The Last Text - A Must See

[TonyM]

Perhaps this is the wrong forum for this, but in my opinion it should be a public service announcement for all to see. Not sure if anyone has seen this before but it's pretty powerful stuff. I know we've probably all texted/emailed while driving but let's all make an effort to not do it anymore. A text certainly wouldn't be worth injuring anyone, or worse.

Text Messaging and Driving - Texting Can Wait | AT&T (http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=2964)

[SilverBullet]

That really brings it home.. I've never lost anyone to texting and driving, but it makes me think twice about doing it now. Not only when I'm driving, but for instance if I know my wife is driving, I shouldn't be texting her. Thanks for posting this.

[J-Groove]

Great documentary.

Also check out the Remember Alex Brown foundation.

Remember Alex Brown Foundation (http://www.rememberalexbrownfoundation.org/)

Johnny Mac Brown is one of my coworkers, they lost their daughter to texting and not wearing her seat belt.

They now travel around with their daughters wrecked truck in tow and give talks to high schools trying to get it to sink in.

Some may have seen the story if you watch extreme home makeover.

-John

[alexw3000gt]

I very rarely will text while driving, usually only if I'm on a straight stretch of interstate or something, or if it's just to say, "Driving, can't talk". I usually won't even talk on the phone, I'm just not comfortable doing it I guess.

[UTRacerX9]

I very rarely will text while driving, usually only if I'm on a straight stretch of interstate or something, or if it's just to say, "Driving, can't talk". I usually won't even talk on the phone, I'm just not comfortable doing it I guess.

This. I will answer the phone quickly to say "I'm driving, call you later." Sometimes I just ignore it completely. If I'm driving an automatic car, then I will occasionally take/make a short call, but on the whole I know I drive better than anyone who is on their phone while in the car, and I wish more people would stop doing this. I can't count how many times recently there will be someone in the fast lane going well below the speed limit, because they are on the phone and can't do two things at once.

[TonyM]

For me it started at work and is taking root in my personal life. We have an absolute ZERO tolerance policy when it comes to phone use in the car, you just don't do it. And on company time/trips/travel I follow that to a "T". But I always sort of let it go when I left the office as if it couldn't happen to me on personal time.

Well no more, I won't do it. Make a quick call before you put the car in gear or pull over to the side of the road and stop if you MUST make a call/text. It's not worth the potential consequences. Best thing is to just slide the Blackberry in your briefcase and stick it in the trunk/back seat. Then it's not even a temptation. I remember riding with my Dad one day in his Crossfire, the trunk is right behind your head. I heard his phone ringing back there and he told me that was the best way to fight the urge to answer it. Whatever it takes, give it a shot and maybe it'll stick.

[dpartinvr4]

I try to use it rarely, but with this new touch to talk app, it's just like a walkie talkie/CB radio so i don't have to take my eyes off the road.

[TonyM]

Keep in mind though, even hands free cell phone use still saps precious attention from the task of driving. Obviously it is better than looking down at a phone and trying to type, but completely avoiding phone use while behind the wheel is the best solution.
:)

[dpartinvr4]

^ yeah, but i don't see how it's much different than a trucker using a CB radio?

[TonyM]

^ yeah, but i don't see how it's much different than a trucker using a CB radio?

It isn't, and to make matters worse they're piloting what could be an 80,000lb missile as opposed to our lowly 4,000lbs.

[2fnloud]

Keep in mind though, even hands free cell phone use still saps precious attention from the task of driving. Obviously it is better than looking down at a phone and trying to type, but completely avoiding phone use while behind the wheel is the best solution.
:)

I call BS, hands free talking isn't any worse than if the person was in the car with you. If you can not handle having a conversation with a person while driving, you shouldn't be driving.

I have NEVER had an issue with just talking and driving.

[TonyM]

I call BS, hands free talking isn't any worse than if the person was in the car with you. If you can not handle having a conversation with a person while driving, you shouldn't be driving.

I have NEVER had an issue with just talking and driving.

A conversation with someone in the car, handling rugrats in the back seat, blasting out your air guitar - all are distractions to driving. Some people can compartmentalize those distractions better than others. But regardless of "how well I can multitask", multitasking still diverts attention from each individual task I'm trying to focus on; in the case of driving that is keeping one's focus on vehicle control and surrounding conditions. To me, the biggest difference between a conversation with a fellow front seat passenger and a cell conversation, dealing with backseat happenings, etc. is that a fellow front seat passenger can be a second set of eyes and thus can aide in hazard recognition or simply knowing when to shut the hell up if the driver needs to focus.

You can call "BS" all you like about cell phones not being a distraction, but up until someone has an accident as a result of their phone they "never had any problems" either. It's not a problem until it's a problem, right? But in this case, you have the knowledge to mitigate that risk based on pre-task planning and not engaging in a potentially dangerous activity while driving.

The choice is yours to make, just remember that choices have consequences. The world will go on without your phone call or text message for that 15 or 20 minutes until you arrive at your destination. :)

[Granny]

I just emailed it to everyone in my address book.
I hope they take the time to watch it.

[2fnloud]

A conversation with someone in the car, handling rugrats in the back seat, blasting out your air guitar - all are distractions to driving. Some people can compartmentalize those distractions better than others. But regardless of "how well I can multitask", multitasking still diverts attention from each individual task I'm trying to focus on; in the case of driving that is keeping one's focus on vehicle control and surrounding conditions. To me, the biggest difference between a conversation with a fellow front seat passenger and a cell conversation, dealing with backseat happenings, etc. is that a fellow front seat passenger can be a second set of eyes and thus can aide in hazard recognition or simply knowing when to shut the hell up if the driver needs to focus.

You can call "BS" all you like about cell phones not being a distraction, but up until someone has an accident as a result of their phone they "never had any problems" either. It's not a problem until it's a problem, right? But in this case, you have the knowledge to mitigate that risk based on pre-task planning and not engaging in a potentially dangerous activity while driving.

The choice is yours to make, just remember that choices have consequences. The world will go on without your phone call or text message for that 15 or 20 minutes until you arrive at your destination. :)

I do understand your point, and texting well I have my wife text for me, it I am solo I do not text. As funny as it sounded, I could see air guitaring a very serious distraction.

[onebadmollafolla]

Well put. I will say though, if you own and Android download Vlingo. Then you can add a widget to your front page. All you have to do is tap one buttons and it allows you to text (and do other countless tasks) hands free so you can stay focused on the road.

ie. Press the Vlingo widget and say, "Send Ryan a text...Hey, what time are we going out tonight?" It will literally pull up a text and send it to that person all hands free. Sorry to play the devil's advocate.:p

[DocHoliday]

I'm pretty obnoxious about never answering my phone when I'm driving. If it's a text I'll glance at it, but otherwise nope.

Led to a lot of annoyed friends/family, especially on long trips.

[2fnloud]

Well put. I will say though, if you own and Android download Vlingo. Then you can add a widget to your front page. All you have to do is tap one buttons and it allows you to text (and do other countless tasks) hands free so you can stay focused on the road.

ie. Press the Vlingo widget and say, "Send Ryan a text...Hey, what time are we going out tonight?" It will literally pull up a text and send it to that person all hands free. Sorry to play the devil's advocate.:p

That sounds cool, at least you could safely reply to a text letting the person know you are on the road and you can call them in "x" minutes.

[zapman2000]

lol i don't text at all!!! EVER!!!!

Whats the Point of a Cell "PHONE" if your not going to call and talk to some one?
they need to do away with texting all together get the cell phone back to what it is, its a PHONE

[2fnloud]

Most not all but most cell phones are also a PC. You do not need to embrace it but you sure are not going to change it.

[gltasn]

i actually saw a female driver NOT on the phone today. first time in months!

[beepbeep]

Multitasking has NO place in a moving vehicle...I don't give a rats ass what your 'excuse' is.

[beepbeep]

i actually saw a female driver NOT on the phone today. first time in months!

Sadly, I have to admit, most of those I see on the phone or texting are females. Also see a lot of young boys doing it, too (i.e. 17-25 age)

[2fnloud]

Multitasking has NO place in a moving vehicle...I don't give a rats ass what your 'excuse' is.

Se we are to believe that you never:
1.) Held any kind of conversation with your passenger.
2.) Never enjoyed a soda/juice/water while driving.
3.) Never ate food of any kind.
while driving?

[AgentOblivious]

I call BS, hands free talking isn't any worse than if the person was in the car with you. If you can not handle having a conversation with a person while driving, you shouldn't be driving.

I have NEVER had an issue with just talking and driving.

Hands-free talking is more distracting than talking to a person in a car with you. My Human Neuropsych prof did either his master's or Ph.D thesis on distracted driving (not sure which), if you want I can try to see what I can get to back up this point.

Also to whoever brought up the truck drivers on C.B.s, professional drivers have distinctive cerebellum features, in some cases they could basically have a seizure and drive just fine for as long as the seizure lasts....the problem comes in when something outside of the routine comes into play where they can't correct because they aren't paying attention.

[FluffyCow]

You want non-distracted driving? Fine. make all cars block all cell phone signal, have one seat, have no room for a possible pet, and have no radio at all.

[RealMcCoy]

People in general just can't drive these days.... They've dumbed down driver tests, and stopped teaching people how to drive. How many drivers on the road today can parallel park?

I learned to drive in a 1953 Chevy... Manual trans, no power brakes, no power steering, no anti-locks, or any other "safety features" that have let people that have no clue how to control a 4000lb+ piece of machinery, "think" they know how to drive...

One of the key things that a real driver will recognise, is when they are over their head, and need to make adjustments... Either by adjusting their driving, removing distractions, or pulling over to take a break, or get some rest.

It pisses me off when they pass laws against doing things that "could" distract someone, when there have been laws against distracted driving for 50 years... Who gives a fuck "why" someone caused an accident... The bottom line is, they caused one, and need to be held responsible.

I guess I should never drive my dad's 53 chevy again... It's too distracting to actually have to pay attention to what you are doing.

[Ninja Performance]

I have not and will not text/email while actively driving. no matter who you are, or how great you think your skillz are, Texting, emailing, and even talking on the phone distracts you from the very important task at hand called driving and paying attention. Anyone whom has tried to even call me while driving will attest to that. I either won't answer, or will answer if I am stopped and will say. BY and hang up if I start moving again.

-Chris

[J_Parker]

I put this up on my Facebook hoping that some of my idiotic friends that still do this will see a bigger picture, I used to be horrible when it came to phone use while driving until one of my friends blew a red at a busy intersection with me in the car. Luckily it wan't so busy at the moment, after that the phone always went straight into the center console or glove compartment.

[TonyM]

I put this up on my Facebook hoping that some of my idiotic friends that still do this will see a bigger picture, I used to be horrible when it came to phone use while driving until one of my friends blew a red at a busy intersection with me in the car. Luckily it wan't so busy at the moment, after that the phone always went straight into the center console or glove compartment.

Luckily that's all it took. Some people have experiences and it doesn't change their outlook one iota. Glad you weren't hurt in that scenario.

[Ninja Performance]

Some just don't get it. I have heard this many times "I know most people can't, but I can do it and it does not affect my driving at all, I guess I can multi task better than most"

Driving takes ALL your senses and responses 100% of the time. Period. Test after test has proven even hands free talking to someone on the phone is distracting. It's like driving drunk.

-Chris

[gltasn]

i ment to post this when i posted last on this thread. its a link to the jammer store and you can buy a jammer for your personal use and they had a in car model but i cant find it on the site today. heres one that is 25-50 meters of protection.TWJ-100 portable Power GSM jammer, 3G blocker, GSM blocker TWJ-100 - GSM/3G/CDMA blockers - Jammer-Store (http://www.jammer-store.com/twj100-mobile-jammer-blocker.html) i cant recomend one because of the legal issue but they are fun!

[zapman2000]

Multitasking has NO place in a moving vehicle...I don't give a rats ass what your 'excuse' is.

That's sad then you must not know how to drive then
Driving a vehicle requires you to multitask and if you don't see how you have to multitask when driving you shouldn't be driving
HTC EVO

[TonyM]

That's sad then you must not know how to drive then
Driving a vehicle requires you to multitask and if you don't see how you have to multitasking when driving you shouldn't be driving
HTC EVO

Multitasking by way of shifting gears, scanning the road for hazards, maintaining speed, etc. is one thing - it's called DRIVING.

Eating, putting on your eye liner, talking/texting/emailing, reading the paper, fighting with the kid in the backseat - those are DISTRACTIONS.

[TonyM]

i ment to post this when i posted last on this thread. its a link to the jammer store and you can buy a jammer for your personal use and they had a in car model but i cant find it on the site today. heres one that is 25-50 meters of protection.TWJ-100 portable Power GSM jammer, 3G blocker, GSM blocker TWJ-100 - GSM/3G/CDMA blockers - Jammer-Store (http://www.jammer-store.com/twj100-mobile-jammer-blocker.html) i cant recomend one because of the legal issue but they are fun!

And they work too, we had a lot of fun with those in our fraternity house back in college. Just keep it in your pocket and flip it on when someone answers a call, they can't figure out what's going on because it still shows full signal strength haha. Worked great for the TV room when there was always one jackass who wanted to talk on his phone during a movie or something, got him to leave the room in a hurry.

[2fnloud]

There is nothing that will convince me that taking on a phone is as imperitave as drunk diving. That is a pretty big claim.

[TT4ME]

There is nothing that will convince me that taking on a phone is as imperitave as drunk diving. That is a pretty big claim.

I'll respectfully disagree with that statement. Being somebody that drives approx 60k/year, I see a lot of bad driving. I'd have to estimate over 90% of plain stupid driving that I've seen involves the driver on the phone and/or texting. Yesterday, I saw a lady merging onto 65mph zone going 40mph while texting with both hands resting on top of her airbag. It ended up slowing down at least 15 cars on the interstate and nearly caused a couple crashes from sudden/unexpected lane changes.

Obviously, if you are wasted drunk, you won't be able to function at anything you do. I don't believe that is the comparison others are tring to make.

[TonyM]

Obviously, if you are wasted drunk, you won't be able to function at anything you do. I don't believe that is the comparison others are tring to make.

Thank you for approaching the topic with some semblance of logic.

Drunk driving, fatigued driving, distracted driving - all are bad. Getting behind the wheel of a car is a responsibility and liability, respect the power in your hands and under your right foot when you do it.

[Ninja Performance]

Many tests have proven, texting, emailing, and or cell phone use/talking while driving is as bad or worse than DWI.

-Chris

[j2k4]

Don't know why this should prompt a hair-splitting competition - the entire issue can be summed up as follows:

Texting while driving is beyond risky, and to argue otherwise is utterly stupid.

Doing anything behind the wheel other than what the vehicle requires in the context of "driving" is a distraction from the task at hand (driving the vehicle).

Though some of us may claim to be adept at what we charitably call "multi-tasking", any of the aforementioned things that commonly occur when we are behind the wheel can and should be regarded as contributory in the event of any sort of accident.

[gltasn]

humans are great at doing individual tasks but, when more than one task is attemted at the same time, they cant be done as well as done seperatly.

[j2k4]

humans are great at doing individual tasks but, when more than one task is attemted at the same time, they cant be done as well as done seperatly.

Noted, but multi-tasking ability has a slider, too - we need to remember to use it, is all, and remember as well that extremes are nice, but they have their place.

[beepbeep]

That's sad then you must not know how to drive then
Driving a vehicle requires you to multitask and if you don't see how you have to multitask when driving you shouldn't be driving



Multitasking by way of shifting gears, scanning the road for hazards, maintaining speed, etc. is one thing - it's called DRIVING.

Eating, putting on your eye liner, talking/texting/emailing, reading the paper, fighting with the kid in the backseat - those are DISTRACTIONS.

:Clap:

[J_Parker]

People can and DO multi-task, your brain doesn't operate at doing several things at a time, it simply switches back and forth to single, simple tasks extreamly fast. Theres a limit though, and daily driving is pushing the limit of task switching as it is. Something as complicated as working fingers taking in the information on the screen and articulating your fingers to hit the right buttons is just that many more things in the way of switching bact to paying attention to the road and surrounding motorists. IN the amount of time it takes for a collision to happen or a person to step in front of your car, you'll have to drop all though of what's goin on on the phone, drop the phone, and put your hands on the wheel. I would say that takes roughly 1 - 1.5 seconds to do. Travelling at a speed of ~50km/h (~30M/h) You have about 1 second to hit the brakes at a 10 foot span... Not worth the extra 1/2 second.

[bfretless]

Mythbusters took this issue on. See what they found out:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vFcIpzF7pc

[Executive summary: yeah, using a cell phone really is as bad as DWI.]

[x2percentmilk]

Almost made quite a mess on the highway today during our meet/cruise trying to hold a camera and drive at the same time. Someones dash cam caught the maneuver I had to do, and I have an in car video of me throwing the camera. I get alot of "im 22 and im invicible" thoughts but I'm really trying to use reason to stop myself from doing things like that.

That being said I really only text at stop lights.