The amount of texting & driving out there is making me nervous
 

I typically ride my bike for most of my local trips, year round.

I've only ever had one negative car vs. bicycle "incident" with a driver who "right hooked" me a year or so back. (She overtook me... almost! Then braked and turned right before she had quite finished the "overtaking" part.)

But I don't worry too much about stuff like that. (By which I mean - I stay alert to what's going on around me, and am comfortable with the proactive/reactive things I can do to avoid problems.)

No, the thing that is beginning to worry me is the amount of texting and driving I'm seeing. (And I'm not talking about the epidemic of texting while stopping/stopped at traffic lights.)

• Last year, a neighbour's kid wrote off the family's Honda by smashing into the back of a parked car on a quiet, straight residential road. In the middle of a sunny freaking afternoon! Texting? That was my first thought. His dad told me his kid swears he wasn't using his phone, but I sure would have been looking at the cell phone records. (Do they even show that kind of detail?)

• A week ago I watched a kid drive literally half a block in a residential area while fiddling with her phone (presumably!), fixated on her lap. I considered yelling in her open window as she went by just to freak her out.

• Today I watched another kid in a Chevy Avalanche pickup pulling a 20-something foot boat & trailer... driving along fiddling with his phone. Doing the ubiquitous "if I keep it below the window line, no one will notice!" routine.

Obviously the texters aren't all kids. But these people are starting to scare me. I think the risk of getting smashed into from behind is on the rise. Yes, I have a little mirror. And I check it a lot! Lately I've been putting more thought into taking routes where the overtakaing traffic is at least going slower.

I cannot comprehend people doing this.

Also: GET OFF MY LAWN!

/rant

Or get their attention with something rear facing.

I've been right-hooked on bike too. That lady did it on purpose though. Then I caught up to her and came within a mm of breaking her window out when I hit it.

But yeah, texting and cell phones... there are two major employers in this town and they are not smart enough to stagger their shift times; when day shift ends it is like toilets flushing during SuperBowl halftime: millions all at once. Evidently there must be a whole day's worth of really important communications to catch up on by then. One can watch the traffic for a while and notice that 4 out of 5 commuters have phones stuck to their heads... I suppose the other 1 out of 5 have their phones down low, texting. :rolleyes:

I just dial 911 and report it. Ive seen cars facing the wrong way on the roads near me. :eek:

I set my phone up so all I have to do is press send to dial 911 and it goes to speaker. They note the report and on 2 occasions Ive had follow up calls for more details.

Today, I happened to experience some idiot SUV driver that was texting while merging onto an 70 MPH speed limit interstate. Sadly, this is the norm around here.

My friends son sent 7000 text messages in a month. His dad got a $600 bill for the cell phone. I asked the kid how long it took him to do a text message, about a minute.

Thats about 110 hours of texting a month, almost 3 weeks of potential (assuming he worked) work time wasted. The kid had worked 3 months from age 18 to 21. I missed 3 months in 30 years between jobs.

Same kid just got out of Marine Corps boot camp, maybe the Jarheads got his head on straight. He did real good and gained 24 pounds in basic training.

Been close to several head ons here with young women texting while driving with half of their car in my friggin lane, on a road with a ditch barely 18 inches from the pavement!

Yeah Metro, I've refined my situational awareness over almost 50 years driving and riding cars, bikes, and motorcycles, but the head ons are the hardest to anticipate.
As Johnny Cash sang "I keep my eyes wide open all the time". I could probably get hit in the rear end several times every day I drive or ride, had a full sized truck two car lengths behind me on my bike today in a 55 zone, when I was going 50. A twist of the throttle and 65 MPH left the Moron behind, gas mileage be damned.

regards
Mech

My girlfriend and I are both 2 teenagers that never text and drive. It's just not worth it. I don't understand what the addiction to being in contact with people all the time is. I like my alone time. Being away from the world is so relaxing. People are just stupid I guess.

On a side note, if everyone drove manual transmissions, there would be a lot less texting and driving...I think.

HydroJim - there's hope yet for the future! :D

We all get to do stupid things in our youth that the vast majority of us can look back on and marvel at how fortunate we were to escape unharmed (and unharming) to then proceed on to adulthood.

Texting and driving is a brand new stupid thing to do in addition to all the old things! How exciting for everybody.

We have a lot of satellite families where I am. As in, mom & dad are in another country making all the money, and the kids get set up here with a nice place to live and a new car while they go to fancy private schools. They all talk/text constantly. None have ever driven before. They all have insanely expensive cars because the "status" is important to the family. Picture an 18 year old Asian girl with a new driver sticker on the back of her car, in a brand new Lambo, trying to text while merging into traffic. You all have no idea how safe you are wherever you are compared to me!! ha ha

I swear it seems as though the states are using carnival "bumper-car" rides as the driving test for passing out drivers licenses these days! To go along with the "fogged mirror" requirement.

Well at least you folks get tests! We've had several people in the local licensing branch where I am fired because they got caught selling a "pass" for some wealthy person that had failed too many times and really wanted to roll his new Ferrari! And people wonder why I used to drive a Tahoe to the office and leave the Insight parked lol.


http://www.richmond-news.com/Sports+...414/story.html

I actually saw these clowns before this happened. This wasn't "impromptu", they all left the parking lot where my office is together after having lunch! Happens all the time here, these guys were just stupid enough to get caught lol.

Oooooo, $196 fines! :eek: They are all laughing.

So, would you guys feel better if I stopped posting while driving?

I do not drive much. I will read messages while driving--that just takes a glance, but they can wait for me to respond.

When I lived in DC\Maryland, people used to come from other states to DC because they had the lowest standards for getting a license. When you enter Maryland on 16th Street, there is actually a sign that says "Welcome to Maryland. Please drive gently."

I can post it if you guys like.

You know, you'd think that. But, the people driving this stuff apparently don't.

$430K Lamborghini towed after complaint about fine - British Columbia - CBC News

Let's recap. Kids that can't drive/possibly aren't even legal to drive. In half million dollar supercars that a seasoned driver would have his hands full with. Texting/talking on their phones while "driving". I see this daily. I stand by my decision that led me to buy a '92 GMC 3500 dually 4x4 to drive this summer, to the office at least lol.

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9e4a0cbe.jpg

Ya, you finish that text telling your friends where to meet you for lunch and cut into my lane while you do it...ol' Silvia has a big piece of chrome that will enjoy taking the side off of your Ferrari lol.

...and the "arms race" continues...

I think laws should harden on this. Even a drunk driver is somewhat more predictable
than this.

I hate the thought of chipping BUT...... I think anyone who has received a ticket for texting, or it has been proved that the accident they had was caused by same,

should have to wear an ugly bright sticker on the back of their vehicle that would
be internationally known, and when they tried to remove it, the chip would squeal
to authorities. Hi Dollar?? You bet!!! Let them suckers pay that price$$$$!!!!!!!

It's true. And it makes me sad. I'd much rather drive my Insight. But the trip to the office is through the worst area for this stuff, and thankfully it's only a 5 mile trip. But I'll be danged if some clown in a Maserati updating his Twitter feed with what colour socks he is wearing while driving is going to cause me harm. Some of the accidents I have seen around here...man I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I think most people have a hard enough time driving safely as it is. Throw in texting or any other distraction and it just plain gets scary.

I believe that Commissioner Gordon referred to it as "Escalation."

Kind of reminds me of the bypass construction supervisor from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Mr. Prosser: Do you know how much damage this bulldozer would sustain if I just let it roll over you?

Arthur: How much?

Mr. Prosser: None at all.

I wonder if back in the 1930s they had a similar discussion when they installed radios into cars,

In the 1930's, a radio was probably considered a safety feature that helped drivers stay awake while driving home drunk.

[youtube]jX3iLfcMDCw[/youtube]
Welcome to Kitty City - Please drive carefully

^ Quite possibly the most bizarre clip ever.

I think text to speech and speech to text holds some promise. I just got a new smartphone and the speech recognition is pretty good. None of my cars are smart enough to have bluetooth in them but it wouldn't be a bad thing to have the phone read a message over the stereo. I don't think you'll stop people from wanting to communicate while they drive so maybe improving the safety while they do is a better strategy.

-Michael

I dunno... I was taught that the driver of a vehicle has to first and foremost pay attention to the road. Any other consideration is secondary to the road, and this would include looking at/operating one's toys and gadgets. There's a disturbing lack of driver's education here in the US, as compared to other countries.

How do you convince a driver to drive, navigate then communicate? It's highly ingrained in a pilot and even those can get distracted when stuff starts going wrong. We have a different attitude about car safety and training. They keep making the system more idiot proof and evolution keeps making better idiots.

Mandatory re-testing and proper education could probably go a long way but let's face it, in North America a driving permit is generally regarded as a right and the bar is set low enough they might as well put them on crackerjack boxes.

While graduated licensing has brought some improvement, there is little thought to re-educating or maintaining those who already have a permit. As long as I paid the yearly fee I could go without driving for 30 years and still be legal to drive.

-Michael

I think eventually Darwin will handle it. There was a case on the main road near me just a couple of weeks ago. This is 4 lanes + center turn lane & wide shoulders, used to be a major route before a new freeway section opened, and now has hardly any traffic. Teen girl driving southbound somehow managed to cross the center (with rumble strips), both northbound lanes, and smash into a tree on the other side.

Somebody definitely has an artistic sense of humor.

the physical fiddling is only part of it
 

I was stopped at a red light 20 years ago, still legal to talk on cell phones but I was aware of the dangers of driving and handling phones, cause I am smarter then your average bear. My in car hands free phone rings, I press talk button while stopped, I speak , voice comes back through speakers. Conversations continues as if talking to passenger, I put van in gear casually drive off through red light. :eek:

Poor tree!

While I agree, the problem with that is all the damage and death caused to other people along the way. If all the idiots just crashed into light poles when they were alone in their cars, then problem solved. But this happened yesterday. A mile and a half away from the auction, at an intersection I go through 10-20 times a week. Of the 6 cars involved, 4 were just people sitting at a red light. The brand new Aston Martin and Mercedes AMG? "Speed was a factor". Ya, you don't say.

Richmond Review - One killed, two seriously injured in high-speed five-car crash in Richmond

They haven't posted the details yet, but I can tell you right now that the Aston and the Mercedes are going to be kids coming back from school (3:30 pm), with less than a year of driving experience. Probably using their phones to video the race. Look at that Escape, or what I think is a Pacifica. If that had been me in my Insight or Civic, I'd be dead. No if's ands or buts. And I went passed this about 20 mins after it happened, so there is no reason other than luck that it wasn't me. I hate the idea of having to drive a big vehicle to be safe (safer anyway), but this is the reality where I am. It's also the reason that I'm the guy that'll yell "Hey F#%$stick, get off your phone and drive!" at intersections.

You need to plaster your vehicle with that reflective tape that semi-trailers and R.R. trucks have plastered all over... or is there a back route?

P.S. Put a lightweight, blaze orange aero trailer or boat tail filled with empty pop cans behind the Insight for a nice crush zone and an economical commute. :thumbup:

Frank_Lee, I wish it was that easy. Word on the street is the DB9 was doing 200 km/h (120 MPH) when it hit. Stupidity in the general populace and physics are two things I have total faith in. Stupidity tells me that I could be lit up like the 4th of July and these morons still wouldn't have seen me, and at those speeds it wouldn't matter. And physics tells me that a 3900 pound DB9 moving at those speeds has to expel all of that impact energy somewhere. My 1800 pound plastic Insight won't soak that up. They'd have to use dental records to identify what was left of me. Silvia on the other hand, I'd walk away. Full frame, 5000+ pounds of '90s GM steel. As much as I hate her, for the 5 mile commute I have to the office, and the 7 mile commute to the auction, I have to say I am willing to fork out the gas money to feed the 454. Most people use the eco car to get to work and have the big fancy car to use for everything else. They don't live in Richmond lol. Here, you take the urban assault vehicle to the office, and the Insight if you are going out of town! :snail:

I respectfully disagree.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/au...rash.html?_r=0

Yeah it's a few years old. But it's only tested at 20 mph and still it's not that great.

Fair enough. I am no expert, but the guy in the Escape walked away. I just got my parents a 2010 Escape, so I drove it for a few days and checked it out. They are a sturdy little truck. And I have driven a few Pacificas. They are not small. I am not saying that a large vehicle makes you immune. Only that given the likeliness of an impact in the area I have to travel through, and even as much as I love my Insight, man I'd be dead if anything that I see being driven poorly around here hit me. Sure the fiberglass soaks up a hit better than my Civic would. But when it comes down to it, if I am in something that weighs 2000-2800 pounds, made of metal or fiberglass, and I get smacked by someone in a 3500 pound, 2013 Lexus that is not paying attention while texting, or even the other trend I have spotted - the person in the passenger seat is trying to hold the phone to the driver's ear (I guess a hands free device isn't fashionable?) then I will put my money on Silvia in that situation. Accidents are terrible things, and I hope no one here ever has to deal with them. I have lost very dear friends to them, so I do not speak about them lightly. But at the end of the day, if some jackass is going to run into me at high speed due to something out of my control, then I'd take Silvia over any other option.

Stupidity talks to you? Just kidding!

People rear-end buses. I heard about someone driving into the light rail out here.

How do you not see something one or two hundred feet long?

If I could afford to have someone answer my cell phone, they would do more than hold it, they would talk on it!

Why not get your own The Stig and talk on your own phone?

I'm sorry, but physics doesn't tell you that. In a simple rear-end crash, if you're hit from behind in a lightweight vehicle, it's going to take off like a ping-pong ball. You may have a serious case of whiplash, but that's about it.

As for having lots of steel around you making you safer, try a simple experiment. Take one of those small home safes. Lots of steel, right? Whack it with a sledgehammer, you probably won't even dent it. Must be safe, right? Now put an egg inside, drop it a foot or two (lots less force than the sledgehammer attack), open it up, and see what happened to the egg.


As for the idiots who give their kids cars like that, without proper training... Well, I don't know Canadian law, but I would bet that in the US you could hit them for really massive liability, if not criminal charges.

Ever seen a car hit by another car going 120 MPH? I remember a Road Runner (stolen) that was in a head on at 120 combined. The whole inside of the car was full of shredded body parts. I did recognize a couple of teeth and a section of jawbone. The stench (summertime) would make you puke within 40 feet of that wreck.

regards
Mech

Oh good. If I did not just need to worry about that in Afghanistan.

Physics again. Head on subjects the passengers to different forces than being hit from behind. In a front end, the car(s) stop, but the passengers keep going until they strike dash, windshield, etc. (That's why seat belts & air bags.) In a rear-ender, you are (with luck) pressed back into your fairly form-fitting, supportive bucket seat by an acceleration of several dozen G, which is quite survivable.

Should be fairly easy to think of "egg in a box" experiments which demonstrate this. After all, why are eggs sold in flimsy cardboard cartons which cushion each individual egg, instead of loose inside strong metal boxes?

Uh, so we should all wrap ourselves in egg cartons and forego seat belts (wink,wink)?