[Mpls] Cell phone stats

[Michael Atherton]

Dorie Rae Gallagher wrote:

>  FYI
>  *Cell phone creates not just a momentary distraction but a period of
>  "cognitive inattention" that acts as a perceptual 
>  disability....according to
>  Richmond Journal of Law and Technology.
>  
>  One out of 20 crashes or  10 percent of all car accidents 
>  are due to cell
>  phones.
>  
>  42,000 people die a year, 3 million are injured...10% of 
>  that is due to cell phones 20% due to drunk driving.

I'd be happy to see cell phone use while driving banned.
Have you ever wondered or observed how cell phone users
use their turn signals when they have one hand holding
the phone to their ear and the other on the wheel.  My
experience is that most of the time they fail to signal.

While thinking about cell phone use while driving, I came 
to the conclusion that talking on a cell phone is not the 
same as talking to a passenger.  A passenger (or at least
most passengers) take into account the demands on the
driver, e.g., they will pause when traffic becomes 
hazardous.  When drivers are talking to someone on a
cell phone, their attention is diverted away from the
road more so than when talking to a passenger.  I thought
this was an interesting hypothesis and was gratified to
it later verified in a research article.

I wouldn't have a problem with a traffic ordinance that
required drivers to keep both hands free so they could
be used to control the vehicle, in addition to banning 
"hands free" cell phone use. I remember an article
in the L.A. Times reporting on all the crazy things people
did while driving on the freeways: reading newspapers,
putting on makeup, typing, having sex, (there was actually 
an accident in which three people died on the Pasadena Fwy 
in an Jag; two of them were naked and the other in some 
stage of undress) and this was before the days of cell 
phones.  If I remember correctly CA had a law that allowed 
officers to ticket people for such behavior; for the risky
driving that is.

Michael Atherton
Prospect Park