In Russia, Driving Distractions F**k You

from the now-that's-a-distraction dept

Wed, Sep 6th 2006 1:24pm — Mike Masnick

While people love to focus in on calls to ban driving while talking on a mobile phone, we've pointed out repeatedly that there are so many different driving distractions that it hardly makes sense to ban them one by one. There are already laws against reckless driving which can cover most issues with bad drivers. However, apparently "driving distractions" mean different things in different countries. We've already noted that it's legal to have sex while driving in Germany, but we had no idea how popular a pastime it was. In Russia, at least, 25% of people surveyed claim to have had sex while driving. That's not all. 30% admit to driving drunk, and many 'fess up about running red lights, not wearing seatbelts and regularly speeding. In other words, people talking on their mobile phones may be the least of your worries should you be driving around Russia these days.

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37 Comments

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Sanguine Dream, 6 Sep 2006 @ 1:35pm

One big issue...
is the people are always trying to find the one cause of something. In the states some studies will say most of the blame falls on young drivers (as if older drivers never cause accidents). Some blame cell phones.

If these researchers whould just give up on the notion of being the one that points out "the number one cause of ___" we would all be better off.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:10pm

The problem is people who don't drive exactly like I do. They're all maniacs.
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ConceptJunkie (profile), 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:11pm

Re: One big issue...
The number one cause of bad research is researchers who want attention. No, actually the number one cause of bad research is corporate or government sponsorship (i.e., oil companies and global warming, eco-leftists and global warming, RIAA and Piracy, etc).
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:11pm

I know where I'm going,,,
I'm going to Germany!
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:17pm

Please, numbers are too LOW.
really, wouldn't lots of people answer yes to all those?
- once had sex while driving?
- once drove under the influence?
- once ran a red light?
- don't always wear seatbelt?
- frequently drive above speed limit?

those numbers look too low to me
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TriZz, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:21pm

Yes, but it's when you combine drunkiness, sex, not wearing a seatbelt, speeding and talking on the cell phone - that's the danger...

...or any given combination of said violations.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:25pm

Re:
who has sex while driving?
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Lay Person, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:26pm

You know what's distracting?...
You know what's distracting?...

Trying to post comments on Techdirt while entering a freeway!
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Mike J, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:38pm

I always wear my seatbelt, I even feel in danger if I am just moving my car from one parking spot to the other without a belt on.

Thats just me, i like to be straped in when I drive, have you seen me drive? you would want to wear a seatbelt while standing on the sidewalk if you saw the way I drive when my wife isnt looking.

I so admit to everything else, unless they still think oral isnt sex, then strike that one too. Nothing like it at 70 MPH going down the turnpike thinking one mistake and Im a unic.

I just think that with all the idiots and assholes out there with a DL that you would be a complete psyco not to wear one, trust me the stearing wheel is not all soft and cushiniy that it looks like, even with an airbag, that and the windshield are very very hard and bad for your complexion if you press into it at 45MPH or so.

My mother used to not wear a belt till she started working for an accident attourney and has dealt with the aftermath in one form or another. that and just about every car she had owned was rearended (no wasnt her fault, hell 4 times they were hit while they were parked, some people just have bad car luck)
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Rabid Wolverine, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:43pm

Re: Seat Belts
Yeah, and then there is the tale of the young man that was thrown from his vehicle just before it hit a gas tanker and was incinerated. And he lived to tell about it...

Not that I'm against wearing seat belts, I'm just against someone telling me to wear seat belts.

And to think, all of this started with those Aussies and the Insurance Institute.
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Faz, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:51pm

is it me who finds this article amusing beyond words....

just the idea that "legal to have sex while driving"

i am amused beyond words

points well taken though of comment posters and the article, especially about how the research was conducted
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Jezsik, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:54pm

No seatbelts? OK
If you don't want to wear a seatbelt, you shouldn't have to ... but then the insurance companies should not be required to cover your claim. Simple and fair.
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PDSIMS, 6 Sep 2006 @ 2:54pm

I don't think it has much to do with cell phones or sex while driving......it's the simple fact that a lot (notice i didn't say everyone) doesn't use common sense or pay attention when they are driving because they think driving is a right when it's not. it's a privlige!!!
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Myinnershadow, 6 Sep 2006 @ 3:01pm

I thought about it
i thought about it to.
~I got road head several times
~I have drove under the influence of a lot of things
~i have been running the same red light 4 times a week,
when i found out its a five minuite weight and i have
seen a total of 6 cars then in the last 2 years
~I do wear my seat belt thought because i was in an
accident and i work in philadelphia (self explan)
~and unless i know a cop is there i'm 10-15 above the limit

i think the people just dident want to admit it.
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badmark, 6 Sep 2006 @ 3:10pm

Platewire helps track bad drivers in the US
PlateWire.com allows individuals within the US to report infractions by bad or aggresive drivers, maybe a new type of "wire' should be sexing while driving?
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ElectroGeek, 6 Sep 2006 @ 3:18pm

Bad Drivers
That's nothing. You should see how bad people in Chicago drive. Not just in cars either. These guys on motorcycles are nuts! No respect for the road. Just a few weeks ago IDOT (Illinois Dept of Transportation) had to scrap one of these dudes off the highway. Messy stuff. And the sad part is there's always another one that comes along that thinks they're invincible. Now me on the other hand I always like to keep it under 150. Safe...
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RUSKAYA, 6 Sep 2006 @ 3:42pm

if amerika had the girls russia does it would be our number one cause of death....
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Random User, 6 Sep 2006 @ 3:45pm

Re: No seatbelts? OK
If you lived in the Gulf South about a year ago you would found out the hard way insurance companies aren't required to cover your claim. They can find a way out of any type of claim. Especially, the bigger companies *cough* State Farm *cough* *cough*
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Jacob Buck, 6 Sep 2006 @ 3:57pm

where i live...
...you can get a ticket for driving while on your cell phone, but the police department just issued cell phones to every cop in the city, so they drive around all day breaking the law.
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riverjilly, 6 Sep 2006 @ 4:16pm

good and bad "road head"
So this one time I was pleasuring the husband while we drove down our mile long lane to the house. The bad thing was we hit a tree. (Luckily I didn't bite down when my head hit the steering wheel.)

So, that was kind of a bad thing and an example of irresponsible driving.

BUT, when the bumper of the truck hit the tree, it hit it so perfectly that it "popped out" the dent that had been there from hitting a deer.

So, that was a good thing and an example of being frugal by saving a trip to the body shop!

It's all how you look at it, which is how you should view all stats.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 4:24pm

Re:
"Yes, but it's when you combine drunkiness, sex, not wearing a seatbelt, speeding and talking on the cell phone - that's the danger..."

I somehow couldn't help but think "Bill Clinton's probably done all those, while ordering airstrikes in the Balkans".

Hey. Coulda happened.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 4:35pm

Seatbelts
Being something of a libertarian myself, I can agree with not forcing anything on anybody..

BUT.. there is a reality.. The reality is, when assholes don't wear seatbelts, and managed to get seriously screwed up but not quite dead, AND fall under the category of no medical insurance (or exhaust their insurance coverage, which is entirely possible and likely), then one of two things happen, and both of them screw everybody else.

They can go bust, either entirely bankrupt or pay the hospital pennies on the dollar. Drives up medical cost for the rest of us. Or the government can step in in low income cases or whatever, in which case, our tax money gets blown.

So this isn't about liberty to drive how you want. It's about assholes too self-centered around their own lives to consider the impact they have on everybody else that is the issue -- yes, everybody should either be libertarian and force people to have personal responsibility so that people can not wear a seatbelt, get hurt, and then go in to personal debt, or we can all be forced to wear seatbelts so that the majority that are smart enough to drive safely, securely, don't have to take it on the chin when the inconsiderate/unintelligent among us fail to do so themselves.

Given that socialism is only getting stronger and the bankruptcy point wouldnt disappear either way, I don't see how it can be argued any other way. Unless every time someone gets a government bailout because they're crippled for the rest of their lives because they were ejected at 80mph and smacked a tree 200 feet later taxpayers are able to go extract the monthly social security paychecks worth of flesh from the "victims" body anyway. Then I'd be cool with it. :)
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Crazy and Lovin It, 6 Sep 2006 @ 4:41pm

Sex on the way to Las Vegas
My girlfriend and I were on our way to Vegas, no we did not get married, for the weekend. On the way there she wanted to have sex. So she took her clothes off and took mine off. She stradled me while I was driving and kept just to the right of the windshield so I could see. I must say many miles were taken off that trip because of this and for the onlookers as well! To boot we were in an Echo ... man those have more room than you would think!!! This is something that I will never forget.
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JiffyLube, 6 Sep 2006 @ 5:00pm

Penthouse Forum on the freeway!
...wow! I'm surprised the last post doesn't end with "naturally, we've experienced this many times since..."

I'm not sure how feesable it would be to strip down butt-nekked in an echo at any speed but I do like the fanatasy that it's possible.

Penthouse pays $50 if they print your story...
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JiffyLube, 6 Sep 2006 @ 5:01pm

Penthouse Forum on the freeway!
...wow! I'm surprised the last post doesn't end with "naturally, we've experienced this many times since..."

I'm not sure how feesable it would be to strip down butt-nekked in an echo at any speed but I do like the fanatasy that it's possible.

Penthouse pays $50 if they print your story...
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 5:05pm

sex while driveing! oh oh who wants to pay my airfar!?
allso germany has hookers whom were trained to be nurses o.o
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Crazy and Lovin It, 6 Sep 2006 @ 5:13pm

Sex on the way to Las Vegas
She only had to strip my pants down .. she stripped herself down. :) Sadly we did not make another trip again because she moved away and we broke up. But it wasn't a fantasy for me it happened and it will be a memory for life. As for the Echo part, cruise control for the speed ... and a small asian girlfriend helps!
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Anonymous, 6 Sep 2006 @ 6:41pm

Russian Traffic
My wife and I went to Russia to adopt a little girl a few years ago. When driving around St. Petersburg the cars had no seat belts at all, few marked lanes, pedestrians had to stop for cars (not the other way around), and traffic lights were treated more like guidelines.
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Michael Tuchman, 6 Sep 2006 @ 6:54pm

Distracted Driving
When you're driving you are engaged in a social enterprise - a cooperative game to help everybody get where they're going and be as helpful as you can. If you're not giving your full attention to this task, you're not pulling your own weight.

And just because the bar is set very low in Russia doesn't mean we need to set it low here. Not paying attention is disrespectful to your fellow driver. All things being equal, you can pay more attention when your cell phone is off.

There's just no reason for it. If your call is worth that much money to you, pull over and respect your fellow drivers.

Even if no law is passed against it, it is still extremely rude.
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Naked Tourist, 6 Sep 2006 @ 7:11pm

Re:
Awesome! now after she gives me hepatitis she can administer treatment too!
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Fen1x, 6 Sep 2006 @ 7:23pm

Packing
-Packs up for Germany-
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lil bit, 6 Sep 2006 @ 8:41pm

I'm just curious . . .
. . .sex while driving is legal in Germany - was that legislated? Did someone sponsor a law to allow sex while driving that was then approved by a majority? Or is it that here in the States there are specific laws on the books in all jurisdictions that prohibit having sex? Is it spelled out? "... sexual intercourse is prohibited while driving a motor vehicle." Does that mean passengers are also prohibited from having sex?
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Paul, 6 Sep 2006 @ 10:08pm

the title?
I get the attempt at humor with the title, but it really doesn't make any sense..
How would this sovietized phrase look normally?
You Fuck Driving Distractions

ok ya, that makes sense? no...
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man, 7 Sep 2006 @ 10:29am

Duh
> here are so many different driving distractions that it hardly makes sense to ban them one by one.

Number of motor deaths per year caused by
- drunk driving: 50,000
- speeding: 28,000
- cell phone usage: 38,000
- having sex while driving: 0

Yeah, it makes no sense banning specific activities while driving.

Sure we can always prosecute "reckless driving", but that's a lot vaguer and thus rightfully so harder to prosecute. Having a specific law prohibiting cell phone usage while driving is sensible because it is one of the most dangerous and common things people do. Dangerous and common is a bad combination.

I'd say "fcuk it, let them talk and drive and kill themselves if they want" if only they killed only themselves. Unfortunately, they take innocent people NOT talking on cell phones with them.

If we can track a person's location when he uses a cell phone, then we can tell if that person is moving at 10 mph. I say phone companies should automatically drop calls when they detect that mobile phones are moving faster than 10 mph. Problem solved.

And don't give me any b.s. about the passenger should still be able to use a phone while riding in car. Passengers never are the ones on the phone, it's always the fcuking driver. And if the call is that fcuking important, then it's important enought to pull the fcuk over.
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shanita, 9 Sep 2007 @ 3:35pm

Re: Re: Seat Belts
thats a lie becaues if you do have your seat belts on u can steat die
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shanita, 9 Sep 2007 @ 3:37pm

Re: Re: Seat Belts
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Harrison Ford, 24 Aug 2009 @ 4:23pm

Look, I drive a lot. If I don't have sex while driving I'd never get laid.
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