Cell Phones and Driving

by Bruce E. Simmons

I came across an interesting web site that deals with cell phone useage and driving, called http://www.drivenowchatlater.com/.

Here are the site leader bits on the front page:

New Study by The Federal Government Says that Cell Phones Are the Number One Distraction
The
year long study videotaped volunteers while in their vehicles in order to determine exactly what driving behaviors cause crashes. Cell phones came out as the number one distraction.

Researchers Say Talking on Phone "Ages" Drivers 50 Years
According to
new research by Dr. David Strayer, a teen driver's "reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver," when they are one the phone.

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I can't tell you how many people I see on the road, using their phones, texting, and even using those new fangled, full fledged mini computer phones.. It's a scary trend that people seem to think they can drive and dial, or drive and text.

Let's think about this for a second. Let's pretend you are on the freeway. Don't we all drive around, say 70mph? Let's assume that. You get a text. You look at your phone. What's that, two seconds! No problem. If you reply, you will probably look out the window, look down to type a letter or two, look back out on the road. What's that, about three seconds? For every couple of letters. Say you just typed LOL to something you read. So I'm going to estimate you probably looked down for a total of about, 5 seconds, to be generous with your texting skills.

Did you know that at 70 mph, you cover 102.67 feet a second. 5 seconds, you've just covered 500 feet of road, not looking up, in this generous example. Think about it. And read the website info.

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