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  #16  
Old 06-13-2018, 09:44 AM
Shoreline Music Shoreline Music is offline
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I'm tempted to say the biggest offense here is that this driver was using the speakerphone for no reason. I see this all the time—people walking around with their phones held two feet from their heads, and shouting into the microphone. I still have no idea why anyone would take a perfectly functional telephone and hold it several feet from their ear. I mean, I understood when Carson did it in Downton Abbey, but we're a century beyond that...

Joking aside, I used to sit parked in the middle school parking lot before dropping off my daughter (we'd enjoy a 15 minute chat every morning). We'd observe the cars driving around us. About 2/3 of the moms dropping off kids for school were texting/Facebooking while driving through the school parking lot. They were constantly slamming their brakes as children did what they normally do in this situation, which is walk to school. It was only a matter of time, and I begged the principal and school district to put some consequences in place. So far, no injuries.
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  #17  
Old 06-13-2018, 09:50 AM
StevenL StevenL is offline
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This is the major reason my beloved little bike is sitting in a shed collecting rust. The streets these days are a war zone. I can't even imagine driving a bike, or a car, in a larger city these days.

We need a new TV series: The Driving Dead
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  #18  
Old 06-13-2018, 09:54 AM
Edgar Poe Edgar Poe is offline
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They should build in devices that jam cell phone reception and transmissions as long as the car is in drive.
Once in park the device could shut off until the car is back in drive.
You can buy a device right now that is capable of jamming cell phones in an average room size.

Ed
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  #19  
Old 06-13-2018, 10:39 AM
imwjl imwjl is offline
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IIRC, 2013 model year or close requited hands free phoning in the US. In some areas concentrated traffic enforcement is watching for that and texting.

I'm sure we're in a time like the transition to seat belts, automatic transmissions, other changes. We're for sure in a time when the new safety systems are added to cars more and more.

Count up how many iPhone users. They can all use the Do Not Disturb When Driving feature but many don't maybe just like one neighborhood family when I was a kid who didn't want seat belts trapping anyone in the car.

This issue is more crazy when I consider the modern politics. There's much irony with many I know being quite selective with regards to what they want controlled or not controlled.

Before so much cel phone use the commuters from suburbs and exurbs were still a menace if you happen to live in a more traditional community or inner ring of a larger metro area.

When I log into Facebook it is very common to see some "friends" complaining about traffic and drivers. They clearly have joined the distracted when they're posting photos of their fellow idiots behind the wheel. There's much irony when I consider how they're part of the problem when they chose homes 3-4 rings out from where they work.

You could also support the public transportation options if you don't like the way driving is going. If I combine bike and bus I can get some work done. If I use the bike freeways we have I add 12 - 20 minutes of commute time but get 50-65 minutes of good exercise and have more competence on the job.

Sitting in cars is not so good for us overall.
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  #20  
Old 06-13-2018, 10:52 AM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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i recently had a guy with wife and daughter in the car, in the lane to my right, race past me, cut in front of me and on into the left turn lane. i hit the brakes and honked. as there was a red light ahead, he purposely stopped next to me had his wife roll down the window and yelled at me that if i wasn't going so fast i wouldn't have needed to honk at him. i just sat there shocked as he then moved forward with the change of the light. i guess he had to save face with his family in the car.

as far as the usage of the phone in the car, i caught hell years ago, before it became illegal, saying that there should be a law against using the phone in the car. some friends said it was a first amendment right!!!

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Last edited by muscmp; 06-13-2018 at 10:56 AM. Reason: phone
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  #21  
Old 06-13-2018, 11:00 AM
Photojeep Photojeep is offline
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Around 2 years ago I was rear-ended by a car that was hit from behind by a girl who was distracted by her cell phone and didn't realized we were still stopped at a traffic light.

In Nevada we have laws prohibiting using a cell phone while in a car unless using a hands-free device but it's still early days. I know that police officers are generally outnumbered by many thousands to one but it is so frustrating to see people blithely driving down the road, cell phone held to their ear, and not a cop in sight.

This frustration is equal to that of seeing children crawling all around the inside of a moving car. I once came alongside such a free-range roaming kid infested car as we came to a stop at a traffic light and called across that the kids were in danger because they weren't buckled in and the driver shouted over the heads of said children vile obscenities, telling me to mind my own business...

My mother was right, "It takes all kinds of people to make up a world."

I'm glad your wife was able to avoid the collision and you two are safe.

Best,
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  #22  
Old 06-13-2018, 11:02 AM
bsman bsman is offline
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Today's cars are an order of magnitude safer than cars were in the 60s-80s, which is a good thing, because today's drivers are at least an order of magnitude worse!
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  #23  
Old 06-13-2018, 11:46 AM
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There is an app out there "Waze" which in addition to being a Navigation app for your phone, also allows you to see traffic conditions around you and post updates on traffic conditions you encounter.

Some co-workers and I were picked up by a fellow employee at the airport a few months back. There was some heavy traffic after leaving the airport and our driver decided he would update that info on Waze. Apparently you get points for posting updates even if a bazillion other users also post the same info. As he was updating Waze WHILE MOVING, he lightly rear-ended the car in front of us. We were unharmed as it was just a tap but it caused enough cosmetic damage that the driver in front wanted to report it. I guess numerous other Waze users then subsequently started posting updates about us idiots clogging a lane due to this nonsense.

Just stupid....
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  #24  
Old 06-13-2018, 12:18 PM
RussL30 RussL30 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imwjl View Post
I'm glad there was no injury or loss of life.

I'm not sure distracted driving is as new as people claim but it's certainly gotten worse. It doesn't seem to be helped by the poor home to work or commute choices a lot of people make. Many I know spend 2+ hours of their day in a car when they add up work and family time.
I am 100 percent against distracted driving and last year was involved in accident by where the offending driver was distracted and luckily no one was seriously hurt. Of course the distracted driver’s vehicle was undamaged and he caused my vehicle and another to collide trying to avoid him.

However, I would like to know what you mean by “poor commuting choices”. I have a very long commute (40 miles each way). Is that a poor choice on my part?
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  #25  
Old 06-13-2018, 12:22 PM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Even car companies are putting more and more distractions in cars. I mean have you driven or ridden in a late model car with “infotainment” system? Of course they practically drive themselves too.
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  #26  
Old 06-13-2018, 12:34 PM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Hi Bob, I got a new "used" car in March, and decided to get a "car-cam" fitted. I have no idea as to how to extract the info from, it, but if you had one fitted and pressed the magic button shortly after the idiot woman did that to you, and reported her for Dangerous / reckless driving and driving without due care and attention, or whatever US equivalent is plus the £1000 fine and 3-6 points on her licence (which increases insurance enormously).

I seriously wonder whether mobile phones have helped the world.
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  #27  
Old 06-13-2018, 12:37 PM
philjs philjs is offline
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Around here, and in a growing number of places, using a cell phone while driving is illegal, not that many people pay attention to the law ('cause it's obviously not directed at them. It must be for other people.).

But I've noticed something new that bugs me: People who do pay attention to the law and wouldn't consider answering an incoming call while driving but who think nothing of slamming on their brakes and barely pulling off to the side of the road or highway to TAKE the call!

Is it important enough to die for? And, please don't take me with you...

Phil
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  #28  
Old 06-13-2018, 01:50 PM
imwjl imwjl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RussL30 View Post
I am 100 percent against distracted driving and last year was involved in accident by where the offending driver was distracted and luckily no one was seriously hurt. Of course the distracted driver’s vehicle was undamaged and he caused my vehicle and another to collide trying to avoid him.

However, I would like to know what you mean by “poor commuting choices”. I have a very long commute (40 miles each way). Is that a poor choice on my part?
I know and associate or meet many more who've moved to places where a lot of time in a car impacts their behavior and well being. There are cases where that long commute is hard to avoid. Situations like jobs in different directions or changed jobs after settling in a place.

I can't go very long looking at my social media feeds seeing people I know and work with complaining about traffic and taking pictures of it where many chose that yet complain about it.

About 11 years ago now we went from 30-40 min one way to commutes that are 1.8 mi for my wife and 4 mi for me. She will still tease me about that because it was her obsession but the reality is we don't even have to answer the phone or look at it when a drive is never more than 15 min, or as long as 22-24 min on a bike.

I'm a leader in an institution with about 600 kids in lessons, programs and teams. Where I work there are hundreds of employees in the state's two major metro areas. I see a whole lot of families who are living 2-3 hour of their day in a car. That seems to create a lot of distracted driving and it looks like a hit to quality of life.

Driving aside, when I visit friends and family in these modern outer ring subdivisions or suburbs I see few people out and knowing each other. They even describe people by what they drive. There's a contrast where their kids are not out as feral kids knowing others in their own neighborhoods.

Again, I know many have to make some choices and long drives that are not ideal but I also know it doesn't have to be that way way for many. Not living that way helps you meet some important standards for health and well being.
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  #29  
Old 06-13-2018, 02:18 PM
fumei fumei is offline
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It is so close to being an addiction. Here is a story of a driver that was caught TWICE, within seven minutes.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/distracted-dri...-say-1.3843151

Fines do not seem to work. I personally think that this driver should have their license revoked. This behaviour kills people. It now is greater than drunk driving.
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  #30  
Old 06-13-2018, 02:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philjs View Post
But I've noticed something new that bugs me: People who do pay attention to the law and wouldn't consider answering an incoming call while driving but who think nothing of slamming on their brakes and barely pulling off to the side of the road or highway to TAKE the call!
Phil
Indeed and it seems to me the number of people who apply their brakes and then wait until the last few seconds to activate a turn signal or don't signal at all has multiplied like rabbits .
What the heck happened to "turn on the turn signal before applying brakes ???? That was like basic drivers-ed 101 in the 60's
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