Slashdot Mirror
Federal Summit Eyes Crackdown On Texting While Driving
suraj.sun sends along this quote from an Associated Press report:
"Opening a government meeting on auto safety, the Obama administration reported Wednesday that nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in vehicle crashes connected to driver distraction, a striking indication of the dangers of using mobile devices behind the wheel. The Transportation Department was bringing together experts over two days for what it's calling a 'distracted driving summit' to take a hard look at the highway hazards caused by drivers talking on cell phones or texting from behind the wheel. ... Driver distraction was involved in 16 percent of all fatal crashes in 2008. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have passed laws making texting while driving illegal and seven states and the district have banned driving while talking on a handheld cell phone, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Many safety groups have urged a nationwide ban on texting and on using handheld mobile devices while behind the wheel."
The dangers of texting while driving are completely overblown. I do it all the time and have never gotten into an accidsdiosdfnkasdnsdjksdfjhsdjkhkhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
------------
Sent from my Blackberry Wireless Handheld
Worth watching, if for no other reason than the quality of production.
George Lucas tricked me with that line, and I still have nightmares...
Advice: on VPS providers
You can also text "hands free" using let's set so double the killer delete select all.
Oh just pull over at a truck stop and finish your post.
Actually the most recent studies are showing that holding the phone versus using a hands-free device has virtually zero difference in accident rates. The research indicates that merely talking on the cell phone - not holding it - is the main contributor to accidents, which seems pretty obvious to me anyways (it seems pretty obvious that holding a phone to your ear requires a fraction of the attention and concentration that the conversation itself does).
It surprises me somewhat, since it seems it would be harder to use your turn signals when the other hand is holding a phone instead of the wheel and harder to glance around at where other nearby cars are when you're holding something against your ear. I suppose it could just be that nobody does those things anyway, or maybe that they don't actually help...
Old Volvos are like that. Completely cup-holder free.
The conversation was probably similar, only more like this:
Manager: Orgee borgee bork bork bork!
Engineer: Der chicken in de pot bork bork bork!
Manager: Bork bork bork!
Engineer: Bork bork bork!
Potato chips are a by-yourself food.
Sir Bedevere: What is that?
Brother Maynard: He must have died while texting it.
King Arthur: Oh come on!
Brother Maynard: Well, that's what it says.
King Arthur: Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't have bothered to text 'accidsdiosdfnkasdnsdjksdfjhsdjkhkhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh '. He'd just say it.
Sir Galahad: Maybe he was dictating it.
King Arthur: Oh shut up!
Sir Robin: Well does it say anything else?
Brother Maynard: No, just "accidsdiosdfnkasdnsdjksdfjhsdjkhkhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ".
[knights making groaning sounds]