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Originally Posted by highthief
Completely incorrect in application, though it sounds good in theory. There are thousands of people who drive legally drunk and yet never come close to an accident. Their perceptions and abilities are somewhat diminished, but not to a large degree. It's the same thing with cell phone users - some are easily distracted, some are not, but all have their abilities diminished to some degree.
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You make a strong statement and then prove it wrong in the same paragraph. I was completely CORRECT in application. As you mentioned, both cell phone and drinking cause you to lose some perception. As I mentioned, and I still stand by this, you can dismiss those effects with the cell phone by simply stopping the conversation while you deal with whatever situation comes up. You cannot dismiss at will the effects of alcohol.
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With drinking and dirving, we play to a lowest common denominator rule - hell, many people can drive legally drunk better than a lot of people can drive sober, but we don't take the chance that this is the case. Everyone is held to the same minimum standard, as we know most people are significantly affected by alcohol.
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No, we hold everyone to the minimum standard because we realize that, should a situation arise in which you need more cognitive abilities than you can muster while drunk, you cannot dismiss the effects of the alcohol.
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Personally, I see no reason people need to yak on the phone while driving other than they want to. Pull over if you really have to talk.
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That works great unless you work in journalism or some other field where you're on the phone all day, and driving all day. If I pulled over every time I talked to my newsroom or to a source I'd never get more than 5 feet away from the garage.