If it worked, it would be really nice but mine disable all of the other smart phone features (e.g. navi) when paired, so I don't pair them to the radios.
Yep. Bad plan all around. The commercials asking what you do when watching a football game and the phone rings (you can't do both) are right on.
And in what percent of accidents were the drivers holding the steering wheel? If we could only take those steering wheels out of cars the accident rates would plummet.
They are widely reported in the US newspapers.
It didn't take long on Google to find headlines along the lines of 25% of US car crashes occur when people are on their cell phone. eg.
Claiming that mobile phones caused them is a bit too strong but they were almost certainly a factor. The simulator results back this up. A second distraction at 50mph means you have travelled another 22m.
There are studies that claim no effect or about 4x more likely to have a crash but I can't find the raw data online to check it. eg.
I am afraid my reference is merely "I read the report in a reasonably reputable science magazine many years ago". I would like to be able to give you something better here, but that's it.
The study was done with test subjects on driving simulators which gave sudden emergency situations - something like a virtual kid running out from behind a virtual ice-cream van and counting how many people hit the kid. They got people to come in with their families, who were told to fight in the back of the simulator. They woke up volunteers at 3 in the morning to test driving skills while tired, and so on.
I believe the "winner" of the worst distraction while driving was eating a packet of crisps.
Another point of interest was that drunk driving was not a problem for Australian farmers - they were so used to driving long distances back from the nearest pub that they could do it safely. It's the person who drives drunk /once/ that is most dangerous.
I also read a report (with a similar reference) that had found that the average overtaking on roads in the UK led to a seven second reduction in journey time. So while it might make sense to overtake a tractor or something, before you overtake that lorry or caravan you should think "what I am going to do with these extra 7 seconds that makes this worth the risk?".
Some years ago, there was a fellow whose steering shaft broke. The steering wheel and the steering gear box were not connected to each other. But the rest of the car was in good shape. The mechanic thoughtrfully said he could weld a piece of metal to the shaft, and the guy could steer with his knees, pushing the piece of metal left and right, to rotate the steering shaft. It would take some getting used to, but it would work. The customer said fine, and just leave the existing steering wheel in place.
The driver and owner of the car had a lot of fun with that. he'd offer someone a ride. He would pretend to be sleepy, or drunk. Steering with his knees (hands on the wheel) he'd have a couple near miss, off parked cars, or off another moving vehicle.
Eventually the pasenger would ask if he was OK.
The drriver owner would then reply, no, I'm really in no condition to drive. You take the wheel!
(and would then pull the steering wheel off, and hand it to the passenger.)
yeah, that's what google inc. says. :)
Are you sure you're not channeling the episode of Andy Griffith where Barney buys a car???
How many accidents does it take? Some years back there was a rather horrific head-on accident on Rt 28, south of Manassas, VA. I think everyone involved died and they found the solo driver of one vehicle was talking on his cell phone when it happened. It resulted in that stretch of road having a cell phone ban which surprised the drivers who were subsequently charged. This was largely because the four occupants of the van that was hit by the solo driver were all local politicians.
I don't know for sure, but I suspect the person the driver was talking to knew he was in the accident when the call was cut short. The investigators would have been able to tell who crossed the line by the skid marks on the road. I expect this is not a unique situation. As you point out, not all accidents would be identifiable as "caused" by cell phone usage, so I expect the number is actually underestimated.
The fact that accidents overall are going down is irrelevant.
Why would the offender have left skid marks? Was there evidence that the offender even tried to stop?
You're being obtuse, Ashton! Obtuse! Barney Fyfe
And, she seemed like such a sweet old lady.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
Right, but the other car may have left skid marks in his proper lane trying to stop. Or he tried to evade and left no skid marks.
The investigation will vary with the seriousness of the accident. Minor ding an a bumper won't get much attention and you could easily turn off the phone and toss it in the consul so it is not suspect. If it caused a death, chances are they'd be checking records from the carrier to see if a call was in progress.
This is the 21st century. Cars have ABS today, they don't leave skid marks.
--scott
I just heard that accidents have started going up, again. I don't know if this is an anomaly, though. If so, it could point a nasty finger at cell phone use.
Partly right. "Some" cars have ABS, but millions of older ones still don't. I still see skid marks on the road from older cars.
Better than marks on the road is the black box that many cars have. 'They can tell if brakes were applied.
I didn't say the "offender" left skid marks.
Sorry, my truck doesn't have ABS. BTW, when was the accident?
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