Cagers texting, all over the road??

[rocketman1]

I have followed a few drivers in recent times that appear to be totally drugged or drunk, weaving all all the place and not paying attention.
Not until I pass them can I see they are holding the wheel with one hand and texting with the other.
Females are as bad if not worse than guys at this deadly passtime.
I am worried about vehicles coming the other way, not to mention motorbikes who have no chance in a head-on with these idiots on the road.
The MOT do not mention the number of accidents associated with texting while driving, but I bet there are quite a few fatals already as a consequence of it.
Inattention is a major cause of accidents and bloody texting while driving doesn't help.
I have told my kids not text me if they know I am driving, and never text while driving, do you think they will listen?

[Ronin]

I'm always amazed at the amount of people who drive past my place txting.

The one that takes the cake was the Cop......

[Subike]

I have often wondered about the road toll in NZ
The claims that speeding and Drunk driving are the major contributors may be factual
But how many of the fatalities that younger cage drivers are involved in are caused by the distraction of texting whilst driving.
Could be a valid point that is overlooked
Which brings me to the most leathal of all drivers on the road.
The speedster, no
The Drunk. no
The Suicide Driver!!!
There is no way you will win against them,
Speedsters and drunks are not hell bent on bending their cars
But a person with suicidal tendencies will aim for you, usually at the last second and its all over.
I agree that Texting in Bad, should be an offence
But how do you control or a Suicide?
I had to scrap several cars that had been written off by suicide drivers, two of which took out innocent others in their desprate duel with deth.
As Bike riders, we have no protection at all from suicide drivers.
Heaven forbid that there are Bike riders who have done the same

[kerfufflez]

I have told my kids not text me if they know I am driving, and never text while driving, do you think they will listen?

They won't listen - you'll probably have to text them with that info if you want them to pay any attention. :laugh:

But I agree, I hate to see anyone texting while driving.

[Edbear]

They won't listen - you'll probably have to text them with that info if you want them to pay any attention. :laugh:

But I agree, I hate to see anyone texting while driving.



Good one! :2thumbsup

My Missus text's when she's riding pillion!:ride:

[motorbyclist]

on symonds street at the university i nearly hit a pedestrian who walked out from some cars to cross the road while txting. you'd think he would've atleast heard me coming with all the racket i was making

and a girl was hit by a car on symonds street doing the same thing - so it's not just txting drivers that are a problem, it's txting pedestrians crossing 4 lanes of fast moving traffic without looking at anything other than their phone

stupidest part is that both incidents happened directly above the underpass

[Shadows]

The Suicide Driver!!!
There is no way you will win against them,
Speedsters and drunks are not hell bent on bending their cars
But a person with suicidal tendencies will aim for you, usually at the last second and its all over.
I agree that Texting in Bad, should be an offence
But how do you control or a Suicide?
I had to scrap several cars that had been written off by suicide drivers, two of which took out innocent others in their desprate duel with deth.
As Bike riders, we have no protection at all from suicide drivers.
Heaven forbid that there are Bike riders who have done the same

You honestly think somebody who wanted to take himself out would try to have a collision with a vehicle smaller than his own? Damn, if that was the case than not even pedestrians would be safe from the "suicide driver".

I think the term you might be looking for is "homicidal driver" - about one in every two NZ drivers fall into that category.

[motorbyclist]

yeah, why would a suicide driver try to take out another vehicle at all?

maybe a kamikaze driver...

but the homicidal sort definitely exist:

my mate (in his car) passed a car doing 40kph and was then followed, chased, and rammed (at which point my mate went from 90 kph to "as fast i could get out of there"). god only knows what the two islanders in the car were thinking but i'm glad they didn't try that on a biker

[Romeo]

I just got cut up by a chick doing 80kph in a 60kph zone the other day. Cellphone, oversized glasses and mum's RAV4. Though, to be fair I've had a close call with a dude shaving his head on the motorway before, so if anything there'd need to be a blanket law for all in-car distractions.

[skidMark]

ive been passenger in my mates car many a time while hes driving....and texting.....

and it's bloodey scary.

because he completely zones out to the phone.

looks up every few seconds....

unbelievable....

i send texts while on the bike if i'm meeting somebody and running late and they are going where the hell are ya.....

just hold in in left hand at lights...release clutch.....sorted just clutchless shift as per usual.

but yeah when i first started doing it it was bad....look up after stuffing up a word......SHIT cager back out of driveway...etc.....

but now i can do it just takes me forever to...i avoid doing it if i can...

very easy to get too comfy when driving a car...people are very relaxed...not realising htey are drive 1.5 tonnes of weapon.

[J_P]

i send texts while on the bike if i'm meeting somebody and running late and they are going where the hell are ya.....


Sounds like you are setting yourself up for a fall. I would suggest getting rid of your cell phone altogether, its an unnecessary distraction, or if you have to use it, do us all a favour and pull off the road first.

This is a good thread, unfortunately a lot of drivers tend to do anything but drive the car, spending most of their time adjusting the radio, reading the paper, talking or texting on the phone, doing their hair, eating food... the list goes on. Its another reason I enjoy the motorbike though. When you are on the bike, you focus entirely on riding, basically using your brain and body to ensure you get from A to B safely.
The amount of work needed to drive a cage in comparison is minimal, which is possibly why cage drivers are easily distracted.

[Usarka]

When you are on the bike, you focus entirely on riding, basically using your brain and body to ensure you get from A to B safely.

I was thinking about this yesterday while i was out riding. Therefore, it's not true.... :wacko:

[J_P]

I can't fault your logic.

[marty]

If I see someone texting, especially on the motorway, I'll sometimes just slowly drift over to their car (esp. if I'm in my truck) as though I'm not paying attention. Fuck it's funny watching them get a huge fright when they finally look up and see a wheel in their window!

If they have their window down, give 'em a long, loud blast on the airhorns - great fun!

[jrandom]

Sounds like you are setting yourself up for a fall.

Welcome to the Life of skidMark.

:laugh:

One does occasionally wonder whether his entire motorcycle-related career is nothing more than a carefully-planned series of tragicomic vignettes, written by a professional and acted out in public by an up-and-coming young thespian, which will in due course be revealed as the fraudulent social experiment that it is.

:confused:

[vifferman]

One does occasionally wonder whether his entire motorcycle-related career is nothing more than a carefully-planned series of tragicomic vignettes, written by a professional and acted out in public by an up-and-coming young thespian, which will in due course be revealed as the fraudulent social experiment that it is.
It's brilliant!
Even the double entendre of the nickname is perfect.

[snot]

I just got cut up by a chick doing 80kph in a 60kph zone the other day. Cellphone, oversized glasses and mum's RAV4. Though, to be fair I've had a close call with a dude shaving his head on the motorway before, so if anything there'd need to be a blanket law for all in-car distractions.

Are you sure it was a chick?
Could have been skidmark by the sounds of that description..

[mowgli]

i send texts while on the bike
Geez man! Improve you chances of making your own 30th. Put your mobile in a pocket you can't reach!

[Swoop]

I was quite impressed by the young, blonde, (attractive) girl yesterday. I stopped behind her as she was intending to turn left from 18 onto 16.
Right hand was busy txting.
Head looking to the right, possibly for traffic (possibly not, who knows...).
LEFT hand busy tuning the radio/setting something into the programming of the unit perhaps...:crazy:

No wonder men cannot multi-task:sweatdrop

[motorbyclist]

today i saw one of the stupidest things yet

i was alerted to what this driver was doing when she wandered across into my lane on a slight bend and nearly knocked me

i pulled in behind and maybe 50m later she slams the brakes on for no apparent reason

then i see why - she's got one hand on the wheel and a map book in the other, and she's holding the map book up and trying to read it:nono:

after two more random slamming of brakes and a few near misses with cars in all directions i pull up beside at some lights about to give her an earful and see that not only is she an asain - probably a tourist - but she has a passenger!

so tell me, if you were in a foreign country, in a busy part of a major city in fast moving rush hour traffic, should the driver hold the map or should the passenger be navigating?

unbelieveable

you'd think it was common sense



i send texts while on the bike


for christ's sake man! you can't txt and ride at the same time - you'll get both things done faster if you just pull over or do it when you're stopped at the lights

i do my txting at lights and/or pull over - it's not hard

[Blue Velvet]

today i saw one of the stupidest things yet

I rode through Wellington on a GPS mission for the SV after work yesterday and I ended up so farking scared I just wanted to get the hell home. It seemed every twat was out to get you.

Witnessed 3 near-miss head on/nose-to-tail crashes, one was a texter. Another was a driver who didn't know if he was Arthur or Martha (then forgot he was actually waiting at a red light). Third was multiple instances of impatient scatty lane changing without indicating and/or checking.

A lot of people on the road who either don't normally drive, and/or don't normally drive in that location.

Xmas madness gone madder.

Edit: And no I'm not a fucking wuss.

[skidMark]

Welcome to the Life of skidMark.

:laugh:

One does occasionally wonder whether his entire motorcycle-related career is nothing more than a carefully-planned series of tragicomic vignettes, written by a professional and acted out in public by an up-and-coming young thespian, which will in due course be revealed as the fraudulent social experiment that it is.

:confused:


man did hitcher write that for you???

thats some plausable shit.:blink:

[jrandom]

man did hitcher write that for you???

I am perfectly capable of generating my own purple prose, thank you very much.

Harrumph.

[yungatart]

man did hitcher write that for you???

thats some plausable shit.:blink:

Hitcher is not the only person on here, who can spell, punctuate, use correct grammar and write with flair and creativity,you know.
There are many who are literate, sadly, they are still in the minority.

[Blue Velvet]

Hitcher is not the only person on here, who can spell, punctuate, use correct grammar and write with flair and creativity,you know.
There are many who are literate, sadly, they are still in the minority.

Hey, you missed a space...

Joking! :innocent: :shutup: :grouphug:

[Drew]

LOL, I take a glove off and text when I'm riding.

[moko]

In the UK a couple of years ago the brought in a fixed fine and 3 penalty points for using a mobile,these are like your demerits,10 and you're banned,6 for road-users with less than 2 years experience.Caught several thousand so penalty increased to 6 points and much bigger fine,caught even more so latest is a potential 2 year jail term.Me I'd shove their mobile where the sun don't shine,un-lubricated for a second offence.

[moko]

Hitcher is not the only person on here, who can spell, punctuate, use correct grammar and write with flair and creativity,you know.
There are many who are literate, sadly, they are still in the minority.

Surely: Hitcher is not the only person on here who can spell, punctuate, use correct grammar and write with flair and creativity,you know.
There are many who are literate,sadly they are still in the minority.:msn-wink:

[bell]

Sounds like you need a Stebel Nautilus. I took mine off yesterday as I'm selling the bike and today I needed it.

What a pathetic message a standard bike horn gives to that tosser that is moving over toward you as they drift about in their lane. A 2 second blast from Mr Stebel will rouse most people in a cage from whatever they were preoccupied doing....hair, make-up, texting, wanking...ok, I've yet to see anyone wanking as they drive BUT I'm sure someone reading this is looking guiltily over their shoulder.

[awayatc]

. A 2 second blast from Mr Stebel will rouse most people in a cage from whatever they were preoccupied doing....hair, make-up, texting, wanking...ok, I've yet to see anyone wanking as they drive BUT I'm sure someone reading this is looking guiltily over their shoulder.

Maybe if you look hard enough somebody will come....:innocent:

[awayatc]

Me I'd shove their mobile where the sun don't shine,un-lubricated for a second offence.

each to their own.....so you had a :dodge:good xmas then I gather?

[swbarnett]

Me I'd shove their mobile where the sun don't shine,un-lubricated for a second offence.
Before anyone flames me let me make it clear that I share the same sentiment about texting (or anything else that takes the drivers attention completely off the road).

In my opinion texting and talking on the phone while driving a cage are two totally different things.

Texting requires that the eyes (and concentration) are completely devoted to the phone. This constitutes at least careless driving in my book.

Talking on the phone, however, involves no more mental or visual resources than talking to the passenger. I'm quite capable of carrying on some in depth discussions with my wife while still maintaining driving as my top mental priority so why not with someone on the other end of the phone?

And before someone screams about "two hands on the wheel at all times" I'm quite capable of driving a cage (manual or automatic) one handed. I started practising this after meeting a guy who quite happily drives manual cars (both left and right hand drive) after loosing an arm.

I think the MOT (or what ever they called themselves at the time) said it best a few years ago when they refused to consider a ban on cellphone use while it was still legal to put on makeup while driving.

[sinned]

Before anyone flames me let me make it clear that I share the same sentiment about texting (or anything else that takes the drivers attention completely off the road).

In my opinion texting and talking on the phone while driving a cage are two totally different things.

Texting requires that the eyes (and concentration) are completely devoted to the phone. This constitutes at least careless driving in my book.

Talking on the phone, however, involves no more mental or visual resources than talking to the passenger. I'm quite capable of carrying on some in depth discussions with my wife while still maintaining driving as my top mental priority so why not with someone on the other end of the phone?

And before someone screams about "two hands on the wheel at all times" I'm quite capable of driving a cage (manual or automatic) one handed. I started practising this after meeting a guy who quite happily drives manual cars (both left and right hand drive) after loosing an arm.

I think the MOT (or what ever they called themselves at the time) said it best a few years ago when they refused to consider a ban on cellphone use while it was still legal to put on makeup while driving.

Psychological research is showing that when drivers use cell phones, whether hand-held or hands-off, their attention to the road drops and driving skills become even worse than if they had too much to drink. Epidemiological research has found that cell-phone use is associated with a four-fold increase in the odds of getting into an accident – a risk comparable to that of driving with blood alcohol at the legal limit.
Full article here
(http://www.psychologymatters.org/driverdistract.html)

I have no doubt about the distraction of a conversation to driving while on a mobile phone. Many years ago I did a lot of driving with a radio telephone in the vehicle. That coms device was of little distraction to the task of driving as conversations were brief and the press-to-talk function meant the driver was in control of the conversation. A very different situation to having a stressful discussion, argument, or negotiation on a mobile phone.

A slow(ing) cage on the open road is often a sign of a mobile phone user.

[mowgli]

In military pilot training it is common for beginner students to essentially stop flying the aircaft while talking on the radios. To overcome this natural tendency they are taught to rigidly prioritise their workload. Radios comes third after flying and navigation. For most this works well but for some the radio blues never seem to go away and failure eventually follows.

I recall a study into why this occurs and it was something to do with the person visualising the person at the other end of the conversation. This takes them mentally out of the cockpit with predictable results. The study referred to mobile phones in cars as an extreme example of this happening. Airborne communications is much more structured than regular conversation. In a car though the road takes away the variable of height and the person usually gets away with it.

While the study said that one gender had a greater tendency to visualise than the other I'm not going there :laugh: Basically, I agree that mobile phones in cars should be used with extreme caution.

[moko]

In Britain riding schools communicate with learner riders via intercom when they take them out on public roads so some relevant comments here.Un-like Pilots they're not highly trained before getting out on the road,though have to have passed a test to make sure they're not totally useless.Mate of mine was put off of bikes for life when he made an error on a roundabout that was traumatic enough at the time without the instructor screaming "Barry you c**t,you'll f***ing kill yourself" through the intercom.

[swbarnett]

Psychological research is showing that when drivers use cell phones, whether hand-held or hands-off, their attention to the road drops and driving skills become even worse than if they had too much to drink.
Another case of "lowest common denominator" then? Some drivers can't handle it so therefore noone will be allowed to. :angry:

[swbarnett]

In military pilot training it is common for beginner students to essentially stop flying the aircaft while talking on the radios.
Really what this is suggesting is that any driver that can't handle a cell phone conversation is still a beginner and will never progress to the point where they can be considered a competent driver. I don't think this is true as long as the driver never answers the phone or gets involved in conversations of any kind while driving.


Mate of mine was put off of bikes for life when he made an error on a roundabout that was traumatic enough at the time without the instructor screaming "Barry you c**t,you'll f***ing kill yourself" through the intercom.
The two problems here are using radios before the student was ready and an instructor that did not respect the authority given to their words by the student.

[mowgli]

Really what this is suggesting is that any driver that can't handle a cell phone conversation is still a beginner and will never progress to the point where they can be considered a competent driver. I don't think this is true as long as the driver never answers the phone or gets involved in conversations of any kind while driving.

I agree with you to a point. I think the real danger occurs when competent (or not) drivers take on additional (often unnecessary) tasks without recognising that their level of risk has changed and fail to apply any mitigating strategy. For example if you must text while driving then you should be holding the phone up near the top of the steering wheel so that you can easily scan between the phone and the road ahead. This is similar to how we teach studs to map read while low flying. The most important factor is to recognise the risk and prioritise. Even while texting (or map reading) the primary task remains driving (or not flying into the ground).

Yes, some people can text safely while driving. However, all texters expose themselves to additional risk when doing so. The most dangerous texters are either unaware of this risk or believe it doesn't apply to them.

[Ixion]

I don't drive a cage enough to speak from experience . But I can't see how talking on a handsfree phone is any different to talking to a passenger . Less so maybe since there's no temptation to look away to watch the person you are talking to. So, absolutely no different to a rear seat passenger . The devil is in the fumbling that goes on trying to hold the phone, hit the little buttons etc. Even with a manual people seem to be very distracted by trying to hold the handpiece.

[Morcs]

I text whilst riding sometimes... Only on motorways or long straight 50k areas at night... if its important...


:spanking:

[mowgli]

But I can't see how talking on a handsfree phone is any different to talking to a passenger .

The main difference is that the passenger is in the same environment and will react both verbally and non-verbally as the environment changes. For example, they may go quiet when it's obvious that the driver is busy. Someone on the other end of a phone is divorced of the driving environment and may inadvertently add to the workload of the driver during busy periods.

That said, most drivers would tend to zone out of the phone call if the driving task got busy. Look out for the ones who don't!