http://gizmodo.com/5459813/handheld-cellph...ashes-after-all

 

Not really new. Every study cited for passing the laws that differentiated between hands free and non-hands free device already concluded that it was the conversation that distracted drivers, not the act of holding a small plastic thing to the side of your head.

 

^

 

So we can't talk to people in the car?

 

Plus, no one enforces the law, so it doesn't mean anything. Data on the number of citations for driving while holding a phone is conspicuously absent from the study.

Fwiw, something like 85% of American break the speed limit every day because it isn't strictly enforced - you usually have to be going at least 10 mph over the posted speed limit or be in a restricted area.

 

the studies say that is different because you and your passenger are in the same environment, so if there is a sudden need to stop the conversation (a car pulls out in front of you), the passenger can recognize the fact that the situation has changed and halt the conversation while you execute evasive maneuvers

 

^This

 

Here's a good example from earlier today.

I met a state trooper on the highway doing 68MPH in a 60MPH zone. I didn't even try to slow down. Neither did the cop.

 

I got a ****** $100 cell phone ticket over the summer so don't tell me it's not enforced

 

It's probably more dangerous when someone sees a cop while they're on the phone and they panic.