Comments on: Intexticated http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/03/18/intexticated/ Just another WordPress weblog Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:20:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Scott Ault http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/03/18/intexticated/#comment-6769 Scott Ault Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:29:55 +0000 http://www.howwedrive.com/?p=734#comment-6769 Tom, Are cell phones good and cars evil? For God sake, we lived without cell phones before there were cell phones. For that matter, our forefathers lived without cars, too, but we have not. An easy solution is DON"T USE YOUR PHONE IF YOU ARE DRIVING. You will be a much safer driver. I prohibit my kids from using their phones while driving. They MUST pull over, preferably into a parking lot in town or an approach in the country, to use their phone, calling in or out. Texting is blocked. Cars are not killers. Bad drivers are killers. Two tons objects don't kill people, people driving them kill people. If cars kill people, pens cause illiteracy. Take the credit, or blame, for the way you drive. If you keep up like this, you may hurt your cars' feelings. Tom, Are cell phones good and cars evil? For God sake, we lived without cell phones before there were cell phones. For that matter, our forefathers lived without cars, too, but we have not. An easy solution is DON”T USE YOUR PHONE IF YOU ARE DRIVING. You will be a much safer driver. I prohibit my kids from using their phones while driving. They MUST pull over, preferably into a parking lot in town or an approach in the country, to use their phone, calling in or out. Texting is blocked. Cars are not killers. Bad drivers are killers. Two tons objects don’t kill people, people driving them kill people. If cars kill people, pens cause illiteracy. Take the credit, or blame, for the way you drive. If you keep up like this, you may hurt your cars’ feelings.

]]> By: Tom http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/03/18/intexticated/#comment-6670 Tom Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:37:41 +0000 http://www.howwedrive.com/?p=734#comment-6670 The real killer here, and it's common across all types of distraction, is the cars themselves. Two ton objects moving at many miles per hour are extremely dangerous and kill thousands every year, 39,800 in 2008 to be exact. I don't like this "save us from ourselves" mentality of making phones inoperable in cars. The root cause is our culture and our lackadaisical attitude when in control of a two ton object. If we don't have the discipline to behave properly behind the wheel and resist distractions then WE SHOULDN'T BE DRIVING in the first place! The real killer here, and it’s common across all types of distraction, is the cars themselves. Two ton objects moving at many miles per hour are extremely dangerous and kill thousands every year, 39,800 in 2008 to be exact. I don’t like this “save us from ourselves” mentality of making phones inoperable in cars. The root cause is our culture and our lackadaisical attitude when in control of a two ton object. If we don’t have the discipline to behave properly behind the wheel and resist distractions then WE SHOULDN’T BE DRIVING in the first place!

]]> By: jack http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/03/18/intexticated/#comment-6625 jack Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:14:34 +0000 http://www.howwedrive.com/?p=734#comment-6625 Inattentive, distracted drivers are all around us and it shouldn't take a catastrophe to get our attention. Every one of these stories could be avoided if drivers would concentrate on their primary responsibility... sharing the road with care and consideration. Unfortunately personal matters, not the public good, too often dominate drivers' attention on public roads. One of the worst cases I've heard about was when a truck driver ran over 10 cars while playing with his cell phone on a sunny afternoon on a large freeway in July 2008 (see your 1-13-09 link). The damage: 3 people killed, 15 injures, 10 cars demolished, truck probably OK. Witnesses says he was also speeding in traffic. No word on a prosecution yet. How many seconds does it take not to see the vehicles in front of you and then to run over 10? I agree, auto manufacturers should be required to install equipment that makes the use of cell phone-texting, etc. devices inoperable while the motor is running. Inattentive, distracted drivers are all around us and it shouldn’t take a catastrophe to get our attention. Every one of these stories could be avoided if drivers would concentrate on their primary responsibility… sharing the road with care and consideration. Unfortunately personal matters, not the public good, too often dominate drivers’ attention on public roads.

One of the worst cases I’ve heard about was when a truck driver ran over 10 cars while playing with his cell phone on a sunny afternoon on a large freeway in July 2008 (see your 1-13-09 link). The damage: 3 people killed, 15 injures, 10 cars demolished, truck probably OK. Witnesses says he was also speeding in traffic. No word on a prosecution yet. How many seconds does it take not to see the vehicles in front of you and then to run over 10?

I agree, auto manufacturers should be required to install equipment that makes the use of cell phone-texting, etc. devices inoperable while the motor is running.

]]> By: 2fs http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/03/18/intexticated/#comment-6622 2fs Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:46:11 +0000 http://www.howwedrive.com/?p=734#comment-6622 Since people don't buy new cars soon enough to make an in-car implementation feasible, perhaps cell phone manufacturers should equip all new phones with a device that renders the device inoperable (except for 911) when inside a motor vehicle whose motor is running. No idea whether that would be possible - and it wouldn't solve the problem of what might technically be called "being an utter idiot" - which is, of course, the real problem here. Since people don’t buy new cars soon enough to make an in-car implementation feasible, perhaps cell phone manufacturers should equip all new phones with a device that renders the device inoperable (except for 911) when inside a motor vehicle whose motor is running. No idea whether that would be possible - and it wouldn’t solve the problem of what might technically be called “being an utter idiot” - which is, of course, the real problem here.

]]>