Brad Beyenhof wrote:
On Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 2:17 PM, Rick Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
And yes, I yell at drivers who pay more attention to their
phone than their driving as they blithely endanger everyone else on the
road.
Holding a cellphone to your ear while driving will be illegal in July, anyway:
http://computerworld.decenturl.com/california-bans-driving-while
That's both good and bad. Yes, it will keep people from holding
handsets to their head while driving. However, studies have shown that
it's the act of having a long-distance conversation that distracts the
brain, not whether the phone is hands-free. On the flip side
(apparently this coin has three sides), hands-free devices make you
physically more able to respond in an emergency... as long as your
attention isn't completely swallowed by the call.
It won't make *me* physically more able to respond in an emergency.
Taking care of whatever is in the hand will reduce one's control of the
vehicle. I have the forethought that in an accident, that phone or
drink (or whatever) is going to the floor anyway, so if I see something
going sideways, I'm throwing to the floor anything that may be in my
hand. Joe (on the other end of the fone call) can wait for an explanation.
But just because the phone may be hands-free, that doesn't mean that the
person's now-free hand will be on the wheel.
I can safely multitask while driving, partly because I treat the phone
(or anything that is not driving) as a distraction, an intrusion. My
concentration is always less on the conversation than on the road.
Many times, I have told Joe "Hold on, hold on, , , , , , , , , I said
hold on, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Sorry Joe.
Traffic demanded my attention. What were you saying."
Hands-free will actually make it worse for me because Joe is going to be
bombarding me with "What! What's going on?!". He will be breaking my
concentration more because of his questions. A handset won't be in my
hand or near my ear within a split-second of my becoming aware of a
problem that needs my full attention. (Sorry about that Joe. I almost
got sideswiped.) But with Joe attached to my ear asking me those
questions, I'm going to be quite rude to him, telling him to shut the
fuck up! (Sorry, but in that situation, I think it's appropriate.) He
may not know what's going on, but he should have the good sense to let
me concentrate if he hears me say Oh shit.
I actually pulled out the earpiece once on my mom because she wouldn't
stop asking me what was happening. She felt like crap when I explained
to her (later) that by doing what she did that she was decreasing my
attention on the traffic and increasing my likelihood of ending up in an
accident. When I'm using the handset, I merely say hold on and
forthwith drop the fone, and that usually takes care of that. When I
pick it back up, I say Sorry Joe...
--
Ralph
--------------------
The spelling of words is subordinate. Morbidness for nice spelling and
tenacity for or against one letter or so means dandyism and impotence in
literature.
--Walt Whitman
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