Geeky Weekly

Why hands-free cell phone laws are dumb

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?

• Cell Phone Users Drive ‘Blind’; Study Explains Why Hands-Free Phones Just As Bad As Hand-held
• Cognitive Psychologists Show Conversations Lower Visual Abilities
• Passengers, Not Just Mobile Phones, Contribute To Road Accidents

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

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Breaking down my gasoline consumption

With gas prices at their current levels people are hurting at the pump and even my 2.5 mile commute adds up. I usually go home for lunch so I’m driving 10 miles a day. Compared to the 50 miles I was doing one year ago I should be grateful my gas bill is as low as it is. The savings I’ve seen with a shorter commute aren’t quite as large as you’d think. The increased price of gas and lower mileage from city driving has doubled my cost per mile.

Gas prices have gone up considerably; here’s my data I’m collected over the past 2.5 years:

Higher prices mean it costs more to drive a mile, no question there. Here’s my mileage over that same time period for my 2005 Toyota Tacoma 4 cylinder automatic:

When I started at the County last August two things happened: a tank of gas started lasting longer and my mileage plummeted. The short trip to and from work means my engine is operating at a less efficient temperature for a larger proportion of my commute. Coupled with stopping and idling at traffic lights I saw a 7-8 mpg decrease, that’s a very significant ~30% drop in mileage. My historic cost per mile looks like this:

The double whammy of increased prices and lower mileage hurts. With my current cost per mile it costs me $2.20 to drive to work everyday. Doesn’t seem like much, but that adds up to about $550 per year. That’s just to get to work, that doesn’t include driving anywhere fun.

I’m going to go through a series of post analyzing my energy costs and figuring out ways to reduce them. What’s your daily commute cost you? Simple formula to calculate it:

Commute cost = (price of gas / MPG) * miles

Tagged with: commute, driving, energy costs, gasoline prices, mileage, mpg, toyota tacoma
Posted under: Money Stuff

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