Distracted Driving

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Besoeker

Senior Member
Location
UK
I can understand taking a call with a Bluetooth device, but every second you spend looking up phone numbers, dialing the phone, etc., is a second you're not paying attention to staying alive.
If you are are having to look up numbers then dial them, it isn't really a hands free device.
The one I have has two buttons on the steering wheel. One to start or accept a call. And one to end it.

If you want to make a call, you have to either speak a previously stored name or speak a number into the mike which is part of the rear-view mirror assembly.

Hands on the wheel at all times and no need to take your eyes off the road.
 

Besoeker

Senior Member
Location
UK
I see cell phone use as no different than drinking coffee, eating a sandwich or for that matter, having an animated conversation with your passengers.
You have a point. But.
Big difference is that eating or drinking while driving requires one hand off the wheel. You can talk, however animatedly, with both hands on the wheel. Unless you're Italian in which case you need both hands just for the conversation.....:cool:

Slightly more seriously....
Most cars, vans, and trucks in UK have manual transmission. You can't change gear, steer, eat a sandwich, make a call, and change radio station all at the same time. Mine has six cogs to swap so that can keep the left hand busy particularly around town or in heavy traffic. And we have a lot of heavy traffic here in the south east of UK....
Even without that, I wouldn't eat or drink while driving anyway. I just don't like clutter in the car.
 

PetrosA

Senior Member
I'm not a good multitasker and the only way I feel remotely comfortable on the phone in the truck is using the built-in hands-free system. Oddly, I've never had problems when making or receiving work related calls - it's always when I'm talking to my wife that I either run a stop sign, get off at the wrong exit etc. :(
 

wptski

Senior Member
Location
Warren, MI
If one looks inside a modern police car, what do you see? A computer. What do they carry and communicate with? A radio.

Do they have special skills that allow them to use them while driving that we don't? Do they pull over to use them like we are suppose to?
 

RICK NAPIER

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
In NJ we have laws banning driving and cell phone use but in the news this week was a women who called 911 while driving to report an erratic driver. While on the phone she drove into a tree.
 

sii

Senior Member
Location
Nebraska
If one looks inside a modern police car, what do you see? A computer. What do they carry and communicate with? A radio.

Do they have special skills that allow them to use them while driving that we don't? Do they pull over to use them like we are suppose to?

Our local county sherriff is all over the TV on commercials telling people not to talk on the phone while driving. What do you suppose probably 20-30% of the officers you see are doing?
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
This device continuously records the driver and the view of the driver and overwriting in a continuous loop.

When the accelerometer detects an impact, it will retain the footage of few seconds leading to the impact and a few seconds after the impact.
The automotive version of the flight recorder.
 

wptski

Senior Member
Location
Warren, MI
The automotive version of the flight recorder.
Ford dealers have a so-called "flight recorder" that connects to your vehicle's OBD-II port. If you have a intermittent issue, you press a button when the problem occurs and it records a limited amount of parameters for troubleshooting. Some dealer's require you to leave a deposit when you use their box. I've heard that it's around $3K but useless without the rest of the system.
 
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