Poll: Distracted Driving

[A790]

Originally posted by btimbit
^Think I voted wrong so our mistakes cancel each other out

I'm glad I'm not the only one who failed at basic reading comprehension... lol

[Tik-Tok]

This thread should be in "Ask Leo".

Otherwise some politician is going to use it as proof that the fines need to be heavily increased.

[ercchry]

i purposely bought a Q10, just because of the ease of texting and driving. i refuse to think of the children, because im a fan of darwin. children need to learn car>them every time

[Mar]

For the rare times I would have previously glanced at my phone to see if a text was urgent or not, I'd place it in front of my face so I could glance at it at times which would cause the least amount of distraction and where I would have to move my eyes as little from the road as possible. Now with the new law I do it the same amount but it's more dangerous because I have to put the phone all the way down at my lap and take my eyes off the road for a much longer period of time to be able to look at it. It was safer when it was legal.

[tirebob]

I answered yes, but barely a yes. I have hands free, steering wheel activated and voice dialing bluetooth so all my calls are good. Why I do consider myself a barely yes answer is because I will sometimes glance at my phone when I receive a text as it displays on my home screen, even with my screen off and locked, and if it is something I need to respond to quickly, I will either call the person back on my hands free or I will park somewhere before texting back. Now if I am in the middle of traffic or the like, I won't even look at my phone until I am a long way from other vehicles and in an area I deem it safe to look for a quick half a second...

I will also glance any messages while sitting at a long traffic light, and if I know it isn't changing anytime soon, I will quickly answer a text back...

[flipstah]

Should've put conditions.

I only do check at stoplights and I have hands-free.

[msommers]

I avoided conditions because there are far too many to choose from, and the poll after increasing the sample size, is showing as I expected because it's so black and white.

Would you check your phone at a redlight with a cop car right beside you? That's what I thought.

[killramos]

Originally posted by msommers


Given that you don't have a car kit (I'm guessing this is handsfree), did you answer Yes in the poll?

Not having a car kit does not mean I drive distracted. I just don't answer phone calls while driving. It's never important enough to not have to deal with when I get to my destination.

The old kit was underutilized and acted as a glorified charger. So that's what I bought, a new charger.

[C_Dave45]

Yes to everything. I'm always on the phone. Got pinched once for it. Probably won't be the last time either. And yes my stereo even has bluetooth hands free. Still guilty as sin.

[btimbit]

Originally posted by A790

I'm glad I'm not the only one who failed at basic reading comprehension... lol

Well I'm unsure. "No" says " never check my phone physically."

I never physically hold my phone, but I do text on the touchscreen headunit that's connected to my phone. No more distracting that trying to find a new song. Does that count?

I know to the law it'd still count, since you can't even change sat-nav directions, but unsure for this poll

[msommers]

That's a tough one honestly, I was not aware you were able to do that on your touchscreen. I guess it depends on if you'd do it comfortably with an officer watching, knowing it could result in a ticket or not.

The reason I started this poll wasn't to crucify anyone who falls into the "Guilty" category, because I'm actually there as well. I've received a distracted driving ticket while trying to figure out why the hell my bluetooth wasn't working.

The results so far match my (unannounced) hypothesis, that despite the law being announced for awhile now and people receiving tickets, it hasn't really curbed or discouraged much behavior that could very easily result in a ticket. However, I think people are starting to find when and where they feel comfortable checking their phones, if they even do at all. It's second-nature now to toggle my bluetooth when I'm in truck and turn it off when I'm leaving. But I'll happily follow google maps while driving to stay on course if it's multiple short turns turns. Voice-to-text has changed things considerably for me. I find it much safer because my eyes are on the road the whole time and the texts are actually accurate, even adding commas, exclamation & questions marks etc; I don't even bother looking it over, just hit send. Funny enough, I don't even eat in the car unless it's a granola bar or something similar. Eating a sandwich or a burger I find incredibly distracting, and dirty. I've recently found out that they won't issue you a ticket for that, something I'd pull over for voluntarily because I deem it unsafe while driving.

For my own poll, I fall hard under a Yes response.

[btimbit]

I always viewed the law like speeding tickets. People are still going to do it, they're just going to look around for cops first.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by btimbit
I always viewed the law like speeding tickets. People are still going to do it, they're just going to look around for cops first.

Same.
And almost got nailed again. Sitting in a lane with a stalled vehicle up ahead, no one behind me. Stop. Go. Stop. Go. Pull out the phone....reading away, didn't notice MR Ocifer pull up behind me. He gets RIGHT up, ya know how they do, and I can see him running my plate. Almost 5 minutes go by, 3 complete light cycles before we finally all turn left. I discreetly shut the phone right off....but after about 3 blocks he turned off.

Whew. Oh, and I didn't have my belt on.

[Kardon]

I don't see what the big deal is, I can get my phone out of my pocket and ready without even looking at it, and it takes less than a second to glance at the screen. I won't start replying or anything while I'm driving but I'd like to know if it's important or not.

Getting the phone out of my pocket is as distracting as changing gear or turning on the defrost, it's basically muscle memory. Glancing at the screen is as distracting as glancing at a road sign or looking in your rear view mirror, if you can't handle taking your eyes off of what's in front of you, even for just a moment, you shouldn't be driving. I bet cops glance at their laptops constantly while driving, are they a superior race capable of something we are not?

The commercials / examples of how dangerous it is always show some idiot staring at their phone and completely ignoring the road.