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Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

blog.zendrive.com

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Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#11

Post by matwood »

Someone1234 wrote: post #6
chris_mc wrote: post #2

I was driving about 3mph in traffic texting my wife and did 3500 dollars damage to my car. I'm glad I learned my lesson the easy way instead of killing someone. Don't text and drive no matter what, it's easy to pull over if it's necessary!

Sorry that happened. Thanks for sharing. What damage on your vehicle caused the high cost of repairs? Just surprisingly high for a 3~ MpH impact.

A lot of cars today have body panels that have to be replaced instead of repaired. Add in any sort of special paint color and a single panel can run $1k to make like new. Side swipe something that runs across a few panels and it can quickly add up.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#12

Post by yardie »

In this day and age of really great machine learning I find that most people refuse to use voice services unless they are forced to do so (usually because of injury). Trying to tap out a message at 80km/h on a 5" screen is pretty fucking futile. But most distracted drivers will attempt to do it anyway.

Here's a neat trick, just say, "Hey Siri* Send a message to $firstname $lastname's $phone. Tell them I'm [on my way, 5 minutes away, picking up milk, buying pizza]"

* Or whatever platform you use. I'm an iOS user.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#13

Post by btrettel »

chris_mc wrote: post #2

I was driving about 3mph in traffic texting my wife and did 3500 dollars damage to my car. I'm glad I learned my lesson the easy way instead of killing someone. Don't text and drive no matter what, it's easy to pull over if it's necessary!

One time when I was walking on the sidewalk I saw a college age kid texting while driving with his windows open. I yelled something like "EYES ON THE ROAD!!!" He was startled and nearly crashed. Not recommended, but I think he learned his lesson too...

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#14

Post by TaylorAlexander »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #5

This is "old man yells at cloud" area, but seriously - why can we not just leave our phones in our pocket until we get to our destination? What's that important?

This is not true for everyone, but many of us have trained ourselves to check the phone when we’re bored, and to reply to messages as soon as we see them. When driving for 15 minutes, our mind can drift and it can feel like a good time to check the phone, even though it’s unsafe.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#15

Post by 0x0000000 »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #9
nostromo wrote: post #4

This is taken as an obvious truth, but when you look at actual collision data, there seems to be no effect whatsoever. In fact, our roads have continued to become safer in the 10 or so years since the release of the iPhone.

Could you supply said data? Also, in what way is it safer? Less collisions? Less damage? Less fatalities?

Small nit you may not be aware of: use 'fewer' for nouns which can be counted (collisions, fatalities), and 'less' for nouns which can't (damage).

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#16

Post by yardie »

nostromo wrote: post #4

This is taken as an obvious truth, but when you look at actual collision data, there seems to be no effect whatsoever. In fact, our roads have continued to become safer in the 10 or so years since the release of the iPhone.

Car fatalities are down because the passenger compartment has become safer. Pedestrian fatalities are up because idiots are still plowing into them [0]

[0] https://www.npr.org/2017/03/30/522085503/2016-saw-a-record-i...

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#18

Post by [deleted] »

yardie wrote: post #16
nostromo wrote: post #4

This is taken as an obvious truth, but when you look at actual collision data, there seems to be no effect whatsoever. In fact, our roads have continued to become safer in the 10 or so years since the release of the iPhone.

Car fatalities are down because the passenger compartment has become safer. Pedestrian fatalities are up because idiots are still plowing into them [0] [0] https://www.npr.org/2017/03/30/522085503/2016-saw-a-record-i...

[deleted]

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#19

Post by btrettel »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #9
nostromo wrote: post #4

This is taken as an obvious truth, but when you look at actual collision data, there seems to be no effect whatsoever. In fact, our roads have continued to become safer in the 10 or so years since the release of the iPhone.

Could you supply said data? Also, in what way is it safer? Less collisions? Less damage? Less fatalities?

I can't find it right now, but I recall there was a study that suggested the trends in total collisions followed total miles driven fairly well, and that distracted driving was not needed to explain the recent increase in collisions. (Or something like that.)

I have no idea if this study's conclusions are controversial or not. If someone could identify the study, I'd be appreciative.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#20

Post by jakelazaroff »

nostromo wrote: post #4

This is taken as an obvious truth, but when you look at actual collision data, there seems to be no effect whatsoever. In fact, our roads have continued to become safer in the 10 or so years since the release of the iPhone.

Is it that smartphones are having no impact, or that they're offset by other factors such as widespread availability of sensors?
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