Re: SECOND djf Behind the wheel, on the phone, styling hair... / More and more multi tasking drivers are bringing real danger to the road

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: May 29, 2007 11:06:29 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: Re: [IP] Re: SECOND djf Behind the wheel, on the phone,  
styling hair... / More and more multi tasking drivers are bringing  
real danger to the road


Dave,

This is another example of why "feel-good" laws like the ones that
ban use of hand-held cell phones when driving (which I have publicly
editorialized against for years) are such an example of political
pandering.

California pulls the trigger on such a law a year from now, even with
the primary author admitting that the science shows that there's no
significant distraction difference between talking on a hand-held
vs. handsfree cell phone.  If you banned *all* use of any kind of
cell phone when driving, you might make an incremental difference,
but in the U.S. there's no stomach for that.

If cell phones were the massive distraction that some people claim,
we'd have seen major accident increases over the years since they
were introduced.  We haven't.  The reason is simple, cell phones
don't rank very highly on the distraction list -- worst are outside
distractions (something you see on the street) and other people in
the car (e.g. kids in the back seat).  But we don't see calls to ban
kids in cars.

Feel good laws == stupid laws that often distract us (no pun intended)
from the underlying issues.

Banning kids from cars.  Hmm.....

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Founder, CIFIP
   - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com

 - - -

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: "Synthesis: Law and Technology"
> <synthesis.law.and.technology () gmail com>
> Date: May 29, 2007 10:31:01 AM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Cc: ip () v2 listbox com
> Subject: Re: [IP] Behind the wheel, on the phone, styling hair... /
> More and more multi tasking drivers are bringing real danger to the  
> road
>
> Dave,
>
> I see the same things the troopers do, pretty much every day.  But I
> don't think it is new.
> Long before Blackberries existed you could spot at least one woman
> every day putting on makeup with both hands and steering with her
> knees.  Not to single out the women, the men were doing equally
> stupid things.   I think the stupidity remains the same, just the
> tools have changed.   The driver who drove off the road and rammed
> into a bridge abutment to avoid rear-ending me 15 years ago was
> trying to cut something (Pizza?) before realizing at the last minute
> taht all ttaffic in front of him was stopped.  Today if he is still
> on the road, he would be defrosting sushi by taking advantage of his
> dual-zone climate control and holding it infront of hot air vents
> instead (keeping the other side on ice cold to balance out the
> heat).  I really don't think it is the technology that endangers. It
> has always been the idiots.
>
> Dan Steinberg
>
> SYNTHESIS:Law & Technology
> 35, du Ravin phone: (613) 794-5356
> Chelsea, Quebec
> J9B 1N1
>
>
> On 5/28/07, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
> Date: May 28, 2007 11:28:53 AM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Behind the wheel, on the phone, styling
> hair... / More and more multi tasking drivers are bringing real
> danger to the road
>
> [Note:  This item comes from reader Monty Solomon.  DLH]
>
> From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com >
> Date: May 28, 2007 6:00:35 AM PDT
> Subject: Behind the wheel, on the phone, styling hair... / More and
> more multi tasking drivers are bringing real danger to the road
>
>
> Behind the wheel, on the phone, styling hair...
> More and more multi tasking drivers are bringing real danger to the  
> road
>
> By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff  |  May 27, 2007
>
> State Police talk about the time they pulled up to a guy in a
> fender-bender on Interstate 290 with his airbags deployed and the
> interior spattered in red. They rushed for their medical kits, only
> to find it wasn't blood they were looking at, but tomato sauce. The
> driver had been dining on pasta behind the wheel.
>
> Just last week, State Police Lieutenant James A. Jones noticed a man
> trying to pull his dress shirt over his head, then continuing a
> wardrobe change, all while driving on Route 24. "I was about to turn
> on my blue lights when he stands up," Jones said. "He's taking off
> his pants."
>
> Other motorists are doing crossword puzzles or reading books in
> stop-and-go traffic on Route 128, styling their hair while navigating
> the Massachusetts Turnpike, or pecking away on laptops perched on the
> passenger seat on the Southeast Expressway.
>
> Troopers also say they often pull over teenagers for text messaging
> while driving. One motorist was spotted watching a DVD on his laptop.
> And there was the driver pulled over on Interstate 93 while trying to
> eat a bowl of cereal.
>
> With an average commute of nearly 30 minutes each way in the Boston
> area and the growing popularity of BlackBerries, text messaging,
> iPods, and in-dash navigation systems complete with Zagat restaurant
> guides, law enforcement officials, safety researchers, and insurance
> executives are increasingly worried that the very technology designed
> to make life easier is actually endangering drivers.
>
> ..
>
> < http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/05/27/
> behind_the_wheel_on_the_phone_styling_hair/>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
> Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
> RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
> Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
>
>
>
> --
> Dan Steinberg
>
> SYNTHESIS:Law & Technology
> 35, du Ravin phone: (613) 794-5356
> Chelsea, Quebec
> J9B 1N1
>
> -------------------------------------------
> Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
> RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
> Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com


-------------------------------------------
Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com