Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Another Cell Phone/Driving Study... *grumble*

shakran · 07-03-2006, 05:51 PM

I'd love to see a cell phone driving test in which they compare German drivers on / off cell phones to US drivers on / off cell phones. I wouldn't be surprised if the Germans drive better while talking on the phone than US citizens drive with no distractions.

In my opinion, we're scapegoating here. Cellphones are distracting us. Food is distracting us. I've even seen drivers get in to wrecks and then claim that a camera crew that happened to be there was distracting them. It's all bullshit.

Driver training in the USA is attrocious. We have kids drive slow in parking lots and then drive slow on the streets. Many if not all states don't even requrie basic evasive maneuver practice. Then we give them a test where the only failure point for anyone that has an IQ greater than oatmeal is parallel parking.

If you look at the statistics, the autobahn has fewer deaths per vehicle mile driven than the US interstate system, even though you can go 200+mph on the autobahn. Clearly one of the most common scapegoats - "speed kills" - has a logical flaw. If speed really kills the Germans should be dropping like flies. Since they're not, there must be another factor at work - one which can make driving safer no matter what the speed.

And of course the answer is in the German driver training system. The Germans actually expect you to know what the hell you're doing when you get behind the wheel. And once you get your license, they expect you to remember not to drive like a dumbass. You don't see licensed drivers with 28 DWI's in Germany. One strike and you're done.

In short, Germany takes driving SERIOUSLY, while Americans do not.

Do I talk on the cell phone while driving? Sure (with an earpiece) - hell my job requires it. But as many people on the other end of the line have noticed, my mind is still focused on driving. If a situation comes up that requires more conversations, I stop talking. I don't mean I hang up - I mean I stop talking, right then, until the situation clears up.

The real trouble isn't that cell phones are always a distraction - the trouble is that people don't take driving seriously enough to realize that if you are talking on the phone, the phone should not be the priority.

Look at it this way - if talking to someone was so distracting that you were guaranteed to perform as though you were drunk, then air force pilots would crash every time they got on the radio. Difference is, air force pilots are smart enough to figure out what gets priority over what, but the average driver is not that smart.

07-03-2006, 05:51 PM	#8 (permalink)
shakran Tone.	I'd love to see a cell phone driving test in which they compare German drivers on / off cell phones to US drivers on / off cell phones. I wouldn't be surprised if the Germans drive better while talking on the phone than US citizens drive with no distractions. In my opinion, we're scapegoating here. Cellphones are distracting us. Food is distracting us. I've even seen drivers get in to wrecks and then claim that a camera crew that happened to be there was distracting them. It's all bullshit. Driver training in the USA is attrocious. We have kids drive slow in parking lots and then drive slow on the streets. Many if not all states don't even requrie basic evasive maneuver practice. Then we give them a test where the only failure point for anyone that has an IQ greater than oatmeal is parallel parking. If you look at the statistics, the autobahn has fewer deaths per vehicle mile driven than the US interstate system, even though you can go 200+mph on the autobahn. Clearly one of the most common scapegoats - "speed kills" - has a logical flaw. If speed really kills the Germans should be dropping like flies. Since they're not, there must be another factor at work - one which can make driving safer no matter what the speed. And of course the answer is in the German driver training system. The Germans actually expect you to know what the hell you're doing when you get behind the wheel. And once you get your license, they expect you to remember not to drive like a dumbass. You don't see licensed drivers with 28 DWI's in Germany. One strike and you're done. In short, Germany takes driving SERIOUSLY, while Americans do not. Do I talk on the cell phone while driving? Sure (with an earpiece) - hell my job requires it. But as many people on the other end of the line have noticed, my mind is still focused on driving. If a situation comes up that requires more conversations, I stop talking. I don't mean I hang up - I mean I stop talking, right then, until the situation clears up. The real trouble isn't that cell phones are always a distraction - the trouble is that people don't take driving seriously enough to realize that if you are talking on the phone, the phone should not be the priority. Look at it this way - if talking to someone was so distracting that you were guaranteed to perform as though you were drunk, then air force pilots would crash every time they got on the radio. Difference is, air force pilots are smart enough to figure out what gets priority over what, but the average driver is not that smart.