Woman Say No More Texting and Driving After Crash; "It's really...

[Candy61]

This is OK I guess wrote:

Thank you to the guy in the black Cadillac DHS that cut me off this morning on the 90 eastbound near the Galleria - I saw that you were on a cell phone (at 7:50 am during rush hour traffic). I LOVE slamming on my brakes and wondering if the car behind me is going to hit me! Hope it was an important conversation. And you better be glad that I wasn't on a phone too, or there might have been a BIG accident!

What gets me is the people with the biggest car(payment) apparently lack the money to afford an earpiece for their stinking cellphone, spend the extra 30 buck you morons!!!! it might prevent an accident

[MKLADY]

You know even though some of you are rather funny here, maybe you should think that the poor girl learned her lesson and is now reaching out to others. Maybe you shouldn't be so hard on her after all. Yes it is against the law to talk on the cellphone,(I have seen police officers talking on cell phones) for that matter maybe it should be against the law to talk to anyone who may be in the vehicle with you! The way I see it, talking is not the problem, its the darn dialing, games and texting that will get you or someone else killed.

[eternal cynic]

Kim wrote:

And what the 5 girls that dies in the fiery crash in Rochester b/c they were texting a driving didn't open anyones eyes?

People have short memories. This week I was delayed by a horrible crash. The delay added 30 minutes to my commute and covered up three out of four lanes. The person following me immediately passed me and others full throttle the moment we were clear of the debris and began running about 85 in a 55 zone. Apparently he was late – people do not “open” their eyes.

We’re so busy in our lives we often forget what’s important. When you’re behind the wheel you should be doing only ONE thing, that’s driving.

I’ve noticed a trend over the past 30+ years I’ve been driving. The more electronic gadgetry we get the less we watch the road. People forget just how quickly conditions change on the road. When you’re driving 60MPH you’re traveling at 88 feet per second. Typical reaction time is about 1.5 seconds, though the link I’m presenting both supports and disputes that time it does make for interesting reading http://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/reactio... Essentially at 60MPH we travel 132 feet before we even begin to apply brakes. Add to that time the amount of time you’re not looking at the road with your special little distraction. It wouldn’t be unfair to say someone would be looking at their phone for 4 seconds before noticing what’s going on. We’re now up to 5.5 seconds and 484 feet before brakes could be applied.

There is NO excuse to be texting while behind the wheel. There’s no excuse to use any distraction behind the wheel. A common myth, we actually can multitask. Not quite true, read on http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/business/25...

We don’t actually multitask. We pay attention to one task, then another and back to the first. We don’t actually do both at the same time. In fact we increase the chance of error and increase the time needed to complete both tasks.

[MKLADY]

Good point eternal cynic! However it isn't just the new electonic gadgetry that distracts us. I have been guilty of driving along, without even the radio on, when something alongside the road catches my attention for a couple seconds. When I look back to the road it's like whoa, hit the brakes quick!

[eternal cynic]

MKLADY wrote:

Good point eternal cynic! However it isn't just the new electonic gadgetry that distracts us. I have been guilty of driving along, without even the radio on, when something alongside the road catches my attention for a couple seconds. When I look back to the road it's like whoa, hit the brakes quick!

Excellent point, our curiosity sometimes will get us in trouble. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen something along the road and all it to divert my attention. It’s far more seldom now, as I get older maybe I’ve seen it all? I don’t know.

I’ve noticed something far more frequently lately. People listening to their iPod with those ear buds stuck in their ears. I can only assume how loud the music is and can only further assume they couldn’t hear a siren.