Mobile Phones + Driving = ?
Submitted by John Boxall on January 14, 2007 - 1:10am.
It happened to me again yesterday.
The car ahead of me was driving erratically, wandering all over the road and going way too slow. Increasingly frustrated I changed lanes and accelerated to pass. Pulling alongside I pulled out my best angry glare and looked over at the driver.
The standard bad driver stereotypes have given way to an new entirely new breed inconsiderate driver. The cell phone chatter. And while I'm quick to condemn the habit, I'm also here to confess that I've done it myself.
The debate over whether to ban cellphones while operating motor vehicles has popped in and out of the media for years. As early as 1999 Canadian studies began looking at the relationship between talking on a cellphone and response time in driving situations. In 2003, based on these and other findings (and a perhaps dash of common sense?) Newfoundland became the first and only Canadian province to legislate a formal ban on using a mobile phone while driving. However Canada's story is atypical of the most of the world. Most countries, including Japan, Korea and Finland, have banned the use of mobile phones while driving. So why haven't we?
The arguments against banning cellphones while driving typically take the stance that a cellphone is simply another distraction for a driver to deal with, no different from conversing with passengers in the vehicle or changing a radio station. By creating a specific law banning the cellphones it is argued we would need to re-evaluate the laws that govern other distractions. John Walls, of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association puts a twist on the standard NRA argument:
Cellphones certainly don't kill people, but distracted drivers do. I would argue that cellphones are one of the most invasive distractions facing drivers today. Few other distractions are perceived to be so urgent. A cellphone call is time-sensitive. Out of learned habit we try to answer a call as fast as possible. As soon as I hear a ring or feel the familiar vibration I'll tear through anything to find my phone. And that doesn't even take into account the concentration required to maintain a conversation while keeping a car on the road. Even MythBusters tackled the challenge, 'proving' that talking on a cellphone is more dangerous than driving drunk at the legal limit. Their findings echoing that of earlier scientific studies.
Regardless of whether the issue of a ban is reopened in British Columbia, I think I'll be leaving my phone in my pocket next time I'm whipping up to Whistler.
Transport Canada's Guide to Cellphone Driving Safety
The car ahead of me was driving erratically, wandering all over the road and going way too slow. Increasingly frustrated I changed lanes and accelerated to pass. Pulling alongside I pulled out my best angry glare and looked over at the driver.
The standard bad driver stereotypes have given way to an new entirely new breed inconsiderate driver. The cell phone chatter. And while I'm quick to condemn the habit, I'm also here to confess that I've done it myself.
The debate over whether to ban cellphones while operating motor vehicles has popped in and out of the media for years. As early as 1999 Canadian studies began looking at the relationship between talking on a cellphone and response time in driving situations. In 2003, based on these and other findings (and a perhaps dash of common sense?) Newfoundland became the first and only Canadian province to legislate a formal ban on using a mobile phone while driving. However Canada's story is atypical of the most of the world. Most countries, including Japan, Korea and Finland, have banned the use of mobile phones while driving. So why haven't we?
The arguments against banning cellphones while driving typically take the stance that a cellphone is simply another distraction for a driver to deal with, no different from conversing with passengers in the vehicle or changing a radio station. By creating a specific law banning the cellphones it is argued we would need to re-evaluate the laws that govern other distractions. John Walls, of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association puts a twist on the standard NRA argument:
Cellphones certainly don't kill people, but distracted drivers do. I would argue that cellphones are one of the most invasive distractions facing drivers today. Few other distractions are perceived to be so urgent. A cellphone call is time-sensitive. Out of learned habit we try to answer a call as fast as possible. As soon as I hear a ring or feel the familiar vibration I'll tear through anything to find my phone. And that doesn't even take into account the concentration required to maintain a conversation while keeping a car on the road. Even MythBusters tackled the challenge, 'proving' that talking on a cellphone is more dangerous than driving drunk at the legal limit. Their findings echoing that of earlier scientific studies.
Regardless of whether the issue of a ban is reopened in British Columbia, I think I'll be leaving my phone in my pocket next time I'm whipping up to Whistler.
Transport Canada's Guide to Cellphone Driving Safety
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