It's not just cell phones
 

It seems that talking to your car can be a major cause of impaired driving, too: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...1dc_story.html

Yeah, I've always said that if cell phones are distracting to drivers, then it absolutely should be illegal to drive with children. Any conversation is distracting.

AAA has been studying distractions for years. Below are links to the full studies.

Quick Fact Sheet.
https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/...tractionFS.pdf

Full Report.
https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/...stractions.pdf

I think a few studies have pointed out that teenagers are more likely to get into accidents if they're together in a car. Having anyone to talk to is a distraction. :p

Baby On Board is a helpful warning to the rest of us.

I do not talk to my stereo very much, but I do not expect it to do what I say. Siri does not seem to listen very well, so I would not expect a car to do much better.

It is not like we are talking to Kitt.

Those signs never made sense to me. They want me to drive safer [than them] because they have a sign, whether or not they actually have a child in the car.

No, they're warning us that they're more distracted than everyone else!

Eating while driving (guilty) is distracting. I have seen guys shaving (with an electric razor) and I have seen a woman putting on mascara while driving ~70MPH in the left lane. She was leaning in close to the rear view mirror to get her eyelashes thicker and longer. Yikes!

At a previous office where I worked, the boss used to spread out letters and memos to refer to while on the phone, and also record dictation, all while driving like a maniac to get to his next appointment on time.

I have to admit to a bit of prejudice here, as I simply can't understand why anyone would want to talk to a computer in the first place. Touch screen controls are bad enough (there goes any chance of me buying a Tesla :-(), but having to speak to it? Yuck.

• Brevit Summary: "...Danger, Will Robinson, DRIVING IS DANGEROUS...".

I once saw a girl shaving--with a razor, not an electric shaver!

Yeah, but it's a lot more dangerous if you do stupid things - or encourage all those other idiots to do stupid things :-)

One of the many nice things about working from home is that I very seldom wind up on the roads when/where there are large concentrations of said idiots.

I would talk to electronic devices if it was effective. Usually I just get upset that it cannot understand what I'm saying.

I used to have a 2hr commute to Portland and a 2hr commute home. On my way in, I would eat breakfast burritos, then when traffic came to a halt I would shave and brush my teeth, emptying the whiskers and spitting on the road when stopped in gridlock. The car was also a manual, so mix in frequent shifting with these tasks.

Not saying it was a good idea, just saying I did that when I was young to increase the effectiveness of my time. Can't wait for autonomous vehicles!

Similar analogy for avoiding DRUNKS = don't go to BARS (ha,ha)

I think the original intent has been corrupted. I'm pretty sure they were first sold after a baby was missed (left) in the wreckage after a big crash where other occupants of the vehicle were unable to communicate his or her presence.

I will read and make notes etc. when stopped in gridlock traffic. I can't see an issue with that when you can't make any meaningful inputs to the vehicle controls anyway.

Me either.

Well, does it?

For me, it's usually the opposite: listening to audio - more often plays &c than music - kept me from going to sleep when I was doing a weekly 5+ hour drive.