A Comparison of the Cell Phone Driver and the Drunk Driver

[Gordon B]

My favorite blog, Marginal Revolution, has a new series, reporting on politically incorrect papers. Here's the abstract to one of them. I downloaded the SSRN paper to read later. If anybody wants it too, I'll email it to them.

The study was by three U of Utah professors.

Abstract:
We used a high-fidelity driving simulator to compare the performance of cell-phone drivers with drivers who were legally intoxicated from ethanol. When drivers were conversing on either a hand-held or hands-free cell-phone, their braking reactions were delayed and they were involved in more traffic accidents than when they were not conversing on the cell phone. By contrast, when drivers were legally intoxicated they exhibited a more aggressive driving style, following closer to the vehicle immediately in front of them and applying more force while braking. When controlling for driving conditions and time on task, cell-phone drivers exhibited greater impairment than intoxicated drivers. The results have implications for legislation addressing driver distraction caused by cell phone conversations.

[Captain Hate]

I've almost been involved in accidents lately by cell-phone users blowing through stop signs. Those fuckwads are going down, one way or another.

[Gary Sisco]

Me, too. The other day I was totally in my right of way on the highway, doing 50 mph (exactly the speed limit), driving our 3/4 ton pickup, approaching a "t" intersection with another highway. A guy driving one of those beer-can-strength soccer-mom vans, talking on a phone, blew through the stop sign like it wasn't even there, and right in front of me, like our huge pickup doing 50 wasn't there, either. I don't even now think he *did* know the sign or the truck about to crush him to death were there. It was so close, I had to pull into the other highway's mouth to miss him (and happily no one else was headed for that stop sign when I did) -- something I wasn't at all sure at the time I could do with that truck, at that speed, and still keep it under control and on the road. But I did. And the dipshit on the phone just went merrily on his way, being a menace to all around him, without even knowing it.

I'd bet a grand right now that if asked, he'd tell you what a great driver he is, on the phone or not. What the hell, he doesn't even know how close he was to being grease and gore and nothing more. Another half a second either way and I'd have plowed through him and his tin-can van like *they* weren't even there.

And I'd bet another large that the guy was willing to both kill and die, judging from his behavior behind the wheel, for a completely unnecessary and inane phone call that could have waited another century without having had any effect at all.

I tell ya, they're trying to kill me out there. Whether they know it or not, or intend it or not, matters not to me. The objective reality is that they are, regardless.

[Tanager]

Cell phone drivers are a menace, but I get even more pissed when I see a cell phone driving...parent with a carload of kids. Kill yourself, fine. Kill a carload of kids b/c you couldn't stop yakking, I hope you come back as a toilet so I can shit on you. My sister calls me all the time from her car (with two noisy kids, one about to turn six, the other is about three, I think) - and she is never shy to preach about other folks' parenting shortcomings.

[Gary Sisco]

So tell her to call back when she's not moving.

If they'd only kill or injure themselves in accidents, I'd actually encourage the cell phone use. But they don't, anymore than drunks do. Possibly more than drunks do. We don't have the data to analyze (for instance, we know how many drunks are involved with accidents but not how many drunks are driving, the crucial piece). Ditto the phones.

Proof's in the pudding about "multitasking," though, so far as writing and critical thinking goes.

It goes down the toilet.

[Cem]

You guys hear David Lindley's "Sport Utility Suck"? Friggin hillarious! Sisco, being a raggae/dub man, should especially dig it...

[Gary Sisco]

Can't deal with his voice anymore. I used to like listening to him, and heard him a couple of times live and dug it. He needs to smoke some Camels for a few years, though, and bring his voice down into the soprano range before I'll revisit him.

[Chris D]

Three times in the last week people have crossed a double yellow line into my lane, forcing evasive action.

All three nimrods were on cell phones.

[Enforcer]

I've come up with a word for someone who is driving erratically, having trouble staying between the lines, braking and accelerating irregularly: Phonef**k. It's not hard to pick out the driver suffering from Phonef**k. Look for those symptoms, and when you have a chance as you're passing the offending driver, check to see if she's talking on a cell phone. I'd say nine out of ten times in my own experience, the driver is.

[clinthopson]

I've always been a defensive driver, but with those cell phone nimrods, I've become paranoid.

[Uli]

Originally Posted by clinthopson

I've always been a defensive driver, but with those cell phone nimrods, I've become paranoid.

It's getting pretty scary out there. Half of these motherfuckers are on the fone *and* drunk.

[Noj]

"Hang up and drive," one of my most frequently uttered phrases on the road. I drive in Hollywood on a daily basis, you can imagine what these self-important tool bags drive like--EVERYONE'S on the friggin' phone.

[Deke]

We made it illegal over here.

Yeah, like that's gonna stop them...

[mke]

A few weeks ago, we were waiting at a red light and my girlfriend made a quick call. A few seconds after she dialed, we hear this huge HONK! right next to us. We look around and see a police van, with the officer in the passenger seat wagging a finger at us. My girlfriend mimed "But we're not moving" protest and managed to finish the call. The light then turned green.