I understand Skywalkers frustration, but that is not really a professional attitude, if you ask me. So you wanna whack someone with a shovel who is driving carelessly? Ok, whatever you say driver.

As professional drivers, we have to deal with this sort of thing everyday. I was taught to be "better" than the general motoring public, by not letting the road rage factor get to me. This is the mark of a true pro driver, in my opinion. (among other things)

I have to agree that driving with the cell in the left hand/ear doesn't hinder a driver from seeing their mirrors AT ALL.

Just sayin

 

I think that it isn't as safe due to not concentrating on what you are doing rather than what you see. Some people become so involved in their cell phone conversation that they don't concentrate on driving. I believe that is the main issue, not visibility.

 

Hey Rev., I heard oatmeal is good... ...are you kidding!! The only thing that makes absolute sense in this thread, is the first entry! I can relate. No one driving anything with a bunch of wheels, should be distracting themselves into oblivion. How can I relate? A driver and I rounding the bend downtown Birmingham. He passes me like I'm sitting at a standstill, drives too close to my tractor and knocked the mirror completely forward. Another incident; Dumb and Dumber in one of those nice purple trucks on I-80 halfway thru Pennsylvania. Both dumb*****e$ had a phone hanging on their ear. He passed me, and before the half the trailer passes me, he turns right! He never saw me. I had to stop and mop up.

Please! Help educate driver's on this board, Mr. Administrator. You've got newbies watching and reading what their peers do, and 'things' just keep getting worse. You of all people can make a difference.

 

*Sigh*

Apparently reading the entire thread was too much work for you. As I've said several times already, I am not disputing the effects of cell phone usage and accidents/distracted driving. I am only disputing the notion that one is incapable of seeing their left mirror while holding a cell phone. There is a huge difference between not bothering to look at a mirror (which happens whether there is a cell phone in peoples' hands or not) and not being able to see the mirror.

The OP made an absurd statement about how it is physically impossible to see the mirror, and that somehow your arm prevents you from doing so. It was a dumb statement with no basis in reality, and only serves to take away from the main point about distracted driving, which is a perfectly valid concern. His insistence upon arguing it even further only weakens his argument even more.

 

Possibly the first time I have ever agreed ENTIRELY with everything Vito had to say in one post!

 

I was going to make this same point.... and one more:

The stats quoted by the Rev are for 2008. Wasn't that the year that fuel/gas prices went through the roof.... and Americans drove BILLIONS of miles less than in previous years? (Truck miles were down, too!)

Don't want to get into a "stat" war.... but, everything I've heard says that crashes and fatalities are UP due to cellphone use, whether handheld or not. TEXTING is worse that talking, handheld worse than "hands-free."

As for holding the phone in the left hand..... I agree with Skywalker that it tends to inhibit attention to the left mirror. It may only be psychological/"motor responsive" rather than actual impediment.... but, the Rev's pictures are not "exculpatory." For ONE thing.... his angle dispersion is more like 45%, not 10%.

So..... those of you who think it is okay to hold the phone in your RIGHT hand.... you NEVER have to shift gears?

This is a SERIOUS problem, folks! And TEXTING is even a BIGGER problem! The younger the "class" of drivers out there (both PROFESSIONAL/CDL... AND.... 4wheeler,) the worse this problem will become. [that is ONLY based on the cultural statistical occurrence of "immediate interaction" in all forms by the tekkie-age.]

You know? It's not even ABOUT the mirrors! It's about paying attention to traffic on ALL sides of you, at ALL times! I can tell you that almost everytime I have to pass someone who SHOULD be maintaining a speed and a position OUT OF MY WAY.... that I will see that driver holding a cellphone to HIS LEFT EAR as I finally go by his sorry AZZ! :hellno:

Once again, the REV has used his considerable argumentative talents to "obscure" the message that might have been learned by a newer driver reading this board, in favor of "scoring points" with his faithful followers. BARELY defensible by feigning concern for the problem overall, he manages to split hairs with the FACTS presented by a concerned poster, while dismissing the existence of any "spirit" to his concerns.

 

Reading comprehension is not your strong suit today. I provided a link that had statistics for every year from 1994 through 2008. If you'd have bothered to look at them, you would have seen that vehicle deaths have remained relatively steady, and have even dropped slightly. More dramatic is the fact that every year, the number of miles traveled has increased, and yet the vehicle deaths have remained very constant. Statistically speaking, our highways become safer every single year.

So prove it. I've shown that deaths have remained constant.

Whatever. Sorry I left my drafting compass at home.

No ****, Sherlock. But you'll notice that the OP made it about the mirrors, and threw asinine reasoning behind it. My elbow is going to hit the window and prevent me from turning my head? Give me a break. That's just ******ed.

Blah blah blah.

The entire original post was devoted to the fact that he claimed people were incapable of seeing their mirrors while on the phone, and the results of that action. The argument was flawed from the beginning. I requested clarification, and he dug the hole deeper.

Maybe next time you'll bother to actually read the thread before you whine about me.

 

Also, if you would have bothered to read the statistics I provided, you would see that total miles traveled last year was barely down from the year before.

 

Barely down? I guess I'll have to check your "stats," cuz all I've heard since last summer.... on ALL major news networks.... has been how the price of fuel came DOWN "partly if not mostly" due to the BILLIONS of miles that Americans decided NOT TO DRIVE because fuel was too expensive!

 

Thanks for admitting that you never bothered to even look prior to commenting on them. Guess it shows that you were more interested whining about me than actually providing something of value to the thread.