Driving and Texting
 

January 1st. Illinois State Law says you can not text and drive at the same time. How are they going to know? But Illinois State Law will include no talking on the cell phone while driving through work and school zones. So when will all states follow suit and be more agressive?

Was pretty sad to see a couple of ladies, with a cell phone in hand stuck to their ears, with pets and children in the vehicle, while driving less than the speed limit in the hammer lane, during rush hour traffic this afternoon/evening.

they may not catch you in the act, but it's one more charge they can hit you with if you cause a wreck. i read over the wknd about a kid two days after graduation who was killed in a single vehicle wreck. the cops found his cell phone a few feet from the car, a half-composed message in the works.

i think they should make your cell phone unworkable if it's in a running automobile. too many people think they're special and can handle driving and talking/texting-and then they find out the hard way they're only human like the rest of us.

The solution is technology. I used to have a heads-up display in my old pontiac for showing the speedometer on the windshield. It was great -- not a distraction at all. If that sort of display was used for a text window, and the speech-to-text software was loaded into the car where you could dictate a message and the car would process and send the text, that would be effortless and not distracting. Similarly, could have incoming messages read to you upon receipt.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125123906005958413.html


visited the wsj to check out the headlines, and saw this story.



'Shaun Ring, a wedding photographer in Lexington, Ky., admitted he frequently sends text messages while driving. "Texting, unfortunately, is a necessary evil while driving, for me at least," he said. "Clients expect very quick responses."

He has been using Vlingo for several months, and while it occasionally gets a word wrong -- "It butchers names," he said -- he is relieved to be able to focus on the road. "I have a horrible reputation for already being an awful driver."'

that's a very dangerous mindset. i refused to have texting enabled on my work phone. if someone calls, i let voicemail answer-you can always call back.
'

Something like that - Vlingo or equivalent - is the only real answer. People are spending more and more time trapped in their cars - many times in traffic. There is an expectation of being able to communicate, for work or socially, and text or mobile e-mail is superior to real-time voice when you need technical details: addresses, directions, codes, lists, etc.

When people say "pull over and make a call" or "only use your GPS while stopped" it sounds naive. Many times you are travelling 5 or 10 mph in a traffic jam. You're not stopped and can't stop (no shoulder or offramp). We've just got to get better about providing more safely implemented capabilities to the driver -- not just banning or disabling things because people will find a less safe workaround.

What if you are just a passenger? What if someone is abducted and locked in the trunk? Just a few scenarios where the phone being disabled in a running car is not good. Texting while driving is extremely stupid.

Shaun, I really don't really care if natural selection works and you slam yourself into the bridge abutment of Limestone going under the tracks.

But I do care if you take someone else with you.

Edit: For the past 15 years or so equine and cow docs have paid far more in car insurance than other on-the-road traveling jobs, as they suddenly started crashing like crazy. Coincided with easily available car phones in work vehicles.

This video was all over the news earlier this week and I finally watched the whole thing here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ttNgZDZruI

Very graphic, very sad and unfortunately, all too real.

Back when I was a CHP officer I didn't have to deal with folks talking on cell phones or texting (wow, things sure have changed a lot in 20 years) but the results of inattentive (and drunk) driving haven't changed at all - auto accidents are ugly, violent and messy.

I'd like to hope that seeing something like this would make people change their ways but I'm smart enough to know that a majority of people think "it won't happen to me, I'm careful".

I always put my beer down before I text while driving.

Where you Ponch or Jon?:D

car phones & cell phones, worst invention ever. JMO

Yeah, but those first car phones, the size of a small suitcase, sitting in the front seat of the pickup, impressed the farmers :p

i agree, i hate phones. my best days at work, and probably the most productive, are when i forget that stupid thing at home. and never fails, i'll be knee deep in work, and someone driving down the road will call because they feel driving time is best spent talking. :rolleyes:

I don't think it's naive to save people's lives. Any calls or texts can wait....I mean you aren't going to be on the road forever, even if there is traffic. Even if one uses a headset, your attention isn't on the road, it's on the conversation.

Facebook & text messaging the 2 worst inventions ever.

Facebook is a non issue for me, never been to the site.

However, texting has become a staple in my life. It allows me to get information to people and not get sucked into a conversation. It saves me a ton of time throughout a normal business day.

I agree. Texting is a time saver and great convenience if you have a single question or issue. For some reason I'm less annoyed getting a stupid request by text than to actually here here the words spoken.