Distracted Drivers

[EricTheCarGuy]

I think we all may have been guilty of this at one time or another. That said, what are your thoughts on distracted drivers?

Topic

[Dave]

I just want to quickly comment on the science part of this topic, Eric mentioned in the original video studies that show that the hands free devices don’t actually help much. My background is in experimental psychology (finishing my masters this spring) and according to the research I’ve read on the topic, which was required for a class, the problem comes down to a persons total attention. Essentially it takes more attention to drive, and have a conversation then the normal person has, so something is getting short changed. This problem gets even worse if the conversation requires details or something like that. So yeah, hands free systems really don’t do anything, its not holding your phone, heck most people I know drive with only 1 hand anyway, its the dividing of attention between driving, and the content of your conversation. I do admit, knowing this I still do it from time to time, but I do try and make sure I short change the conversation not the driving.

[James Sugrue]

as far as destractions, I personially try to minimize them, yes I might check my phone while sitting at a redlight to see what message has come in (usually family) but I have my phone set up in such a way that I can listen to the sound and tell thats the teim is, message, email, ect, now have I eaten while driving yes I have, but that is rare for me to do, and I personially prefer to pay attention to the road, why? because I want to stay alive and I know that others arn’t going to pay as much attention to me, case and point is today (at time of post) I was in the left turn lane coming to a stop and a driver in the middle “go straight lane” decides to make a left turn, well I hit the horn as there action (which im almost certain they were being destracted by something) would have caused me to plow into them (I was driving my 1995 F150 pick up) and would have most likely had my bumper through there window (there car sat low to where there window was level with my bumpers, and my truck is stock factory height too) and I really didn’t want my truck going through there window, not that I really would have cared or had damage to the truck, as its a work truck, but more for the fact that I really didn’t want to deal with incompetence or waiting for the police to show up and all that mess, as for my phone most of the time when I drive my truck or my mustang, I toss my phone in the glove box or the centere console storage bin.

my Mustang is a standard trans so it really keeps me busy anyways. so the way I look at other drivers is I automatically assume all other drivers are destracted and are not paying any attention to anything unless proven otherwise.

[Author]

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