Nearly 1 In 4 Adults Surf the Web While Driving 365
cartechboy writes "A new survey out this week says that the number of motorists who surf the Web has nearly doubled over the past four years. In 2009, 13 percent of motorists admitted that they'd accessed the Internet while driving. In 2013, that figure had jumped to 24 percent. Smartphones are the primary culprit, making the unsafe task even easier. Other distracted driving behavior is on the rise, too, and younger drivers are the biggest issue — 76 percent of motorists 18 to 29 said that they talked on a hand-held cell phone while driving. 70 percent said they were texting. Keep in mind we have states legislating smartphone use task by task, which clearly doesn't help."
Google Cars (Score:5, Insightful)
As many as 1 in 4 adults (Score:5, Insightful)
As many as 1 in 4 adults should never have made it to adulthood, with the clearly disabled mental faculties. To bad driving is a case where the dumb shit you do is as likely to kill an innocent person on the road as yourself. It's like vaccines really, there aren't enough consequences on the people doing the harm.
Assuming makes an ass out of u... (Score:4, Insightful)
Deceptive verb form (Score:5, Insightful)
Frankly, I'm surprised the number is so low since they include checking email.
Selfish (Score:5, Insightful)
You shouldn't be texting at stop lights.... (Score:3, Insightful)
.... the fact that the light is red does not negate your responsibility to pay attention to your surroundings. From a legal and moral point of view you're operating a motor vehicle on a public roadway regardless of the color of the light, and you have an obligation to give that task your full attention.
The same goes for touching up your cosmetics, reading your snail mail, drinking your coffee, or any of the other items on the huge list of things people do when they're supposed to be devoting their full attention to the safe piloting of a ton or more of steel.
Re:I do this (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I do this (Score:5, Insightful)
end yourself
He probably will, sooner or later - hopefully without taking someone else with him.
Re:As many as 1 in 4 adults (Score:5, Insightful)
The world moves ever more quickly, so people need to scramble to keep up, and staying offline for an entire car drive can be problematic.
I submit that this is just an excuse for a lack of self-control and/or a feeling of self-importance/self-indulgence. It is entirely possible to hold a position of high responsibility, do an hour commute each way to a tech job and NEVER turn on your phone. It is even possible to go to the theater, the philharmonic, out to dinner, have drinks with friends, or even read a book with your phone off. Really.
If you seriously subscribe to this notion then I think you have sold your life too cheaply.
Re:I do this (Score:3, Insightful)
Hand your licence back and fucking walk you irresponsible dickhead
Perfectly Safe (Score:5, Insightful)
"Nearly 1 In 4 Adults Surf the Web While Driving"
But then below it is says:
"In 2009, 13 percent of motorists admitted that they'd accessed the Internet while driving. In 2013, that figure had jumped to 24 percent."
Finally, note that "surfing the web" and "accessing the Internet" are not the same thing. Surfing the web means viewing websites. But accessing the internet while driving can occur automatically by your car, when your phone is in your pocket, by listening to Internet-streamed music or by using GPS. All of these are perfectly reasonable to use in your car.
How about a deal? (Score:5, Insightful)
If I can prove by experiment that can drive more safely while texting than most people with their attention fully focused on the road
I wish more people would actually try that. The reality check would probably shock some of them out of this kind of reckless behaviour, making us all safer.
How about a deal? You take that test, and if you really are safer while texting than most people when they're fully concentrating, you get to keep doing it, completely legally. However, if it turns out that you're actually more dangerous, and we also then know that you're deluded about your own abilities and therefore unable to properly judge how to drive safely within those abilities, you have to give up your licence and never drive again. Fair?
Re:I do this (Score:5, Insightful)
This should be put into categories apparently.
One is navigation. Looking at your built in navigation and hitting a few buttons or zooming on the map is not all that bad at an intersection. I find that I am at an intersection for at least 15-30 seconds, if not a lot more during traffic. Taking 5 seconds to review the map should not lead to a distraction where you create a delay in traffic. You really have to not be paying attention to stop picking things up in your peripheral vision while stopped.
Two is communications. This is just evidence of how bad the addiction is to information technology today. I see plenty of people who cannot go more than 5 minutes without checking FaceFuck or Twatter. That near constant need for connection and feedback is based on the same psychological principles that keep people at slot machines for hours on end.
What makes it worse is that these people are creating the STANDARD for communication in the future. When I tell people that I did not respond to them since I was driving and on my way back to the office I actually get the response back, "That's no excuse. You could have just sent a text message. You need to work on your communication skills".
I think these people would literally go insane if you transported them back to say around 1719. "What the fuck do you mean I have to wait 5 months to get a letter back!", and "You mean I have to walk all the way across town, knock on a door, be welcomed into the house, BEFORE I can talk to my friend?"
Not sure that I can call where we are headed progress. It seems that attention span is at a historically low level for humanity.
Re:As many as 1 in 4 adults (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I do this (Score:5, Insightful)
If I can prove by experiment that can drive more safely while texting than most people with their attention fully focused on the road will I be exempt from these kinds of laws
Major math fail. Accidents are driven by statistics. What you do and what other people do is not related. If you are more dangerous today than yesterday, the average also rises.
Note that if you are such an excellent driver, you still may need that last bit of skill if an idiot decides to something idiotic in your path. You will not get that last bit of skill if you are distracted.
Re:You shouldn't be texting at stop lights.... (Score:2, Insightful)
"If the safe operation of a car requires your continuous full attention then perhaps you shouldn't be driving."
If you can't dedicate your faculties to a single task, you shouldn't be driving at all. Turn your license in you crippled sack of shit. It's fuckwits like you that are the reason for half of my body being reinforced with titanium and kevlar, you witless brainless idiotic moronic piece of fucking human scum. Fuck you and your children, and your whore wife (if you even have one you fucking basement dwelling geek piece of shit.)