Texting Truck Drivers

[FIS53]

Canda's Worst Driver tv program had a test for the drivers which was a fixed radius circle that they drove around while doing the following: texting, then taking a drink, then eat a sandwich and finally put on lipstick (males and females had to). Results were of course predictable with all of them hitting several of the pylons marking the outside and inside of the lane. It definitely showed the amount of distraction involved with each task. Of course some did better than others but still wandering was the result.

This does remind me of a time last fall when my son was with me and doing a turn behind the wheel and his cell beeped that he had a message. So he fished it out and looked and then responded. Now it was late at night and he did rather well in not straying out of the lane but still, instead of a one word response he sent several. Of course I blew up and yelled at him and then when I got home I let the females of the family know who also tore a few strips off him as well. I think he got the message (hasn't done it since).

Most of us are guilty of the talking on the cell or looking at the qc because it beeped. There are the rare times it is almost impossible to avoid it even if it is for a very short term. Yes these things are distracting but if we can't do away with them then the handsfree is at least one option that helps a little.
Rob

 

[inkasnana]

You don't know the half of it, girl. One morning as we were rolling down the road, I stuck my head out of the sleeper into the cab and saw the map on top of the steering wheel as he was driving. So I say to him..."are you reading that map while you're driving"...and he says...."no, I'm just looking at the pictures".....true story. See what I have to live with?

Honey, you deserve a medal and a good, stiff drink!! My sympathies are with you.

 

[chefdennis]

My kids all text, my wife texts, i just learned how about 2-3 months ago, i hate it and it is a pain...i certainly wouldn't do it while driving, i have to look at the keyboard to type, on a phone, i screwup every other word and thats while i am looking at the keys....no texting for me....

As for cell phones while driving, we all do it (ok thats a generalization) but i think as greg said, it is not the phone on your ear, even handsfree is a bad deal, your mind is not on driving and your reactions to driving are slowed when you are on the phone....

 

[dieseldiva]

Honey, you deserve a medal and a good, stiff drink!! My sympathies are with you.

Actually, truth be told, he's the one that deserves and needs the above! Just sayin'.

 

[Doggie Daddy]

You are multi-talented aren't you Doggie Daddy?

Yes I am,and BTW,Happy birthday !!

 

[xiggi]

Icam tect judt fime wile dtivingn.

 

[FIS53]

Xiggi is that a nokia phone? Looked a bit like Finnish there.
Rob

 

[flattop40]

Everyone has brought up great points about this subject. However kids, I hate to say it but all of this distracted driving is here to stay. Even if everything is made illegal people will still do it and almost impossible to enforce. Just another way to punish people after the fact is all it is.

Think of this. It is now illegal to have a child in the front seat of a car with a car seat because of the air bags. So now the child goes into the back seat and he begins to cry. The mother will instinctively try to quiet the child. 99% of the time this will require looking into the back seat and even worse yet turning around. I have seen this time and time again so what is worse the distracted driving of the mother causing a higher rate of accident or having the child in the front seat with less distraction but run the risk of more injury to the child IF there is an accident.

The point of this is the distracted driving is here to stay and the good driver will be aware of their surroundings and drive defensivly.

 

[jrcarroll]

"According to an analysis by Virginia Tech's Transportation Institute, texting truckers are 23 times as likely as their non-texting counterparts to be involved in a crash or a near miss."

Full story

.

Goes along with Truckers who use the phone while trying to drive.

 

[Bruno]

Texting going down the road puts people lifes in danger. People are hired to do a job, not texting going down the road. America needs to go back to the days like in the song "it was a different world" times was better back then.

Here is the link to the song.

YouTube - Bucky Covington - A Different World - Official Video

 

[ATeam]

Everyone has brought up great points about this subject. However kids, I hate to say it but all of this distracted driving is here to stay. Even if everything is made illegal people will still do it and almost impossible to enforce.

Actually not. By building technology into cell phones and mobile devices, enforcement would be easy. Many phones and PDAs now have the ability to "know" if they are in drive mode. They know this by the rate at which the phone moves from one cell phone tower or GPS location to another.

It would be technologically easy to make the device disable itself while in drive mode (exception for 911). A drive mode message can automatically kick in for incoming callers that explains you are not answering the call or text message because you are driving. A beep can alert the phone user that a new message is in, giving the driver the option of continuing one's drive or stopping to check voice mail.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Actually not. By building technology into cell phones and mobile devices, enforcement would be easy. Many phones and PDAs now have the ability to "know" if they are in drive mode. They know this by the rate at which the phone moves from one cell phone tower or GPS location to another.

It would be technologically easy to make the device disable itself while in drive mode (exception for 911). A drive mode message can automatically kick in for incoming callers that explains you are not answering the call or text message because you are driving. A beep can alert the phone user that a new message is in, giving the driver the option of continuing one's drive or stopping to check voice mail.

That will never happen because cell phone companies will argue thats there is more then one person in the car/truck..

 

[greg334]

IF this is an epidemic where a lot of lives are at risk and people die in larger numbers than 3, the government can tell the cell companies to simply turn it off and there you have the solution - you can texts from a car because you can't text.

If we can be dictated to in other aspects of our lives, why not this on, it is not vital to our existence to have it in the first place but it is a feature that is added to our phones as a selling point.

The alternative is allowing me or you to sue the person who caused the accident in the first place by using a cell phone. But with the stupid no fault attitude and a restriction of legal recourse in this country with automobiles, we are stuck (you ever notice that auto accidents are the only place you can't sue).

 

[inkasnana]

Yes I am,and BTW,Happy birthday !!

How sweet, and thank you! I didn't even get that (a Happy birthday) from my hubby! lol

 

[inkasnana]

But with the stupid no fault attitude and a restriction of legal recourse in this country with automobiles, we are stuck (you ever notice that auto accidents are the only place you can't sue).

You can sue the other driver's insurance company. When my ex was hit head-on by a drunk driver (Nov, 1987), I contacted a lawyer and we sued both bars the guy had been drinking at for serving him after intoxication and the guy's insurance company (which just happened to be the same insurance company we had so we basically sued our own insurance company). The guy had $50,000 liability coverage so that is what we sued for and won, along with settlements from both bars. We won a total of $150,000 and ended up with $66,000 after paying our lawyer. My ex also had over $55,000 in medical bills which we received payment for and he is still receiving medical care and coverage for a permanent disability caused by the accident.

 

[greg334]

That was because of an injury but I am talking about neglect. If someone hits my car and they are texting, I want to sue them not their insurance company.

 

[inkasnana]

That was because of an injury but I am talking about neglect. If someone hits my car and they are texting, I want to sue them not their insurance company.

Ok, gotcha. Misunderstanding on my part.