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>> Yet it's illegal to use a mobile phone while sat stationary in traffic...
>
> There's a reason to this:
>
> Phone calls distract you, that's plain fact (the mistake the legislation
> makes
> here is IMO that it distracts you no matter whether you use a handsfree
> unit or
> not, but that's another story).
And also talking to a passenger distracts you too.
> So here you are, concentrated on your phone call - all the more (!) since
> you're
> in stationary traffic so what can possibly happen - and the car in front
> of you
> starts going again. Being in the middle of conversation, you kind of
> instinctively follow,
At which point you are using the phone whilst moving, which should be
illegal.
It being illegal to use it while stationary in a car is just ludicrous, in
what possible way is it dangerous to be using a phone in a stopped car? The
worst possible thing that can happen if you are using a phone in a stopped
car is that it stays stopped when it should be moving - at which point
someone will honk you and you'll go (compared to say if your car broke down
and you would be stuck there for much longer).
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> In the USA, laws left entirely up to the judgement of the law
> enforcers/courts are frowned upon. It's in the constitution and
> everything. You're supposed to be able to read a law and know whether
> you're breaking the law without having to actually get arrested first.
How do you define "dangerous driving" in the USA then? I don't see how you
can cover every possibility without some sort of "wooly" clause like "any
deliberate action likely to cause serious human injury or death".
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scott wrote:
> And also talking to a passenger distracts you too.
I've heard claims that one difference there is that the passenger knows
what's going on. If all of a sudden three cars are coming at you from three
directions, the passenger is likely to STFU until you're clear of the
situation.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
The NFL should go international. I'd pay to
see the Detroit Lions vs the Roman Catholics.
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scott wrote:
> How do you define "dangerous driving" in the USA then?
I don't know, offhand. We probably call it "reckless driving" here. I never
figured out how they know it's reckless if you don't wreck. It's usually
something about how much above the speed limit you're going than is
appropriate. If you're less than the speed limit and collide with something,
it's obviously also dangerous.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
The NFL should go international. I'd pay to
see the Detroit Lions vs the Roman Catholics.
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Darren New wrote:
> I've heard claims that one difference there is that the passenger knows
> what's going on. If all of a sudden three cars are coming at you from
> three directions, the passenger is likely to STFU until you're clear of
> the situation.
*Clearly* you've never been in a car with my mother. ;-)
(It was really hard to resist saying Singapore there!)
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Invisible wrote:
> *Clearly* you've never been in a car with my mother. ;-)
My wife's somewhat like that too. Or worse, she'll gasp and cringe when the
guy a quarter mile ahead hits the brakes, like I'm not even looking out the
window or something. Or she'll shout "Watch out!" when she sees someone
walking thru a parking lot we're driving past.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
The NFL should go international. I'd pay to
see the Detroit Lions vs the Roman Catholics.
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Darren New wrote:
> Invisible wrote:
>> *Clearly* you've never been in a car with my mother. ;-)
>
> My wife's somewhat like that too. Or worse, she'll gasp and cringe when
> the guy a quarter mile ahead hits the brakes, like I'm not even looking
> out the window or something. Or she'll shout "Watch out!" when she sees
> someone walking thru a parking lot we're driving past.
My grandmother is like that. She generally won't let us drive on
motorways because it's too "dangerous".
Actually, most accidents happen at junctions. You've got people
starting, stopping, changing direction, and generally weaving around. On
a motorway, everybody's heading in the same direction.
Also, on lots of roads you get people, children and even small dogs
wandering across the road and getting mowed down. Generally doesn't
happen on motorways.
Admittedly what you *do* have on motorways is people who think they own
the road and it's OK to push other people off it. But they're a minority.
It's really quite distracting when every time anybody changes lane, the
women jumps out of her skin.
She also won't let anybody drive at more than about 40 MPH...
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Invisible wrote:
> Darren New wrote:
>> Invisible wrote:
>>> *Clearly* you've never been in a car with my mother. ;-)
>>
>> My wife's somewhat like that too. Or worse, she'll gasp and cringe
>> when the guy a quarter mile ahead hits the brakes, like I'm not even
>> looking out the window or something. Or she'll shout "Watch out!" when
>> she sees someone walking thru a parking lot we're driving past.
>
> My grandmother is like that. She generally won't let us drive on
> motorways because it's too "dangerous".
>
> Actually, most accidents happen at junctions. You've got people
> starting, stopping, changing direction, and generally weaving around. On
> a motorway, everybody's heading in the same direction.
>
> Also, on lots of roads you get people, children and even small dogs
> wandering across the road and getting mowed down. Generally doesn't
> happen on motorways.
>
> Admittedly what you *do* have on motorways is people who think they own
> the road and it's OK to push other people off it. But they're a minority.
>
> It's really quite distracting when every time anybody changes lane, the
> women jumps out of her skin.
>
> She also won't let anybody drive at more than about 40 MPH...
I once stopped the car and had my mother drive the rest of the way home
- it was safer that way because I was not distracted by her panics.
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>> My grandmother is like that. She generally won't let us drive on
>> motorways because it's too "dangerous".
>>
>> It's really quite distracting when every time anybody changes lane,
>> the women jumps out of her skin.
>>
>> She also won't let anybody drive at more than about 40 MPH...
>
> I once stopped the car and had my mother drive the rest of the way home
> - it was safer that way because I was not distracted by her panics.
My grandmother can't drive. (Never has done.)
I _would_ make my mum drive - except that she *insists* on never
changing gear, and then wondering why the car is handling badly. Hint:
you're not supposed to take roundabouts in 5th gear! :-P
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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>> *Clearly* you've never been in a car with my mother. ;-)
My gf is the opposite of me, she'll need to be talking to someone the whole
time to stay concentrated. When she drives by herself she says that she
easily loses concentration on the road. It's then hard when I'm driving at
160 km/hr and some guy pulls out ahead doing 110 to overtake a truck doing
80 while some guy behind is doing 200, and she's trying to hold a full on
conversation with me!
> My wife's somewhat like that too. Or worse, she'll gasp and cringe when
> the guy a quarter mile ahead hits the brakes, like I'm not even looking
> out the window or something. Or she'll shout "Watch out!" when she sees
> someone walking thru a parking lot we're driving past.
Hehe my gf is like that too, now I play the game where when she says
"Brake!" I see if actually I can get away with not braking at all and not
crash, surprisingly a few times I can, and then she says "Oh I thought they
were stopped up there". But then she was also surprised when I told her I
usually look about 10 cars up the road so can see if they are really
stopping or not.
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