Maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actually more dangerous than driving drunk, U.S. researchers report.
Shut up and drive!
Posted in: Nonclassified Nonsense
2 responses to “Shut up and drive!”
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What about instant messaging?
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That would be an interesting study. Texting requires looking away from the road, unlike talking (at least for me). But you can pause texting while you brake for the car ahead of you, while there is the expectation that, when you’re having a phone conversation, you’re keeping the flow of talking going. People who talk on the phone are far more distracted than people who talk to a passenger. The passenger can see the state of traffic for himself.
Another annoyance is being the one being talked to by a driver. Forget the dropping in and out of service, the driver is constantly pausing in mid sentence, losing train of thought, or otherwise distracted while he tries to do two things at once.
Lately, the campaign has been doing honk-and-waves at the lunch hour out on the busiest street in the city right in front of our office. It amazes me how many people are talking on the phone, and certainly aren’t paying a bit of attention to what’s going on around them. Most of them are women.
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