Mobile phone use contributes to a 1/3 of fatal crashes in QLD

[2011G6E]

Love the comments about "I do it all the time and nothing has happened to me...yet..."

Just because you are a master of concentration and mutli-tasking who's able to do things that go against all the evidence, doesn't mean everyone should be allowed to in a blanket "It's OK, he can do it so you can too".

The figures are simply overwhelming that, oddly talking on a mobile is different to talking to someone sitting beside you. The odd fact seems to stem from the fact that your brain can't figure out where to concentrate the conversation...there's no other physical person there that you are talking to, so your brain devotes a lot more resources than it normally would to concentrating on the conversation, working much differently to when someone is sitting beside you and you are talking to them. It's really weird, but it's simply a fault of the wiring in our grey stuff.
Oddly enough two way radios such as the UHF you might have fitted don't seem to have the same effect. One theory is that the voice you are "speaking to" on a UHF is loud and your brain interprets it as someone else in the car...even if they're actually not there. This is linked to why it's much better to have hands free going if you simply must talk on the phone as you drive along. However, there is still a smaller instance of the same effect going on when you use hands free...it's not risk free, it's just safer than using the phone in your hand.

As new stuff appears, laws have to change to keep up...we never had mobile phones, but plenty of people had (and still do have) accidents looking down to tune thier radio or change a cassette in the days before steering wheel controls, let me tell you. Mobiles just added a new way to distract the driver.

Basically, is your life that busy that you simply must answer each and every call and text the moment you get them?
Hell, you'd hate to work in my job where, if you have your mobile with you at all during the twelve hour shift in the locomotive cab, regulations say quite sternly that it has to be either turned off or on silent in your work bag, and you aren't allowed to look at it while the train is in motion. That would drive some people mad being out of contact with thier precious mobile for hours at a time...

[qdda5]

I came across roadworks yesterday near Greenbank and there was the lolly pop guy leaning up against his car texting on his phone. He was oblivious to the fact I was there waiting for him to turn the sign in any direction due to the way he was holding it.Thats safety with a capital S right there. Hate to think what would have happened if I had just sailed through to oncoming traffic in one lane. Would have thought that some traffic controllers would take there positions a little more seriously.

[FGII-XR6]

couldn't resist

[Tanksenda]

[QUOTE=gtxb67]i am not suggesting that mobile phone usage while driving is not a problem, but if they do not have mobile phones, they will find something else to take their attention away

Yes, like eating a meat pie from one hand, drinking coffee from the other hand and steering the car with their knees.
Putting on makeup while driving is another good one.

[LG17]

I just love the, "I can do this," or ,"I do that while I'm driving and I'm okay, nothing's ever happened to me!"

I wonder how many people have died in car crashes this year who had the same attitude? :(

[MAD]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

The figures are simply overwhelming that, oddly talking on a mobile is different to talking to someone sitting beside you. The odd fact seems to stem from the fact that your brain can't figure out where to concentrate the conversation...there's no other physical person there that you are talking to, so your brain devotes a lot more resources than it normally would to concentrating on the conversation, working much differently to when someone is sitting beside you and you are talking to them. It's really weird, but it's simply a fault of the wiring in our grey stuff.

The big difference I see between talking hands free on the phone and talking to a passenger is that you have an extra set of eyes in the car with your passenger.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by MAD

The big difference I see between talking hands free on the phone and talking to a passenger is that you have an extra set of eyes in the car with your passenger.

Ah of course, passengers are never a distraction.

In saying this there are a percentage of people who cannot talk to somone without looking at them. I have been a passenger is a car driven by such a person on several occasions and it was VERY dangerous.

[Jim Goose]

Originally Posted by flappist

Ah of course, passengers are never a distraction.

In saying this there are a percentage of people who cannot talk to somone without looking at them. I have been a passenger is a car driven by such a person on several occasions and it was VERY dangerous.

Yes have had the same thing happen a number of times, especially with younger drivers then myself... I find that they seem to turn to look at you when talking and driving (or could be bad luck). Maybe they think its rude not to look at you when talking and driving.

But then I see plenty of parents who turn around to smack/yell at kids in the back seat while driving in 100kmh zones!

[roberts]

i HATE I-******* on the facebook constant
I mean how hard is it to pick up I-chicks now, Im looking at ya giving you the ***** eyes and your reading updates about your mums breakfast.

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

Yes have had the same thing happen a number of times, especially with younger drivers then myself... I find that they seem to turn to look at you when talking and driving (or could be bad luck). Maybe they think its rude not to look at you when talking and driving.

I find those movies funny where the driver is turned towards the passenger talking for what seems an eternity. Half their luck that road rolling past in the background is (presumably) artificial!

[zilo]

My mobile phone is a 29 dollar flip fone.

All it does is make phone calls...not sure if it texts...I never text...

it's the smart fones that cause the crashes IMHO...

people checking facebook etc while they drive...unbelievable

[FGII-XR6]

[Bill M]

Unfortunately a large number of road users view phone calls and texting more important than driving. I hope that in their quest for a Darwin Award that they are far away from me and people I care about.
Bill.