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Text-Messaging Behind the Wheel
theodp writes "TIME interviews 21-year-old Taylor Leming, creator of the 600-member Facebook group I Text Message People While Driving and I Haven't Crashed Yet! While Alaska and Louisiana just became the latest states to pass laws banning text-messaging behind the wheel, Virginia resident Leming is still happily texting away while driving despite some near-accidents. 'Sometimes it just seems easier to text 'Be there in 5' instead of calling,' explains Taylor."
Why is it important to text that you'll be there in 5 minutes anyway? You can also wait 5 minutes.
And I hope when he crashes and kills himself he doesn't take others with him. Driving and calling (even hands free), texting, or doing anything else (tuning the radio, setting up your nav system) for that matter is just dangerous.
despite some near-accidents
Enough said.
Also, just because someone hasn't had an accident in the past, it doesn't mean they won't have an accident in the future.
Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
I can't believe these people! What's so "fun" about text messages? Why the aversion to real communication? I'd much rather talk to someone than exchange emoticons while risking the lives of those on the road around me.
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Why not simply have a law where you must drive with "due care and attention". This covers everything from texting to putting on your make-up. No need to mention everything specifically. No need to create new laws for new technology.
Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
I also hope her insurance company reads time.com.
Sure people are dumb. But how can anyone be so mind-boggling stupid that they would think that texting while driving is a good idea? I mean, why not just go to the next step and drive blindfolded? There shouldn't even need to be a law because no one should be dumb enough to do this. But I guess I have too much faith in humanity.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
I am starting another group:
"I am drunk While Driving and I Haven't Crashed Yet!"
It sucks that we have to make laws to compensate for commonsense.
I've lost two people in pointless car crashes.
Please use your goddamn head and pay attention to the goddamn road.
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
when society looks down on physical violence. A solid punch to the chin and that guy may see the error of his ways.
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
Also, I recognize that you do have to continually think about your conversation during a voice call, but you at least have the ability to keep your eyes on the road...
In that case, how long would it be since I get a text reading
And in that case, WTF is wrong with just making a phone call?
Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
I nearly got killed a few years ago by a "distracted" driver who was happily chatting on his cell phone while running a traffic light. It took me over a year to recover and be able to work again and I'll feel the secondary effects of this accident for the rest of my life (definitely NOT a nice thing, trust me).
In most European countries, using a cell phone while driving is considered impaired driving and you basically face the same consequences as if you were drunk in case of an accident, meaning your insurance will happily run away from you and you'll be declared responsible for the accident even if it's not initially your fault.
I'm looking forward to the day it'll be the same here in Ontario as a lot of people don't seem to be able to distract themselves from their crackberries while driving. Maybe a $1000 ticket and a license suspension will teach them a lesson before they get to injure or kill someone.
I for one hope this moron eliminates himself from the human gene pool without injuring or killing someone first.
-- It's always darker before it goes pitch black.
And I think you missed his point, which was that driving with a headset has been shown in studies to be no less dangerous than driving with a phone in your hand while you are talking to people. The "hands-free" wasn't the problem, the problem was that being on a phone and carrying on a conversation is distracting, whether you're holding it up to your ear or not.
I'd like to see a study done on whether talking to somebody in the passenger seat is just as dangerous as talking on the phone (handsfree or not) while driving. Because if it is just as dangerous to talk to a passenger, then really they can either ban talking in cars (imagine the outcry) or stop passing laws against doing other stuff in cars (talking on a cell phone). Although the texting thing is definitely a no-brainer.
you still have to look at the screen to check your output multiple times, distracting you from the road.
Like flipping through the radio stations? Here here! Let's call all radio station flippers names and ban radio station flipping!
Honestly, the cell phone, or the texting, isn't the problem. There are times when it is perfectly safe to text (long empty roads on the way to the coast, for example). As someone above said, the rule should be that you "drive with due care and attention." Banning a particular technology because your view can't apply it in a safe way doesn't seem to be the right answer.
A number of comments here have asked questions like "how hard is it to pull over" or "why not just call them". Here's another one...
Why not RTFA and discover that its a joke group and its creator is not trying to condone texting while driving.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
between shit like this and the countless pictures I've seen of girls on facebook taking pictures of themselves while they're driving, remind me again why auto insurance is higher for males?
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I drive a motorcycle and it was already bad enough with people not paying attention, and not seeing you in the mirror and about taking you out, and lately about 90% of the time when someone pulls into the lane and about hits me I notice they are on their phones usually texting. they need to just drive off a bridge already and rid the world of some more morons.
"a 2006 study concluded that talking on a cell phone while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk, even if the phone is a hands-free model."
The problem isn't the phone occupying your hands; the problem is the phone occupying your brain.
Apparently.
The problem isn't the cell phone. It isn't the radio. It's the fact that the majority of driving does not require a lot of concentration. It has a low cognitive load. Thus drivers have a lot of free attention that needs to be channeled into something: listening to the radio, talking on the phone, etc. Otherwise they get bored and sleepy. That's why a lot of highways have rumble strips on along the side.
The problem occurs when driving suddenly requires a lot more concentration/attention than we have to give it. If we can't shift mental gears fast enough to act to avoid a situation, we crash.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
You seem to be claiming that if you give everyone a wide berth, you could close your eyes for 10 full seconds at highway speeds without danger. Stupid.
Without danger to others, yes. Without danger to themselves, no. I don't care what people do to themselves as long as they don't hurt other people.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
The problem is that it makes no difference if some people are good at texting while driving. Hell, it doesn't matter if 98% of people could do it flawlessly. In today's day and age, all you need is one jackoff to be retarded, and laws are created that affect everyone.
These days, things are always put in place to appease the extreme minority, even if it pisses off the rest of the majority.
Why do you think the warning "do not stop chainsaw with hands" exists?
Planet Zebeth - Metroid with a twist
Is already illegal to drive impaired. Why do we need another law to say the same thing is illegal?
---- Booth was a patriot ----