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Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

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Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#281

Post by jpindar »

phil248 wrote: post #99
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?

There are a million legit reasons a person would need to use their phone while driving a car. But for some bizarre reason, most drivers find it unthinkable to simply pull over for 2 minutes to handle their business. If I need to fiddle with a map or respond to a text, I pull over. It's really super ridiculously easy to do and takes almost no time at all.

This is one reason why I love driving a 4wd pickup. Many of the roads around here don't have proper shoulders, but I can confidently pull over in spots where someone in a small car would hesitate.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#282

Post by jpindar »

aembleton wrote: post #244
phil248 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a million legit reasons a person would need to use their phone while driving a car. But for some bizarre reason, most drivers find it unthinkable to simply pull over for 2 minutes to handle their business. If I need to fiddle with a map or respond to a text, I pull over. It's really super ridiculously easy to do and takes almost no time at all.

Are you allowed to pull over on the highway in the US. Certainly can't do that on a motorway in the UK.

In most places yes, the places where it's not allowed have signs prohibiting it.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#283

Post by jvreagan »

alexktz wrote: post #257
dangravell wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what lane surfing is. But aside from the 130mph remark - changing lane to maintain speed is how you're supposed to drive on a motorway/freeway. So long as you're within the speed limit, of course. Braking is a freeway anti-pattern.

In the UK passing on the right (well left for us of course) is illegal and called undertaking. I know it's not illegal here but it still winds me up! I think it's actually really quite dangerous to have cars passing you on both sides when you're already going 5 over to "fit in". It'd be much better if like in Europe people pulled out to overtake and back in when done and that lane surfers had a little a patience now…

If you are being passed on the right in the US then you are doing it wrong. Slower traffic keep right except to pass. By your definition, you're in the wrong lane.

Lane surfing happens in the US because people here don't understand how to drive on freeways. It is non-existent in Germany because drivers there know how to drive.

I used to live in Seattle, a perfect example of a city that has enough freeway but still has traffic jams because people drive cluelessly. Not just my opinion, but the opinion of traffic enforcement in Washington.

And people on their phones while driving just make the situation worse.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#284

Post by dangravell »

alexktz wrote: post #257
dangravell wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what lane surfing is. But aside from the 130mph remark - changing lane to maintain speed is how you're supposed to drive on a motorway/freeway. So long as you're within the speed limit, of course. Braking is a freeway anti-pattern.

In the UK passing on the right (well left for us of course) is illegal and called undertaking. I know it's not illegal here but it still winds me up! I think it's actually really quite dangerous to have cars passing you on both sides when you're already going 5 over to "fit in". It'd be much better if like in Europe people pulled out to overtake and back in when done and that lane surfers had a little a patience now…

Yep,if that's what is meant by lane surfing then that would be a bad idea too. I was referring to lane discipline.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#285

Post by oarabbus_ »

magnetic wrote: post #93
oarabbus_ wrote: post #82

I was hit on the highway by a phone user who almost killed me and my parents. Speed differential was 55mph. That is, we were completely stopped on the highway and she drove for something like a quarter mile and hit us, leaving me with nerve damage and severe lower back pain. Luckily rehab went stellar and although I have some residual burning/stinging nerve damage, I can walk, run, play sports, go to the gym - you wo…

How did you know she was distracted by her phone? I'm asking not because I don't believe you, but because my wife got rear ended about a week ago, and when the person got out of his car, he had his cell phone in his hand, but that's what you'd expect after a collision (calling family/insurance/police/etc). Did you have to go through a discovery process or? What happened to the distracted driver?

To add to it - the driver was ALSO drunk (well, above the legal limit) and also, get this, a nurse.

I was told by my lawyer that the police investigation concluded that she was guilty of DUI but that due her statements the cell phone was implicated as the reason. She was above .08 barely, but she was presumably not drunk enough to drive for a quarter mile or more without looking up at the road.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#286

Post by tomjen3 »

koolba wrote: post #147
Pharmakon wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife got her start as an attorney in the U.S. and her first criminal cases as defense counsel were for drunk divers. It ended up driving (no pun) her away from defense work, because these guys were inveterate offenders and never got more than a slap on the wrist. The penalties on the books for DUI and the penalties actually administered are often miles apart. That may have changed in the last decade though, I can’…

What do you consider a slap on the wrist? Everyone I know that’s had a DUI lost their license for a min amount of time with exponential increases for repeat offenders (one month, then two years, then 10 years). And that’s only the ones that weren’t involved in a collision.

Lol, a month for the first offence?

Seriously in Denmark you get 20 days suspended prison if your are above 2.0 for a first offense. If you are above 1.2 you lose your license for a minimum of 3 years. If below 2, your fine is "only" your net salary for the month....

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#287

Post by Schwolop »

plmpsu wrote: post #243
Schwolop wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a motorcyclist as well, and I've often wondered about trying to pitch a vigilante hardware product to our police force. I'd build a product around a button that when pressed marks the previous 15s plus the next 15s of helmet-cam footage as a candidate, then uploads that somewhere when the camera is next being charged. If the police would accept a clear camera recording of a numberplate plus a person using their p…

Israel has this kind of pilot governmental program in place: https://www.rsa.org.il (Hebrew)

Thank you, that was very interesting to read through and is a possible avenue to pitch this idea too. Cheers!

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#288

Post by webninja »

alexktz wrote: post #214
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…

I emigrated from the UK to USA last September and the number of people I see on the freeway here with their phone in their hands is a constant source of amazement for me. As a keen road cyclist in the UK I actually have bought an off-road bike because I simply don't trust US drivers. In fact, the standard of driving here is frankly appalling. Tailgating and speeding is rampant. Lane surfing is rife. Couple that with…

I think the real danger isn’t so much the user’s sending a text. It’s the engaged user’s watching news streams, Facebook video’s, Tiktok video’s, YouTube, Snapchat Stories, or playing video games and such while driving.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#289

Post by webninja »

cylinder wrote: post #235
alexktz wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I emigrated from the UK to USA last September and the number of people I see on the freeway here with their phone in their hands is a constant source of amazement for me. As a keen road cyclist in the UK I actually have bought an off-road bike because I simply don't trust US drivers. In fact, the standard of driving here is frankly appalling. Tailgating and speeding is rampant. Lane surfing is rife. Couple that with…

I just came back to the US for a visit and was absolutely gobsmacked at the wide level of texting/phone usage while driving. People weren't even making an effort to hide it or using hands-free cradles. Just full on swiping and looking down while driving on freeways and at traffic lights. It felt like a surreal dystopian nightmare.

Well, it becomes more unsafe if you hide it from cops. It’s much safer to hold your phone up so that your peripherals can still see the road lines instead of looking down where you can’t see anything.

Yes it’s pretty common, I see phones in driver’s hands about 25-40% in my local area.

Re: Phone Addicts Are the New Drunk Drivers

#290

Post by webninja »

geddy wrote: post #213
duncan-donuts wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Statistically because drunk drivers are looking at the road and aren’t seeing everything correctly (or quickly enough), distracted drivers aren’t even looking at the road. Even if you’re hammered enough to have 5% of your normal driving ability, not looking at the road at all is a straight 0% driving ability. It’s essentially driving with your eyes closed every time you look down.

Also specifically when drinking, your frontal cortex of your brain becomes impaired. This is a region associated with reasoning and judgement. Your ability to reason and judge yellow & red lights is noticeably reduced and you become more likely to think you can make it through a light in time. This is why so many of the people T-Boned at intersections were so frequently hit by drunk drivers.
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