I'm a very alert driver, with thirty five years on the road. But this stupid bitch on her cell phone almost got me about twenty minutes ago. So I'm relating this as a word of caution. I never trust traffic lights, or directional signals. I always check visually before changing lanes, etc. etc. etc. Today I was stopped at a red light. It turned green and I looked around. I stayed where I was to allow a car on the opposite side of the road facing me to pull out and turn left in front of me before putting it in gear and starting out. As soon as I started to pull across the road I heard tires screeching. Looked to the left and saw this idiot in her BMW sliding towards me and taking her cell phone from her head and throwing it into the passenger seat. The tip here. I was not expecting anyone to run a red light that late in the game. I always check when it changes, but this was a good thirty seconds or more after the change. An idiot running a light with cross traffic in the road had never occurred to me. Be careful out there! Hope this helps someone. (Not a scratch on either of us btw)

 

For as much as cops hate speeders, a greater emphasis should be placed on ticketing people using cell phones while driving. . .

But, I'm glad to hear that you got away without injury to you or your S. . .

 

driving w/ cell phones impairs similarily as drunk driving, statistically

i don't mean to sound sexist, but one thing that pisses me off is when women who drive SUVs not turn their heads when changing lanes. it seems like they never heardof the blind spot. almost got hit many times, and it seems like it was my responsibility to swerve away. one of my frends' accord got totalled cuz this SUV hit him in the freeway for the same reason

 

This is so true. I know that when I'm driving "above" the posted limit, I am more alert and aware of my surroundings. Cell phone users should get their asses handed to them.

 

It absolutely gets more dangerous every day on the roads. I agree that cell phone users are right at the top of the list. It seems that the last thing many drivers are thinking about is, in fact, driving!

 

I saw a similar incident the other day. I was driving on a divided road (2 lanes each way) and I had a red-light... so obviously, I stopped. There was a white Mercedes about 10 car-lengths back, who obviously was not paying attention, and he blew right through the light without even hitting his brakes. To this day, I'm still not even sure if he realized that he ran the light... or maybe he just didn't care.
You'd think that the fact that the fact that I was already stopped at the light would have clued him in that he should stop, too.

 

I want to create a sign that I can carry in the car that is portable and allows air to go through it but don't know quite what I can use. Still thinking this one out though. But I do know that I will make a sign that says hang up and drive. To display for those ignorant peoples on the road.

 

It would be nice if you could mount a cell phone jammer in your trunk. All cell phone communications within 1 km would be disrupted, making your car a moving safety zone among freeway traffic. I know this technology exists, it's just kept secret by the government.

 

Cell phones are a distraction to driving.

Eating, putting on make-up, shaving, reading the paper, playing with the radio, listening to what's on the radio, passengers, other drivers, billboards, street signs, pretty women, birds, the sun, HID headlights, stress at work, stress in your relationship, family events, taxes, gas prices, wars in Iraq, memories of funny jokes, sneezes, farts, burps, illnesses, gps units, and DVD movies are all also distractions to driving.

Talking on Cell phones is NOT statistically worse than drunk driving. Eating in the car IS statistically MUCH worse than talking on the phone.

People are careless when driving.

As society becomes more comfortable with driving, the novelty wears off and people become less aware of what they are doing and the dangers of it. There are also WAY more drivers on the road than ever before. Of course there will be more accidents.

Favorite stat of all time: In response to the razor scooter about a year after it really became hyper-popular "The number of accidents on scooters has increased 10 times in the last year"

Duh, of course it did, sales also increased 10,000 times in the last year.

 

I have had a similar personal experience to Cape Cod's within the last month. But with an impact...I'm still dealing with the after effects.

No one is immune from some of the distractions above, even if you consider yourself a" Safe" Driver (I did). Basically because you still are depending on others for your safety.

Everyone.........................try to stay safe out there.