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Study Confirms Mobile Phones Distract Drivers
An anonymous reader notes a Reuters report of a study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, confirming that Mobile phone calls distract drivers far more than even the chattiest passenger, causing drivers to follow too closely and miss exits. California's ban on using a handheld cell phone while driving, which went into effect last summer, is looking less than fully effective. A handful of other states have instituted similar bans, but none has forbidden driving while talking on a cell phone at all. "Using a hands-free device does not make things better and the researchers believe they know why — passengers act as a second set of eyes, shutting up or sometimes even helping when they see the driver needs to make a maneuver."
I'm never FORCED to drive in a blizzard. I LIKE to drive in a blizzard. It's my idea of poetry. I enjoy making the broad-side turns on the slippery road, and driving in the middle of a big highway, all white, no lane markings, and vinyette visibility. It's fun.
Talking on the phone while driving is simply a convenience -- both for me and for the person on the other end. It's something that isn't as easy as not doing it, and it's certainly something I could avoid doing, but I enjoy doing it, and I'm skilled enough to do so with an acceptable amount of risk.
I'm not as good a driver as Mario Andretti. That's not a requirement of ordinary drivers. And, by the way, he has a person in his ear too.
Oh, I just bought a car. I had the choice between a really good, responsible choice, of a car with good traction, good safety, and good visibility. I went for the much more expensive, smaller, weaker, lighter, poor visibility, poor traction convertible. Because I want to drive a roadster, not a normal car. It's much more dangerous; and what's more, I used to drive an older model of the responsible choice, and previously, got hit (criminally on his end) and enjoyed the good airbags and great cockpit of the responsible choice. I still choose the fun car now.
There are many ways to make your life safer, and to make the lives of those around you safer. You're not going to force me to take every safe road. And I promise you, if you want to compare over-all lifestyles, you endanger more lives than I ever will.