United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

...just in case anyone is still daft enough to do this http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,3782-1248440,00.html i personally know 3 peeps hit by drivers on the phone.

.........course i mean your mates....if any of YOU are doing this with one hand......blimey!

That would be a mess...

Some states it is against the law and you can be fined. I hope soon it will be all states...

New York it is against the law.... around the corner in New Jersey it is not... I live on the boarder...and peeps on the phone... are dangerous... more dangerous then us driving with no hands...LOL
Kath

Just a quick story regarding this subject...

Neil and I were sitting outside a cafe in London's Berwick Street one sunny day just having a coffee and watching the world go by...we had parked the bike on a yellow line (no-parking zone) and we were keeping an eye out for the traffic warden. As anyone who has been in London in the past few years will know, the average speed there in the centre, is around 7-8 miles per hour...usually not much more than walking pace...so you would assume that at that speed, you wouldn't see any accidents of any kind; plenty of time to avoid it/stop whatever....

anyway, this bloke cruised slowly by, in a big old merecedes, with a mobile up to his ear, and he drove straight into a cyclist-courier...right in front of us..

well, no damage done thankfully, but the cyclist naturally was pi**ed off, and hurled abuse at the guy (who stayed in his car...)for a few minutes then rode off. The mercedes, with the driver STILL with the phone clamped to his ear drove..albeit slowly...away.

We were just about to leave a few minutes later, when the same mercedes came crawling back, from the opposite direction, and AGAIN drove straight into another (different) cyclist, AND a parked car this time, and yes, you've guessed it, the phone was STILL clamped to his ear...we didn't know whether to laugh or cry!!

Again, no real damage, one very cheesed off cyclist and a dented car door this time, but STILL the merc driver didn't remove the phone from his ear...!or get out of his car...
Gawd knows what would have happened if this had been at speed...or did he just hate cycle couriers?? ;0)

Some people should never NEVER get behind the wheel of a car, with a phone or without.

Jenny.....I think cell phones are the best thing since loaf bread.......WHEN USED PROPERLY. I've got one, but don't even turn the thing on unless I'm stationary, and NOT driving. I too have seen a few benders from peeps who have their entire brain connected to the thing. Too much of a risk while operating a one ton missle.

I've almost been hit by drivers and I've seen other drivers almost get hit. However...

Please do not blame the phone! I still use my cell phone, it has a speaker phone and I clamp it to the visor so my hand is free to drive and I can look all around. If you are too arrogant, stupid, zombified, whatever to realize that you shouldn't be walking down the street and chewing gum at the same time you should be put in a camp for “special” people until you learn not to do more then one thing at a time. You should also have the radio and temperature controls removed from your car so you can’t mess with those either. I don’t think it is the phones problem, it’s the fact we don’t slap people hard enough anymore for doing brain dead things.

At least that is my view.

The reasons why a mobile phone is a danger while driving, even in handsfree mode, is because the driver is distracted by the call itself, and the conversation. His/her attention is not on what should be the most important thing, which is driving safely.

You could argue that a conversation with a passenger(s) would also be a distraction, but at least there would be two (or more)people in the vehicle to be aware of any danger.

My partner and I drive well over 20,000 miles a year up and down some of the U.K's worst motorways, and through well known accident blackspots...we have no choice. It never ceases to amaze me the stupid things that drivers do; some people think its funny, but I don't. So many deadly accidents are caused by driver distraction/inattention etc. Having things..toys or whatever dangling in front of 'em from the mirror; daft bluddy signs stuck on the back window right where you need to see if a motorbike is approaching on the outside; kids/dogs unrestrained; and even a cat we saw once jumping around from front seat to back; all these things are distractions that can and do cause death....the mobile is yet another, completely unnecesary one.

Put the thing in answer phone mode, or better yet, switch it off when driving. There are more than enough things out there to kill you. Do you REALLY need to use it while you're driving?

Sorry 'bout the outburst peeps, but this subject, driving safely, really makes me mad.



AND i've had a baaaaad day... ;0(

Ok I'm jumping in the fray here. Chatting hands free on my cell phone isn't a problem. It's the same as chatting to a passenger.

Only bpi's know this. Two handed, bipedal humans think they know better and try to do 3 or even 4 things at once such as, drive, tune radio, light ciggie, talk on cell.

The problem is I can't wave or give them the finger without taking my hand off the wheel...SO FRUSTRATING