oprah''s declaring today a "no phone zone" day. Her guests have been signing pledges to not use their cell phones or text while driving for a while now.

Do you use your phone while driving? I don''t text while driving but I do talk on my phone (and I don''t have a hands-free device).

 

[princesss]

I''ve got a bluetooth headset for when I need to talk while I''m driving (it''s charging now, actually, because I''m driving to VA tonight). I absolutely refuse to text. Nothing is so important that it needs to be answered and risk my life and the lives of other drivers. And I''ve been known to call my friends and ream them out when they text me from the road. It''s just not worth putting yourself at such serious risk to tell me "I''m 20 minutes away."

 

[yssie]

I don't text but I do talk, esp. on the highway.


I avoid it when I'm about five miles from my destination though - all those commercials about how the most accidents happen just a mile or two from your home definitely sank in!

 

[Lula]

Texting while driving=suicide (or homicide if you kill someone else).

Many research studies have been done that show that the brain simply cannot process the motor/judgment activity required for driving and texting at the same time. That''s why it is so dangerous.

Talking on the phone while driving is slightly -- slightly -- less difficult for your brain to do.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I never do anything with a phone while my car is moving, but I am ashamed to say I have been known to send a text message or check an email while the car is stopped at a traffic light or something. If the light changes, I throw the phone on the passanger seat before I start moving.

 

[elrohwen]

Yes *hangs head in shame*

I will talk on the phone, but only when I''m on tried and true roads that are easy to drive. I''ve also been known to text once or twice, but only while sitting at a light, not while moving.

Technically it''s illegal to be on a phone in CT without a hands free device, so I guess I''m not much of a rule follower.

 

[radiantquest]

I have a bluetooth thingy, but I lost the charger for it a long time ago. When I get in my car I put it in the little hole on the door where your hand is supposed to go when you pull it closed so if someone calls I dont have to go hunting for it and all I have to do is press one big button to answer to call. I refrain from dialing out and I dont text while driving.

 

[lyra]

No. It''s illegal here and they definitely charge you. It should be illegal everywhere IMO.

 

[Lula]

This is what cured me:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Texting-While-Driving-Safety

 

[TravelingGal]

I''m a Korean woman driver, so I guess I need all the help I can get.

I do not talk on the phone or text (actually I never text while driving) when Amelia is in the car with me. I also don''t back to look at her while driving either.

If she is not in the car, I have used the phone on hands free.

 

[monarch64]

I''m so over having a cellphone in the first place that no, I don''t talk or text while driving and unless it is some emergency I won''t answer my phone while I''m driving. I abhor being so accessible.

This morning I was driving down the highway and a man with a bluetooth device first, almost ran into me because he started to change lanes without checking his blind spot which I had already anticipated he was going to do, and THEN even though I was a good 20 car lengths in front of him, he almost rear-ended me because he failed to see a. my brake lights, and b. the deer on the shoulder of the road who was about to step into my lane.

Just because a road isn''t curvy or hilly or whatever doesn''t mean you should be any less aware and alert while driving (yes Elrohen--that means you, LOL!)

I like to people watch, and what cracks me up the most is watching people walk around texting, as if they''re being led by the cellphone to their destination...they''re like little metal detectors or something.

 

[kenny]

Never.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

No. It''s now illegal where I live, but I never did anyway.

 

[kenny]

Date: 4/30/2010 5:02:33 PM
Author: monarch64
I like to people watch, and what cracks me up the most is watching people walk around texting, as if they're being led by the cellphone to their destination...they're like little metal detectors or something.

Yeah I'm with you.
And now with those blueboobs in their ears they walk around alone talking to themselves.
It is like the invasion of the pod people.

What ever happened to, "Be Here Now." ?

I'd be in heaven if they determine holding a RF transmitter a half inch from the brain causes cancer and all cell service just stopped.
Frankly, I predict this - but it will be 50 years before the effect is verified, just like cigarettes.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I rarely drive now, but when I do I''ll talk on the phone if it''s legal (has to be hands free in NY, but in other states I''ll just use my phone).

I am embarrassed to admit I have texted at a red light, but I''m not comfortable doing that anymore, and would not text while driving.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

forgot to add...I text and walk all the time

 

[April20]

I do and I''ve been trying to curtail. I''m on the road so much for work that I end up taking calls and sending the occassional email. I''m really trying to not email AT ALL while driving. I need to get over the need to provide an immediate response and realize that it''s okay for people to wait!!

 

[packrat]

hahaha those things in the ear always make me laugh. My cousin came over one time and had one in and I burst out laughing-I couldn''t help it! I''m like Bwhahaha dude, you workin the Secret Service now? The President doin ok? Tell him the coast is clear he can come in and have some birthday cake and pop with us. She didn''t think it was funny but boy I sure did.

 

[zoebartlett]

I don''t understand how people can text and drive at the same time. It''s not typically hard to pull over and text someone while the car isn''t in motion.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 4/30/2010 5:33:17 PM
Author: packrat
hahaha those things in the ear always make me laugh. My cousin came over one time and had one in and I burst out laughing-I couldn''t help it! I''m like Bwhahaha dude, you workin the Secret Service now? The President doin ok? Tell him the coast is clear he can come in and have some birthday cake and pop with us. She didn''t think it was funny but boy I sure did.

Yeah, it does look kind of funny. I think that''s why I haven''t gotten one.

 

[Haven]

No. Never.

I recently saw a Dr. Oz show about this subject, and he had experts on their who discussed that using a hands-free device is no better than holding the phone up to your ear.

I heard a similar story on NPR, but that was months ago.

There have been too many tragic, unnecessary deaths because people were talking or texting while driving, and I don't want to kill myself or anyone else.

My town is heavily populated with mommies in giant SUVs who drive around like wild women while talking on their cell phones. It's so sad to me--their children are in the car and they're talking on a cell phone while driving.

I would urge everyone to reconsider their phone use while driving. You are not only taking your life in your own hands, but you are taking MY LIFE in your hands when you choose to use your cell phone while operating a vehicle. Please stop. If you MUST talk, pull over.

ETA:

This is a horrible story about talking on a cell phone while WALKING--A young girl from my town was a freshman at the University of Illinois several years ago. She was talking to her mom on her cell phone while walking home from class, and walked into the street right in front of a moving bus. She was killed instantly.

Horribly sad.

My uncle died at age 42 of a brain tumor, and he was convinced that his cell phone caused the cancer. I don't know if he was right, but it does make me think.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 4/30/2010 4:32:16 PM
Author:Zoe
Oprah's declaring today a 'no phone zone' day. Her guests have been signing pledges to not use their cell phones or text while driving for a while now.

Do you use your phone while driving? I don't text while driving but I do talk on my phone (and I don't have a hands-free device).

i don't know how to text

and it is illegal to talk on the cell phone while you drive in Ca.

 

[that_someone_special]

I will text at red lights. I USED to text and talk a lot while driving when I was younger but I just don''t do it anymore. There really is no one that I need to talk to RIGHTHISSECOND that might cause someone their life!

 

[yssie]

Date: 4/30/2010 6:50:04 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 4/30/2010 4:32:16 PM
Author:Zoe
Oprah's declaring today a 'no phone zone' day. Her guests have been signing pledges to not use their cell phones or text while driving for a while now.

Do you use your phone while driving? I don't text while driving but I do talk on my phone (and I don't have a hands-free device).

i don't know how to text

and it is illegal to talk on the cell phone while you drive in Ca.

Yes.. and I don't get it at all. I mean, the point isn't that if you talk you have one less arm - it's that you're distracted by the conversation, and you're going to be just as distracted whether you're holding a phone or not.


I was in my truck at a stoplight and I saw this woman listing really far right in the driver's seat in the compact next to me. I inched closer to see what was going on and I saw that she was shifting herself so that she could speak into the speaker of her phone which she had wedged in her cupholder. How exactly is this an improvement?

 

[Porridge]

No, neither. It''s been illegal here since...well years and years, I can''t quite remember. I have a handsfree kit for talking. Definitely no texting.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 4/30/2010 6:59:13 PM
Author: yssie

i don''t know how to text

and it is illegal to talk on the cell phone while you drive in Ca.

Yes.. and I don''t get it at all. I mean, the point isn''t that if you talk you have one less arm - it''s that you''re distracted by the conversation, and you''re going to be just as distracted whether you''re holding a phone or not.

not if you were driving a stick shift.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Date: 4/30/2010 6:59:13 PM
Author: yssie

Date: 4/30/2010 6:50:04 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 4/30/2010 4:32:16 PM
Author:Zoe
Oprah''s declaring today a ''no phone zone'' day. Her guests have been signing pledges to not use their cell phones or text while driving for a while now.

Do you use your phone while driving? I don''t text while driving but I do talk on my phone (and I don''t have a hands-free device).

i don''t know how to text

and it is illegal to talk on the cell phone while you drive in Ca.

Yes.. and I don''t get it at all. I mean, the point isn''t that if you talk you have one less arm - it''s that you''re distracted by the conversation, and you''re going to be just as distracted whether you''re holding a phone or not.


I was in my truck at a stoplight and I saw this woman listing really far right in the driver''s seat in the compact next to me. I inched closer to see what was going on and I saw that she was shifting herself so that she could speak into the speaker of her phone which she had wedged in her cupholder. How exactly is this an improvement?

I think that a cell phone conversation does distract more than talking to someone in the car (I also think there were studies showing this). In the car, the other person is seeing what is happening and, automatically, talks around it. For example, if someone cuts you off, the other person stops talking for a second or immediately repeats themselves. We expect this, so we can mentally relax a bit in folowing the conversation and pay more atention to driving.

On the cell phone, on the other hand, the other person has no clue what is hapenning, and will keep talking regardless of what is happening.

 

[Laila619]

I never EVER text (dangerous!), but every once in a rare while I will make a quick call when driving. I try to keep it very brief.

 

[Sizzle]

I text at stop lights.. well I did until the new law was enacted.. I''m not into tickets! I frequently talk on the phone with no hands free device, but I''m trying to stop.

 

[junebug17]

I never text while driving. I have bluetooth in my car, where the controls for the phone are on my steering wheel, so on occasion I will make a quick call if it''s something urgent. It''s too distracting to have a long conversation while driving, at least for me! I''m gettin'' old , can only focus on one thing at a time.