Tom Austin wrote:

> 
> 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.

This, by the way, is the best way to find where you're going, if you
don't have a navigator - get someone who knows the way around to phone.
Having handsfree is a big plus though.

> Tho, only 1 hand on the wheel.

I usually drive one hand on the wheel, even without a telephone (then
again, I do have a handsfree). The other one is either changing gear
(continously in towns), handling radio/ac or just resting.

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

I agree, as long as you don't need to do 3 other things at the same time
- put a blinker on, turn on the windscreen wipers, change gear and turn
the car  :).

-Aero

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On Sat, 06 Dec 2008 10:14:26 +0200, Eero Ahonen wrote:

>> Tho, only 1 hand on the wheel.
> 
> I usually drive one hand on the wheel, even without a telephone (then
> again, I do have a handsfree). The other one is either changing gear
> (continously in towns), handling radio/ac or just resting.

I often do this as well when I'm not on the phone, I think I do it out of 
habit when I am on the phone to help with keeping my attention focused 
more on driving - it's a signal to myself, if you will....

Jim

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> 
> I often do this as well when I'm not on the phone, I think I do it out of 
> habit when I am on the phone to help with keeping my attention focused 
> more on driving - it's a signal to myself, if you will....

Like I said, I mostly let the other hand rest. My trip to work is 75km
in one direction, which usually takes about 40-45 minutes. The road is
pretty straight ie. not much serious movement for the hands (except if
something happens fast, which has happened once in 1,5 years). Anyone
shouting that 10-to-2 or quarter-to-3 is The Only Correct Choice can go
ahead and try keeping hands in that position for over 30 minutes and
then trying to do some quick movement with them (eg. avoid someone
changing a lane to your exact position). It's just not gonna happen,
those hand will surely be numb.

> Jim

-Aero, only human

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On Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:21:26 +0200, Eero Ahonen wrote:

> Like I said, I mostly let the other hand rest. My trip to work is 75km
> in one direction, which usually takes about 40-45 minutes. The road is
> pretty straight ie. not much serious movement for the hands (except if
> something happens fast, which has happened once in 1,5 years). Anyone
> shouting that 10-to-2 or quarter-to-3 is The Only Correct Choice can go
> ahead and try keeping hands in that position for over 30 minutes and
> then trying to do some quick movement with them (eg. avoid someone
> changing a lane to your exact position). It's just not gonna happen,
> those hand will surely be numb.

Huh, I don't have a problem with those sudden movements.  I'm not an 
advocate of 10-2 or 3:45, I do tend to drive with one hand at 6:00 and 
one on the gear shift lever (which is odd because it's an automatic, but 
I learned on a stick).

Jim

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>> 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.

Yeh with those (and trucks) I just keep a bigger gap in front of me, 
sometimes it amazes me how close people drive behind such vehicles when they 
can't see what's going on further up the road.  Sometimes you can just drive 
a little more to the left of the lane and see past them, but this only works 
if the road is straight or bending to the left a bit, makes me feel safer if 
I can do that.

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> 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.

Yeh me too, often they will ask if I'm OK to talk, if not I always say that 
I'm in the car.

> 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.

Depends on the road for me, usually it's only on longer trips that I use the 
phone, so it's on the autobahn with no crossing intersections etc to worry 
about, I just stay in the slow lane with the trucks while I'm on the phone.

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

Yep me too (my car has a bluetooth connection so the phone call comes out 
the normal speakers in the car).

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On Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:11:39 +0100, scott wrote:

>> 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.
> 
> Yeh me too, often they will ask if I'm OK to talk, if not I always say
> that I'm in the car.

I think that makes a difference - for example, when I call my mom while 
on the way home (not a bad time to call her generally as I'm not in front 
of a computer, which means I can't remotely fix hers), she'll ask if I'm 
on my way home.  Kinda become a habit now for her to ask, but if she 
doesn't, I let her know.  Also partly because there are dead spots on the 
route and sometimes the call drops.

>> 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.
> 
> Depends on the road for me, usually it's only on longer trips that I use
> the phone, so it's on the autobahn with no crossing intersections etc to
> worry about, I just stay in the slow lane with the trucks while I'm on
> the phone.

Yeah, that makes a difference.  I find that I tend not to use the phone 
while on city streets as well - stop and go traffic is enough to look at, 
but on the freeway it's a different story.

>> *Always* on handsfree (with my headset), though.  Both hands firmly on
>> the wheel.  No exceptions.
> 
> Yep me too (my car has a bluetooth connection so the phone call comes
> out the normal speakers in the car).

Nice....I have a bluetooth headset, but the car will be 10 years old in 
April next year.

Jim

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Invisible wrote:
> I read somewhere that if you put more road safety features in, people 
> feel safer and so take more risks, resulting in the same level of safety 
> as before. And now I read this:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_space
> 
> Apparently the idea is that because it looks more dangerous, people pay 
> more attention.
> 
> Call me cynical, but I can't help feeling it's only a matter of time 
> before some twat driving a Subaru Impreza comes along and starts trying 
> to drive like it's a rally circuit... :-P
I think Professor Albert Einstein once said: 2 things are infinite the 
Universe and Human supidity.

U being cynic? no, I think u r just describing human (dumb-a$$) behavior.

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Saul Luizaga wrote:

> I think Professor Albert Einstein once said: 2 things are infinite the 
> Universe and Human supidity.

"...and I'm not even sure about the first one..."

:-D

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>> I think Professor Albert Einstein once said: 2 things are infinite the 
>> Universe and Human supidity.
> 
> "...and I'm not even sure about the first one..."
> 
> :-D

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/9.html

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