Politicians must think that if they don't pass a new law every two days then they aren't doing their job. The hands-free cell phone law is a great example of this need to pass legislation that is supported by absolutely zero reasonable thought.
At politician school you learn two things: find a legitimate problem and then create a dumb solution that doesn't address the actual problem. Firearm laws are a great example of this.
The new hands-free cell phone law is also a perfect example. There's two components to talking on a hand held cell phone: holding the phone to the side of your face and carrying out a conversation. The politician looks at this situation and sees two possibilities: make it illegal to hold a phone in your hand while driving or make it illegal to have conversations while driving. If I put my stupid politician hat on I immediately realize that holding a phone to your head drastically increases the risk of an accident and for the sake of public safety it must be stopped.
Removing the stupid politician hat I understand that my knee jerk reaction might not be valid and requires further investigation. Maybe scientists have done research into this problem area?
Hmmm how about that? It is quite possible that holding a
conversation makes up most of the increase of collision risk.
When I look at the situation and use common sense I come to the conclusion that to have any noticeable effect on collisions all activities that distract a driver have to be made
illegal, not just using a hand held cell phone. Here's a short list:
- Participating in any conversation
- Listening to the radio/music/talk radio
- Looking at billboards, bumper stickers, license plate frames or any other advertisements
- Consuming food or beverages
- Applying makeup
- Driving with one hand (manual transmission drivers would have a 3 second period between shifts to place both hands back on the wheel)
- Driving while holding any object
- Sneezing/Coughing/Yawning/Sleeping/Farting/Barfing/Laughing/Stretching/Waving/Smiling/Thinking
Okay I'm just kidding. Kind of. To spite the new law I might just drive around with a banana held up to my head blaring "Ring ring ring, banana phone" over my stereo. If it is illegal to talk on a phone in your hand surely I would get pulled over for doing the same with a piece of fresh fruit.
Tagged with: cell phone, driving, hands free, law, sarcasm
Posted under: Political Stuff
Cell phone users tie up traffic: study
I hate bad journalism and when journalists write about anything remotely scientific they sound like friggin idiots. Case in point this remarkably dumb article trying to summarize a remarkably dumb study. The attempt to present statistics supporting the conclusion that "Cell phone users tie up traffic" is laughable:
"In medium- and high-density traffic, drivers were about 20 percent less likely to change lanes. They also spent about 25 to 50 seconds longer following slow-moving vehicles before changing to an open lane. And they drove about 2 mph (3.2 kph) slower than the undistracted drivers and took 15 to 19 seconds longer to complete the 9.2 mile trip."
Here we are presented with 4 statements that in no way support the idea being presented by the study. Drivers changing lanes less causes an increase in traffic? Spent 25 to 50 second behind slower vehicles? Drove 2 mph slower which increases a 9.2 mile trip by 15 to 19 seconds? If I did my third grade math correctly and assumed an "undistracted" speed of 65mph, that results in a increase of 27 seconds. Assuming a target of 55mph that number jumps to 38 seconds. The use of the word "about" when presenting quantifiable facts is just plain sloppy. Funny how statistics don't make sense without standard deviations.
Here's a bright idea, maybe the slower moving vehicles are causing more problems than the people on the cellphones. In my observations of traffic patterns lane changes, merging, and slower moving vehicles have the greatest effect on highway speeds. 605 South approaching the 5 crawls to a stop every single day for no good reason other than people having to merge. It also seems impossible for mentally deficient California drivers to maintain their speed when approaching the "time left to destination" signs. I'm just flabbergasted about people's inability to maintain a constant speed and drive in a straight line. Am I expecting too much from people or is it small portion of the populace ruining it for everyone else?
Our own ban on hand held cell phone use here in California goes into effect later this year in the hopes of reducing accidents. Too bad that's a bunch of you know what. Here's a real study with real statistical analysis and a much larger sample:
The Impact of Driver Cell Phone Use on Accidents. And a quote from its conclusion:
"Our models predict no statistically significant reduction in accidents from bans on usage of cell phones while driving. Our estimates of the reduction in accidents from a ban on cell phone use while driving are both lower and less certain than some previous studies indicate."
Cell phone bans are just another example of government wasting our money and meddling where they don't belong.
Tagged with: cars, cell phone, government, traffic
Posted under: Political Stuff
