re: #242 subsailor68

Afternoon all!! Don’t know if this has been discussed, but kind of interesting:

U.S. withheld data on risks of distracted driving

Bottom line - looks like data was collected, study never completed due to fears of angering Congress, but cellphone use (including texting) could be as bad as driving drunk.

No? Really?

Here are a few things that I’ve noticed while driving - all of which involve someone on the phone (I know, it’s anecdotal, not empirical):

1. The person’s head is tilted slightly, to the side on which the driver is holding the phone. (Some police forces refer to these folks as “tilt-heads.”)
2. The car doesn’t weave - like a drunk driver - but the speed will go up and down as someone is distracted, then looks at the speedometer.
3. The car will generally cross two or more lanes at the last minute to make a turn - as the driver finally realizes he’s about to miss the turn. (BTW, odds are, he won’t look in the rear view mirror to see if you’re in one of the lanes.)
4. Turns. Doesn’t matter if it’s a left hand turn or a right hand turn. The car will either turn a bit wide, or a bit short (and over correct coming back). Finally decided this must be because most folks hold the phone in their strong-side hand, leaving the weak side hand to do the damn driving.
5. Stop lights. Yep, they’ll generally run ‘em, or come close, cause they’re not paying attention to the change. (Same thing with stop signs.)
6. Intersections. Yep, they’ll generally block ‘em in a red light situation, because they got into it as the light was changing, and - oops - no place to back up.

Any other lizards have symptoms they’ve noticed?

Yeah, way too many of them have Obama bumper stickers.

Then again, I see way too many cars in general with Obama bumper stickers.