While this lady is allowed to drive 4 under with her blinker on for a turn in 3.7 miles I don't care about anyone's arguments against me texting and driving.







Things people do regularly that are worse than texting and driving:



Drive while old

Drive with pets

Drive with unruly children

Drive while tired

Drive while distraught

Drive with food or whatever in the passenger's seat requiring to be held onto so it doesn't fall over





I would feel worse about texting and driving but I honestly think that I'm significantly safer and more aware than the average person on the road, even when I decide to text. If it's raining, I'm not texting. If it's dark, I'm not texting. If there is moderate traffic, I'm not texting. If it requires 100% of your attention to pilot your car all by yourself down an empty divided highway you should NEVER be on the road in the first place. I use swype and have memorized keyboard layout and size so I don't need to look at the phone to text. I read quickly, and only in glances, approximately the same amount of time required to check a mirror or a gauge.

 

So, by that logic, since driving with pets is legal, then driving while texting should be legal? Well, then I believe driving with your knees on the steering wheel instead of your hands should also be legal. As long as I'm on a highway, I don't have any problem steering with my knees.

 

I do that too. If I'm eating.



The problem is that they're trying to legislate people paying attention. That doesn't work. People that will pay attention are going to pay attention even if they're multitasking. People that won't pay attention will still find ways to not pay attention even if everything potentially distracting is removed from the car.

 

That, and making legislation that induces a false sense of security, like bluetooth being legal. Making people moronically think, that the act of their hand next to thier face is the danger, not the fact that they are engaged in a conversation and distracted.

 

The proper course of action is not to say, "since we can't legislate people into paying attention, let's do nothing". The proper course of action is to get people who don't pay attention off the roads. The most reasonable way to do that is to penalize people for engaging in non-driving activities while driving. The next thing we need to do is convince our law makers that licensing is a way to certify that someone possesses the necessary skill set to safely control a vehicle in ALL situations, and not a means to collect revenue. Perhaps the best way to accomplish this is to make issuing a license cost the State money rather than generate revenue. Then the State has a vested interest in only issuing licenses to those who really have earned them.

 

Don't even get me started about people that drive while holding onto their dog!! WTF!!! :angry:





edit - just saw this on Yahoo news, it made me lol. Apparently day-dreaming is more dangerous than texting while driving.



http://ca.autos.yahoo.com/news/just-...201821849.html

 

Which is EXACTLY what people will be doing when bored on this road or any like it.





Like I said, legislating that people pay attention is impossible.

 

NY made a new law that texting/talking on your phone while driving is an automatic 5 points( 7 points suspends it) on your license and $200 fine not including court surcharges. No plea bargains are offered either.







Watched a lady the other day drive right into the trunk of a focus during stop and go rush hour traffic because she was looking down at her phone.



Just because some of you say "I'm good at it" (in ALOT less words) doesn't mean the road wont catch you off guard one day. I don't want to see people get hurt but unfortunately some have to learn the hard way.

 

You literally have to compensate for their bullshit. I am always compensating for "good" drivers that are busy doing other crap. All the other behaviours sks listed are equally as bad and should also be removed from the roads. This is a matter of life and death here.



EDIT:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckixAH_w9-M

 

Well there is your first problem.... I'm half joking....well, there goes some more negative reps for me....lol



No, I am not saying women don't have the capability to be good or better drivers, but in my experince, the great majority of them are OBLIVIOUS to their surroundings. I was a private investigator for some time....When ever following a women, you could practically hit their car and tail gate them and never get made. The men on the other hand, you had to take a few days following them very losely and losing them sometimes and picking them up at the same spot and it took some time to follow them if you didn't want to get made. And police, they defintly took a team of PIs to not get made....Meanwhile, we are making sure no one else is following us, we have to look at traffic patterns (in front and behind) and lights to predict where to best position and if you can easily get there, so as to not get lose them, taking notes on where we just turned (shifting if you have an M/T) and sometimes calling your boss, to ask if due to "x" situation, if he still wants you to persue. But no, texting and driving from point a to b is sooooo impossible Maybe on day one I wouldn't do that, I couldn't, but experience and adding a little bit more gives you a skill. Using your knowledge and self assesment to discern whether or not you can safely do something or not. Reducing or increasing the focus required to drive in certain conditions so you can accomplish another task.



Most people on motorcycles are pretty good drivers. Because they are really aware of their surroundings, are driving like every car is out to kill them, and they have to positon them selves in the safest location posssible.







But her one problem is looking down...if she brought her phone up to her face, she could have seen the car in her periphery.



But there were PLENTY of fender benders that occured before the cell phone was invented. It is a driving and licencing issue as i8 said, not a texting and driving issue.









Cars won't 'catch me off guard' because I rarely do it around other cars. What I admit could catch me off guard is a deer, but that is a risk I accept, and one that could just as easily catch me off guard if I was looking down at my speed or changing the radio station, or distracted in a conversation.



I am not saying texting and driving will make you a safer driver....it won't....What I am saying, is that there are very if (if any) out there who do things just as risky if not more risky than that, just because their are studies done and propoganda focused on it....