MSNBC reports the results of a Harris poll commissioned by mobile messaging service Pinger. The survey says… 91 percent of Americans want texting while driving banned. In the true spirit of "do as I say, not as I do," the poll also reveals that 57 percent of those sampled admit to sending text messages while driving. Washington State has already banned texting while driving, and six other states are considering similar legislation. Pinger has particular interest in getting the laws passed– they provide a voice messaging service. Their press release claims they offer "a safer way for drivers to stay in touch from the road" when "combined with a hands-free headset." However, that only helps the 57 percent who send messages. Incoming message notifications arrive in the form of a text message, so the 66 percent who admit that they read text messages while driving are still at risk. Doh!
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I think we should ban texting while walking too. You’d be amazed at how many people in NYC are hit by cars becuase they’re completely oblivious to their surroundings while texting.
The government should stay out of our lives. Telling us what we can and can’t do for our own safety is not their reason for being. (posted from my Treo while driving :)
What we really need is a headsup display on the windshield and keyboard on the wheel.
What we really need is to actually drive. I assume that as a result of congestion and boring commutes, people take on other activities. The problem is that it is endangering other lives.
dolo54: What we really need is a headsup display on the windshield and keyboard on the wheel.
Yea, that and a head up video screen for drivers so they can play computer games, watch a DVD, double-check that shopping list stored in the Treo, and fiddle with the stereo and NAV settings too.
I’m as a techie a guy as you’ll likely find anywhere, but I still don’t get it. Is it *that* difficult to simply concentrate on the important task at hand and focus only on driving the damned car?
Maybe I’m daft and others have superior skill sets when it comes to driving. But judging by what’s popular on TV and such, I have my doubts.
My wife always make fun of me when I try to do anything else but driving, such as opening a water bottle or changing the radio station, as the car begins to swerve dangerously. However, I am also a very good driver when I’m concentrated on the task at hand (as per the instructor at the advanced driving course I took). The moral: I just drive! I use pre-set ipod song lists, and open my bottle before I start the car
I drive a modified 911 Porsche on the track and have been at it long enough that I even did time as the editor of Car and Driver. (You can look it up, as Yogi said.) Yet after I recently bought a Garmin GPS–my only automotive electronic craziness, I don’t even own a cellphone–_my_ wife said, “I’ve never seen you drive so badly. You’re in and out of your lane, you’re in exit-only lanes when you should be in through traffic, you’re cutting people off without knowing it…get rid of that thing.”
Her track car is a Boxster, so she knows whereof she speaks…
I used to fly airplanes for a living, and the primary thing you were taught as an instrument pilot was to not multi-task. One thing at a time–climb, control, communicate, not all at once.
Yet evolution is amazing. In a decade or two, there are Dilberts driving to work in their cubicles who apparently are far ahead, in their multi-tasking ability, of those of us who used to fly business jets. Incredible.
What we really need is a car with an optional self-piloting feature, so that people who think of cars as “just get me from A to B” appliances can text or whatever (because they’re going to, anyway) without endangering anyone.
LoserBoy is exactly right. When I talk to people about my feeling that autonomous automobiles are inevitable, I find that the tiny minority (it’s estimated to be about three percent of all U.S. drivers, largely based on buff-magazine readership) of drivers who are enthusiasts invariably say, “You’ll have to wrest that gear shifter out of my cold dead hands,” etc, etc. ad infinitum.
Yet the huge majority of drivers say, “Wow, you mean it’s possible that within my lifetime there will be cars that do the driving for me and I can spend my time doing other stuff? I love it! Show me where I can buy one!”
We enthusiasts forget that we’re enthused by an act that the vast majority of the populace finds as thrilling as loading the dryer or vacuuming the livingroom. It’s called getalife (for us, not them).
Stephan Wilkinson: We enthusiasts forget that we’re enthused by an act that the vast majority of the populace finds as thrilling as loading the dryer or vacuuming the livingroom. It’s called getalife (for us, not them).
While I agree the general populace seems to find driving just another task to bear, I’d respectfully disagree that it is us enthusiasts who are truly out of the loop, if you will. In my opinion, it’s the sheeple who are out of touch with reality when it comes to driving.
Oh yea, right, they watch reality TV. Never mind. It is us who enjoy reality driving who need to get a life. My bad.
Regrettably, the driving distractions will likely continue to multiply. There simply aren’t enough police to enforce safe driving mandates. Drivers read books while in traffic, drive with dogs in their laps, apply lipstick, text message, drink beer, run red lights, and on and on. Our only recourse seems to be driving cars that are, to the greatest extent possible, built to protect us from the careless. Let’s root for the automakers to innovate, innovate, and innovate in designing for safety.
BTW: I’d agree with LoserBoy and Stephen that many would buy a self-driving car if available and affordable.