On Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:57:36 -0700, Darren New wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Ironically, I read what I wrote again and should clarify that I don't
>> think teens sleeping together causes automobile accidents. ;-)
> 
> Not *automobile* accidents, no.  Parking While Intoxicated causes
> accidents.

LOL!

>> But I also have an effective way to divide my attention during that
>> drive.  When I get into town, things change, so I tend to get off the
>> phone, but on the freeway it's an entirely different matter.
> 
> How do you know?

I know because I drive this stretch of I-15 very regularly and because I 
know how I divide my attention.  For example, I often don't know exactly 
where I am on the road (not important information to safely driving on 
the freeway) but I know the position of every car in my immediate 
vicinity.  Both ahead of *and* behind me as well.  I do that when I'm 
driving "not on the phone" as well, but I also tend to have a better idea 
where I am on the freeway (relative to the office and home).

IOW, I filter out the unimportant things to driving safely on the road 
and my attention is on those things that are instead of listening to the 
radio, seeing how far I have to go to get home, and so on.

There are lots of things that people process while they're driving that 
are unimportant to not being in a wreck.  I switch that part of my 
attention to the conversation, just as I would if the person were in the 
car with me.

But they *always* know I'm driving - often I even start the conversation 
with "I'm on my way home now".  I also occasionally say "sorry, I didn't 
hear that, can you repeat" because my full attention was needed for 
something happening around me (car speeding past on the right, accident 
on the median causing traffic slowing - things like that).

>> The new law in Utah would make that illegal.  However, the cops have no
>> way of knowing that's what I'm doing.
> 
> Then pull off to the side and do it. :-) Seems easy enough.

That's not the point, though.  The point is that the law is unenforceable 
anyways, so it's really a waste of the legislator's time.

While we're legislating things that cannot possibly be enforced, let's 
also make it illegal to clip your toenails on a Sunday night if you're 
home alone.

>> likely going to be on the call while I'm driving.
> 
> At least here you get to have hands-free conversations. Not that it's
> all that much better.

I think it does make a huge difference.  For one thing, if you aren't 
talking hands-free, you don't have both hands on the wheel.  You have 
less control over the 1-1.5 tonnes of vehicle you're driving.

>>> impaired and not feel it in the least. Whether it's bad enough to ruin
>>> your driving depends on how well you drive before that, I guess.
>> 
>> True.  And how well attuned you are to your own abilities and driving
>> habits.
> 
> That, and how much room you leave, and etc. I'm not a very good driver
> any more, since I no longer commute very far if at all, but I'm smart
> enough to know that and leave plenty of space around myself, for
> example.

Yes, that's a very important piece as well.  I *always* try to leave a 
fair amount of space around me on all sides (if I can) and have a 
constantly changing focus as to where I *could* go if I had to shift 
lanes quickly.  I'm constantly updating my situational awareness; I think 
a lot of drivers don't think about what's going on behind them.   A 
couple weeks ago, I hit a patch of ice on a surface street (not on the 
phone, very early in the morning and I hadn't gotten on the freeway 
yet).  I had left plenty of room ahead of me to get stopped (in spite of 
not knowing there was ice on the roads) but the car behind me hadn't.

I think most drivers would've ended up being rear-ended.  I got slowed 
down to a point where I wasn't going to hit the car in front of me, saw 
the headlights of the car behind me disappear below the deck of the 
trunk, cranked the wheel to the left and took my foot off the brake; the 
wheels gripped and the car pulled gently into the center lane, avoiding 
being hit from behind.

The driver in the car behind me *clearly* was unprepared, and when the 
light turned, he maintained a significant gap behind me.

>> I've only once, for example, been so drunk that I couldn't remember
>> what had happened
> 
> I've never been that drunk. :-)

I think you are very fortunate in that.  I generally don't drink a lot 
any more, but there were a few years where it was a common thing for me.  
We've got bottles and bottles of beer in the fridge, for example, that 
have been there for months.  We actually use it more for cooking than for 
drinking.

Jim

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