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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

#191

Post by max76 »

flatline wrote: post #108
max76 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why people see the possibility of a drivers license suspension as being worse than the increased risk of vehicular manslaughter. One is a few months of decreased mobility. The other is an entire life.

For many, many people in the US, a suspended license means loss of your job, which in turn will lead to loss of all other assets you may tentatively possess, possible dissolution of your family, etc. In terms of personal impact weighted by probability of occurrence, the penalty for loss of license may not be so far off from that of vehicular manslaughter.

A vehicular manslaughter charge often leads to jail time. That's more likely to cause someone to lose their job.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#192

Post by i_am_proteus »

wcarron wrote: post #164

As others have said, as a motorcyclist, my number one concern on the road is a person using their mobile device while driving. I am less worried about road rage (which is still a top concern for me) than distracted drivers. I see it literally hundreds of times a day. People are driving their cars at over 70mph while texting. They use instagram and facebook at stoplights. They text or call while driving too fast down…

Amen, brother.

I used to be on a white R1200RS and I'd get mistaken for CHP in California. It was amusing to see them try to hide their phones when I'd honk at them.

A lot less amusing when they'd wander into my lane, oblivious. Every single close call I've had in the last year of riding has been from a motorist operating a cell phone.

I'm nearly of a mind to roll a helmet cam and start a Twitter account with footage of these people, along with their plates and a CHP tag. I haven't done it yet because that would take my riding focus away from steering the safest path. But it seems like it's gotten worse lately, and there doesn't seem to be much enforcement.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#193

Post by duncan-donuts »

wcarron wrote: post #164

As others have said, as a motorcyclist, my number one concern on the road is a person using their mobile device while driving. I am less worried about road rage (which is still a top concern for me) than distracted drivers. I see it literally hundreds of times a day. People are driving their cars at over 70mph while texting. They use instagram and facebook at stoplights. They text or call while driving too fast down…

What makes it statistically more dangerous? The volume of drivers doing it? The likelihood of an accident?

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#194

Post by max76 »

nothrabannosir wrote: post #107
max76 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why people see the possibility of a drivers license suspension as being worse than the increased risk of vehicular manslaughter. One is a few months of decreased mobility. The other is an entire life.

If I had to hazard a guess: because that option is so extremely negative, that cognitive dissonance protects our brains from seriously entertaining the thought that we could ever be involved in such an accident.

I'm unsure. Mindless anxious mind wandering (worry) often causes people to imagine worse situations and exaggerate their probably.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#195

Post by slavik81 »

btrettel wrote: post #73
aqme28 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be hard to filter out the false positives. I'm almost always a passenger or riding a train. Locking out my phone during either of those situations would be a problem.

I can recall a girl playing Pokemon Go on a train. The app seemed to detect the motion and asked her if she was driving every 10 minutes or so.

It's quite frequent even if you're standing still. GPS drift, noise and corrections cause a lot of false positives for movement.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#196

Post by dredmorbius »

the_pwner224 wrote: post #181
dredmorbius wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's make that Apple's problem and not that of the people they kill. If the phone cannot distinguish driver from passenger, shut it off.

A phone is a tool. It is good for tools to discourage hazardous usage, but that doesn't absolve the user of the responsibility to use the tool correctly. Making tools liable for their stupid users is not a good idea.

The "tool" has created, of itself, a class of lethal risks to uninvolved and nonbeneficiary third parties, through deliberate psychological engineering on the part of the manufacturer, which removing or disabling the "tool" would cure.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#197

Post by flatline »

max76 wrote: post #191
flatline wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For many, many people in the US, a suspended license means loss of your job, which in turn will lead to loss of all other assets you may tentatively possess, possible dissolution of your family, etc. In terms of personal impact weighted by probability of occurrence, the penalty for loss of license may not be so far off from that of vehicular manslaughter.

A vehicular manslaughter charge often leads to jail time. That's more likely to cause someone to lose their job.

Sure. But let’s say the chance of losing your license is a hundred times more likely than that of committing vehicular homicide, and the effective penalty for a homicide is 10 times worse than that for losing your license, you should be 10x more worried about losing your license.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#198

Post by Tiktaalik »

Peculiar to blame the phone for killing people and not the several ton object that crashes into them.

Of course people should stay off their phones, but there are plenty of ways that people can make mistakes driving, and the best way to make pedestrians safe is to limit their interactions with cars.

We need to fundamentally back away from the automobile oriented design of our cities. This is the real solution, not doubling down on car infrastructure and hoping that some vaporware self driving software will save us.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#199

Post by whymsicalburito »

sbov wrote: post #146
whymsicalburito wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's dangerous!! Figure out where you're going before driving off! If you get lost PULL OVER! It's really not that difficult and it shows that you actually care about people in the world other than yourself.

I have an issue with most of the defenses of using a phone while driving, but are you saying we should not be able to use a dashboard mounted phone as a GPS unit? Should all dashboard mounted GPS units be illegal, or just phone as a GPS? The advice was literally to keep the phone in your pocket.

No. But if you need to change your directions, or search for something in the GPS, your eyes won't be on the road and you should pull over. If anything you're doing in your car is taking your focus away from operating a multi ton killing machine, then be an adult and stop it.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#200

Post by ummonk »

mig4ng wrote: post #63

This is extremely bad. In Portugal I don't cross the road if the person is using a phone, unless they fully stop of course. Yet this is a problem so big that even people walking cross roads with their faces glued to their phones. It happened to me more than once almost getting into an accident, both while walking or driving because the other party is distracted by a smartphone instead of paying attention to driving o…

What is the big deal with phone use at a red light? It will, at worst, hold up traffic slightly.
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