Cell Phone use as bad as driving drunk?

[BOSSHOG]

heard on CBS radio news this afternoon of a study which showed people using hand held cell phones were as much a hazard on the road as those who were impaired by alcohol.

Just chucking a bomb in the mix on a Friday afternoon. I'll keep my two cents to myself, for now.

[electron_blue]

1. I imagine there is a percentage to the alcohol impairment. LInk?

Do you know what it is?

This doesn't surprise me, up to 0.10 or so. What are the details of the study.

[BOSSHOG]

3. Heard it on a

short radio news brief at the top of the hour. No details but I did get the basics right. I think the study was conducted in Salt Lake City. Source: CBS Radio News

[IndependentVoice]

9. I read it in the paper this morning, but theyre wern't any details

[Warpy]

2. Mythbusters did a segment last winter that showed it

was WORSE. They tested a group of people 3 times: once driving sober and without a phone, then driving while talking to each other on a cell phone, and then driving after 3 drinks.

The cell phone test was much, much worse, worse than the drunk test.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. I guess that means drunk driving isn't that bad.

[BOSSHOG]

7. I'm not condoning drunk driving

but a cell phone users mind has to be on someplace besides the highway in front of the user. Humans can not think of two things at once. Try it. Try to read a book and watch a TV program and keep up with booth. It can't be done. Driving and talking on a cell phone does not constitute multitasking.

[IndependentVoice]

10. I almost got hit by a guy on his cell phone yesterday in fact

while i was walking, he missed by like 2 feet and scared the hell out of me. The worst part was he never saw me so he kept driving :grr:

[krkaufman]

18. I *was* hit by a guy on a cell phone.

Years ago, down in Austin, TX, a guy rear-ended me at a bloody stoplight because he was on his cellphone (I could see him coming at me in the rear-view mirror, and warned my occupants). Fortunately, he wasn't so clueless that he neglected to hit his brakes at all, and slid into us.

[niccolos_smile]

5. Some people don't know how to drive period.

I suspect these are the same people who cannot walk and chew gum at the same time.

[rkc3]

14. Or eat pretzels and watch TV?

[niccolos_smile]

16. LOL!!

[krkaufman]

19. One thing has nothing to do with the other.

That's like saying some people can drink however much alcohol they want and not be impaired. There *is* an effect.

Now, should some people not be allowed to drive at all? That's a different issue, and is hopefully taken care of via the various points systems currently employed -- along with testing before getting a license.

[valerief]

6. Drunk drivers just can't stay off their cellphones. But really…

You'd think they'd just build the stupid phones into the cars themselves with buttons on the steering wheel. 2 o'clock is Mom. 6 o'clock is the dentist. 8 o'clock is the illicit lover of the moment. How hard is that?

[BOSSHOG]

8. I don't have a cell phone

I refer to them as leashes. I am retired and come and go as I please and I have a CB radio in my truck in case of emergencies. My wife has a cell she hardly uses but I'm glad she has it in case she has trouble on the road. I see so many people yacking on the phone while trying to turn left or right and I'll bet the conversations consist mostly of "what are you doing?" "Oh, nothing, what are you doing?" I think the illicit lover dujour should be 6:00 oclock.

[niccolos_smile]

11. 8 o'clock is the illicit lover of the moment...

Hey, now that's dangerous. Didn't you see the story of the MN Timberwolves player who crashed his car because he was busy masturbating. :evilgrin:

[IndependentVoice]

12. No they said handsfree cell phones were no better

[krkaufman]

20. The problem still exists even *IF* you're using a hands-free system.

The problem exists due to the lessening of focus on the road ahead, as you're visualizing the caller on the other end and trying to maintain a conversation.

[heidler1]

13. I rear ended a car once because my wife was arguing with the kids

in the back seat. I turned around to tell them to all shut up and crash. The Mother in law was in the front seat, she wouldn't set in back.
I've read that both sleep apnea and cell phones were as bad as driving under the influence and I'm sure all distractions would be similar, even the anger that backseat driving causes. Road rage is surly included.

[rkc3]

15. You have no idea how bad sleep apnea is for driving.

I used to fall asleep all the time before the CPAP therapy took hold. I never wrecked or ran off the road, but there are miles of highway missing from my memory - and many stop signs that were breezed through.

[heidler1]

17. I do have a pretty good idea because my wife has it.

My wife's Dad took his dad's car away because he lost a leg due to smoking induced gangrene and was pissed about losing his car. If I tried to take away my wife's car she'd be really pissed. Her sleep apnea was much worse when we lived in Colorado. The high elevation added to her trouble even with a CPAP pump so we moved to Mesa, AZ with the lower elevation she is much better. She even thinks she's better off. I had to practically drag her kicking and screaming to move.

[Solon]

21. My sister has a cellphone and refuses to use it while in the car...

If someone calls while she is driving, she answers, tells them she's driving, and hangs up, rather abruptly. She also forbids her fiancee to do the same after he hit a parked car while on his cellphone. That is what ended the practice for both of them.

[windbreeze]

22. Let's put it this way....

When you drive, your attention needs to be 100% on the road, and what's going on around you..I can't count the number of times, I have wondered what the hell a particular person was doing...only to realize that they were talking on the phone while driving...I just shake my head in disgust...I say, pull off, if you need to speak on the phone while in a car...
Doing both at the same time should, at the very least, get a stiff fine...period!!
Let someone/anyone tell me, that they can drive at 70mph, (or at any speed)while carrying on a conversation...and yet still say that they are driving responsibly...no way...
windbreeze

[blondeatlast]

23. Etiquette, people--while they are conducting a conversation, we need to

pull off the road to avoid disturbing them.

It's so rude of us to interrupt them by taking the kids to school, going to work, and buying the groceries! How dare we?

For the humorically challenged out there, please note--this post is :sarcasm: