No. Seriously. Hang up your damned phone and drive.
It’s gotten so bad out there, that I started wearing this shirt during my daily commute:
Bikers notice a lot more while driving. We have to — we have to watch out for every single vehicle on the road, since most cagers don’t notice us on our motorcycles.
We watch traffic patterns, we look ahead, behind, and to the side of us, always trying to anticipate what other drivers are doing and are likely to do.
I look into the side mirror of every car that I am approaching to see if the driver notices me in their mirror, or to see if they are oblivious to me coming up into their blind spot.
As I get closer to passing, I look to see what their hands are doing: are they getting ready to signal and turn into my lane, are they smoking a cigarette (and are about to flick their burning butt out at my face), are they putting on makeup, are they talking on the phone, or — worst of all — texting on their phone while driving?
And after being a lifelong rider who is exceptionally aware of the driving patterns around him — I can tell you conclusively that the worst, most inconsiderate, oblivious, and dangerous drivers on the road are those talking or texting on their phones while driving.
____
Numerous studies and several states are starting to notice the same thing.
Massachusetts is the latest state that just passed a law prohibiting talking or texting on a cell phone while driving.
Good for them. I hope that Texas is not far behind in outlawing cell phones while driving.
People talking on their phones while driving are the most dangerous, oblivious idiots on the road. Save for people who are texting while they are driving. These people are more dangers than drunk drivers.
Literally.
When U psychologists published a study last year warning against the use of a cell phone while behind the wheel, they wanted to raise awareness.
In the study, David Strayer and Frank Drews, professors of psychology, showed that cell phone users were five times more likely to get in an accident — the same risk as a drunk driver with an alcohol level of 0.08.
And if it wasn’t bad enough that cell phone use while driving is dangerous and stupid — there’s much more evidence to back up my real life observation that cell phone use while driving fucks up the flow of traffic for the rest of:
If you’re late for work, a driver using a cell phone may be to blame. U.S. researchers said on Wednesday that people who use cell phones while behind the wheel impede the flow of traffic, clog highways and extend commute times.
“It’s a bit like breaking wind in the elevator. Everyone suffers,” Peter Martin of the University of Utah’s Traffic Lab said in a telephone interview.
Prior studies have equated the risk of driving while talking on a cell phone with driving while drunk. Some 50 countries have banned use of hand-held phones while driving.
The latest study shows the impact of cell phone use on traffic patterns. “It has to do with the reaction to changes in speed,” said Martin, who teaches civil and environmental engineering.
“When a driver who is not distracted is in a traffic stream and the vehicle in front slows down, the driver will brake in response. When a vehicle speeds up in front, the driver will respond and speed up,” he said.
I give every single cell-phone-using driver that I pass the international sign for “hang up the phone and drive”:
Not very subtle, but it will do the trick.
Left by Nazar on January 27th, 2008 at 11:06 am