Texting and driving

[caspernz]

Oh, I quoted because I totally agree. I can't think of any conversations that is more important than being safe on the road.

Shame some folks gotta learn this by accident, pun intended.

We do a lot of driving and see too many drivers attending to their phone while driving, truck drivers included.
Sitting in Subway Taihape yesterday I saw a stock truck driver using his phone, must be difficult for them to stop and answer/send a text I guess?

Absolutely, as a truck driver myself I find it annoying to see fellow truckers (steering wheel attendants really) doing the talking and driving thing. Most companies have done away with RTs nowadays so the cell phone becomes the sole means of comms. Some industries now just expect you to be at the beck and call of office bods/despatchers etc damn near 24/7, never mind the fact that driving is the prime occupation of the person they're trying to talk to.

You can't win either way it seems, for we now also have the symptom of folks trying to stop in the most ungainly places to answer the phone, as though it's some damn emergency...

[Maha]

Absolutely, as a truck driver myself I find it annoying to see fellow truckers (steering wheel attendants really) doing the talking and driving thing. Most companies have done away with RTs nowadays so the cell phone becomes the sole means of comms. Some industries now just expect you to be at the beck and call of office bods/despatchers etc damn near 24/7, never mind the fact that driving is the prime occupation of the person they're trying to talk to.

You can't win either way it seems, for we now also have the symptom of folks trying to stop in the most ungainly places to answer the phone, as though it's some damn emergency...

'' Some industries now just expect you to be at the beck and call of office bods/dispatchers etc damn near 24/7''

An employer is required by law to supply a hands free kit, an OSH requirement under the Health and Safety act.

[Big Dog]

Come on now, you can't expect companies that have policies that dictate talking on the phone is serious misconduct to provide a hands free kit can you?
Especially when the same company keeps breaking is own policy in order to tall to the driver?

Sent via tapatalk.

[Edbear]

They're failing at basic stuff. Inattentive, poor following distance, not looking far enough ahead and surveying the environment (like a car next to me today speeding up, almost passing me, while failing to see their lane was completely stopped less than 100m ahead... so on hard with the brakes.

Then there is the Auckland classic... lane diving - and here's why you shouldn't:
>

Bang on, so to speak... I'm convinced that most drivers don't see much further than their bonnet!

How do they have a license then? If people that thick are getting through, there is a problem with the system.
I mean there is probably all sorts of problems with them too, but the system would seem like an easier fix?

On the flip side some people have very different levels and speeds of comprehension and absorb data very differently. Society still doesn't know how to handle dyslexic and dyspraxic peeps.

I note most youngsters doing their tests and learning seem very conscious of what they are doing, and it's rare to see a newly licensed person involved in incidents. It's the 20 - 40+ who are driving like twats - them and the stupid boy racers, of course.

Remember when only important folks had a cellphone, whereas now if you're important enough you don't? Your assistant answers it for you...

Heyup! Hands-free kits are cheap as ships these days too. I've got two spare, now that we have then in the cars.

[Katman]

[Swoop]

How do they have a license then? If people that thick are getting through, there is a problem with the system.

The driving licence testing process has become tougher in recent years. Certain "youths" have been overheard complaining about this, coupled with "how unfair" it is now.
[sarcasm mode]Terrible shame really.[/sarcasm mode]

[scumdog]

The driving licence testing process has become tougher in recent years. Certain "youths" have been overheard complaining about this, coupled with "how unfair" it is now.
[sarcasm mode]Terrible shame really.[/sarcasm mode]

What he said.

The little cherubs are in the first stage of finding out life is neither fair nor easy as they would have liked - unlike most of their existence up to then.

[swbarnett]

doing the talking and driving thing.

In actual fact these two are not mutually exclusive as some would have us believe.

[Hawkeye]

90% of smart phones can be put into 'car' mode. This allows full voice activation including receiving and sending texts, answering calls, controlling music and navigation.

First thing I do when I get in the cage is put the phone into car mode. Makes life easier and safer.

Most people don't even know there is that feature on their phones. You know, 'that do everything' including making a cup of coffee phone with every feature imaginable.

[BMWST?]

Come on now, you can't expect companies that have policies that dictate talking on the phone is serious misconduct to provide a hands free kit can you?
Especially when the same company keeps breaking is own policy in order to tall to the driver?

Sent via tapatalk.

The point is though,that tslkong on a phone,esp if the conversation is involved or complex,is very distracting,hands free or not!

90% of smart phones can be put into 'car' mode. This allows full voice activation including receiving and sending texts, answering calls, controlling music and navigation.

First thing I do when I get in the cage is put the phone into car mode. Makes life easier and safer.

Most people don't even know there is that feature on their phones. You know, 'that do everything' including making a cup of coffee phone with every feature imaginable.

[Tazz]

In actual fact these two are not mutually exclusive as some would have us believe.

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/ta...g-drunk-2013-8

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16884056

CONCLUSION:

When driving conditions and time on task were controlled for, the impairments associated with using a cell phone while driving can be as profound as those associated with driving while drunk.

Knowing and accepting this I will still yak away when I'm happy to, and pull over to yak when I'm not because as there are different levels of intoxication there are different levels of conversation(/distraction), which I haven't delved into but I don't see mentioned on the surface of those types of studies (conversation anyway. Intoxication level will be fo sho).

You can argue that any level of either of those (or texting) is a distraction, but fuck it, everything is or has a risk element, and considering most accidents happen at home not out on road realistically that is where you should be worrying about if you want to be pedantic (where's the fuzz when I need someone to steady a ladder if the name of the game is all safety ), or if you want to combine the two it's within so many KM's of your home on the road you need to be the most mindful of, apparently

[caspernz]

Heyup! Hands-free kits are cheap as ships these days too. I've got two spare, now that we have then in the cars.

I don't care, hands free or not, I ain't yapping on the phone while I'm driving.

The point is though,that talking on a phone,esp if the conversation is involved or complex,is very distracting,hands free or not!

Absolutely right. The mental distraction from the driving task is the problem, not much to do with whether you're holding the gizmo to the side of your noggin or not.

That said, plenty of other things inside a car can be just a distracting as yapping on a cell phone

[Shaun Harris]

next we will be saying you cannot take children in the car, as they are distracting. if you cannot talk and drive at the same time, you should not be any where near the dam rode. Your eyes work 100% still. Talk to create text FINE Talk to talk FINE TEXT- NO WAY

[swbarnett]

next we will be saying you cannot take children in the car, as they are distracting. if you cannot talk and drive at the same time, you should not be any where near the dam rode. Your eyes work 100% still. Talk to create text FINE Talk to talk FINE TEXT- NO WAY

Exactly.

The "average" driver that the studies mentioned a post or two above are talking about can't talk and drive simply because they don't hold driving as the priority at all times.

As long as you've got your priorities right nothing is a distraction unless it might also be life-threatening.

The problem is that this attitude is not drummed into novice drivers right from the start.

[BMWST?]

its more complex than just talkin...when you are talking to someone right next to each other there are other senses and signals that make the conversation understandable,pauses etc are tolerated as you negotiate a rounda bout etc...on a phone its different, its harder to make sense of what the other one is saying,because part of the information is missing.