Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Of Cell Phones, Driving, and Babbling Idiots
.jpg)
I used to think the worst drivers in the world were to be found in third world countries where the horn substitutes for the brake and machismo compensates for any type of state-sanctioned driver's ed program.
But lately, in my hometown of Los Angeles, I've been slowly changing my mind about this planet's worst drivers as cars in front of me lazily swerve into my lane, bump curbs, and otherwise weave about as though driven by a vodka-infused village idiot.
But it's not a drunk behind the wheel; it's a cell phone bantering ignoramus too busy chatting away to pay attention to the road.
According to a recent survey, Los Angelinos yap on their cell phones more often than any other city in the country with the exception of Miami (260 calls per month vs. Miami's 290).
You know what both of these cities have in common? No laws against talking and driving. New York, which prohibits the use of cell phones while driving, doesn't even make the top ten.
Now that cell phones are making inroads in third world countries, I'm even more frightened to visit. All things being equal, however, I'd rather be creamed by Angelina Jolie's $300,000 Jaguar while she's chatting with her agent, than to be run over by Jiri's Russian Lada during a melon negotiation in Azerbaijan on his new cordless telephone.
Filed under: Activism, United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jocelyn Sep 12th 2006 4:35PM
I've heard in Argentina, people have been pulled over by police, only for the policeman to find the driver using a faux cell phone. Apparently, it was just to look tre chic. Ha! Wonder if that was a true story.
Cell phone users should be extra considerate. There are etiquette tips for cell phone users on planes in a recent travel carnival on TripHub (see #3):
http://advisor.triphub.com/2006/07/travel_carnival.html
Jocelyn Sep 12th 2006 4:07PM
Also, driver's ed courses should include a brief cell phone etiquette lecture. Today's teens seem born chatting on cells and may be more tolerant of other drivers on phones once they hit the road. Then... look out!
snowbear Sep 23rd 2006 12:46PM
It seems that my tirades over cell phone junkies driving and talking while ignoring everything else, including the yellow lines on the roads, are unfortunately universal. Now we not only have to worry about them talking but text messaging and e-mailing from their phones has become another trip to disaster, not to mention those who have opted to have their laptops open on the passenger seat so they can do some work while driving down the road, or sidewalk, to their destination. It has become such a problem that I believe that every state should ban usage of all of these and whatever the next "I'm important and can prove it" idea's of a communication nightmare will be. I used to support the usage of cell phones while driving if the person was using a headset/hands free device. Was I ever wrong! All this support did was give most of the people a chance to talk with "Both" hands while cruising through red lights, crossing into other lanes, and watching them "toss the finger" to the person that they almost hit while they traveled Northbound in the Southbound lane. I mean "how dare someone" complain about an oncoming auto in the wrong lane that just misses taking out you and possibly your family! Wait, was that the middle finger of Both hands I just saw? See hands free does free up the drivers hands for more important things!
Marke Sep 25th 2006 11:42PM
There is such an explosion in the number of people driving with a phone stuck to one ear that it has changed driving from just a stressful necessity to an absolute nightmare. They are everywhere, and if someone runs a light, slows down unexpectadly, weaves all over the road, or barely makes a corner, you can bet that person is yacking and trying to drive with one hand. There appears to be no help from the government in curbing this inexcusable behavior coming in my area, even though they pose far more danger now than drunk drivers. Therefore, I'm wondering if there are any devices that jam cell phone signals in small areas that John Q Public can acquire. We the people who don't appreciate our lives being threatened just so self-absorbed jerks can stay "connected" need some help.