Cell Phone Use While Driving, Do you or don't you????

[mwilson]

I have been planning to ask this question for a while and now will take a moment to do so. .



I am not comfortable nor do I feel safe taking a call while driving. Never have been.



Before I stumbled onto the truck parts business I started out as an 18 wheeler jockey hauling large loads of wood, then oversize machinery. Graduated to the long haul way of life, spent many hours doing deliveries and such in Boston, NYC, Baltimore. Then did a longer stint hauling garnett to Houma, LA to be used for sandblasting the interior of oilfield pipe. Returned with either steel from New Orleans or hides from Houston, Texas.



In doing that I developed a defensive driving style that kept me alive through several close calls, learning to watch and anticipate the actions of others on our highways can and will save your life and the lives of other motorists around you.

Check all of the mirrors, check down front to the left and right, check gauges, watch load, watch tires, watch as far as you can in front, watch it all and then repeat, repeat, repeat.

It is a lifelong habit that I use even when driving Gizmo to work and back.



I feel that answering a cell phone and trying to talk to someone on that phone disrupts my driving concentration and sense of place in traffic. I can not keep track of the other vehicles while trying to talk on the stupid things. I do not feel that I am driving safely and will terminate the call or pull over.



My question is... Am I a freak or do others on here feel the same way???? Maybe I was born cross-wired or something?????



Mike.

 

[ScottLewis]

Fully agree. Of course I hate to use phones anytime but feel very irritated when I see folks talking on the phone instead of paying attention to driving.

 

[jgillott]

You certainly aren't the only one who feels that way, but I know that you, and I for that matter, are in the minority. Keep in mind, we grew up at a time where the only phone you had access to on the road, was bolted to a wall and you needed a dime to use. The younger crowd today are amazing with those things. They can talk, walk, text, eat, smile, fart, and whatever else with a phone in their hand and never blink an eye. I certainly don't like to see anyone use those things while they are on the road, but the kids are much more capable of it than I am at this point.

I'm certainly not going to tell you that I never answer a call while driving. But, it is few and far between. Besides, at this point, nobody really wants to talk to me anyway.

 

[Tractorat]

The younger crowd today are amazing with those things. They can talk, walk, text, eat, smile, fart, and whatever else with a phone in their hand and never blink an eye. I certainly don't like to see anyone use those things while they are on the road, but the kids are much more capable of it than I am at this point.

My observations have been quite the opposite. The younger folks THINK they are better at it, but they are the ones that I notice not paying attention to traffic, cutting people off, changing lanes w/o signaling, etc, all with a cell phone in their ear.

I believe that you can talk on a cell while driving, but you have to have a discipline that makes the driving the focus and the call secondary. Many people do not have that skill, and many just ignore it.

BTW, as a long haul driver, didnt you spend some time on a cb ?

 

[chipster]

You certainly aren't the only one who feels that way, but I know that you, and I for that matter, are in the minority. Keep in mind, we grew up at a time where the only phone you had access to on the road, was bolted to a wall and you needed a dime to use. The younger crowd today are amazing with those things. They can talk, walk, text, eat, smile, fart, and whatever else with a phone in their hand and never blink an eye. I certainly don't like to see anyone use those things while they are on the road, but the kids are much more capable of it than I am at this point.



I'm certainly not going to tell you that I never answer a call while driving. But, it is few and far between. Besides, at this point, nobody really wants to talk to me anyway.

You are right, they can do all that stuff but they are a HAZARD even while WALKING !! a teen age girl `bout 16/17yrs or so, was WALKING in a parking LOT and BUMPED into me and my brother ( 250 lbs each) while texting!!! she looked up after the bump, and wanted to know why WE bumped into her !! when my brother and I saw her texting, we just stopped and waited to see if she would see us before she hit us. the younger generation is brain washed and addicted to texting. I`ve seen `em walk off curbs and fall down, stupid!! when I drive, I let ALL calls go to voice mail . I do just like we did before cell phones, I call when I get where I`m going. if the call is important, they`ll leave a message. I ask all my friends,how we drove before the cell phone, and I get the" deer in the headlight" look ! I do just like M wilson, and drive DEFENSIVALY. my wife always asks if I saw something way off the side of the road, and I say no I`m too busy driving. when she`s driving then I get to sightsee !! LOL ! I wish they would make all cars so that when they are running, they block all incomming and out going calls ! :-laf

 

[GAmes]

The FMCSA has made it illegal for commercial drivers to use hand held cell phones or text while driving. I can't count the times I have nearly collided with a moron who thinks he/she can drive and talk with a phone held to the ear at the same time. As much as I hate CA, at least they have made it illegal for all motorists in that state. Now the trick is enforcement.

 

[JR]

Guilty as charged. Ok, let the cruicifications begin :-laf. Of course, it all depends on where im at if i take a call or not. 90 percent of where i drive is rural. i drive 25 miles each way to work and the first 20 i may or may not see another car. The last few miles as i get closer to work it does get busier but if theres no cars in sight and somebody calls me, i may or may not take the call depending on who it is. The reason i say this is because we do not keep a home phone (land line). We are on the go so much that were not around enough to answer it and everybody was calling our cell phones because they knew that was the better chance of getting ahold of us so we eventually shut it down to eliminate a bill. So it may be an important call (work related etc) and if traffice permits i will probably answer. On the other hand if im in a town or in other traffic, ill let it go until i get where im going. And very rarely do i make any calls while im on the road, i dont have the coordination to punch numbers in and stay between the lines

 

[PBJ2500CTD]

No Mike, you are not a freak - or at least not the only one cross-wired. I'm right there with ya, drivin' habits and all. Mine sits in the "cell phone holder" (ash tray) and quite often doesn't even get turned on. If it's important, leave a message; I'll call ya back at the next stop. The better-half always answers our calls when riding shotgun. If it's for me, she will field the questions - short and sweet - done. Heck, in addition to all the Bambis tip-toeing out of the woods, I'm contantly on the lookout for the one-dee-ten-tees (1D10ts) trying to run us off the road while they are yaking or texting. Like GAmes said - laws have been passed - the trick is in the enforcement.

 

[mwilson]

BTW, as a long haul driver, didnt you spend some time on a cb ?

Not a lot, I used to listen to it but didn't talk a lot. The exception being when several of us would leave Bangor at the same time in the evening headed out of state. Then I would chatter some to help myself stay awake.



We did use them on the woods roads so that we could find the crane, also to arrange a place for a loaded and empty truck to meet on the one lane roads.

Then we were given Motorola units that used a mountaintop repeater so the CB use died down for us quite a bit. We could use the truck to truck non-repeater channel if we wanted to shoot the bull when we met on the road.



The radios were a distraction but not as bad as the phones. If traffic is real bad I won't even talk to a passenger, just ask my wife.....

She is used to it now and understands why I may be quiet while busy driving.



Mike.

 

[BIGNASTY]

If I get a call on cell I look to see who it is and make a choice THEY CAN WAIT!!! OR I WILL PULL OVER AND CALL. I have used while driving to turn in drunk drivers while driving and have had the officers pull up next to me while talking to their dispatch and point out the car.

 

[mwilson]

Hands free doesn't work for me either. I bought one of those ear thingys, tried it but it still distracts me for some reason.



Maybe I killed the brain cells needed for such things during several somewhat hairy weekends back in my twenties???????Oo.



Mike.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Never used a blue tooth company had problem with phones and said they see that in your ear THEY SAID YOUR USING IT!!! AND YOUR FIRED NO QUESTIONS ASKED

 

[Simplysmn]

well the 2011 dodge and our 2012 jetta both have hand's free so when I have to answer a call i will but text messages are only returned in the truck and only if it's a quick reply I hate idiot's that can't multi task and Most people can't drive and talk not that I'm a pro but .

 

[Wayne M.]

Texting is OFF LIMITS. I screen who it is by looking at the display. If my wife is with me, I'll give it to her. If Im alone, I use a hands free device that clips onto the visor and looks like a remote for a garage door. I can answer by voice ( never works) or touch a button on it or the phone. I personally don't find it very distracting. I will not hold the phone while driving.
Phone use is a real problem here in NYC. I recently heard of a doctor friend of a friend who got bagged sitting in manhattan traffic handling a emergency call. The cop didn't care. The seatbelt is on- you can't even touch the phone. She got a ticket.

 

[BSeyler]

I never talk on the cell phone or text while driving. I guess you have to have one of the danged things, first. :-laf No phone and not missing one.

Bud

 

[SierraRam]

Hands free only, I conduct a lot of business while traveling up and down central California. With that said it is still distracting, similar to having a passenger in the car and having a conversation with them. Of course in California it is already illegal to use a phone unless its hands free.

 

[AMink]

I use one of the hands-free things on the visor. As Wayne M said, sometimes it doesn't work right. Nevada also passed a "no electronic devices" law unless it's an emergency. Hands free are ok. I don't get many calls and when I do I look where I am before answering. If traffic is heavy or I'm in an unfamiliar area, I let it go to message and get it later.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Hands free only, I conduct a lot of business while traveling up and down central California. With that said it is still distracting, similar to having a passenger in the car and having a conversation with them. Of course in California it is already illegal to use a phone unless its hands free.

Agreed. Besides, holding the phone, trying to clutch and turn the wheel at the same time is a challenge. :-laf

 

[EGroeneveld]

I have the Blue Tooth setup on my Factor Radio but you still have to push two buttons to talk. I've found even it distracting. After seeing so many stupid things on the roads from texters and cell talkers I'm just not answering the phone or looking at it when driving any more. I have a very short commute (5 miles each way) so nothing real important comes up in the ten minutes I'm driving home. I just put the phone in the door pocket or my pants pocket and wait a few minutes.



Every day even in my short commute I see stupid driving. You can see them looking at their phone and they are driving like they are drunk.

 

[Wayne M.]

I use one of the hands-free things on the visor. sometimes it doesn't work right.

Mine too. If it dosent pair up right, I'll ignore it and not answer. Fixing it is worse than anything...