🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <sliaolp9jev72@corp.supernews.com>,
Dan Duncan  <dand@babu.pcisys.net> wrote:
>At which point I refer you back to the earlier posts in which
>merely talking on the phone AT ALL is a huge accident risk.
>
>I propose that time spent dialing is trivial compared to time
>spent talking.

  I agree on both points. But I still think the risk spikes even worse,
to truly dangerous levels, when someone's dialing a non-preset number.
In my opinon, that's where the real problem is. (Well, okay, the
_real_ problem is dumbasses behind the wheel. But you understand what
I'm saying.)

>>   Yeah, yeah, I know - how the hell do I plan to enforce that? I'm
>> not saying it's realistic to make laws this way. I'm just pointing
>> out the time of maximum danger, the point when using a cell phone in
>> a car truly becomes a danger to other people.
>
>According to the studies I find, using a phone at all is dangerous
>to other people.

  I believe it.

>>   I'd be real impressed if you could have done it on this phone. It's
>> real difficult to dial without looking when you can't feel the keys.
>> (Lovely cheap-ass membrane keypad...)
>
>Such a phone wouldn't pass my usability test and I would never buy it.

  That's because you're smart. The idiots dialing cell phones in their
cars aren't.

>> And if you can memorize the
>> locations of the keys well enough to dial them blind without any feel
>> help, with just a couple of test dials, you're amazing - far, far better
>> than the average idiot behind the wheel can ever be expected to be.
>
>It's true.  I am amazing.

  I'll take your word for it.

>>   Thereafter I completely stopped using the cell phone in the car any
>> time I was the driver and the car was moving. And not too long after that
>> the phone at itself, making it a moot point anyway.
>
>Of course clued-in drivers like you aren't the problem.

  Actually, if I dial my cell phone whilst driving, I am the problem,
or at least part of it.

>>   There comes a time when you can reasonably conclude that someone
>> even taking the risk is too dangerous to tolerate. This is why it's
>> illegal to drive drunk even if you don't hit anyone.
>
>Keep in mind any chimp with a breathalyzer can prove you're intoxicated.
>Proving cellphone use at the time of impact would be damned difficult
>because presumably you'd hang up when the accident happened.  Unless
>you can establish an EXACT time of impact synchronized with the clock
>used by the cell company to log your usage, it's NEVER going to fly.

  Like I said, I haven't a clue how enforcement would work. I guess
you could try and find independent witnesses who saw the accident
and noticed if anyone involved was using a cell phone. This might
work about 1 time out of 10. If the police are lucky.

>(but getting a handsfree unit would certainly have a stealth
>advantage here to keep you from getting pulled over while talking)

  Definitely.


          -Ben
-- 
Ben Cantrick (mackys@dim.com)        |     Yes, the BGC dubs still suck.
BGC Nukem:     http://www.dim.com/~mackys/bgcnukem.html
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Am I ranting? I hope so. My ranting gets raves.