We've all complained about a clueless driver wandering through traffic with a cellphone glued to his or her ear. We
all know it's dangerous. Well, a recent study by Ford shows that it's especially dangerous for young drivers.
Using a driving simulator, Ford compared the response of adult and teenage drivers to traffic events happening in
front of them. As the chart shows, both types of drivers missed about 3 percent of potentially dangerous events without
the distraction of a phone, but when placing a phone call the rate jumps to 13.6 percent for adults and almost 54
percent for teens. And this is using a hands-free headset!
Here in Colorado, it's against the law for teenage drivers to use cell phones while driving, as it is in ten other
states. Even so, a few weeks ago a Colorado teenager, driving alone in his car on a clear road, struck and killed a
cyclist (in a bike lane) while he was text-messaging with his phone.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
MikeGR @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
Be smart. Don't use a cellphone while driving.
It is NOT like listening to the radio or talking to someone else in the car. Use your head a little and you'll figure out why.
Brian Lee @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
It is only a matter of time before it is illegal in all 50 states. I agree too, most people just can't handle talking and driving at the same time.
Corey W. @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
I've had a cell for sometime now, back when they all still had pull-ups up or 2 inch rubber antenas.. (haha) There's been a couple of emergencies where I've had to, but I've never got the urge to talk on my cell while driving. If a call comes through, they'll leave a message. I just never understood the importance of casual phone conversation while driving. If there was not any connection between that and accidents, I wouldn't give a rat-@ss what you do in your car.... But I think it should be illegal in ALL states.
Viktor @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
The problem lies within how a conversation over a phone is done, no matter if it's handsfree.. when talking to a passenger in the car you can take pauses, slow down the talking etc when the traffic needs your full concentration. But when talking in the phone, the other person "requires" your full attention and therefore makes your driving worse.
Would be interesting to see if men drives worse than women when talking in the phone, since men has less skill in doing things simultaneous.
Carlos @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
I'm surprised; I thought adults would be just as bad, and that this new round of laws targetted teens because they can't vote.
This is enough to convince me I was wrong. I'm still unsure about laws themselves though; enforcement will end up like speeding laws, where everyone's guilty and only the unlucky get caught.
Ryan @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
"I'm surprised; I thought adults would be just as bad, and that this new round of laws targetted teens because they can't vote"
When I was in high school and worked a BK (burger king) for my part time job (hey, it was fun) I purchased a cell phone all on my own, but my parents would check my call history to make sure I was not driving at the same time, to this day I do not ever like to drive and talk, if I *really* need to take the call, It is kept as brief as possible and that is it. It just makes sense not to talk on the phone and drive a car.
As for the above comment again, when I was 17 I always thought it was crappy that I had taxes taken out of my paycheck, but yet have no control over the people who decide those tax amounts. So I also believe minors in the work place should not be taxed for this reason.
Evan @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
Here in NY it is against the law for ANYONE to talk hold a cell while driving (handsfree is alright thought) Unfortunatly teens are learning from adults who i see breaking this law all the time. This laww is important but only works if inforced. As a teenage driver (for 3 months now)ive realised that i drift all over the road when talking on the cell, especially when i try to take it out of my pocket, so now i just let it ring, because i can always check it in a couple of mins when i get where i am going, sadly not all fo my friends agree about the dangers of talking and driving.
Fred @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
The problem actually is that these laws don't get enforced unless (a) you're stopped for something else or (b) you kill someone.
Tom Miller @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
Teen drivers??? All drivers!!!
Using a car as a phone booth ought to be outlawed completely. The much biggest danger than using the hands comes from the distraction phone conversations cause. It's a real possibility to find legally drunk
drivers driving more safely than drivers who are concentrating more on a phone conversation than the road ahead.
JS @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
Can we make a distinction here. There are two types of driving, City and Highway. While in the city or in where there are stoplights, etc.. I try and stay off my phone as much as possible even with bluetooth! But the Highway is completely different as you only have to focus on 1,2,whatever lanes and traffic only in one direction. Although in heavy congestion i stay off the phone for my nerves, haha! Also...get your kids an manual, thatll teach them to stay off the phone as it did me when I learned to drive cause shifting, clutch, steer, gas.....way to hard as it was and we dont need a phone in there.
I really dont see a need to ban all phone use because "some" people cant drive (and it would be interesting to note if they could even drive well to begin with!). Highway use should be fine but lets cut down city driving phone use for those careless fellows/gals.
Sid Ghosh @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
There is simply no need to use the cell phone while driving. People got by without cell phones in cars for decades before the 90s and the world survived.
Talking to someone is VERY distracting. The person can leave a message, you can get off the hway/pull over or if possible, have someone else in the car answer it and convey you'll call them back. I see all these 'daddy's girls' with these 300HP Bimmers and AMGs talking on the cell phone and I get concerned for my safety.
John @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
I believe that all states should ban cell phone use by drivers.
A more effective way to lower teens talking habits while driving is for parents to enforce it. By checking the bill and monitor who and when their teens are using the phones.
Parents take charge and educate your teens about the dangers. The TV will not teach them everything...
goat @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
I generally avoid talking on the phone when I'm driving. I do think hands-free systems are better, although I think it depends on the type of system.
The kind that are integrated into the car, or phones that have a speakerphone are better than the headset/earphone kind, as far as I can tell. Having the sound going directly into your ear is just too distracting for most people.
I honestly don't understand the need for people to *constantly* gab on the phone while they drive. I see some people who get on the phone as they are walking to their car, and seem to stay on the phone during their entire drive.
Brad Twitty @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
The reports are very bais against teenagers.
They wanted teenagers to look like bad drivers and they got it.
TrollHouseCookie @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
Would be wise for people to pull over and stop if they must use their cell phones while driving.
There's nothing wrong with carrying a phone in the car for emergency use (I use a cheap to maintain Virgin Mobile phone for this purpose).
I see "Cell Phone Sally" in her SUV many times a day. What can be so important for a silly bitch to blab about?
Idiots who use cell phones while driving are ASSHOLES--they should shut up and drive!
Corey W. @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
Someone mentioned highway driving, actually that where I see the most phone talking reckless driving. There's nothing worse than someone doing 85MPH up I75 (Detroit, holla if you know what I'm talking about) not paying attention while dipping and diving through traffic.
Accountablilty seems to escape Americans when it comes to laws, we need to start increasing fines and punishment for breaking laws that can cause serious accidents.
Joseph Willemssen @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
"There is simply no need to use the cell phone while driving. People got by without cell phones in cars for decades before the 90s and the world survived."
There is simply no need to use an automobile. People got by without cars for thousands of years before the 20th Century and the world survived.
md @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
"The reports are very bais against teenagers.
They wanted teenagers to look like bad drivers and they got it."
Well, the vast majority of teenage drivers are terrible drivers. Driving now equals point the front the the vehicle where you want to go rather than driving. hardly anybody learns to drive stick anymore. Such simple skills such as looking down the road rather than just over the hood and scanning rather just than staring at a fixed point dead ahead are no long even mentioned when teaching somebody to drive. There is no practice for emergency swerving, braking, off road recovery, etc. Not to mention the lack of experience on the road and the expensive sound systems that most teens install to further distract them.
Its a damn vehicle, not a phone booth.
Ferguson McSqueege @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
As a college student, I can offer some insight from a younger person's perspective on driving while talking on a cell phone.
I carry my cell phone with me all the time but I really don't like seeing people talking while driving, so I don't do the same. When I'm driving, I will rarely answer a call, and never dial one. It just takes too much focus off the road.
My options for a ringing phone:
- Let the voicemail take it
- Let my girlfriend answer it for me if she is riding with me
- If it is an important call, I will answer out of respect...and say "I'm in traffic, I'll have to call you back. Bye."
And as for handsfree sets, the don't really help. Anyone can drive one handed...I do it all the time. But the difficulty about talking on a phone is that it takes SO MUCH of your brain power to concentrate and have a meaningful conversation.
To all you parents- if you purchase your kids a car, make sure they are standard transmissions. It makes it harder to lose focus on driving since it isn't a simple point-and-shoot deal (as with auto transmissions) and monitor their cell phone usage.
SHOTT3R @ Dec 18th 2005 10:50PM
Frankly there are few things that annoy me more than seeing some idiot [of whatever age] on a cell phone while driving. I can't see the majority's need to be available while driving. If you're a doctor or in some sort of mission critical operation, spend a few bucks and get an FM transmitter.
As to city vs highway, it's as dangerous either way. Just different things to focus on. City you have to look for lights and little children at 35. Freeway you have to look out for speeding hunks of metal and people who don't know what a turn signal is for at 75.
Flame me if you want, but from a foreign perspective I think half the problem is that many people in America, especially CA where I go to school, cannot drive well. Some can barely steer. In Jamaica you may not have a full licence til 18, and you must take a comprehensive written test of the workings of a car + rules of road etc. You must also take your test on a manual transmission. The test here was so laughable I forgot I had to take it, and passed anyway without even studying. I imagine we're not hurrying young unprepared drivers out there because we don't need to sell tons of cars to appease greedy CEOs and too-powerful unions.
Nothing scarier than a 16yr old girl in a Tahoe TEXTING [not even talking] while you're on the freeway.