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Why are people so tolerant of texting and driving?

TravelingGal

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My friends and I have been discussing this as of late.

Having been rearended 6 times in 4 years, I absolutely take the hard line on texting and driving. Usually my phone is in my bag, in the backseat so I'm not even tempted to look when a call comes in. Every day, I have to HONK at some bozo texting at a red light, who is still sitting there when the light turns green.

My friends don't see anything really wrong with checking at a red light (most don't drive and read, but I have one friend who does - but she's a complete nutter anyway). And I would say most DO look at their phone even when driving to see what the beeping noise has brought in.

There have been studies that it's worse than drinking and driving. I wouldn't get in the car with a drunk driver, and yet I get rolling eyes when I finally ask someone to concentrate on driving instead of looking at her phone.

Car and Driver did a test for brake reaction times.

The results:

Unimpaired: .54 seconds to brake
Legally drunk: add 4 feet
Reading e-mail: add 36 feet
Sending a text: add 70 feet
http://www.cnbc.com/id/31545004/Texting_And_Driving_Worse_Than_Drinking_and_Driving

No wonder I get rear ended so much! :o

Oh, and my fav commercial by bmw. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMBtFgey7rk . I did send this to my friends and the first response I got back was "but it was his fault for hitting her, she had the right of way!" :rolleyes: Um...no, she could have run a stop sign at a two way stop...I see it all the time!
 

Haven

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I am NOT tolerant of texting and driving. I'm not tolerant of talking on the phone while driving, either.
I ask people to put down their cell phone if they're driving and I see them reach for it.
I hang up with loved ones who call me while they're driving. The ridiculous thing is that STILL do it. (MOM! I'm talking about you! FIL, you too!)

I recently got so sick of seeing people texting and talking on the phone while driving that I made bumper stickers on Zazzle:
honk.jpg
hangupthephone.jpg

ETA: SORRY. This is a real sore spot for me. I'm sorry I just came into your thread and vented. I totally agree with you, and I love that BMW commercial.
 

TravelingGal

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Hehe, I love it Haven.

I recently posted on FB (which I rarely update) "Drive already! You AND your friends are not THAT interesting!"
 

janinegirly

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Big pet peeve of mine too - I can't stand it! I can't even take it when I see people walking around texting with their IPOD on bumping into everyone! I wish they'd enforce more fines but I think it's one of those things that it depends on how desperate the town is for funds. One thing that make me particularly nervous is the people who do it the most are teenagers/young adults - I mean it's an accident waiting to happen and far worse ones than fender benders. What is so important that people can't wait.?
Thanks for letting me vent, lol.
 

D&T

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HATE IT!!! ugg, I have seen more of the kids "teen driver" more frequently than adults in their 30s'. The two I can remember just happened recently. Girl with her head down while car was moving slowly in the driveway of a strip mall center, three other cars pulled up behind her causing a train. We were trying to cross, obviously waiting for eye contact.... NOPE didn't see us, still continuing to cruise along like she's the only one in the strip mall!

All four of us went biking, waited at the cross walk, girl in car with her head down in phone could have turned right a number of times (although she had a stop light) car in back honked for her to go since there were no other cars.... Nope she wait until we had the crossing signal to go and decided to turn while we were already in the cross walk! we waited for some eye contact from her, but she never looked up!
 

Haven

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Okay, now that I've calmed down a bit I wanted to come back and share my real thoughts on this issue.

I think this is a situation for which we, as individuals, can really make a positive change.

I started by telling the people I love that I refuse to talk to them while they're driving. This means hanging up on people if they call you while on the road. I ask people all the time if they're driving, especially if they're frequent offenders and if they've called me around quitting time. If they say yes I say "Sorry, I'm not going to be the person on the other end of the line when you kill yourself or someone else" and hang up.

After doing this for several months I've gotten my husband, father, sister, sister's husband, and three friends to stop using their phones while driving. My mom and FIL *say* they don't use their phones while driving but they still do every now and then, so they're still in rehab.

Now I'm trying to get all of the recently converted to start refusing to talk to others while the others are in their cars, and to spread the good word. My sister is doing a good job of it, and DH is now hanging up on people, as well. :bigsmile: I also spread the word at work, and give out bumper stickers to my students if they sign a pledge on my door to abstain from cell phone use while driving.

It doesn't seem like a lot, but I feel like I'm keeping the people I love just a tiny bit safer.

And of course, I put those rude bumper stickers on my car in an attempt to shame the losers who can't put their phones down while driving.

There are so many heartbreaking stories out there about people killed by distracted drivers. I also send links with their stories to the worst offenders I know in hopes that they'll come around.

A local high school student ran into a classmate of hers just last year. The classmate was crossing the street, the driver ran a stop sign and didn't see her (or the sign, apparently) because she was texting. The girl who was hit suffered a severe brain injury and will never be the same. The family keeps a blog about her recovery and it is just so heartbreaking. I imagine the driver will be scarred for life, as well, and though I try to feel for her, I just don't have it in me. She ruined someone's life for a text message.
 

kenny

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I'm not "tolerant" of it but really, what can I do when I see someone doing it?

I'm outraged by all cell use while driving, even handless, and wish cars had jamming electronics so cellphones did not work in them.
 

Haven

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kenny|1308590344|2950258 said:
I'm not "tolerant" of it but what can I do when I see someone doing it? - which BTW is ALL the time.

I'm outraged by all cell use while driving, even handless, and wish cars had jamming electronics so cellphones did not work in them.
YES! This would be brilliant. I'm surprised this doesn't exist already. I see huge market potential for parents of new drivers. I know I'd buy it to put it in my 16-year-old's car. If I had a 16-year-old.
 

merilenda

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I work in healthcare out in the field, so I get paged & called emergently while I'm driving. I do try to be as safe as possible, so when I get paged, I glance at the pager and if it doesn't start out with ASAP, I wait to read the rest of it. I answer phone calls while I'm at work and driving because of this as well. Sometimes I drive for 45-60 minutes at a time to see patients, and emergent/ASAP calls/pages need to be responded to within 15 minutes.

I have been in the car with some nurses who will actually take phone calls and write notes while driving. This scares the crap out of me and I would never do that. I also don't text while driving. If I get a work-related text, I either call the person back or I wait until I've stopped to respond.
 

TravelingGal

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Haven|1308590430|2950259 said:
kenny|1308590344|2950258 said:
I'm not "tolerant" of it but what can I do when I see someone doing it? - which BTW is ALL the time.

I'm outraged by all cell use while driving, even handless, and wish cars had jamming electronics so cellphones did not work in them.
YES! This would be brilliant. I'm surprised this doesn't exist already. I see huge market potential for parents of new drivers. I know I'd buy it to put it in my 16-year-old's car. If I had a 16-year-old.

TGuy and I were talking about this the other day. I was saying it was a great idea, but people wouldn't install something like this for the most part, and if it came in cars standard, it would take too long for cars to change over to this as people don't change cars every year or two.

But people DO change phones every year or two. There should be something in the phones that are sold in the US that should shut off if the phone is moving faster than 5 mph (because people walk and talk, after all, but that's another issue). But of course, there would be hackers that would disable that feature pretty quick.

Haven it sucks to be Debbie Downer with friends, but I try to do the same thing you do. My friend talks in the car all the time with her triplets. I know that's her only down time, but I had to tell her to call someone else one time. I used to talk on the phone hands free on long drives, but have within the last year decided the phone is just flat out off limits in the car for me now.
 

jewelerman

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im not tolerant at all!some members may remember my posts about being rear ended by a young man running and red light while texting causing a three car accident.i could get on my soap box and give a long speech but im sure that im preaching to the choir about the evils of using a cell phone and driving.
 

HopeDream

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Using any electronic device while drivng (cellphone, ipod etc) is illegal where I live (BC) :love:

Pulling over to focus on the conversation, or having your passenger text instead in't that hard.
 

Lanie

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Just playing devil's advocate here: :angryfire:I think having a jammer to disable a cell phone while you are driving could be a huge problem. Your 16 year old daughter is at a light, a scary looking man has just rear-ended her, she doesn't want to get out of the car, yet she can't call the police? Or I'm sure there are situations where the car isn't turned off or under 5mph that you would need to use it. Can't think of a good one now.

I wholeheartedly agree with no texting and driving. 100%. I usually only talk on the phone while driving if it's an emergency to me, meaning I'm lost or running late and meeting up with a friend. I'll admit. I should be a good person, pull over, and call her to tell her I'm running 5 minutes late, but I don't. I call when I'm in the car. What gets me is my map on my Iphone that I look at while I'm at a light. It's bad, but I do. Guilty. I need to stop.

Love your bumper sticker idea with your students Haven!
 

TravelingGal

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Lanie|1308596066|2950348 said:
Just playing devil's advocate here: :angryfire:I think having a jammer to disable a cell phone while you are driving could be a huge problem. Your 16 year old daughter is at a light, a scary looking man has just rear-ended her, she doesn't want to get out of the car, yet she can't call the police? Or I'm sure there are situations where the car isn't turned off or under 5mph that you would need to use it. Can't think of a good one now.

I wholeheartedly agree with no texting and driving. 100%. I usually only talk on the phone while driving if it's an emergency to me, meaning I'm lost or running late and meeting up with a friend. I'll admit. I should be a good person, pull over, and call her to tell her I'm running 5 minutes late, but I don't. I call when I'm in the car. What gets me is my map on my Iphone that I look at while I'm at a light. It's bad, but I do. Guilty. I need to stop.

Love your bumper sticker idea with your students Haven!

Emergency calls would go through? They can go through with your phone locked, so why not?
 

kenny

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Lanie|1308596066|2950348 said:
Just playing devil's advocate here: :angryfire:I think having a jammer to disable a cell phone while you are driving could be a huge problem. Your 16 year old daughter is at a light, a scary looking man has just rear-ended her, she doesn't want to get out of the car, yet she can't call the police? Or I'm sure there are situations where the car isn't turned off or under 5mph that you would need to use it. Can't think of a good one now.

Legit point.
But even though it is possible to be trapped inside a burning car unable the release the seat belt with your broken arm, overall seat belts save more lives than they take.
Hence the government mandate which takes away a freedom and saves people from their own stupidity.

IMHO using technology to jam cells while driving will be better for society, overall.
 

Lanie

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If 911 could go through, then ok. I agree. I hadnt thought of that. :cheeky:
 

Loves Vintage

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I am terrified by the numbers of people I see texting while driving.

This is one of the reasons why we drive volvo and subaru wagons and also why I obsess about car seat safety. Unfortunately, I cannot control what others do around me, so I do the best I can to protect myself.

I do not text. Ever. As a policy. A while back, I started a thread about texting, and why I hate it. Zombie kids. Freaks me out.

Hope Dream - It is also illegal to text or talk on the cell phone (except for hands-free) in CT, where I live, and in many other states (not sure how many or if all?) in the US. People, however, do it all.the.time, which is what makes it further maddening. I am not aware of any legislation prohibiting the use of an ipod (or similar device), while driving, so that is interesting.

Haven - I love your bumper stickers, but I have to ask you -- do you have a lot of people beeping at you?
 

TravelingGal

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Loves Vintage|1308598725|2950394 said:
I am terrified by the numbers of people I see texting while driving.

This is one of the reasons why we drive volvo and subaru wagons and also why I obsess about car seat safety. Unfortunately, I cannot control what others do around me, so I do the best I can to protect myself.

I do not text. Ever. As a policy. A while back, I started a thread about texting, and why I hate it. Zombie kids. Freaks me out.

Hope Dream - It is also illegal to text or talk on the cell phone (except for hands-free) in CT, where I live, and in many other states (not sure how many or if all?) in the US. People, however, do it all.the.time, which is what makes it further maddening. I am not aware of any legislation prohibiting the use of an ipod (or similar device), while driving, so that is interesting.

Haven - I love your bumper stickers, but I have to ask you -- do you have a lot of people beeping at you?

I think this is what perplexes me...again, it's that most people have a much higher tolerance for this, when it's as bad, if not worse, than driving drunk. There was a recent drunk driving thread where some people were calling drunk drivers some harsh names. If I said texter drivers were the scum of the earth, I'm pretty sure I would get massively flamed here. And yet most people would have no problem at least shrugging off such a label to drunk drivers.
 

janinegirly

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I don't know, it seems like most here are in agreement with you on text drivers (haha). I think some of it might be generational...I think the distracted generation thinks it's no big deal,etc. It will take some major legislation and media attention to change that and that takes time. Police do not enforce this unless 1) they see it in conjunction with another violation, much like seatbelt wearing or 2) their district needs cash and this is an easy way to catch targets (happened to DH who was taking a call from a dr. - he NEVER does this, and got busted with $200 ticket. Yet I see droves of teens making dangerous turns while texting go undected).

Another one of my big soapbox issues is people who take cell phone videos of horrible things and post them on Youtube/the internet! I think that should be considered a felony or carry the same consequences as those committing the offense in the video/photo. It's depressing that we have to police this, but unfortunatelly seems to be an inverse relationship between technological advances and peoples' common sense/sense of decency. Sorry for the tangent..
 

PinkTower

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It is illegal here, too.
 

yssie

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TravelingGal|1308599174|2950396 said:
Loves Vintage|1308598725|2950394 said:
I am terrified by the numbers of people I see texting while driving.

This is one of the reasons why we drive volvo and subaru wagons and also why I obsess about car seat safety. Unfortunately, I cannot control what others do around me, so I do the best I can to protect myself.

I do not text. Ever. As a policy. A while back, I started a thread about texting, and why I hate it. Zombie kids. Freaks me out.

Hope Dream - It is also illegal to text or talk on the cell phone (except for hands-free) in CT, where I live, and in many other states (not sure how many or if all?) in the US. People, however, do it all.the.time, which is what makes it further maddening. I am not aware of any legislation prohibiting the use of an ipod (or similar device), while driving, so that is interesting.

Haven - I love your bumper stickers, but I have to ask you -- do you have a lot of people beeping at you?

I think this is what perplexes me...again, it's that most people have a much higher tolerance for this, when it's as bad, if not worse, than driving drunk. There was a recent drunk driving thread where some people were calling drunk drivers some harsh names. If I said texter drivers were the scum of the earth, I'm pretty sure I would get massively flamed here. And yet most people would have no problem at least shrugging off such a label to drunk drivers.


I sincerely doubt it.

If you are selfish enough to needlessly endanger other lives by indulging in deeply involved conversations, texting, drinking, putting on mascara or reading the morning briefs then you are truly a pathetic specimen.

Period. No exceptions.

But then, I am a dinosaur who loathes texting and has no data plan and no plans to get one, and can't remember the last time I talked on the phone whilst I was driving - hands free or otherwise. I have, however, seen some That-Was-Almost-Very-Bads that only reinforce said convictions.
 

rainwood

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The most dramatic moment for me was in a Costco parking lot. A woman driving a Chevy Suburban was talking on her cell phone (not hands frees) and a male pedestrian was looking at his phone and texting. The woman misses hitting the guy by inches. Neither of them notices!! That's how powerful the distraction is.
 

fieryred33143

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You know what else is distracting? GPS.

People don't normally talk about it I guess because it's made for the car so that makes it "safe". However, I don't even know how many times I have been on the highway with a posted speed limit of 75, doing 35 behind a car where the driver and passengers are looking at the GPS, the road, then back to the GPS trying to figure out where they are. In January of this year I got t-boned by a woman who was looking at her GPS. She was trying to figure out where she was going, talking on her cell, took the red light and slammed right into my car (I was making a left). It's one thing to have a GPS, but most people don't know how to use one properly.
 

Amber St. Clare

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I am not tolerant of ANYTHING, including music that distracts a driver.
 

TravelingGal

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fiery|1308607610|2950534 said:
You know what else is distracting? GPS.

People don't normally talk about it I guess because it's made for the car so that makes it "safe". However, I don't even know how many times I have been on the highway with a posted speed limit of 75, doing 35 behind a car where the driver and passengers are looking at the GPS, the road, then back to the GPS trying to figure out where they are. In January of this year I got t-boned by a woman who was looking at her GPS. She was trying to figure out where she was going, talking on her cell, took the red light and slammed right into my car (I was making a left). It's one thing to have a GPS, but most people don't know how to use one properly.

I like the ones that come with the car that don't let you do squat when the car is in motion. However, as for looking at it, I agree, it's dangerous. But in the old days, you'd be sitting there trying to read chicken scratch on paper, which isn't safe either.

You're supposed to listen to it, not stare at the map, aren't you?
 

fieryred33143

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Amber St. Clare|1308607992|2950537 said:
I am not tolerant of ANYTHING, including music that distracts a driver.

That's where I disagree. No way I'm sitting in hour long commutes listening to the buzz of my air conditioner. :tongue:
 

Loves Vintage

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TravelingGal|1308599174|2950396 said:
Loves Vintage|1308598725|2950394 said:
I am terrified by the numbers of people I see texting while driving.

This is one of the reasons why we drive volvo and subaru wagons and also why I obsess about car seat safety. Unfortunately, I cannot control what others do around me, so I do the best I can to protect myself.

I do not text. Ever. As a policy. A while back, I started a thread about texting, and why I hate it. Zombie kids. Freaks me out.

Hope Dream - It is also illegal to text or talk on the cell phone (except for hands-free) in CT, where I live, and in many other states (not sure how many or if all?) in the US. People, however, do it all.the.time, which is what makes it further maddening. I am not aware of any legislation prohibiting the use of an ipod (or similar device), while driving, so that is interesting.

Haven - I love your bumper stickers, but I have to ask you -- do you have a lot of people beeping at you?

I think this is what perplexes me...again, it's that most people have a much higher tolerance for this, when it's as bad, if not worse, than driving drunk. There was a recent drunk driving thread where some people were calling drunk drivers some harsh names. If I said texter drivers were the scum of the earth, I'm pretty sure I would get massively flamed here. And yet most people would have no problem at least shrugging off such a label to drunk drivers.

Drunk drivers have been sufficiently (and appropriately) villainized by the media to the extent that they are regarded as murderers. Texters have not been sufficiently so villainized. If someone is arrested for drunk driving, we think -- he could have killed someone!! When someone gets a ticket for texting or using their cell phone, we think -- eh, he got caught. People don't think of texters as potential killers because the media hasn't taught us that yet. Sad, but true.
 

TravelingGal

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fiery|1308608534|2950546 said:
Amber St. Clare|1308607992|2950537 said:
I am not tolerant of ANYTHING, including music that distracts a driver.

That's where I disagree. No way I'm sitting in hour long commutes listening to the buzz of my air conditioner. :tongue:

I've totally gotten old and cranky. I often just go on long drives with no music on. Somehow, I have come to really enjoy SILENCE. :cheeky:
 

fieryred33143

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TGal-yes, listen to it and look when you can (like at a stop light, not pm the highway).

I've gotten used to listening because we used them a lot while traveling. Internationally we always had to ask someone ahead of time if the directions made sense and then study it a bit before heading out.
 

Amber St. Clare

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fiery|1308608534|2950546 said:
Amber St. Clare|1308607992|2950537 said:
I am not tolerant of ANYTHING, including music that distracts a driver.

That's where I disagree. No way I'm sitting in hour long commutes listening to the buzz of my air conditioner. :tongue:

Sorry I didn't mean no music--I'm talking about idiots who blast their music thinking that people in their houses want to hear what they are playing! I don't think I could drive without Celtic Thunder, Celine and Rod Stewart!
 
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