Ralph Shumaker wrote: > 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...
Why don't you just turn your phone off while driving? I can readily appreciate the value of phones as emergency calling (out) devices. I'm doubtful of the bottom-line value for emergency incoming communications, because of (what i suspect is) the overwhelming cost in added distraction of the non-emergency conversations. I confess to being old-fashioned in recognizing some people's apparent need to feel they must make themselves 100% available. I am generally disappointed (sometimes offended) by people who interrupt whatever they are doing to take an incoming call. Regards, ..jim -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
