>> *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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> 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.

So this would be OK then, so long as you were under the speed limit and 
didn't hit anything? :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXMbAtR5Bz0

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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.
> 


I have come to believe that a passenger does see more than the driver.
Driving really takes a lot of coordination and concentration.

When I ride as a passenger I find that I can see things a lot sooner 
than when driving.  I've often thought - "wow, I don't think I would 
have caught that if I was driving."

But the passenger isn't watching what is coming from behind, or watching 
how fast they are going, or where the feet are, or trying to plan what 
is going to happen in 4-5 seconds as you get close to a car or intersection.

I have come to value a passenger - especially at night on a road with 
lots of animals.
I've trained my wife to not just suck in her breath in panic when she 
sees a deer, but to actually say 'deer' so that I know what to look for.

But my passenger also lets me drive and doesn't panic when I don't stop 
as quickly as she thinks I should.

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On Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:27:44 -0500, Tom Austin <taustin> wrote:

>I've trained my wife to not just suck in her breath in panic when she 
>sees a deer, but to actually say 'deer' 

LOL
"Yes, my dear?"
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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scott wrote:
> when I told her I usually look about 10 cars up the road so can see if 
> they are really stopping or not.

That's my biggest annoyance with the big SUVs and pick-ups that are popular 
here in the last tens of years. You can no longer look to see what the 
traffic is doing in front of them, because their windshields are 5' higher 
than yours are.

-- 
   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:
> So this would be OK then, so long as you were under the speed limit and 
> didn't hit anything? :-)

I don't know. As I said, I never really figured it out. Each state is 
different, and until the intartubes came along, it was rather a pain in the 
butt to look up the actual written statutes.

-- 
   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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On Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:39:49 -0800, Darren New wrote:

> 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.

When I'm on the phone while driving, the person (or people, sometimes 
it's a conference call) are aware that I'm driving - I make sure of 
that.  If they ask a question and I don't immediately respond, they know 
why.

I think it has to do with how people focus their attention - I find that 
I can concentrate on driving very well while talking to my wife on the 
phone, for example, because the way I talk with her on the phone is as if 
she was in the car with me.

*Always* on handsfree (with my headset), though.  Both hands firmly on 
the wheel.  No exceptions.

Jim

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On Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:45:43 -0800, Darren New wrote:

> scott wrote:
>> when I told her I usually look about 10 cars up the road so can see if
>> they are really stopping or not.
> 
> That's my biggest annoyance with the big SUVs and pick-ups that are
> popular here in the last tens of years. You can no longer look to see
> what the traffic is doing in front of them, because their windshields
> are 5' higher than yours are.

Add that to the list of my pet peeves.  Along with people who drive 
through a parking lot, see your lights indicating you're reversing, and 
try to squeak behind you anyways even though there's no way you could 
possibly see them past the H3 that parked next to you (at least it didn't 
park on top of you!).

Jim

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:39:49 -0800, Darren New wrote:
> 
>> 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.
> 
> When I'm on the phone while driving, the person (or people, sometimes 
> it's a conference call) are aware that I'm driving - I make sure of 
> that.  If they ask a question and I don't immediately respond, they know 
> why.
> 
> I think it has to do with how people focus their attention - I find that 
> I can concentrate on driving very well while talking to my wife on the 
> phone, for example, because the way I talk with her on the phone is as if 
> she was in the car with me.
> 
> *Always* on handsfree (with my headset), though.  Both hands firmly on 
> the wheel.  No exceptions.
> 
> Jim

Just did this today - was talking with someone on the phone and told him 
to waid if I pause for a few seconds - driving and merging and the like.

Tho, only 1 hand on the wheel.

I don't think it is the phone itself, but getting into the conversation 
that causes the problems.

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On Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:09:43 -0500, Tom Austin wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:39:49 -0800, Darren New wrote:
>> 
>>> 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.
>> 
>> When I'm on the phone while driving, the person (or people, sometimes
>> it's a conference call) are aware that I'm driving - I make sure of
>> that.  If they ask a question and I don't immediately respond, they
>> know why.
>> 
>> I think it has to do with how people focus their attention - I find
>> that I can concentrate on driving very well while talking to my wife on
>> the phone, for example, because the way I talk with her on the phone is
>> as if she was in the car with me.
>> 
>> *Always* on handsfree (with my headset), though.  Both hands firmly on
>> the wheel.  No exceptions.
>> 
>> Jim
> 
> Just did this today - was talking with someone on the phone and told him
> to waid if I pause for a few seconds - driving and merging and the like.
> 
> Tho, only 1 hand on the wheel.
> 
> I don't think it is the phone itself, but getting into the conversation
> that causes the problems.

That's my thought as well.  It's all about how you divide your attention 
and what you consider is the most important task.  I find I'm aware of 
the vehicles around me, but I may not know exactly where I am on the road 
(in terms of "am I near exit 279 or exit 281?"), but that happens to me 
when I'm not on the phone as well - just comes from driving a very 
familiar route a lot.

I think it also does make a difference if it's a drive that you're 
familiar with - not just in terms of the roads, but also the traffic 
patterns at given points along the route.  I know, for example, that when 
I'm driving north on I-15 between 5 and 6 PM, I can count on the traffic 
slowing down around Orem center street and the average speed dropping to 
about 25, and a similar slowdown most nights approaching American Fork.  
Even not knowing exactly how far up the road I am (by exit), the 
landmarks give me a good idea about where the traffic slowdown is going 
to start.

That and the brake lights on 4 lanes of highway traffic in front of 
me. :-)

I am constantly checking all around me - I think many drivers don't pay 
enough attention to what's going on in the lanes to the left/right of 
them, but I also tend to stick to a single lane rather than weave in and 
out of traffic, especially during rush hour.

I think mobile phones can be a dangerous distraction if you drive like a 
lunatic - then it becomes one more thing to keep track of.  But if you 
drive conservatively and not aggressively (yeah, what am I saying?) then 
it becomes less of an issue and can be no more distracting than listening 
to the radio or talking to a passenger.

Jim

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