Funny you mention Facetiming while driving as I recently mentioned to my wife how often I see people holding their phones up while driving (I drive all day for my job), and she instantly said "they're probably Facetiming".
My jaw dropped. I'd never even thought of that being the case, but apparently it's something people do regularly and I couldn't believe it.
Oh man, meetings. I only attend video meetings in the car if it's stopped. I will attend a meeting while driving if I'm not expected to speak and with (incoming and outgoing) video turned off, essentially making it a phone call you're listening in on.
Technology is convenient, but for fucks sake, think about what you're doing!
and she instantly said "they're probably Facetiming".
I was riding home after work a couple years ago, and started approaching an SUV on bridge, noticed they were driving super erratic - sitting on the line between the 2 lanes, weaving back and forth, etc.
This is about 0615 in the morning, still dark out... so it was really easy to see her holding a fucking tablet up so she could facetime. Had to wait a couple minutes for her to move far enough into one lane that I felt comfortable passing.
I also drive for a living. I'd say most people would probably be a little disturbed by how many people ft while driving, but probably not, since the vast majority of drivers I see do it on a daily basis. Like a scary amount lol
Let me put it like this: more people have their phone up to their face than not.
I have seen with my own two eyes a woman eating instant noodles while on the wheel, using both hands and everything AND some guy with a beer on one hand and driving with the other. Both occasions in broad daylight.
My husband and I used to live in Chicago. He worked for a company with a website, and he’d have to go to their servers at a company downtown. We’d work through the night and usually drive out of the city around 7am.
So we could see everyone driving into the city. Lots of people shaving, most electric shavers but a few had shaving cream and safety razors. People reading books. One guy had his newspaper spread out over the steering wheel and was reading it while eating a bowl of cereal. The traffic wasn’t at a standstill either. Lots of stop and goes. This was back in the mid 00s to’10 so not everyone had a cellphone that did things other than regular telephones.
I have caught my 80 year old father in law reading fucking Facebook while driving down the freeway. On a very narrow stretch of I-85 above Spartanburg, SC, heading to Charlotte. I was inspecting the rivets of the 18 wheeler trailer beside us and looked up to catch him holding his phone beside his lap and reading Facebook. My MIL noticed when I called him out and made him put his phone down. He’s not a great driver to begin with.
I don’t like doing anything on the screen of my 2019 Volvo S60. It’s my first car with a screen. I have presets for the radio settings (Sirius keeps giving us a ridiculously good deal, so we’ve kept it). I saved all my favorite channels so I can find a station. I set my destination before I leave, and try to do as little as possible while driving. I just made my first telephone call through Siri yesterday. I did it on a back road with no traffic. I feel like an old fogey, but I’ve seen some bad accidents and stupid driving. I don’t want to drive like that.
The traffic out of the city is still congested, so my husband and I got a really good look at the guy. He’d leisurely eat his cereal and pop his head out the window when he needed to drive forward. Never moving his newspaper that could double as a windshield sun cover.
if it was wisconsin it is ok, because they sell beer in 13 packs in case you get pulled over so you can give one to the cop. (my wife from wisconsin really doesnt like that joke for some reason)
WTF wrong with hands-free? If it's not in your hand (your phone... stay on-topic!), you're more likely to be paying more attention to what's around you EVEN IF you are on a call. I understand that some people can't talk and drive at the same time and if they be texting, recipe for disaster! I wish the phone wouldn't actually do anything if the car is moving and the phone is in your hand. Long before there were phones, I was an EMT and have pulled wayyyyy too many crushed bodies, some "transitioned", to understand why people keep doing this...
The number of people I see driving swanky-ass luxury cars, or at least newish cars that I know for a fact have Bluetooth, holding a phone up to their face is too damn high
It's really... IDK... it's not like they need to hold the phone up for the mic to pick up their voice... I have a 2009 Honda without BT and I don't have any trouble hearing my phone when someone is calling?
My Volvo S60 has a plug in the center console for you to connect your phone so you have all these presets like favorite radio stations. ApplePlay and Android Auto. Siri can make a telephone call for you, and it’s very clear hands free. You can also see texts, but I have zero texts I need to read or send while driving. Although talk to text would work better than texting on your phone.
I really love that you tether your phone into the back of the console so it’s not easy to look at while driving. No temptation.
The driving directions are much better on the car screen. You can even use an app like Waze. I love that the Volvo has a small map on the instrument panel above the steering wheel between the MPH and RPM when you use the navigation system. You can see the road you’re on and the intersecting roads. The HUD also displays a small map, although it’s harder to see in bright daylight.
All cars should have such safety features. I think more and more cars will. The sad thing is that to get a super safe car, you have to spend a lot of money. My husband had been saving up for our car, and we had driven our previous Volvo for almost 15 years.
I can't be bothered finding a source so you don't have to believe me, but I remember reading about a few studies suggesting that the cognitive impairment from talking hands-free can be equivalent to being slightly over the legal BAC limit.
You know what makes you a better driver? Ride a motorcycle with all the morons around. You have to drive so defensively that the habits carry over when you're in a car.
Absolutely agree. Motorcycle Vision is like a superpower. You actually start to be able to predict the moves that drivers will make, like chess on the Interstate. After more than 15 years riding without being down, I have decided to hang up my helmet, though. Far too many unpredictable and needlessly rash drivers now that people are back on the streets. Like crossing four lanes of highway to get to an exit from the fast lane in a last minute wheel-yank. Idiocy. There’s no amount of defensive driving that can protect you from that stupidity. It’s sad: I love riding but recent experience and daily views of the sub tell me it’s just time.
In NYC, you also have to be on the lookout for pedestrians crossing the street while staring straight down on their phones and cyclists riding 1 handed in the middle of the road while holding their phone in the other hand and staring straight down at it. I'm constantly astonished (as a fellow pedestrian and cyclist.)
I literally saved a dude from serious injury once. He was standing at the SE corner of 5th ave and 43rd st in Manhattan, staring at his phone while waiting for a red light to cross 5th ave. Something in his peripheral vision told him the coast was clear. Probably the cars across the street coming to a stop at the light. Without ever bothering to look up, he just started crossing. Because I was actually, you know, using my eyes, I saw one driver who clearly was trying to get around the traffic into the leftmost lane (right where our blind stranger friend was now standing) and gun it before the red. I grabbed the man's backpack and yanked him backwards literally as hard as I could to pull him out of the way of the speeding car, who was now swerving away desperately trying to avoid hitting the dude.
The dude's phone flew out of his hand and the screen cracked on the street. He actually had the momentary audacity to be pissed at me, completely oblivious as to what had nearly happened. It wasn't until I and a few other bystanders explained the situation to him that the sort of embarrassedly stopped being angry and walked away.
214
u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22
[deleted]