The impossible texting & driving..

pearliefan

Don't know if anyone has put this up here yet.. thought I'd share it!

It's an interesting video! I'm guilty myself of texting while driving, albeit very very rarely, maybe once or twice. But this video makes me more aware of it than other crash and blood videos do.

seamus

"Each year thousands of people die behind the wheel due to texting"

O RLY? I'd love to see the backup for that claim.

I don't disagree that it's a stupid thing to do, but there's no need to blatantly make **** up.

I also have difficulty with a video that's making a point about road safety, when the "instructor" seems remarkably lax about his seatbelt and nearly obtains a serious injury a couple of times.

The Big Red Button

Crap video.

I'm not endorsing texting while driving, at all, but
(a) They're clearly inexperienced drivers anyways
(b) They're typing out long messages dictated by someone else (who is checking their spelling, ffs)
(c) They're meant to be driving around obstacles such as cones while texting.

Completely different to, say, if you were driving on a wide open stretch of dual carriageway, with a 50kph limit, no other cars or people around, and you're texting (without looking at your phone) something like "running late" or whatever.

I'm not saying that it's right to do that, either, but the conditions are completely different to the conditions in the video. If you can use your phone for a short message without looking at it, then it's not really that different to changing the radio station. I know it's illegal, I wouldn't advise it, but I think the video is a bit pointless.

ch750536

^ Yeah thats right, sure it's OK to text whilst driving...
:rolleyes:

The Big Red Button

ch750536 wrote: »

^ Yeah thats right, sure it's OK to text whilst driving...
:rolleyes:

chatterpillar wrote: »

Crap video.

I'm not endorsing texting while driving, at all, but
(a) They're clearly inexperienced drivers anyways
(b) They're typing out long messages dictated by someone else (who is checking their spelling, ffs)
(c) They're meant to be driving around obstacles such as cones while texting.

Completely different to, say, if you were driving on a wide open stretch of dual carriageway, with a 50kph limit, no other cars or people around, and you're texting (without looking at your phone) something like "running late" or whatever.

I'm not saying that it's right to do that , either, but the conditions are completely different to the conditions in the video. If you can use your phone for a short message without looking at it, then it's not really that different to changing the radio station. I know it's illegal, I wouldn't advise it, but I think the video is a bit pointless.

.

Captain_Generic

chatterpillar wrote: »

Completely different to, say, if you were driving on a wide open stretch of dual carriageway, with a 50kph limit, no other cars or people around, and you're texting (without looking at your phone) something like "running late" or whatever.

Well there's one thing you're not running late for....... DEATH

FatherLen

chatterpillar wrote: »

Crap video.

I'm not endorsing texting while driving, at all, but
(a) They're clearly inexperienced drivers anyways
(b) They're typing out long messages dictated by someone else (who is checking their spelling, ffs)
(c) They're meant to be driving around obstacles such as cones while texting.

Completely different to, say, if you were driving on a wide open stretch of dual carriageway, with a 50kph limit, no other cars or people around, and you're texting (without looking at your phone) something like "running late" or whatever.

I'm not saying that it's right to do that, either, but the conditions are completely different to the conditions in the video. If you can use your phone for a short message without looking at it, then it's not really that different to changing the radio station. I know it's illegal, I wouldn't advise it, but I think the video is a bit pointless.

the reason it's illegal is because your mind is focused on two tasks at once which will slow reaction speed and can cause an accident. your mentality is a bad one. just because there are no cars on a road now, does not mean there wont be in a second. i am not saying you text while driving and i understand your not condoning it either. the sooner people realise that 100% of attention is needed while driving the sooner we will have less deaths on the road.

Can't watch the video but I never do it anyway
phone stays in pocket while I'm driving and that's that

friend is always texting when stopped at the lights but I'm not too keen on that either

The Big Red Button

FatherLen wrote: »

the reason it's illegal is because your mind is focused on two tasks at once which will slow reaction speed and can cause an accident. your mentality is a bad one. just because there are no cars on a road now, does not mean there wont be in a second. i am not saying you text while driving and i understand your not condoning it either. the sooner people realise that 100% of attention is needed while driving the sooner we will have less deaths on the road.

Sure there's always going to be times when your mind is focused on two tasks at once. If you've kids in the car, if you're talking to passengers, if you're lost and trying to figure out where you're going to, if you're wondering where the next petrol station is, etc. A good driver will be able to maintain their focus on their driving despite any distractions. I personally know know of three accidents which occurred while the driver was switching radio station - if you can't keep your focus on your driving and change the station without looking, you shouldn't be doing it!

My point is: the video above does not reflect the true driving conditions in which young people would be texting, and therefore I think it's ineffective.

iPhones ruined manual texting while driving.

The Big Red Button

This is a really horribly graphic video. But I would consider it far more effective as an advertisement aimed at new drivers, as it is a more realistic scenario of how an accident could happen while texting - particularly while also being distracted by passengers in the car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LCmStIw9E

DrumSteve

It's pretty easy. Just don't text while driving.

If you do need to text just pull over. No one dies.

It's so ****ing simple.

davet82

women can multi task so i say leave them to it

The King of Moo

As someone who's almost finished learning to drive, I can't imagine how anyone would be able to text and drive: the latter just demands too much concentration by itself.
I've almost been killed enough times while cycling by drivers talking on their phones, so heaven knows how distracted a texter must be.

I wonder how common this is though: surely most motorists wouldn't consider texting while driving.
Maybe a poll would be useful.

Drift

The TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) in the UK carry out a lot of research into driver behaviour. The two links below are examples. Unfortunately I don't have a link to the full reports but the abstracts give plenty of information. Although I can't personally vouch for their scientific integrity I have been informed by colleagues that they are rigorous and not prone to hyperbole.

As expected - texting whilst driving appears to cause weaving between lanes:

Text Messaging and Driver Behaviour


Scarily talking on a handsfree phone was found to be noticeably more dangerous than talking to a passenger.

Relative Hazards of Mobile Phones


P.S. - Yes I have "colleagues." I know you're all jealous!

johngalway

Good video. I bet he was regretting doing it when his forehead got slapped off the dash though :pac:

AnonoBoy

Very disappointing the way they say thousands of people die at the start of the video and then they fail to show even ONE person snuffing it.

Pherekydes

chatterpillar wrote: »

Completely different to, say, if you were driving on a wide open stretch of dual carriageway, with a 50kph limit, no other cars or people around, and you're texting (without looking at your phone) something like "running late" or whatever.

A friend of mine drove off a perfectly straight, completely empty road whilst texting.

If your mind is wandering, chances are your car is too.

The Big Red Button

Pherekydes wrote: »

A friend of mine drove off a perfectly straight, completely empty road whilst texting.

If your mind is wandering, chances are your car is too.

And at no point have I said that I ever text while driving.

The OP was about the effectiveness of that particular ad as a deterrent to texting while driving. I disagree; I think that it's ineffective as it does not represent real road conditions where drivers may be tempted to text.

stevenf17

Long video 10mins+ but really hit home with me and haven't picked up the phone to text since!

I text and drive all the time....if you have an android or blackberry then you can do so handsfree with this http://www.vlingo.com/ tis the dogs preverbials!

Cee-Jay-Cee

I used to text while driving when i had a nokia as it was quite simple to do using predictive text, there was no need to look at the screen and the whole thing could have been done without taking my eyes of the road however now i have an iphone and it is more or less impossible (yes i have tried) and so i dont text/drive anymore and i have a parrot kit for calls so i never have to lift the phone.

I'd say it would be as equally difficult on a blackberry or any other phone with a qwerty key board/pad.

The video is a bit of an exageration, if someone is driving then they are generally watching the road and looking at their phone every so often and if theyre approaching obstacles then 99% of people will put the phone away until they have passed the obstacles etc although saying that it is a dangerous practice and its proper that its an offence with penalty points if caught.

Hannibal Smith

Grrr I hate drivers who use their phones when driving....it makes you a selfish inconsiderate knob...texting while driving makes you a stupid selfish inconsiderate knob. Your licence should be taken away for good.

I wouldn't mind..the amount of gardai I've seen doing it....Eek can open worms everywhere!

kylith

The advent of voice recognition will cut down on the dangers. I don't even have an iphone and I can press one button, tell my phone who to text and then dictate the message.

Stiffler2

I can roll a joint & drive at the same time.


Txting is nothing.



Now Homer making food in his kitchen which he had installed into his car, that was impressive...however he ended up in a lake or some $hit

The King of Moo

Stiffler2 wrote: »

I can roll a joint & drive at the same time.


Txting is nothing.



Now Homer making food in his kitchen which he had installed into his car, that was impressive...however he ended up in a lake or some $hit

That was Biff Tannen.

"MANURE!!"

Chuck Stone

It's nearly as dangerous as rubber necking at the scantily clad womens on a warm summer's day.

Nothingbetter2d

Chuck Stone wrote: »

It's nearly as dangerous as rubber necking at mangled the scantily clad women on a warm summer's day that a driving txt'r just ran over .

fyp