Talking On A Cell Phone Isn't The Only Way To Distract A Driver
from the tunnel-vision dept
There's always a lot of debate about laws that ban using cell phones while driving. While the laws are generally well-meaning, the problem is that single out just one distraction and try to crack down on it by making it illegal -- ignoring the myriad other ways drivers amuse themselves instead of paying attention to the road. There's plenty of science that proponents of these laws cite, such as studies showing that the way our brains multi-task can cause delayed reponses. Another similar study is out, and it delivers very similar results (via Textually), saying that the brain experiences a bottleneck when it tries to do more than one task at a time, such as when driving and talking on the phone. The researchers say the results "support the case for a complete ban on the use of mobile phones when driving", according to the BBC, but again, it's unclear why phones get singled out. The researchers didn't look at the specific effects of phone use, or even the effect of distractions on drivers; rather, they only examined what happens to the brain when it's asked to perform more than one task at a time. So it could be said that their research supports the ban of talking to passengers while driving, or fiddling with the radio, or drinking coffee -- anything but the act of driving itself. Clearly the use of a mobile phone while driving can be a distraction to drivers, but labeling it the only distraction worth doing something about is short-sighted and off the mark.
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Wouldn't it be cool if
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Re: Wouldn't it be cool if
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Re: Re: Wouldn't it be cool if
There was an accident in Japan last year where a driver talking on a cell phone plowed into a group of 40 kindergarten kids, injuring 31 and killing 5 of them. One of the kids was pinned under the tire and got his face turned into peanut butter before he died. But Techdirt always deletes my post when I post the link.
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Re: Re: Wouldn't it be cool if
ALL activity other than driving is dangerous. Start prosecuting people for reckless driving or driving without undue care and attention for ALL such offenses.
To say that cell phone usage shouldn't be banned just because it isn't the only distraction is sheer stupidity. Let's legalise Heroin too then, it isn't the only addictive drug...
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Re: Re: Wouldn't it be cool if
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Re:
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It's the compression...
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Re: It's the compression...
Last I checked, my brain doesn't run the decompression algorithms, my phone does. This argument doesn't make any since.
Can you prove your statement?
One more thought: Maybe your brain, but mine doesn't appear to work any harder when I'm on the phone.
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Re: Re: It's the compression...
signal clarity is thrown away in the compression.
The sound you get out after decompression is not as "good" as the sound that went in.
You can practice this with your favorite MP3 ripping app all day. Rip an MP3 into 2k/s and then into 256k/s. Take note of the quality difference. Then try to guess what chord is being played on a guitar. One is MUCH easier for your brain to figure out.
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Re: Re: Re: It's the compression...
>>signal clarity is thrown away in the compression.
Uh, thats not necessarily true. There are plenty of compression algorithms that have no loss of signal quality. Compression does not have to be lossy.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: It's the compression...
All of this is not to say that the quality of cellphones doesn't force you to listen harder and make a bad situation worse, but just to say that throwing in a lot of technical mumbo jumbo in an argument doesn't make you right.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: It's the compression...
The simple thing being illustrated is that the extremely narrow bandwidth that traditional phone communications being is so incredibly narrow that incredibly harsh lossy compression has to be used in order get the signal through the pipes (not a truck), and as such requires much greater processing power from the brain in order to be able to interpret the signal and extract from it the desired human speech.
This doesnt make the "cellphone" the culprit, rather the PSTN is the culprit. There has been the exact same size "pipe" available to all calls for a very long time. It was adequate way back when, but the entire system needs an overhaul. Its not going to happen, probably not ever. So a disruptive technology will have to usurp the PSTN before we get decent quality telephony.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: It's the compression...
It's not the compression that makes talking on the phone while driving dangerous, it's the talking. The time your brain spends on making out speech (which it's quite used to doing bt"w, thanks evolution) is nothing compared to how much time you spend thinking on the topics raised by the person you're talking to and generally participating in the conversation.
And I know I used a lot of words, that was the point. We can all (well not all of us but at least a few other people here) drop in a lot of cool words like "Lossy", "Bandwith" and "PSTN". Hell, we can throw in E1's, dynamically switched networks and FFT for good measure but it won't do any good. The question is not who knows more about cellphone audio compression (I'll assume you do and leave it at that) but wether the compression can really be blamed for anything more than being annoying.
The point of the article was that there are many other distractions that may or may not be as bad as cellphones, so I don't see why the exact reason they sound worse than a person sitting in the car with you is important. We can all I agree they do and leave the technical stuff alone.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: It's the compression..
I'm not blaming the technology, as much as illustrating a deficiency. And a major point that people dont understand when talking on cell while driving is that it DOES take that much more brain power to talk on a phone than it does to talk to a person next to you.
Most people aren't stupid, they are simply mi-educated. Correct their knowledge deficiencies and in turn, they will act appropiately. (that and teach insurance companies not to cover wrecks where the driver was ona cell, and we'll have an instant remedy(tm).)
The reasons behind it are irrelevant, as you imply.
The average "talk on the phone while driving" driver justifies this act to themselves by saying its no more dangerous. Our friggin brilliant politicians that think that hands free kits will save us all dont understand what makes it dangerous either. Regardless of the fact that every study that compares hands free kids to regular cell usage has found absolutely no reason to use a hands free kit.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: It's the compressi
i also find it much easier to make talking on the phone a secondary matter when its a hands-free set. when i'm holding the phone, i tend to focus on it more, mainly because its now become a physical distraction as opposed to a mental one.
people who say hands-free sets make no difference are people who want to be able to drive the car while holding their cell phone and they're just trying to rationalize it without actually looking at ALL aspects of talking on the phone. its not just a mental distraction, its physical (at least when you're holding it).
i hate watching people drive with one hand busy doing something else. i don't mind people who drive with one hand, but i want the other hand at the ready. if its holding something and you need it suddenly, your response time with that hand will be definitively a lot slower than if you were using a hands-free device. you don't even need a study to show that. its common sense.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: It's the compression...
Right.
But cell phones are NOT using lossless compression. Lossy compression is being used. Extremely lossy compression. which requires the brain to use more resources to process the signal, which removes some resources that could be used to pay attention to... driving.
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Re: It's the compression...
The legislation that will "Fix" the distraction is the legislation that mandates a "minumum voice quality" upon the carriers.
That's not likely to happen any time soon (if ever), so we'll instead keep hearing news stories about new laws associated with getting consumers to purchase more paraphenilia that lures them into a false sense of security by "freeing their hands". At least they convinced consumers to spend more money in their blind efforts to "save the children". and hey, just look at how much money the accessory markets are making now. That must be great for tax revenue.
If having your hands free actually helped significantly, then my coffee cup should be whats illegal (as its never in the cupholder), not my phone.
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Re: It's the compression...
Silly me, I thought people already put some thought into their conversations, on the phone or otherwise. I think that if you think that's the real issue here you've never had anyone argue in the backseat.
Wouldn't it be nice though if we could reduce all our safety issues with cars to audio sampling problems...
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Driving?
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They're annoying
One is that it is (relatively) news and stands out as an unnatural use in the car.
The other, I think, is that cell phones are irritating to a lot of people in the sense that they find it annoying when (for instance) the other person interrupts their chatting to answer the phone (and how they put you aside so quickly). And people may think like that even though they use their phones the same way.
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Driving like drunks!
I really hope the make it a law.
I rather see dumbasses looking like cyborgs, than having the idiot in front of me driving like a complete idiot.
Also, while we are at it... ban stoopid SUVs.
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Driving like drunks!
I really hope the make it a law.
I rather see dumbasses looking like cyborgs with their bluetooth devices, than having the idiot in front of me driving like a complete idiot.
Also, while we are at it... ban stoopid SUVs.
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RE: Driving?
I think you mean automatic since driving manual forces you to focus more on diving your car than being lazy and having a computer drive it for you. Also using the other foot to down shift while breaking a manual will always stop faster than its automatic counter part under identical situations.
Manual = Serious Drivers
Automatic = Lazy inattentive Drivers
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What about the kids
1) Parents driving infants who cry
2) Parents with children between the of of 2 and 10 who won't sit down in thier seat and keep asking "are we there yet?" and hitting their siblings
3) putting on makeup while driving
4) Smoking while driving
5) opening any beverage container
6) Eating
7) Singing along with the radio
All of those activities require as much or more of our attention then actually holding a cell phone and talking into it. Somehow however, talking on a cell phone has become akin to drinking and driving.
Soon there will be a "war on cell phones while driving" to accompany the so called war on drugs--and it will all be "for our children"
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Re: What about the kids
I think it might also be that your trained since birth to pay more attention on the phone trying to get the details, yur mind becomes more focused at that point.
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when driving, you should focus on the road. no research required.
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Yield to the practical!
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wouldn't these factors cause the brain to "process" the right signal for communication?
now, while it is true that cell phones are distracting for driving, just about everything else is. heck, driving is distracting for driving. i mean, when you look at your Rearview mirror/side view mirros, you take your eye off the road ahead. of course these activitys take tenths of a second, but that's more than enough time to have an accident happen. i'm all for goverment safety regulation, but laws for the sake of saying you did something, come on...
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Re: Re: Re: Re: It's the compression...
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It's the peripheral vision, and lack of turning th
Do what I do as a compromise -- when driving and using the cell, if you need to change lanes, merge, etc.. tell the caller on the other end "hold on" and put the damn thing down and concentrate on what you are doing. once you are back in zombie 15mph straightlinestiuck in traffic, resume your call. plskthx
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drivers
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Re: drivers
"You can't regulate human stupidity. All we need is a "multitask" test. If you can't chew gum and walk at the same time you can't have any distractions in the car. Face it people are stupid and will always do stupid things especially while operating a motor vehicle. Just make the driving test exceptionally hard."
----
Add my sister to that list!
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the solution
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Cell Phone Distraction
They cannot accurately determine how many accidents are caused / contributed to by cell phone distraction, because people lie. But I live in a northern town, where the next town to the south is over 300 miles away. There is a section of the highway in the middle with no cell phone service. There is probably a half dozen or more fatalities a year on that highway, and guess what section of highway has the least accidents and fatalities?
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Re: Cell Phone Distraction
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Re: Cell Phone Distraction
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In many states and in Washington, DC it's illegal for the driver of the car to operate a vehicle without a hands-free device. I wonder if a real liability isn't alleviated, however, with a hands-free device to prevent me from having one hand used in conjunction with an unnatural head-angle to balance the phone as well as drive. Heaven forbid I slip with the phone and have to pick it up off the floor of the car, or out from under the gas or brake pedals!
On the other hand, doesn't this sound like something the headset manufacturers would likely contribute big dollars to lobby for? ::grumble:: That does it… we’re not leaving here until SOMEBODY is wearing tin-foil hats!
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It's the Frequency Dan
they want to do despite the facts is a marvel to behold.
Distracted driving is bad. Talking on a cell phone is
distracting. It follows that talking on a cell phone
while driving is bad. Distracted driving is against the
law in this state, Wisconsin, so it's not a far reach to
say driving while talking on a cell phone is against the
law... it only awaits a judge's interpretation as such
and it will be so.
Any source of distraction is bad. I've been a passenger
in two wrecks where the driver was screwing around
with the radio or heater controls. "Dave, that car's
not moving" ... "Oh, yeah"
The sheer numbers of morons yacking on the cell
phone as they blissfully careen down the interstate,
while exhibiting a panoply of unsafe driving practices
garners cell phones special attention.
I commute a couple of hours every day and I've seen
a serious degradation in driving skills due to cell phones.
It is my opinion based on many hours of observation
that talking on a cell phone does degrade a driver's
performance. Every study I've seen supports this
stand, the Human Factors study being most damming.
You may be able to drive OK while on the cell phone,
you may be able to drive OK after consuming a few
alcoholic beverages. But enough people drive impaired
by these actions that neither should be tolerated.
Get over it, Shut up, and Drive.
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Distractions
As for other distractions, maybe we should make it illegal to drive with the windows open. After all, loud, rushing winds can be distracting, not to mention the possibility of a bee flying in...
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not saying that i don't care. i'm just saying that using one sensational event to argue for something is pointless.
anyway the point of the article is saying that it's not just cell phones that are dangerous.
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Phone vs Human
However, none of this excuses not paying attention to what's most important: driving the car. If you're hurtling down the road in 2.5 tons of steel at 45 mph and a kid runs out from between two parked cars (OK, stupid kid, but ...) your concentration on the road and conditions will be the deciding factor on whether that kid stays alive. Is it really gonna be more important that you find out via the phone that Johnny got a B in gym class?
As to other disctractions: a friend's brother ran over and killed a 12 year old boy. His distraction was that he was looking at his CD player to find out what track was on. He was 17 at the time.
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Another Distraction
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2007/01/talking_billboa.html
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Ron has it right.
HTe reason for the number of crashes on that dead straight stretch of road mentioned above is nothing to do with the 'phone signal, it is because drivers zone out, come off the road onto the shoulder , over-correct, and hit a tree, or, alternaltively, find themselves in the wrong lane and about to hit an artic, and crash into it or a tree. IF you look at crash stats for South Australia, there are a disproprotionaltly high number of people who die in the far north or on the MElbourne road in open country on dead straight sections for precisely this reason.
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"Guns don't kill people....people do"
"Cell Phones don't kill people....shitty wireless Providers Do"
"Bumper stickers don't kill people...porly writen ones doo"
ps. you can't legislate common sense
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hey, don't forget Maryland
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Here's an idea...
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Its not too difficult to see the problems: weaving on the roads, overly careful and slower than posted speed limits on roads, rash running of red lights, making dangerous turns without using signals and a number of other red flags. People seem to forget that driving is a privilege and not a right. Ban the mofos...
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Cell Phones
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A little old lady is crossing the road ahead. Do you:
1) run her down
2) swerve round her, hooting, swear at her and curse her ancestry
3) stop and wait foir her to finish crossing
fail a test like that.
In many places you cannot drive wearing headphones. you need to plug your phone into the steroe or set it to loudspeaker.
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Flip the telescope around
Talk, eat, sing, change clothes, or have sex all you want, the system gets you there without killing me in the process.
If that seems outrageous, think about being tailgated at 75 mph by a soccer mom talking on the cell phone, running the DVD player, eating supper, and dealing with 6 noisy kids in a 3 ton SUV. I'll take my chances with a computer system.
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accident that found a place to happen
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Hang Up and Drive
Driving is the single most dangerous thing most people do in a day. It will kill you alot faster than second hand smoke. HANG UP and DRIVE!
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earl
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cn
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egfh
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cn
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cn
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cn
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cn
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cn
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cn
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cn
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cn
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cn
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cn
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cram it
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my teaqm sucks
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Re: my teaqm sucks
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nothing
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driving and talking
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So stop bitching about talking on a cell phone while driving. If it effects your driving than you shouldn't be driving period because it's obvious you don't know how to. If you are a responsible driver (which you should be if you have a license, otherwise our DMVs aren't doing a very good job judging driving skills) than you should be able to politely say "HOLD ON A MINUTE" if you need to seriously concentrate on switching lanes and what not. And in response to someone's comment earlier about talking about how great talking on cell phones is when you're in jail after hitting 20 kids in a crosswalk or whatever the hell their little senario was, you seriously need to open your eyes. That is more likely to happen when you are just being a complete idiot, which most of you probably are. AND LAST TIME I CHECKED, YOU DONT DRIVE A CAR WITH YOUR MOUTH. So why don't you go complain about a topic you actually know something about.
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Authority
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Cell phones
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