[geeks] Stuff fo' sale

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 @ 16:16 -0600, Dan Duncan said:

> On Sat, 12 Aug 2006, Lionel Peterson wrote:
> > I would *love* to see an absolute crack down on folks that talk on cell
> > phones while driving (without handsfree).
> 
> Why?  Studies show there is no significant difference betwixt the two.
> Banning handhelds is a feel-good measure by people who don't know any
> better.

That's true, but it doesn't mean people should be using them.

Basically any cell phone use is dangerous for certain people.  Me, I
give driving priority, and ignore the phone.  But most people can't do
that.

The local police will tell you that cell phone use is now a primary
cause of accidents.

Some trends are trivial to spot.

The most common is a huge increase in rear end collisions at stop
lights.  People on cell phones frequently do not see stopped traffic.
It has to do with human eye movements during speech and conversation.

I had a hard time understanding it because I'm not wired that way
myself, but evently most people become about 30% blinded when using a
cell phone, or even a radio.

This is hardly news of course: police have known for years that if they
don't train officers specifically for driving and using the radio, they
get higher accident rates.

No one is training the public, and I'm not sure we should go there
anyway.

Personally I can't understand why people feel the need to use their
damned cell phones 24/7.

The other day I had to physically shove a guy out of my way.  He'd just
stopped in an automatic door going into a store, talking on his cell
phone.  The world had disappeared for him.  I talked to him, started
yelling at him, and finally had to physically push him through the door.

Now imagine the same guy talking while driving.

-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["I wish life was not so short. Languages
take such a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about." - J.
R. R. Tolkien]