Cagers texting, all over the road??

[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 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


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 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.

[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...

[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!