Quote from -NightFly- :

Actually you are saying it towards to drunk drivers, what has stupid risks have to do with talking with phone??? ...one is actually driving when drunk (read not capable judging situation even when away from phone) and the other is talking with phone while driving (wich is legal btw). I for one talk with handsfree every day when driving and never had any incidents, but i bet if i would go behind a wheel after half dozen of pints then i would cause a problem on 3rd or 4th run already.

All of the studies in the UK have been done while comparing it to only drinking the legal limit (which in the UK is one of the highest in Europe and quite high when compared to the rest of the world) and they found the driver using a phone (even hands free) had worse reaction times than the drink driver. And most would get so engrossed in the conversation they wouldn't notice a danger until it was too late to do anything about it.

If you nailed half a dozen pints, I suspect the balance would swing the other way quite quickly.

But then I am one of the Nazis who think you shouldn't be allowed to eat or drink while driving as I've had idiots get very close to side swiping me on the motorway because they were busy drinking a fizzy beverage or eating lunch while driving.

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

Well fine guys, I'm gonna start getting plastered before I set off to work, becuase that's apparently safer than me texting my girlfriend a nice good morning.

Cheerio!

Sending text messages while driving is even worse than phoning someone. I hope when you crash you don't take out someone innocent in the process.

For all the people that think I'm talking out of my backside let me just confirm what i'm talking about here.

When I say "drunk driving" I'm not talking about driving after 10 pints, I'm talking about driving with just over the legal limit of alcohol in your system, which is technically "drunk driving"

Any of you that don't believe that your reaction times are slower when on the phone than when at the legal alcohol limit are simply in denial. All research done has come to the same conclusion.

Don't get me started on texting whilst driving. That is way beyond stupid.

To the person that thinks I'm trolling... read my posts again and see if you can work out why I have very strong opinions on this subject. I'm not going to spell it out for you.


Thanks P5YcHoM4N and the others that have pointed out the facts.

I suspect it's the older, more experienced drivers that actually recognise the truth of the situation.
I'm rather worried that I share the roads with people that think driving whilst on the phone is acceptable

I hardly think I'm much of a concern when I'm doing 120 on the freeway, which happens to be empty, and I'm texting the occasional message.

And apparently I still am better off getting ****ing drunk then texting. I'm gonna see how that one holds up. Fireball here I come!

Quote from J@tko :

I thought manufacturers always made the speedo a bit more than it is so you can't sue them if you get a speeding ticket when you thought you weren't speeding

Maybe we Swiss people didn't know about that before or weren't aware, you know, we haven't gone fast since 1955

It was published in a consume magazine and has many readers, the "Saldo":

http://www.saldo.ch/_thumbs/magazine/2_775_1.jpg

But it's not about the speed limit, it's about the wrong numbers of metres and kilometres driven. You know, people who lease a car will have to pay more for nothing!

Quote from J@tko :

I thought manufacturers always made the speedo a bit more than it is so you can't sue them if you get a speeding ticket when you thought you weren't speeding

It has nothing to do with being sued, it is the mechanism which drives the speedo. There are many factors which will alter the accuracy of your speedo which is why legally you're given a 10% grace in the speed. Or should I say were. People quote that figure a lot and it was the law. But in the 90's it was dropped to 3% as the accuracy of speedo increased.

The manufacture doesn't give two shits about if you get caught speeding as you'd lose that court case in a heart beat, which is why no one has tried it.

Get yourself one of the super accurate GPS speedos and more often than there will be +/-1mph difference. Assuming you haven't altered the wheel size, at which point it is your own dumb fault.

Construction and Use regs say the speedo MUST be between 100% accurate, and 10% over-read. Nothing else. So manufacturers aim somewhere in the middle.

Quote from The Moose :

For all the people that think I'm talking out of my backside let me just confirm what i'm talking about here.

When I say "drunk driving" I'm not talking about driving after 10 pints, I'm talking about driving with just over the legal limit of alcohol in your system, which is technically "drunk driving"

Any of you that don't believe that your reaction times are slower when on the phone than when at the legal alcohol limit are simply in denial. All research done has come to the same conclusion.

Don't get me started on texting whilst driving. That is way beyond stupid.

To the person that thinks I'm trolling... read my posts again and see if you can work out why I have very strong opinions on this subject. I'm not going to spell it out for you.


Thanks P5YcHoM4N and the others that have pointed out the facts.

I suspect it's the older, more experienced drivers that actually recognise the truth of the situation.
I'm rather worried that I share the roads with people that think driving whilst on the phone is acceptable

Right. My definition of drunk driving would be driving after 10 pints. I agree that talking on the phone increases reaction times a lot, which is why I rarely talk on the phone whilst driving.

I learned my lesson texting and driving in lfs in general. Unless its TBO and above, then i cant really get away with it.

I bet the statistics were compiled by people that played NFS, Grid and DIRT, etc.

I am sure simracing did effect my driving skills and I believe it was in positive way... I drive RWD and I think that lfs though me react far more quickly on oversteering and other critic situations...
it also helped me a lot when I was driving on a circuit...few laps on Nordschleife and you are much better driver imho...

but on the other hand I dont think I am speeding because of lfs...I really dont have much money to pay fines and in our country police is everywhere especially on the places where it is not dangerous but easy to exceed allowed speed and i quite enjoy driving even when I am driving within law...
sometimes I just need to have fun through some corners so I rev an engine a bit and do it a bit more on the edge but... safety first

I never use mobile phone, drive only on orange lights - very often...just happens so, had two accidents...both not my fault...one of them in driving school
and my driving experience is almost 3 years... about 60-70000km driven via the whole Europe...

and I hate unnecessarily slow drivers which are doing like 70kmh on a straight road outside the city just for fun of having kilometer long queue behind themselves and making the traffic far more dangerous because this makes people act risky and overtake when it is not safe

and what I also hate an opinion that driver with 2 year experience must be necessarily worse than driver with 20-year experience...I dont define myself as a great driver but not bad one either...still much to learn but some drivers who are less skilled than me think they are the best and then it ends up not exactly well

in the words of Top Gear: "If you have no interest in cars, you have no interest in driving. If you dont have interest in something, it means you´re not good at it which means you must have your driving licence taken away." i couldnt agree more...this rule would imho make roads much safer

damn I wanted it to make a short post so someone would read it

I'm just about to get my driving licence in a few weeks, I'm looking forward to do some driving.

I passed my driving test on the first attempt, so I'm happy with it.

Just a little food for thought for those of you that text whilst driving.

Enjoy.

Can't view. Don't have flash.

Will still text and drive.

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

Will still text and drive.

You really are a complete f*****g moron at times Dustin.

Only becuase I don't see how it's that big a problem. Particularly over here as our roads do tend to be wider and idiot proof at times. Not to mention it's not like I have full conversations over text while driving (I'll make the call and use a Bluetooth when that's the case).. It's more of simple messages or informing someone when I'll be there so they can be prepared.

I am staggered to see peoples reactions here about driving and texting.
Unbelievable that people play with other ones lives and think its oke.

I spend about 8 hours a day on the road and seen lots of shit due too stupid mistakes. A text message isnt to be done during driving. While youre doing that you play with someone else his live. Youre not focused on driving while your texting.

You dont oversee the road and you might miss something. All of a sudden you hit someone. You hit a young girl because your texting while driving. Now you can explain to the parents and the girl you were texting because you dont see the problem while driving and texting.

Saying you dont see the problem says a lot about you and your moral thoughts. Moose hase it spot on saying youre a ass. If you seriously believe that I feel sorry for you. Responsibilty is all were it cames down too.

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

it's not like I have full conversations over text while driving

The longest message of those people who got killed or killed someone else was "Where u at" Most were one word.

lol

That video really makes me sad. Even if you stop looking in front of you for a couple of seconds, many things can happen in that time.

Here you go Dustin, since you say you can't see the other one....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DebhWD6ljZs

If anyone needs to watch it, it is you.

You can also conclude that people who are dangerous drivers tend to be attracted to driving games. Doesn't mean driving CAUSE bad driving, just that they playing them be a consequence of a personality that takes risks on a road.

It's a shame they have to make video's like this to make people realise txting whilst driving is a seriously retarded thing to do.

Have to agree on Moose's side here.

My answers:

Stopped by police
Never.

Use mobile while driving
Never. Usually ask for the passenger (if any) to get the call/text something, or I just park the car and do what I have to do.

Made an insurance claim for an accident
Never.

Ran a red light in the past 12 months
Yes, somewhat often. When it's late at night, streets are empty, and robbery/kidnapping etc. are common stuff, you just check if there are any cars coming and then go.

Driven the wrong way down a one-way-street
Sure, by mistake.

Hit a stationary object while parking
Once, another car. Guy was there, no harm done, carry on.

Take risks (overtaking, fast acceleration)
Nope. Had too many close calls because of other's stupidity to not take this one seriously. Only tend to drive faster if I'm alone in the streets and in the car.

Suffer road rage
No, I've learned to enter a state of zen while driving. Makes everything so much easier.

Speeding
Consistently. You gotta keep up with the traffic flow. It's much more dangerous to think the entire city traffic must adapt to your way of driving. Speed limits are usually set unrealisticly low anyway, for maximum fining revenue.

Scare others while driving
Passengers or other drivers? I don't think so, in any case. Having a passenger means to me that that person's wellfare is my responsability, so I take extra care.

Number of prangs (i.e. Collisions/crashes) in the past 12 months
None, ever.

Sim/non-sim racer before getting a driving licence
Yes, the old ones. Indy 500, World Circuit, Test Drive, a few Papyrus titles etc.

Quote from BlueFlame :

It's a shame they have to make video's like this to make people realise txting whilst driving is a seriously retarded thing to do.

Except people above have said that getting drunk and driving is safer. Which is even more retarded because indirectly its advocating drunk driving, while being perfectly sober and going "Hey baby, I wanna lick you all over" to the girl that you're en route to visit is more dangerous.

It's a frivolous concept. Especially as the accident rates in places where phones have been banned have gone up becuase people haffto hide the phone, rather than presenting it in a place where they can do both at once.

You can be drunk and still see where you are going though (obviously depending on an individuals reaction to alcohol).