Anti-Cellphone Crusader Crashes Car While Making Call

[Harbourmaster]

Anti-Cellphone Crusader Crashes Car While Making Call

"California State Senator Carole Migden, supporter of a state law aiming to fine drivers who talk on their cellphones at the wheel, crashed her auto this morning. While talking on a cellphone.

Rear-ending a Honda sedan with her government-issued SUV on Highway 12 in Solano County, Migden apparently got lost on the way to Marin County and took her eyes off the road to answer a call. The Honda's driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries, but Migden is O.K. Or at least as O.K. as a humiliated, breathalyzed state senator can be. "


http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/05/an...one_c.html

[M A V I C]

I like WA's law best. It's only illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving AND doing something else illegal. Or if you get in a crash.

[Ken Sp.]

....and us taxpayers in California have to pay to repair both cars, and any injuries, since she was driving a state owned vehicle.

[Harbourmaster]

[quote M A V I C]I like WA's law best. It's only illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving AND doing something else illegal. Or if you get in a crash.
Driving While on a Cell Phone Worse is Than Driving While Drunk

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/...33489.html

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Driving While on Cell Phone Worse Than Driving While Drunk
06.29.06, 12:00 AM ET

THURSDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actually more dangerous than driving drunk, U.S. researchers report.

That finding held true whether the driver was holding a cell phone or using a hands-free device, the researchers noted.

"As a society, we have agreed on not tolerating the risk associated with drunk driving," said researcher Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah. "This study shows us that somebody who is conversing on a cell phone is exposing him or herself and others to a similar risk -- cell phones actually are a higher risk," he said.

His team's report appears in the summer issue of the journal Human Factors.

In the study, 40 people followed a pace car along a prescribed course, using a driving simulator. Some people drove while talking on a cell phone, others navigated while drunk (meaning their blood-alcohol limit matched the legal limit of 0.08 percent), and others drove with no such distractions or impairments.

"We found an increased accident rate when people were conversing on the cell phone," Drews said. Drivers on cell phones were 5.36 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers, the researchers found.

The phone users fared even worse than the inebriated, the Utah team found. There were three accidents among those talking on cell phones -- all of them involving a rear-ending of the pace car. In contrast, there were no accidents recorded among participants who were drunk, or the sober, cell-phone-free group.

The bottom line: Cell-phone use was linked to "a significant increase in the accident rate," Drews said.

He said there was a difference between the behaviors of drunk drivers and those who were talking on the phone. Drunk drivers tended to be aggressive, while those talking on the phone were more sluggish, Drews said.

In addition, the researchers found talking on the cell phone reduce reaction time by 9 percent in terms of braking and 19 percent in terms of picking up speed after braking. "This is significant, because it has an impact on traffic as a system," Drews said. "If we have drivers who are taking a lot of time in accelerating once having slowed down, the overall flow of traffic is dramatically reduced," he said.

In response to safety concerns, some states have outlawed the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. But that type of legislation may not be effective, because the Utah researchers found no difference in driver performance whether the driver was holding the phone or talking on a hands-free model.

"We have seen again and again that there is no difference between hands-free and hand-held devices," Drews said. "The problem is the conversation," he added.

According to Drews, drivers talking on the phone are paying attention to the conversation -- not their driving. "Drivers are not perceiving the driving environment," he said. "We found 50 percent of the visual information wasn't processed at all -- this could be a red light. This increases the risk of getting into an accident dramatically," he said.

IMHO the study would have had more validity if they had had each of the participants run the simulator three times. Once each while sober, drunk and talking on a cell phone, but it still makes it clear that talking on the phone is bad for your driving!

[cbelt3]

.. so imagine a Kennedy talking on a cell phone and driving ? (shivers)

[Jem]

She really went the distance to make her case... hope she succeeds.

[JoeH]

[quote Harbourmaster][quote M A V I C]I like WA's law best. It's only illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving AND doing something else illegal. Or if you get in a crash.
Driving While on a Cell Phone Worse is Than Driving While Drunk

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/...33489.html

Removed quoted material

IMHO the study would have had more validity if they had had each of the participants run the simulator three times. Once each while sober, drunk and talking on a cell phone, but it still makes it clear that talking on the phone is bad for your driving!
Actually that would probably lessen the validity if they used the same drivers in all three modes due to the drivers becoming more used to the simulator environment each time through. They could switch up the order, but that would be impractical for the alcohol test, and woulld still take more subjects than 40 as used for each.

[kap]

Wait, WAIT, she was driving a government issued SUV?!! Why are we as tax payers paying for our government officials to drive gas guzzling air polluted large automobiles AND paying even more tax to enforce stricter pollution control?

[Ken Sp.]

She used to drive a luxury car, and has switched to an SUV Hybrid--costs more-slightly less filling

[M A V I C]

[quote JoeH][quote Harbourmaster][quote M A V I C]I like WA's law best. It's only illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving AND doing something else illegal. Or if you get in a crash.
Driving While on a Cell Phone Worse is Than Driving While Drunk

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/...33489.html

Removed quoted material

IMHO the study would have had more validity if they had had each of the participants run the simulator three times. Once each while sober, drunk and talking on a cell phone, but it still makes it clear that talking on the phone is bad for your driving!
Actually that would probably lessen the validity if they used the same drivers in all three modes due to the drivers becoming more used to the simulator environment each time through. They could switch up the order, but that would be impractical for the alcohol test, and woulld still take more subjects than 40 as used for each.
They did a similar study in WA, found headsets don't make a difference. I've always wondered why using both hands to untangle a cable that's either wrapped around the gear shifter or other junk in the center console, thus having to steer with your knee while not looking at the road is safer than flipping a phone open/pushing a button and talking but keeping one hand on the wheel.

The study cited here doesn't seem very accurate. Paying attention to the road and not getting distracted is something I'm very good at. I'll put the phone down or otherwise disengage from the conversation if I need to. I even do that when talking to someone in the car.

If talking while driving is the real problem, why is this only now an issue? I find the drivers who look at the passenger while talking MUCH more dangerous than those who talk on a cell phone.