jacques_anquetil
Posts:245
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| 09/15/2014 09:48 AM |
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interesting thread about how much to tell your SO about your riding, and observances about distracted drivers. what can we do about it?
last week, me and the kid are out for a nice leisurely ride. We're on the bike path on a bridge and traffic is slowing. Right beside us, a car screeches to a halt, just barely misses plowing into the back of a pickup truck. I look over, the kid is texting. Roll over, knock on his window, and ask him to please don't text and drive. He says "i'm just GPS'ing" (as if that makes any difference). Tempers flare, words are exchanged. I tell him texting and driving is stupid and dangerous (forgot to mention illegal) and that i'd like to grow old enough to see my kid grow up and meet my grandkids. A bit hyperbolic, sure, but by this point i'm shaking with rage.
Thing is, i see it all the time along this stretch of road. Traffic is backed up and the bike path is a major transit to the good riding areas. Easily one or two out of every car i pass that is sitting still the driver is on a device.
So, we both continue on our way. Feeling badly for losing my cool, I figure i should go apologize thinking perhaps there was some overreaction on my part. The car is now waiting for the light further on, so I roll up and am about to say sorry when what do i see? He's still fooking texting! Now i just complete lose it on his punk ass. By the end he exasperatedly put the phone aside mostly out of fear at this raving, foaming-mouth lunatic cyclist.
I'm not proud of my behaviour and am wondering how would you handle these kinds of situations? Do you think a "Please don't text and drive" card slipped under their windshield wiper work? I don't think confrontation works. People feel entitled and immediately get defensive and it's too easy for the situation to escalate. What are the best words to use? It's so hard to not let it become an emotionally-explosive situation.
Really, texting and driving is fast becoming an epidemic (if not already), and it's not long until one of us falls under the wheels of their distracted-driving, don't-give-a-$4it asses.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/b...ation.html |
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 09/15/2014 10:10 AM |
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I'm so with you, JA.
So f#cking fed up with the majority of drivers here feeling they can talk/text while driving. Scares the crap out of me waiting for them to screw up which they do and will, but law enforcement will do nothing about it, despite laws.
We live on a tight narrow road with a 15 mph speed limit and from our front window it is but 20 feet to the road, and I will stand in the window and count people using their phones as driving by on our essentially 2 way, one lane road - on average 7 out of 10 our on their phones going 10 to 20 mph over the speed limit.
Tried talking to the cops, several times. Tried yelling at drivers, dozens of times. And I am not alone - several of my neighbors try also.
I wish I had advice for you. People are just too selfish and lazy to do the right thing. |
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THE SKINNY
Posts:506
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| 09/15/2014 10:59 AM |
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| i'm still of he opinion that the texting function should automatically shut off when going over 5mph. sure it inconveniences passengers in the car but so what? what did they do before texting was invented? |
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| How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/15/2014 11:05 AM |
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Unfortunately, nothing will work for these guys......for some, it will require on god-awful, unretractable moment where something goes horribly wrong for them to "get it."
I am somewhat encouraged by the current efforts by phone companies and others to make people aware of the dangers of texting and driving....the new program where you tweet "#x" indicating you are getting behind the wheel of a car, so don't text me is interesting.
But for too many, nothing will make a difference until tragedy strikes. It scares the schitt out of me that my life is in the hands of some teenager who lacks the world perspective to understand that they are not immortal.
Which is why I try not to focus on it while riding....it is completely outside of my control. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 09/15/2014 11:11 AM |
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Posted By carl x on 09/15/2014 10:59 AM
i'm still of the opinion that the texting function should automatically shut off when going over 5mph. Sure it inconveniences passengers in the car but so what? what did they do before texting was invented?
^ This ^
I wonder when someone will sue Verizon/ ATT/ Apple, etc over a death since they have the technology to disable texting while moving and haven't |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/15/2014 11:26 AM |
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Posted By Dale Dale on 09/15/2014 11:11 AM
Posted By carl x on 09/15/2014 10:59 AM
i'm still of the opinion that the texting function should automatically shut off when going over 5mph. Sure it inconveniences passengers in the car but so what? what did they do before texting was invented?
^ This ^
I wonder when someone will sue Verizon/ ATT/ Apple, etc over a death since they have the technology to disable texting while moving and haven't
Fook that....how am I gonna text and ride?  |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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THE SKINNY
Posts:506
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| 09/15/2014 11:39 AM |
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| remember when we thought talking on a cell phone was bad? those were the days. i don't know how you change people's behavior. i mean, wearing seat belts became law in a lot of places and people begrudgingly wear them. people got the message about smoking and smoking has dropped off significantly. these are things that protect people against themselves. you would think people would have at least as much concern for other people when it comes to texting and driving. |
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| How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. |
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 09/15/2014 11:42 AM |
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The industry has happily created addicts.
Adults and teenagers alike. |
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jacques_anquetil
Posts:245
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| 09/15/2014 11:42 AM |
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what i don't get is why the fook can't you just NOT touch your phone when you drive? i get it, it can be hard to disconnect but put the phone in the back seat. in the trunk. whatever. have some self control.
Huck, from the NYT article:
“It’s in a sense a narcotic,” he says.
That doesn’t mean that electronic devices are classically addictive; instead, many researchers say that these devices have addictive properties and are habit-forming, but that more research is needed before deeming them addictive in the way that drugs, say, can be.There is wider agreement among scientists that the risks are higher for young people, whose frontal lobes are less developed and therefore even less able to fend off the ping of the phone delivered from the more primitive part of the brain.
But even for adults, the devices appeal to such primal social urges that they can be overpowering.
“The cellphone, and other similar technology, meet a deep need for social connection with a greater ease and greater potential detriment to it in the same way that a vending machine that is right down the hall plays to our need for calories,” says Dr. Nicholas A. Christakis, a physician and a professor of social and natural science at Yale; he is an expert in the use of social networks across time.
To some researchers, it feels like a process of neurological hijacking, the taking over of our decision-making process.
“When the phone rings, it triggers a whole social reward network,” says David Strayer, a psychologist at the University of Utah who studies driver distraction. “And it triggers an orienting response that has been wired into us since hunter-gatherer times. You had to pay attention for survival. If you didn’t attend, you got eaten by lions. We’re hard-wired that way, no matter what we want to do. It’s extremely difficult to turn those things off. It’s in our DNA.” |
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jacques_anquetil
Posts:245
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| 09/15/2014 11:56 AM |
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slipping something under somebody's wiper? could that work?
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 09/15/2014 12:13 PM |
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Call me a luddite, but I feel we have taken a dramatic loss in interpersonal communication skills over the past decade because of new technologies.
Most people will argue we have increased our social interaction with advents such as Facebook, but I would argue against that.
I like face to face.
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jookey
Posts:197
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| 09/15/2014 12:31 PM |
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Gee Huck,
"Face to Face". Explain your avatar then... |
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 09/15/2014 01:10 PM |
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| Okay, cheek to cheek... |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 09/15/2014 01:15 PM |
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| Always good to present one's best side. |
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 09/15/2014 01:31 PM |
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| I'm not sure if there is a good side anymore ; ) |
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mondonico
Posts:158
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| 09/15/2014 02:09 PM |
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I live in CA and driving is part of my job. Every day all day I see people looking down in their lap doing something with their toys. As a public employee I have to be very careful how I act because my rule is everything I do is being filmed by someone, somewhere. But I would love to be able to yell at the fools. Best I can do is lay on the horn. So yes, I am for anyone who gets in the face of the fools who do these things. But be carefull the world is full of crazy and I mean crazy folks. I see them everyday also.
As for the NYT story. I'm sorry but that is just some over educated mumbo jumbo bullsheet. IMH yet ignorant and stupid opinion. It's nothing more than selfishness.
My late first wife had a way of telling people who were being fools that they were a fool, but in a loving way. One of my favorites; as we were at a stop light the passanger in the car in front of us thru out the window a large fast food bag and drink cup onto the street. Fast as "sheet" she jumped out of our car ran up and picked up all the trash and thru it back into the car and onto the lap of the fool. And in her loving way said something along the lines of I don't know if you realized that this fell out of your car. This was before cell phones and texting but I would of loved to see how she would of handled those. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 09/15/2014 02:11 PM |
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Slightly OT but related. I got a kick out of seeing how lost folks at cycle Oregon were last week when we spent a week mostly far from any cell phone coverage. In past years with better coverage, their would be lines at the Community Cycling Center charging booth. (Their charging was solar powered so daytime only. It became a daily priority to arrange the day (and ride) so they could get their devices recharged. This year I think CCC had outside power (I never charged my phone; used it only as an alarm). The CCC lines were a lot smaller, but the general feeling of being lost was pervasive. Funny.
My CO electronics? One taillight and headlight (in case I made a night run into town; never happened), two headlamps and one tent light, all LED so "electronic" and my cellphone/alarm clock which made zero calls. And while riding? Nothing.
Ben |
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Yo Mike
Posts:338
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| 09/15/2014 02:18 PM |
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If local / state laws forbid phone use while driving, NOT enforcing the law almost encourages breaking it.
Possible solution:
Set up a cop / camera at point A on a road, and photo document phone use by motorists. Cop at Point B stops miscreants, and immediately impounds vehicles, leaving cell phone users to call or text for a ride. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 09/15/2014 02:18 PM |
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mondonico, great story! Sounds like she was a gem.
The story I heard as a kid was of one of my fore-bearers as a kid tossing a candy wrapper, his granddad driving on several miles, then stopping the car so the kid could go back and pick it up. Story worked. My siblings ans I never tossed anything out car windows, ever.
Ben |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 09/15/2014 02:24 PM |
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I have no problem with the technology; I can only face to face with people I work and live with; for friends and family over yonder, the technology is a great way to stay relatively well connected. Heck, in the old days wrote letters to my GF who lived in the US. Letters, remember those :-)
The problem with cars runs much deeper than the technology that we can't switch off. As a society we are hopelessly soft on the amount of casualties we are willing to accept in relation to car use. If that many people died from a virus, we'd have a widespread panic. If that many people died in a terrorist attack, we'd start a war. But with cars, we just shrug our shoulders (except when its cyclists I guess). Real accountability for "accidents" (which are seldom just that) is the only cure.
As I posted in the other thread, in BC there has been an approximate 5% rise in claims coincident with having all these gadgets in cars. I agree we need to get rid of them in cars (or have them switched off) but it would only solve 5% of the bigger problem.  |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 09/15/2014 02:35 PM |
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OC, 35,561 US auto deaths in 2012. Roughly 10% of those deaths were to people outside a vehicle (ie pedestrians, etc.) (Wikipedia) As I recall, we started two wars for approximately that number of deaths from terrorists.
Ben |
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stinkyhelmet
Posts:94
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| 09/15/2014 03:42 PM |
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The behaviour is here to stay and car manufacturers know it.
Those of you that watch tv have by now seen the car advertisements showcasing their cars' ability to allow you to drive while dstracted....text, eat, put on makeup, look in the back seat.....doesn't matter what...and the car will stop for you or auto-correct if it detects something out there. They are saying it is ok to not pay attention and to continue to drive irresponsibly and the car will stop for you....yay!
Don't know why they want to set themselves up for the inevitable lawsuit. A driver buys one of these smart cars that supposedly will stop for you.......if needed. The drivier is texting and the car doesn't do as promised and they kill themselves and some others. The driver's relatives sue the car manufactuer....blah, blah, blah.
Glad I won't be around when all personal accountability and responsibility has entirely vanished from our society. |
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THE SKINNY
Posts:506
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| 09/15/2014 03:46 PM |
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| 1 death is a tragedy; 35,561 deaths is a statistic. who said that originally? |
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| How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. |
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SideBySide
Posts:444
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| 09/15/2014 03:53 PM |
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Posted By Mike Kingery on 09/15/2014 03:42 PM
Those of you that watch tv have by now seen the car advertisements showcasing their cars' ability to allow you to drive while dstracted....text, eat, put on makeup, look in the back seat.....doesn't matter what...and the car will stop for you or auto-correct if it detects something out there. They are saying it is ok to not pay attention and to continue to drive irresponsibly and the car will stop for you....yay!
I found myself yelling at the driver on TV saying you need to pay attention and learn to drive.
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 09/15/2014 03:59 PM |
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"Glad I won't be around when all personal accountability and responsibility has entirely vanished from our society." - Stinky
You plan on leaving today? |
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stinkyhelmet
Posts:94
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| 09/15/2014 04:23 PM |
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| sigh....already? I was expecting more of a social media uprising :-) |
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Spud
Posts:525
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| 09/16/2014 01:57 PM |
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| The don't text while driving? Some people get it. Most do not, because they ARE addicted. I just drove back to Tucson, from MA. It is frightning what I saw drivers doing while behind the wheel on that four day journey. We're talking tractor trailer drivers included. Too many variations of the law state to state. Here in AZ we have no law, because they say it falls under the destracted driver law, already in place. It's just F'd up. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/16/2014 02:17 PM |
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Here in AZ we have no law, because they say it falls under the destracted driver law, already in place.
That line of reasoning doesn't hold much sway with me....
1) Existing laws clearly aren't effective since people are texting and driving at will
2) No one is enforcing those existing laws as they pertain to texting (see #1 above)
3) There are plenty of examples of similar "redundant" laws on the books, where emphasis in one particular area is needed. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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SideBySide
Posts:444
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| 09/16/2014 02:18 PM |
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| Any accident while texting or surfing should be assault with a deadly weapon. Any death should be Murder, it is reasonably expected. Send people to jail, and they'll stop quickly. |
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jacques_anquetil
Posts:245
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| 09/16/2014 03:09 PM |
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| mondonico, i like your late wife's approach. what can we do as cyclists, either by words or by actions, that will achieve the same effect: inform drivers about their actions without invoking anger or defensiveness? |
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SideBySide
Posts:444
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| 09/16/2014 05:56 PM |
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I am simply amazed at how many people don't even see me, even if they are not texting. Yesterday I was in the bike lane going the same speed as, and about ten feet behind, the cars in front of me (~15 mph) going by an offramp. A lady merging onto the road watched the cars go by and started to pull out. I yelled "please don't hit me", and the look on her face was again priceless. She never even looked, simply relied on her peripheral vision. I watched her eyes the whole time, and luckily her window was down.
I am using my annoying front flasher on the street all of the time from now on.
I am glad I can vent here. |
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C2K_Rider
Posts:173
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| 09/25/2014 04:16 PM |
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Texting should be like drunk driving - automatic license suspension, massive fines, classes, etc.
But our our dumb a$$ California governor vetoed a texting bill that would have increased fines and added points to the drivers record (12 points and you lose your license). What is it about governors that they don't understand the needs of normal people. For the vast majority driving is the most dangerous thing they do and texting makes it infinitely more dangerous.
Shutting off texting automatically - it's on the way if cell carriers can allay their legal fears....
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/business/trying-to-hit-the-brake-on-texting-while-driving.html?_r=0 |
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