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Drivin' while talkin'
Topic Started: Jul 8 2006, 08:32 AM (191 Views)
George K
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Finally
In the "I can't drive 55" thread, several comments were made about being on your cell while driving. A few years ago, the New England Journal of Medicine reported a study that said that driving while talking quadrupled the risk of an accident:

Quote:
 
ABSTRACT

Background Because of a belief that the use of cellular telephones while driving may cause collisions, several countries have restricted their use in motor vehicles, and others are considering such regulations. We used an epidemiologic method, the case–crossover design, to study whether using a cellular telephone while driving increases the risk of a motor vehicle collision.

Methods We studied 699 drivers who had cellular telephones and who were involved in motor vehicle collisions resulting in substantial property damage but no personal injury. Each person's cellular-telephone calls on the day of the collision and during the previous week were analyzed through the use of detailed billing records.

Results A total of 26,798 cellular-telephone calls were made during the 14-month study period. The risk of a collision when using a cellular telephone was four times higher than the risk when a cellular telephone was not being used (relative risk, 4.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 3.0 to 6.5). The relative risk was similar for drivers who differed in personal characteristics such as age and driving experience; calls close to the time of the collision were particularly hazardous (relative risk, 4.8 for calls placed within 5 minutes of the collision, as compared with 1.3 for calls placed more than 15 minutes before the collision; P<0.001); and units that allowed the hands to be free (relative risk, 5.9) offered no safety advantage over hand-held units (relative risk, 3.9; P not significant). Thirty-nine percent of the drivers called emergency services after the collision, suggesting that having a cellular telephone may have had advantages in the aftermath of an event.

Conclusions The use of cellular telephones in motor vehicles is associated with a quadrupling of the risk of a collision during the brief period of a call. Decisions about regulation of such telephones, however, need to take into account the benefits of the technology and the role of individual responsibility


What I found interesting is this part:
Quote:
 
units that allowed the hands to be free (relative risk, 5.9) offered no safety advantage over hand-held units (relative risk, 3.9; P not significant)


I can't really imagine why that would be, or why it would be different than talking to someone sitting next to you.

The other interesting thing is that several municipalitis have legislated that you can't talk on a hand-held cell while driving, since your hands are in use. You must use a hands-free device. Apparently, they did not read this study.

(Waiting for the "Freakonomics" analysis of this one)
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DivaDeb
HOLY CARP!!!
Maybe it's the extra-vehicular conversation that is the key threat. Your attention is shifted and shared with someone in a different situation completely. When you converse with someone in your car, you both have an interest in getting where you're going safely. It could be that your passenger's awareness of the traffic situation you're in makes you more likely to stay in the moment on the road.

I wonder if they kept track of what people were talking about on their cells.

:P
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George K
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Finally
DivaDeb
Jul 8 2006, 11:38 AM
I wonder if they kept track of what people were talking about on their cells.

I'm sure that Karl Rove knows.... :thumb:
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Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
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DivaDeb
HOLY CARP!!!
it's just that I have noticed that some conversations are more...distracting...than others :P
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Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
George K
Jul 8 2006, 12:32 PM
What I found interesting is this part:
Quote:
 
units that allowed the hands to be free (relative risk, 5.9) offered no safety advantage over hand-held units (relative risk, 3.9; P not significant)


I can't really imagine why that would be, or why it would be different than talking to someone sitting next to you.

The other interesting thing is that several municipalitis have legislated that you can't talk on a hand-held cell while driving, since your hands are in use. You must use a hands-free device. Apparently, they did not read this study.

I never really understood how using the hands-free system makes things better. The only benefit I can see would be for those of us who drive a manual (though if you just tuck the phone between your ear and shoulder, there is no need for hands).

As far as I can see, the problem has nothing to do with your hands being diverted away from driving activities. It's all about the diversion of your concentration. You are conversing with someone with whom you are not looking at directly, so I would imagine there is some kind of brain activity there to visualize this voice that you are hearing.

And how is this different from talking to another person in the car? Honestly, I don't think there really is much of a difference. I know that when there is someone in the passenger seat and we are having a fairly involved conversation, my attention to my driving is noticeably reduced. That may just be me, though; other people may have the mental-wiring capabilities to safely handle both activities simultaneously.

Which is WHY, I believe that these type of things may be best left for personal discretion. Sure, that means that many people will be doing activities while driving that they shouldn't be doing, either because they believe themselves to be capable or because they couldn't give a crap. I don't think that completely banning cell phone usage while driving is the answer, though. I mean, what about all those people who eat while driving? Or search for CD/change radio stations while driving?
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DivaDeb
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I think you're right Opti...you can't legislate concentration.
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kenny
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I recall reading (so it MUST be true) that for a zillion years we have always SEEN the person we are speaking to.
We are literally wired to SEE whom we are speaking to.

For about 100 years we have been able to talk via phones to people we can't see.
Not enough time to evolve. (Unless you consider cell drivers dying off before reproducing.)
Or if you don't believe in evolution, not enough time for Jesus to upgrade our brains. Whatever.

In this study they observed brain activity.
When subject smelled something, the smell portion of the brain lit up.
When subject was asked to remember something the memory section lit up, etc.

When the subject spoke to someone they could not see on a phone researchers got a big surprise.
Of course the speech and hearing centers lit up.
The surprise was the VISUAL processing center lit up too.
Speculation is that the visual part of the brain is occupied forming or searching for a visual image of the person being talked to.

Regardless, when you speak on the phone not all of your visual brain circuitry is available.
The line is busy, so to speak.
It is very very not good for a driver to have visual brain cells busy with something other than paying attention to driving conditions.

The hand held issue has nothing to do with this.
I also speculate that hand-free is better, but I'll bet this impared function of visual center of the brain is 99% of the problem.
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Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
If all that is true, Kenny, then it must be the same amount of "not wise" to be talking to someone in the car while driving, since you either are talking to someone you're not looking at, or you are turning your head occasionally to talk to that person and taking your eyes off the road completely.
PHOTOS

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up.
- Mark Twain


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-T. S. Eliot
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Nobody's Sock
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Fulla-Carp
"I wonder if they kept track of what people were talking about on their cells. "


"Hey, whatcha doing?"

"nothing, just driving"

"hey me too, so whatcha doin?"

"nothing man, just trying to avoid all these idiots, how bout you?"

"same here man, I got a bunch of "inahurries" always on my ass"

"i know what you mean man, don't these people know we're talking? sheesh"



"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
Interesting, Kenny, and I think that makes a lot of sense.

Opti, I think if the person you are talking to is in the car with you, you have the ability to glance at them, and maybe that's enough....maybe that satisfies your visual need, whereas on the phone, you're working much harder to come up with visual image? :shrug:

I know I get distracted sometimes when I'm driving and someone in the car is talking to me, but it seems almost natural to put the conversation on pause when I'm doing something that requires more concentration, like merging, intersections etc. I know that as a passenger, I do the same; just hold off talking till we've made that turn or whatever. Much harder to do that on the phone.
I think you make a good point, though. We are most certainly not all the same, and there differences in how good we are at multi-tasking while driving. I'm bad, but I know it, so I respect my badness. :tongue:
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kenny
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I doubt it is a conscious thing.

More of a wiring thing.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
If someone is in your car you don't have to dial their number.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Larry
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Mmmmmmm, pie!
My car has a phone built into it. I have programmed into is all the phone numbers that I might need to call, and all I have to do to call one is push a button, and it asks me for the name - I say the name of the person I want to call, and it does the rest. I talk to them through the stereo speakers. Talking to someone that way is no distraction at all. But if I'm in one of the other vehicles I have to use my regular cell phone. I have nearly killed myself countless times trying to dial the number. Once I have the number dialed and the phone to my ear, it's no problem - not as good as the hands free thingie in the car, but it doesn't bother me. It's the dialing part. I even have the cell phone set to "speak" the numbers I push so I can hear what I've dialed, but you still have to look down a time or two. I always seem to look down, then look up at the rear end of the semi I'm about to drive under.....
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DivaDeb
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get a bluetooth...I just reach up, tap my ear and say "home" or "David" or whoever I want to call and the phone dials. If the phone rings, I tap my ear and answer it.
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
DivaDeb
Jul 8 2006, 10:30 PM
get a bluetooth...I just reach up, tap my ear and say "home" or "David" or whoever I want to call and the phone dials. If the phone rings, I tap my ear and answer it.

That wouldn't work for me. I wouldn't be able to resist saying 'four to beam up' and God knows where I'd end up.
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