I narrowly missed having an accident earlier, a rant on driving and texting

[carlyhippy]

I was on a busy street earlier this afternoon. A fairly new car with a very young girl driver weaved between my car and the one just in front of us in the other lane, she almost hit me, she cut me off. We then went a couple of more blocks and at an intersection we had the red light. She had to slam on her brakes because she didnt notice the cars in front of her were stopped.

After she nearly hit me, I pulled up next to her to see if she was drunk or what the problem was. From the time I pulled up next to her until we turned off a couple of blocks down the street, SHE WAS TEXTING ON HER CELL PHONE!

I am simply speechless. I wish I had my wits to get her plates.

[Hawkeye-X]

1. which state?

[chillspike]

2. She was drunk

It's called intexticated.

[hlthe2b]

3. Texting is the worst, but just talking on cell phones is enough to distract

There is considerable accumulating data to show that the distraction that comes from merely talking on the phone, hands free or not, disrupts some areas of the brain that are needed for focused driving and quite possibly in a different manner than simply having a discussion with a passenger in the car.

You would be doing everyone a favor to report these kind of incidents. I frequently report highly aggressive drivers (and I'm not just talking speeders, but those who are imminently about to cause a multiple car pile-up) to the special Colorado hotline.

[LibDemAlways]

7. Do the police follow up? Here in Southern Cal. a while back

I was a passenger in my brother's car on a narrow, windy stretch of road when some asshole decided we weren't going fast enough and passed us on a curve at breakneck speed. Then, just to demonstrate what a true moron he is, he pulled off onto the dirt and sent up a huge, blinding dust cloud as we approached. Then he sped off. A few minutes later we caught up with him at a light and jotted down his license plate number. Both my brother and I reported him on the local police "report dangerous driving" website. The site indicated the police would follow up with us, but nothing happened. Chances are that asshole is still out there venting his rage on other unsuspecting motorists. Hope they are more proactive in Colorado.

[hlthe2b]

8. I don't know... I hope so.... I don't think Co State Patrol promises

to follow up with those making the complaint and the dispatcher did not indicate that they would. I figure if nothing else, the complaint is on file and if the worst happens and the driver gets in a wreck, that documentation may well come back to bite him/her then.

I know what you mean though. Those episodes really bother me and I've had several in recent weeks. Recently I was on I-25 heading south back to Denver and there was a two mile area where it merges down to two lane each way for construction with "double fine" signs posted and speed limit down to 55. Well, that is a congested area anyway, yet I had a driver flashing their lights and honking, and riding my bumper as he sped up obviously demanding I let them pass. It was bumper to bumper 55mph and no where for him to go, even if I could have magically disappeared.. What an ass.

[JerseygirlCT]

61. Around here, as often as not, the police are the

ones doing it - phone up to their ears, or reading the laptops they have installed in the cars.

Or just doing the same while off-duty. No chance, in my town, of getting one of the cops to obey the laws!

[pipi_k]

4. They're all over the place, doing all sorts of things...

I was down "in the city" earlier and saw a young girl riding her bicycle through traffic while talking on her cell phone. Riding through downtown traffic is dangerous enough with two hands, while paying full attention.

People are so fucking stupid and selfish. They think if they're the only one who might get hurt, then what's the problem...

The problem is, there would be a driver who could be traumatized for a real long time by accidentally hurting or even KILLING a stupid person.


Anyway, last month my 75 year old mom got rear-ended in traffic by a young kid who wasn't paying attention. It's unclear as to whether he had been on his cell phone...my mom can never remember details. Now she's having neck and back pain and getting therapy. She's lucky it wasn't worse.

Assholes!!!

[msanthrope]

50. I hit a bicyclist a few weeks ago--he was texting when he wandered

in front of my car.

He was fine, but his bike was done for.

The cops gave him a ticket. He claims he's gonna sue me...I told him to try.

[MajorChode]

60. I thought it was a bike messenger trying to make a filing deadline

You should sync up your stories better if you want to make them more believable.

I mean you could have said the bike messenger was texting and trying to make a filing deadline.

Just saying.

Cheers!

[msanthrope]

71. No--that was years ago, when I got hit by a bike messenger outside

the courthouse....

Jeebus, Chode, if you are going to stalk me, at least use the google and read the relevant posts!!!

There was a time on DU when posters made an effort, you know? I miss that.

[MajorChode]

77. I got hit by lightning the other day

Oh wait, it was years ago.

No wait, it was both, and last Arbor Day too, when I was riding my unicorn.

If you're going to tell stories, at least make them good ones. They should start something like...

"We all knew we had way too many mushrooms for our own good..."

Cheers!

[msanthrope]

78. Dear Major,

If you have issues with me---and obviously you do--then please feel free to contact me by PM to work them out.

If you feel that I have been untruthful, then I am sorry for that. Not because I have been untruthful--but because I have apparently offended you.

I contain multitudes. For that, I make no apology.

[MajorChode]

81. Not offended at all

Thanks for your concern, though, and the unintentional humor.

Cheers!

[pipi_k]

70. OMG nervy little bastard, huh???

You mean he was riding along in the same direction and the bike swerved over in front of you?

If the cops ticketed him, he probably doesn't have a chance in hell of getting anywhere with this.

[msanthrope]

73. Worse, he was crossing an intersection against the light

and I hit him. I don't think he noticed the light had changed. Luckily for him, my car hadn't gotten out of second gear.

I was really, really glad he was wearing a helmet, though. I live in a state where you don't have to wear one, and plenty of people don't.

[LibDemAlways]

5. I had a similar experience a couple of weeks ago.

A moron was weaving back and forth in the lane in front of me. Sure enough. Texting. No attention paid whatever to driving. Against the law in CA, but doesn't seem to matter. As many people yakking away or texting as ever.

[depakid]

6. The US needs to have public service announcements like this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LCmStIw9E

Unfortunately, requiring stations to run these sorts of PSA's would eat into the profits they make from selling off the public airwaves to infomertial hucksters.

[tavalon]

9. I can barely text while sitting on my couch

Texting while driving is just mind boggling to me. I won't even answer my phone if I'm driving.

[truth2power]

29. Good one, Tavulon! I too, have to stop everything I'm doing in order to send a text msg...

and I have one of those phones that has an option to open to a regular keyboard.

Never mind trying to use the regular phone style where you have to hit it 3 times to get to the letter "c". :crazy:

[TheManInTheMac]

31. I'm the same way.

I'd take my chances driving with a road full of drunks rather than texting teens any day.

[Lorien]

66. Same here. I don't text at all and I won't answer the phone unless I'm at a stoplight

There was a story posted here not long ago about a woman walking along a sidewalk who had been killed by a college girl who was scrolling through stuff on her iPod while driving. When a person is behind the wheel they should drive, not "multi-task"!

[CoffeeCat]

10. Another jerkstore driver...

The other day, I was driving and a car next to me started coming into my lane. I
moved a bit and the car went back into its lane. Then it did it again! I was pissed
and decided to pass the car, because obviously this person didn't know how to stay
in their lane.

As I passed the car, I looked inside to see a woman putting on mascara and looking
in the rearview mirror while doing it!!!!!!! She was driving 35 mph and not even
looking at the road. She didn't take her eyes out of her rear-view mirror the
entire time I passed her. She was totally fixated on herself and her eyelashes.

Some people are such nimrods!!

[petronius]

11. If I remember correctly, we had to pass a 'no texting' addendum to our

'no phones while driving law' a few years ago here in CA. I guess the legislature thought that not texting and driving was so obvious that there was no need to address it...

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. She was drunk withiout alcohol

and I don't care how many people say they CAN multitask.

[MindPilot]

13. OMFG!!! I saw people on the freeway today using their cell phones.

And everyone was driving perfectly fine. (Except me; I was was weaving all over the place because I was busy looking in other peoples' cars.)



Must be bizarro world or something.

[hlthe2b]

14. There's always one who will make a joke about something so

serious.... I hope MP, you don't ever experience just how dangerous it can be.

[MindPilot]

15. Oh I know how dangerous it can be -- got a ticket for driving while cellular

Cost me almost $150!

Serious fucking hazard.

[hlthe2b]

17. It obviously taught you nothing...

[MindPilot]

19. That was supposed to be a learning experience?

I thought the state just needed money -- but it taught me that I need to keep a sharper lookout for cops. And it did make me actually research the law which was quite a revelation.

Seriously, if the law is about safety, it's stupid. I can answer my handheld without taking my eyes off the road. But with a BT, I have to look down, find and click a button, or I have to fumble with an ear piece. So the legal method is actually more dangerous and distracting than the illegal (handheld) method.

[pipi_k]

23. I don't know about your device, but...

mine goes in my ear, and when the phone rings I only have to reach up and touch one button on my earpiece.

[JonLP24]

49. I think you have a point

I recall the city buses here have a phone with cord sitting over the driver's head connected to the wall on top of the windshield where they have to reach up and answer and talk to their boss or whatever. We have cell phone while driving laws here but I guess it's ok for city bus drivers to talk on that phone whenever a boss or someone calls them.

I also wonder the same thing about vehicles with those radio systems you talk through like we had in the military.

[MindPilot]

55. Thank you; at least somebody gets it.

As I posted downthread the exclusions in the CA law are just bizarre.

How can talking on a cell phone be a hazard for the guy piloting a passenger car, but perfectly OK for a tow operator or a school bus driver? How can a handheld phone be disaster waiting to happen, but a Nextel two-way is absolutely safe?

[bettyellen]

25. wow, that fine is not nearly big enough- i hope you also get points and a big insurance rate hike

[MindPilot]

32. Wow. I hope something bad happens to you too.

The number of authority-lovers among a group of supposed liberals is just astonishing.

[bettyellen]

34. the drunk who killed my two sisters thought the same thing as you- that he could handle it

so thanks for the ill wishes,
despite them, hope you never get to hurt anyone other than yourself with your selfish idiotic behaviour.

[MindPilot]

38. You're very welcome.

You are the selfish one -- demanding that everyone else conform to your standards of behavior.

[bettyellen]

41. what lame ass libertarian bullshit. "standards of behaviour" are set by laws in our society not me

[MindPilot]

42. No, these laws have nothing to do with society's standards of behavior

They are created at the behest of insurance, law enforcement and safety-zealot lobbyists. Their primary functions are to generate revenue for the state, give law enforcement yet another "tool", and make legislators appear as if they are actually doing something to enhance traffic safety. Really improving traffic safety with properly engineered roads, actual driver education & testing, better signage, and well-designed signals would require the political will to spend some money. Instead we get these feel-good laws that really do nothing to address the real problems.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

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[MindPilot]

51. So I'm a clueless dangerous driver. Riiiight

It might interest you to know--but I doubt it--that I have never had an at-fault accident in over 30 years of driving. That is probably a pretty good indicator of my attention level.

You are more likely the clueless one... probably driving 3 miles under the limit in left lane completely involved with concern about what other people are doing. I try to explain things nicely to you and not only will you not even pay attention, you're mean about it.

I'm done with you; you are one of those authoritarians who just fulfill the negative stereotypes of liberals. Good day and welcome to my ignore list.

[dionysus]

67. self important, pompous libertarians are a gas.

:rofl:

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MindPilot]

56. Libertarian jerk?

Really? Isn't that kind of name-calling against the rules?

But if this kind of needing government to micromanage your life is what liberalism has become, maybe I am leaning more toward that direction.

[Odin2005]

64. You rights stop when they threaten the right of life of other motorists.

This is what you Libertarians do not understand, your right to swing your fist ENDS AT MY FACE. You have no right to threaten the rights of others, the right of life most especially.

Hence my calling you selfish.

[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[blondeatlast]

47. Um, society makes laws for that very reason. Sorry that society's interests

got all up in your nonconformity issues.

[carlyhippy]

43. It it really doesn't have anything to do with authority loving among liberals

ANYONE, liberal, autority loving, demo or repub, if they have an ounce of sense, would be alarmed and ticked off by a person who is looking down while they are whipping through traffic and not watching where they are going on a busy city street. It has to do with a person using some sense while they are driving. I have talked on a cell phone, I pull off to dial a number, because I dont' feel comfortable trying to dial and watch the road. I have never texted while driving, because I am not into texting. If I need to contact someone, I just call them, they are obviously not on their phone because they are texting me, I am lazy with the texting, its just faster for me to call them.

[Hempathy]

54. Like what? Being hit by some total moron who's driving while cellular...?

:eyes:

[MindPilot]

57. What if they are not on the phone?

What if they are just some total moron who hits you; what inanimate object do you blame it on then?

See this is the whole problem. We as a society refuse to fix the real problems of poorly engineered roads, signaling systems and acute lack of adequate driver education and testing. Instead we find a thing to blame and make a law against it. There, problem solved.

[Hempathy]

58. The reason for the laws is because of the morons who insist on driving while cellular.

ESPECIALLY those STUPID FUCKING SELF-ABSORBED SELF-AGGRANDIZING MORONS who realize that the roads are already hazardous due to poorly engineered roads, signaling systems and acute lack of adequate driver education and testing, yet still insist on compounding the hazard for others by driving while cellular.

[MindPilot]

59. Boy howdy! I have been SO served.

I see your avatar is a pot leaf. Ever driven stoned?

[Hempathy]

68. nice red herring- You might want to do some research...

pot-smoking doesn't impair driving ability to any great degree...

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/635/marijuana_impaired_driving_no_difference_study_finds

According to clinical trial data published in the March issue of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, subjects tested both before and after smoking marijuana exhibited virtually identical driving skills in a battery of driving simulator tests. Researchers in the double-blind, placebo-controlled trial tested 85 subjects -- 50 men and 35 women -- on simulated driving performance. The subjects had to respond to simulations of various events associated with vehicle crash risk, such as deciding whether to stop or go through a changing traffic light, avoiding a driver entering an intersection illegally, and responding to the presence of emergency vehicles. Subjects were tested sober and again a half hour after having smoked a single medium-potency (2.9% THC) joint or a placebo.

The investigators found that the subjects' performance before and after getting stoned was virtually identical. "No differences were found during the baseline driving segment (and the) collision avoidance scenarios," the authors reported. Nor were there any differences between the way men and women responded.

Researchers did note one difference. "Participants receiving active marijuana decreased their speed more so than those receiving placebo cigarettes during (the) distracted section of the drive," they wrote. The authors speculated that the subjects may have slowed down to compensate for perceived impairment. "o other changes in driving performance were found," researchers concluded.

Past research on marijuana use and driving has yielded similar results as well, including a 2008 driving simulator clinical trial conducted in Israel and published in Accident, Analysis, and Prevention. That trial compared the performance of drivers after they had ingested either alcohol or marijuana. "Average speed was the most sensitive driving performance variable affected by both THC and alcohol but with an opposite effect," the investigators reported. "Smoking THC cigarettes caused drivers to drive slower in a dose-dependent manner, while alcohol caused drivers to drive significantly faster than in 'control' conditions."

However- studies on driving while cellular yield a different result-

http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=062206-1

Drivers on Cell Phones Are as Bad as Drunks

Utah Psychologists Warn Against Cell Phone Use While Driving

June 29, 2006 -- Three years after the preliminary results first were presented at a scientific meeting and drew wide attention, University of Utah psychologists have published a study showing that motorists who talk on handheld or hands-free cellular phones are as impaired as drunken drivers.

"We found that people are as impaired when they drive and talk on a cell phone as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit” of 0.08 percent, which is the minimum level that defines illegal drunken driving in most U.S. states, says study co-author Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology. “If legislators really want to address driver distraction, then they should consider outlawing cell phone use while driving.”

in answer to the red herring- i've driven plenty while "buzzed".

[carlyhippy]

20. MP this girl was LOOKING DOWN and didn't have her eyes on the road, while accelerating

I see people driving while TALKING on their cell phones but at least they are watching the road. It is not bizarro world, it's idiots like this girl who are a hazard to others on the road.

[MindPilot]

33. Thats my whole point. The looking down part is perfectly legal.

At least it is with the law here in CA; you can look down to dial a number and do whatever fidgeting with the device, but you cannot hold it up to your ear.

Stupid feel-good law, especially in light of the study released late last year that shows no correlation between accident rates and cell phone use.

[Lorien]

62. Not in my State. Texting and driving with a phone held to your ear is unlawful

as is not paying attention to traffic if it ends in any kind of an accident or traffic violation.

[Darth_Kitten]

40. Texting, talking, etc, they are both distractions......

driving is a privilege, not a right. I don't want ANYBODY to be put in harm's way because a selfish,deluded idiot talking or texting what is probably idle, useless CRAP.

Nobody should be hurt or killed because idiots can't think of anybody but themselves.

[NutmegYankee]

30. There is always that guy who feels he can do what no one else can.

And cell phone use while driving, despite all scientific studies, is on that people keep claiming "I can drive just fine". Hence the need for laws, because common sense isn't working!

[bettyellen]

35. same as many drinkers

[MindPilot]

36. During my daily hour on the freeway I see dozens of people on their phones.

And funny thing, I don't feel the least bit threatened.

[NutmegYankee]

69. It has been shown that yapping on the phone makes you less aware.

So it's not surprising that you don't feel threatened. You have no clue what's going on around you.

[unhappycamper]

16. It happens frequently:

[MindPilot]

18. Under CA law, tow truck drivers are specifically exempt.

That crash must've been caused by something else because cell phones are only dangerous when passenger car, SUV and pickup drivers use them.

From California vehicle code 23123:

(e) This section does not apply to a person when using a digital two-way radio that utilizes a wireless telephone that operates by depressing a push-to-talk feature and does not require immediate proximity to the ear of the user, and the person is driving one of the following vehicles:
(1) (A) A motor truck, as defined in Section 410, or a truck tractor, as defined in Section 655, that requires either a commercial class A or class B driver’s license to operate.
(B) The exemption under subparagraph (A) does not apply to a person driving a pickup truck, as defined in Section 471.
(2) An implement of husbandry that is listed or described in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 36000) of Division 16.
(3) A farm vehicle that is exempt from registration and displays an identification plate as specified in Section 5014 and is listed in Section 36101.
(4) A commercial vehicle, as defined in Section 260, that is registered to a farmer and driven by the farmer or an employee of the farmer, and is used in conducting commercial agricultural operations, including, but not limited to, transporting agricultural products, farm machinery, or farm supplies to, or from, a farm.
(5) A tow truck, as defined in Section 615.
(f) This section does not apply to a person driving a schoolbus or transit vehicle that is subject to Section 23125.

[IDemo]

21. I have seen...

- a man reading a paperback on the freeway during morning rush hour
- a man shaving in the rear view mirror on the same freeway
- more than one woman putting on eye makeup (using the rear view mirror) on the same freeway
- a young man playing with a Furby (remember them?) perched on the steering wheel
- a woman on the cell phone drifting into the same bike lane I used to commute to work in, almost striking the curb.

[DawgHouse]

28. Unbelieveable how many multitaskers there are on the road!

The strangest thing I ever saw was a woman eating a bowl of cereal at the wheel. She flew past me and I saw that she had something in her hands and at the next stoplight, I saw her happily munching on her bowl of cheerios.

[PSzymeczek]

74. I once saw someone

brushing their teeth while driving 55 on a state highway during rush hour. I was concerned about where he was planning to spit.

[ThomThom]

22. you have to drive defensively every time out, be prepared

Almost every time I am in a car I see someone doing something very stupid. Sometimes it is every block I travel. Beware there are fools all around us.

[hobbit709]

24. Just had some clown run a light

and turn left right in front of me while yakking on his phone. What was so important at 7:30 AM on a Sun.?

[AnArmyVeteran]

26. Check out these UK ads against texting & not wearing seat belts (very effective)

But they would never been showing in the US because the corporate owned airwaves would lose a few dollars. Other DUers posted these yesterday.

Beautiful ad for seatbelt awareness:
http://embracethis.co.uk //


Welsh advert on Texting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LCmStIw9E

[jp11]

27. I especially like when you encounter one of these people with a near miss etc and it doesn't phase

them, they keep texting, reading, talking on the phone, playing with the gps, eating etc.

[pipi_k]

46. Amazing, isn't it?

I've seen the same thing.

Like it never even almost happened. Not a blink of the eye.

Totally oblivious.

There are times I think they could run someone over and just never even notice... so self-absorbed in their own little worlds.

[Darth_Kitten]

37. I'm so glad you are okay, but this just pisses me off.....

STUPID, STUPID, STUPID LITTLE GIRL.........

[carlyhippy]

44. i agree, this girl looked to me like she was barely old enough to drive

driving a fairly new vehicle. Hopefully this girl never gets into an accident, her fault or not.

[WolverineDG]

39. I was almost hit by an idiot texting on his phone

as he was pulling out of a parking lot onto the access road of a highway! Thank God there was no one in the lane next to me, as I had to pull sharply into it to avoid getting T-Boned by that asshole. Idiot looked up at the last second & got mad at *ME* for daring to honk at him!

dg

[carlyhippy]

45. wow! Glad to see you are ok, that is such a dangerous situation

that you were needlessly put into, he should have had the sense to stay in the parking lot and finish his texting.

[Odin2005]

52. Ugh. I've seem people driving mentally disabled adults around whole texting!

:puke:

[Heidi]

63. Frankly, I feel the same way about dash-mounted GPS,

Having recently ridden the four-hour drive to Geneva at night with a friend who was constantly looking at and futzin' around with his GPS. The irony might alone might have left us stranded or worse.

[depakid]

80. Follow...the voice...in the box...

All I use my handheld GPS for is pinpointing my position. And I don't always even rely on it for that. It's a nice supplementary tool to have, but it's more than capable of getting drivers into heaps of trouble.

[zorahopkins]

72. It Happens ALL The Time

I can usually spot people who text while driving -- or who use their hand-held cell phones while driving.

THey either "drift" out of their own lane -- or they go slower than everyone else.

They are all extremely hazardous to other drivers.

[Name removed]

75. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

82. Deleted message

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[Xavyman]

76. I keep telling my girlfriend to stop texting and driving

But she keeps doing it, and her mom does it. They will learn when they get a ticket or god forbid they have an accident.

[KonaKane]

79. Cell phoning while driving is now illegal here.

Good thing, too. People can barely drive without those distractions.