k wrote:

janelane wrote:

So what the CTIA is basically saying is don't talk on your cellphone while driving. Brilliant!

-janelane, amused

[ Yeah, they should've pretty much just said that, instead of hedging it. I completely agree. I don't need to do a scientific study to determine that people on cell phones act stupidly more frequently. Myself included, on the infrequent occasions i do so.

Then again, I use my cell phone for coordination about 80% and business/personal chatting about 20%, so I have a different metric. I think 99% of the things people believe are important can easily wait tens of minutes or even couple of hours. For me, if an event is taking place more than 300 miles away, I can't do anything about it in the short term anyway, so how can it possibly be an emergency for me? -k]

I saw a Mythbusters the other day that found that talking on a cellphone puts you at the same level of hand-eye coordination and reaction time as driving drunk (0.08, in their case). I was glad not to be the test-track guy riding with the Mythbuster cast members in either case.

I, too, usually am on the phone a few minutes to coordinate meeting times (as opposed to those assholes that talk non-stop the whole time they're in the car), but, then again, it only takes a few minutes of distraction to wreck. If watching World's Wildest Police Videos has taught me anything, its that you've got to be super vigilant while you're driving. I think knowing your limitations while on a cellphone is 85% of the battle with the chronic cell drivers out there.

-janelane, distractedly

RE: CNN.com - Study: Drivers on cells more likely to crash - Jul 12, 2005