Thread: Please don't Text While Driving!

Didn't even click the link (I'd have a hard time watching any vids on THIS computer), but I'm 99.9% sure I know which video you're talking about. It's actually kind of fucked up, I think. The usual scare tactics of "don't text while driving, you'll get yourself killed" won't work...so why not use "dont text while driving, you'll kill your best friends and orphan two young children and have to live with the guilt for the rest of your life". They may as well have shown the girl who caused the accident committing suicide out of grief.

Effective, perhaps, but still fucked up.

Sadly, these accidents are happening more and more.. and there's a strong possibility that you will kill more than yourself.

.

They are showing a video all nation wide here in the USA to all the schools that accept it. I think its the same video, but i havent seen it so i dont know.

Originally Posted by Lëzen

Didn't even click the link (I'd have a hard time watching any vids on THIS computer), but I'm 99.9% sure I know which video you're talking about. It's actually kind of fucked up, I think. The usual scare tactics of "don't text while driving, you'll get yourself killed" won't work...so why not use "dont text while driving, you'll kill your best friends and orphan two young children and have to live with the guilt for the rest of your life". They may as well have shown the girl who caused the accident committing suicide out of grief.

Effective, perhaps, but still fucked up.

Quite frankly, its worth it. It may be fucked up, but it's a small price to pay.

Here in Ontario, Canada we have some shitty drivers. Dangerous, careless, braindead morons. People who shouldn't be on the road. But in another province, Manitoba, they have a mandatory Defensive Driving program. In the program, for a few good hours they pelt you with video footage and images of many car accidents and the fatalities involved. It's gruesome and hard to watch. This course is entirely mandatory. The government makes you watch all this fucked up stuff before you're allowed on the road. And you know what? Drivers out of Manitoba have to be the best I've ever seen in this country.

Fucked up maybe, but it teaches you a lesson you'll never get unless it happens to you. If I had to choose between getting a message pounded into me through fucked up shit, and having the fucked up shit actually happen to me, I'll choose the former thanks.

Cell phones in general are awful to use while driving. Having driven a few large (and a few very slow) vehicles in my life, I can say that the ones doing anything with a cell phone should not be driving. It's bad enough that motorists don't respect trucks and tractors, but cell phone users almost rear end me every time and then pass extremely close seconds later. Even worse is when it is right before a stop sign.

So check this out:

I'm driving home from work, one day, and I'm merging onto the highway. There is this woman in front of me who is just weaving sloppily all over the lane, and merging at like 40mph. We feed onto the highway, and I'm trying to get around her, but she just starts taking up two lanes (her car was just literally driving down the center divider). I move over to the fastlane and pass her. When I look in her window, this broad has a hamburger in one hand, a cellphone in the other hand, and is driving with the wrist of the hand that is holding the hamburger.

There are few times in my life when I really wanted to just smack a bi0tch. That was one of them.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

So check this out:

I'm driving home from work, one day, and I'm merging onto the highway. There is this woman in front of me who is just weaving sloppily all over the lane, and merging at like 40mph. We feed onto the highway, and I'm trying to get around her, but she just starts taking up two lanes (her car was just literally driving down the center divider). I move over to the fastlane and pass her. When I look in her window, this broad has a hamburger in one hand, a cellphone in the other hand, and is driving with the wrist of the hand that is holding the hamburger.

There are few times in my life when I really wanted to just smack a bi0tch. That was one of them.

At times I'm really tempted to blare my horn and scare/startle the hell out of a driver.. but then I figure that they'd just jerk the wheel and definately cause an accident!

.

Originally Posted by Clairity

At times I'm really tempted to blare my horn and scare/startle the hell out of a driver.. but then I figure that they'd just jerk the wheel and definately cause an accident!

.

Yup. But, hey, that's what horns are for. If people don't know they are being idiots, they'll never stop being idiots. Blare that horn, Clair!






...just...uh...don't be beside them, when you do.

JESUS F-ING CHRIST PEOPLE DON'T TEXT AND DRIVE!

I know someone who texts and drives at the same time. She uses her knees to steer the wheel...

Originally Posted by slayer

JESUS F-ING CHRIST PEOPLE DON'T TEXT AND DRIVE!

I know someone who texts and drives at the same time. She uses her knees to steer the wheel...

Now, wait. I do have to admit that I do all kinds of shit while I drive.

The difference between me and all of those other people is, I'm actually good at what I do. I drive with my knee, when my hands are full. It's a very convenient (and long-developed) skill that I'm glad I have, but I'm careful. There is no difference between driving with a knee and driving with your hands, as long as you use the same care when doing both.

The people that we hear about getting into accidents while they are texting get into accidents because they lack basic driving-safety comprehension in the first place.

If you "have" to text, only look away on straight-aways, and when there is little to no traffic around you. Look at what you're doing in short bursts, testing the distance between yourself and any obstacles, before taking your eyes off the road, even for a second. And if you have trouble holding your line, in the first place, you shouldn't even have a license.

I know, but I still find it unsafe.

There should atleast be someone driving with you that pays attention to the road. Not saying you do, but four eyes are better than one, right?

Originally Posted by slayer

I know, but I still find it unsafe.

There should atleast be someone driving with you that pays attention to the road. Not saying you do, but four eyes are better than one, right?

True. It is unsafe. And it's definitely not something I advocate to just anyone. But it is something that I've grown up doing, and actually got from watching my mom do it. Lol. (She's 48, and has only be in one, very small accident in my lifetime, that I know of, which wasn't even her fault. Very good driver).

The reason I don't feel that I necessarily need someone to watch the road is because every time I look away from the road, I've already gauged how far I am from any possible obstacle. When I'm on a straight-away, with no one around me, any accident that would happen would be a freak accident, like a tree happening to fall in the road, within the 1-2 seconds that I'm not looking.

If there are any possible dangers/people around me, multi-tasking can wait.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

The reason I don't feel that I necessarily need someone to watch the road is because every time I look away from the road, I've already gauged how far I am from any possible obstacle. When I'm on a straight-away, with no one around me, any accident that would happen would be a freak accident, like a tree happening to fall in the road, within the 1-2 seconds that I'm not looking.

If there are any possible dangers/people around me, multi-tasking can wait.

I like people who think like that, all logical and stuff.

No mercy for reckless drivers, spin them off of the god-damned road if you have to.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

If you "have" to text, only look away on straight-aways, and when there is little to no traffic around you. Look at what you're doing in short bursts, testing the distance between yourself and any obstacles, before taking your eyes off the road, even for a second. And if you have trouble holding your line, in the first place, you shouldn't even have a license.

In addition to that, it helps if you're texting like normal, using your number keys (the phones with a keyboard lay-out are a HUGE no-no, even for people who can drive with their knees). I say this because if you have half a brain, you don't need to constantly look at your screen to know what you're typing. Familiarity comes quickly: you know that H is located on the four, and that you have to press it twice to get it to pop up. You know that I is also on 4 (press thrice), L is on 5 (thrice), and O is on 6 (thrice again). So basically, if you can remember which numbers are located where, and how many times you need to press them to get a certain letter to appear, any douchebag can spell "HELLO" without taking his eyes off the road at all.

And if you can't do this simple memory/math related task while driving...well then, I'm sorry, but you fail at life.

Not as dangerous as you'd think. It's just the fucknuts who just have to watch their screens constantly to see what's being typed who are the ones that cause the accidents.

Texting while driving is the new drunk driving. It might even be more dangerous. It is just a matter of time before it becomes seriously illegal.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

The reason I don't feel that I necessarily need someone to watch the road is because every time I look away from the road, I've already gauged how far I am from any possible obstacle. When I'm on a straight-away, with no one around me, any accident that would happen would be a freak accident, like a tree happening to fall in the road, within the 1-2 seconds that I'm not looking.

There could also be something small in the road you did not see at first, a dog running out in front of you, a kid hauling ass down a hill across the road on his bike, etc.. I almost hit a kid doing that one time, and I also ran over a cat that darted out of nowhere. It is too common for people to hit deer that sprint into the road. But.. 1 to 2 seconds might be reasonable. I do that to change CD's and get stuff out of the back seat and stuff. Maybe I shouldn't?

Originally Posted by Lëzen

In addition to that, it helps if you're texting like normal, using your number keys (the phones with a keyboard lay-out are a HUGE no-no, even for people who can drive with their knees). I say this because if you have half a brain, you don't need to constantly look at your screen to know what you're typing. Familiarity comes quickly: you know that H is located on the four, and that you have to press it twice to get it to pop up. You know that I is also on 4 (press thrice), L is on 5 (thrice), and O is on 6 (thrice again). So basically, if you can remember which numbers are located where, and how many times you need to press them to get a certain letter to appear, any douchebag can spell "HELLO" without taking his eyes off the road at all.

And if you can't do this simple memory/math related task while driving...well then, I'm sorry, but you fail at life.

Not as dangerous as you'd think. It's just the fucknuts who just have to watch their screens constantly to see what's being typed who are the ones that cause the accidents.

Agreed, 100%.

I, for one, wish that people were generally more intelligent to the extent that they wouldn't need fictional, emotionally-charged dramatizations to be scared into compliance.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

But.. 1 to 2 seconds might be reasonable. I do that to change CD's and get stuff out of the back seat and stuff. Maybe I shouldn't?

That was pretty much my rebuttal to the first half of your post.

I did think about the elements you mentioned, though. I just seriously doubt any driver is completely undistracted, all the time. So whether you are texting, changing CD's, or looking in your rear-view mirror, you still have a chance of something/someone running out in front of you while you're not looking.

Why the hell would you want to text while driving anyways? If you need to talk to someone, you can call them.

Originally Posted by khh

Why the hell would you want to text while driving anyways? If you need to talk to someone, you can call them.

The person you're texting (or that is texting you) may not be in a situation where making an audible phone call is accepted/convenient - at work, for example.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

The person you're texting (or that is texting you) may not be in a situation where making an audible phone call is accepted/convenient - at work, for example.

True - but then, are you in a situation where texting is safe?

Originally Posted by DarkLucideity

True - but then, are you in a situation where texting is safe?

I believe I specifically stated that it wasn't safe.

Also, realistically, do you only do things that are safe?

I like to minimize risk - approaching a given situation mindfully, being aware of the dangers and doing my best to remain attentive - but I'm a grown man, and I don't always let the idea of something being potentially "not safe" bar me from doing it.

How boring/inconvenient would life be, if we all lived devoid of all risk?

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

How boring/inconvenient would life be, if we all lived devoid of all risk?

Well you make take as many risks as you like when it comes to your own life, but be mindful of other's.