Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 17:24:46 GMT From: 'nuther Bob <yetanotherphonyaddressnopsamacereally.com> Subject: Re: OT: Cell phones and driving
On 06 Aug 2003 22:13:07 GMT, Gary Fritz <fritzxxxnopsamrii.com> wrote: >However, as the father of two small kids, I can assure you a couple of >unruly rugrats in the back seat can be far, FAR more distracting than >talking on the phone. Are we to make it illegal to drive with children? Kids are distracting for a much shorter time. How long does it take to yell "That's enough" or "when I get you too home..." or "Don't make me come back there!" ? :-) >For that matter, engaging in a conversation with the person sitting next to >you can be nearly as distracting as talking on the phone. <snip> >Should it be illegal to speak at all while driving? Sorry, studies have found otherwise. Talking in the car is apparently a different mental process than talking on the phone. Perhaps because we visualize the other person's setting and appearance when talking on the phone, whereas when engaged in direct conversation we don't need to do that. I dunno. > But careless >driving for ANY reason is a Bad Thing, and cellphones are far from the >worst cause. I don't think it makes sense to legislate against one small >part of the problem while totally ignoring the rest of it. There will always be momentary distractions including smoking, radios, CD's, kids, etc. We can't, nor should we consider, legislating all that out of existence. (And yes, there are also idiots out there who read the paper,shave, put on makeup, etc.) However, cell phones have been shown to seriously impair driving and they are becoming a "constant companion" for many drivers. I think it should be outlawed. As a side note: I wonder how all these people who are constantly on their phones managed to survive all these years without one. To listen to them now, you'd think they would not have lived this long (I leave out those engaged in their own personal version of an "emergency" situation). Bob
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