Seven years ago the National Highway Safety Administration called for a complete and total ban on the use of cellphones while driving. That includes hands-free kits, too. Now, a lot has changed in the seven years since this draft proposal was made—for one, the number of cellphones in the U.S. has gone from 170 million to 270 million.
The NHSA made the call because it wasn’t convinced that at-the-time legislation would effectively stamp out unsafe driving behavior. People would either ignore it and get into the habit of talking while driving, or they’d gravitate to hands-free devices and still drive unsafely. (Walking on the sidewalk while talking on the phone is hard enough, so I can’t even imagine trying to drive and talk.)
Anyhow, here’s the language of the report that concerns us:
We recommend that drivers not use these devices when driving, except in an emergency. Moreover, we are convinced that legislation forbidding the use of handheld cell phones while driving may not be effective in improving highway safety since it will not address the problem. In fact, such legislation may erroneously imply that hands-free phones are safe to use while driving.
There’s been non-stop research about the safety of cellphone use while driving. Car and Driver recently noted that texting and driving—was SMS as big in 2002 as it is in 2009?—is less safe than drinking and driving. So maybe the NHSA was right all along.
And, really, what’s wrong with not being able to flap your gums for a couple minutes while you drive to the toy store?
I know a lot of people will say that this is reckless, but face it… it’s reality.
As long as your not stupid it’s fine.
1.) Text at stoplights and stopsigns. Put the phone down when you start moving.
2.) If you’re dialing, don’t look down into your lap. Hold the phone in front of you so you can still see if the car in front of you is using its brakes.
3.) Learn to tune conversation out when traffic gets heavy, and know when to say, “I’ll call you back”.
I think it’s relatively easy to multi-task like this but I don’t think a 16 year old is capable of it. It should be illegal to use a phone while driving until you’ve had some experience driving.
Here’s one more rule:
4) Just don’t do it, because you’re not as good of a driver as you think. When you fuck up and slam into a minivan full of kids, will your conversation about how much you loved “Brüno” have been worth it?
Driving isn’t so much about being able to “see if the car in front of you is using its brakes”. When people die, it’s a matter of split second decisions and reactions. Distractions, no matter how small, further limit the amount of time you have to decide.
Right so instead of giving people education about how to manage in a technologically developing world, we should just say “don’t do it”.
You probably beleive in abstinence as a form of birth control too…. i’m sure that works.
I’m going to go ahead and ignore the last line, as you probably already realize how absurd it is. If you insist on going forward with this analogy, you must realize that what you’re suggesting is along the lines of “Pull and pray”.
When you’re driving, you’re steering what is essentially a very slow missile made of metal and glass. When you screw up, people die.
How does “giving people education” help in a circumstance like this? There is simply no way to generalize the idea in this way; accidents happen too fast, and in unpredictable ways. No matter what you teach people about how to “safely” use their phone while driving, their driving abilities and reaction times are being degraded. This endangers people around them.
In a “technologically developing world”, we should continue to work on and move toward technologies that allow us these options without endangering others. Voice control, bluetooth (by default in all new cars, and economically accessible in older cars), etc – anything that keeps people from ever having to take their hands off the wheel or look down.
Sure, I wish there was a safer alternative, but let’s be realistic. People ARE and WILL continue to talk on cell phones in their cars (i.e. 270 million cell phones in the U.S.). We can be ignorant and say “shame on you” or we can accept that humans take risks and try to limit those risks first by education and THEN by trying to improve the technology.
I submit to you that my method would save more lives than yours.
Just about the whole of Europe has a ban on holding a phone in your car. If you want to talk you need a hands-free kit.
That’s 660 million mobile phones my friend.
The number of mobile phones in America is clearly not the problem…it’s attitudes like yours towards it.
snap.
I was recently almost crushed by a lady who sailed through a red light at 50mph in an Escalade while talking on her phone.
That said, I think food and kids are much greater distractions than phones. I’ve also done some stupid things while looking at a GPS.
Some people do a better job of managing distractions than others. It doesn’t matter what the distraction is.
Nothing wrong with having a conversation but why is it so hard to imagine that you have to fit a hands-free device in your car to do so?
Some 50 countries have made it illegal to hold a cell phone while driving:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones_and_driving_safety#List_of_countries_with_bans
It just strikes me as a really simple way to improve road safety.
Even with most hands free, you still have to dial the number. Voice dialing is OK but still very flawed and you end up having to dial sometimes anyway.
So now, instead of holding the phone up in front of you to dial it so you can see the road (see rule #2 of driving while talking on a cell phone), the phone is in your lap so the police can’t see it and WHAM! You just took out that minivan full of kids that Greg was talking about.
Making it illegal is going to kill more people than it helps, that’s why the U.S. isn’t on board.
I’d say the US isn’t on board because the mobile phone industry lobby is making sure of it. As much as I hate to do so, my recommendation is to buy the BIGGEST vehicle you can so that when someone does run a red light at 50mph and crash into you – that you stand a chance of survival.
Now come on, do you really think that these huge companies AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc are all coordinating together to make this happen? How ignorant of you. These organizations are much too large to do that.
Just as Nicholas said in his article, “The NHSA realized that educating the public about proper ways to use a cellular device while driving is the top priority”.
Adam, I tend to agree with you. I will also point out that if you do choose to drink and drive (i’m not condoning this but we all know it happens) please do not pick up a cell phone. This creates a very dangerous situation. If you must choose one or the other but please not both.
Thanks man! I was starting to think I was crazy or something.
What? Your logic is flawed.
How is buying a bigger car going to save lives? “Fcuk everyone else because I’ll be fine”.
We’re talking about real people here who lead real lives much like your own.
I wish I could ignore your idiocy. Idiot.
OK, I thought that I should re-define my rules, they are now oficially called:
RULES FOR SAFE CELL PHONE USAGE WHILE DRIVING
1.) Text at stoplights and stopsigns. Put the phone down when you start moving.
2.) If you’re dialing, don’t look down into your lap. Hold the phone in front of you so you can still see if the car in front of you is using its brakes.
3.) Learn to tune conversation out when traffic gets heavy, and know when to say, “I’ll call you back”.
4.) If you choose to drink and drive, DO NOT use a cell phone at the same time.
5.) No cell phone usage while driving until the individual has at least two years of driving experience.
Please let me know if you come up with more.
I completely agree with you, Adam. I have lived in the city for years now, and have seen countless accidents occur when people are driving between traffic lights and insist on finishing their text – but I also see many excellent drivers that text while the light is red, and then PUT THE PHONE DOWN.
I also see people talking on their cell phones all the time, and it is rare that it causes accidents. Banning people from talking on cell phones while driving – especially if it is hands free – is like banning people from talking to anyone else in the vehicle. Traffic gets gnarly, you stop talking. It is as simple as that.
In a day and age that people have everything from satellite radio, GPS, televisions, laptops, and so-on in their vehicles to play with, it is irresponsible to waste our energy trying to discipline people for using them.
It is not about the tools we have been given, it is about the choices we make with them. There will always be something to distract you and get you in an accident, it is the choice you make in how you use it that makes the difference. (Note that I said HOW you use it, not the choice NOT to use it.)
I really wish they would ban them. Just yesterday I rounded a corner to almost slam into a guy who was just sitting there in his (running) car in the middle of the street (with plenty of shoulder to pull off onto, no less), chatting away on his phone. After I swerved around him, I saw him drive off in my rear view mirror.
And today, while driving through a parking lot, the lady in front of me was slowing, starting to turn without signaling, moving back into her original direction, speeding up, slowing down again, almost…turning…but no, not really. She was on her phone, too.