[Laughlyn]

Yes I've used the phone in the car. I stay very alert to the driving conditions. if there is traffic i get off the phone. if the weather conditions are even slightly bad i get off the phone. if for any reason i think i would be too distracted i get off the phone. If i'm at a dead stop with all the other cars.. well I'll stay on the phone, but thats because i'm not moving.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Most accidents occur because you don't expect them, so using your judgement on wether or not it's safe isn't an option. It's like people who think they have the right to speed because they know the road is quiet. But do they know about little Johnny, who's ball has just run into the road? Do they know they'll soon be picking pieces of his scalp out of the windscreen? No. Same goes for eating, smoking, reading, or getting oral sex from your partner whilst at the wheel. Mobile phones are getting the flak because it's another stupid thing people like to do whilst driving, and we're too tolerant on dumb ass driving already.

Simply put. If you'd fail your test for it, you shouldn't be allowed to do it. Spot fine, public flogging, and a ban from using a cell phone for a year.

[Slade]

I see what you're saying, srmoore. I'm not trying to single out cell phones, they just exacerbate the situation.

Oral sex behind the wheel? That's like combination between public sex and thrill seeking...

[srmoore]

Thanks Slade.

Yeah.. I think the main problem is really people have become complacent with the act of driving.

Although I'd like to make one more comment about the ability to make a judgement call... (re: Laughlyn's comment)

I agree that many accidents occure due to an unexpected event. But I still say that the environtment and conditions allow you to make a call as to the likelyhood of something happening. THink of it this way.. Driving on a limited access highway with absolutly no cars on the road in perfect condtions has a lower chance of something happening to you that you don't have time to respond to than say driving through a residential neighborhood shortly after school has let out for the day.

All driving is inherintly dangerous, and requires concentration on the part of the driver, but conditions should help decide how much more alert you need to be at any given moment. (And I am not saying that there is a time you never need to pay attention.)

Now that I've given my 2 cents (Well more like $20) i'll sit back and stop ranting.

[barend]

look, none of us disagree that cell phones cause accididents.

once they realized that about alcohol they made laws...
(they did it with phones here too...)

it's a car. (or most of the dumb bitches i see on the phone while driving are in huge 4WDs that their husbands bought them to keep them safe... how sweet.

it's not a fucking social club, you're moving a ton of steel at 60-120km/hr in a populated area...

GET OFF THE PHONE!!!

[Mnesymone]

Hear, hear. Mobile phones and SUVs are an even more dangerous cocktail - an our Australian SUVs are far short of those bloody big American things but they're still freaking huge and bloody useless.

Consensus has been reached!

[barend]

small girls are to no longer drive SUVs...


oh, wait... you meant the phone thing...

HEAR HEAR!!!!

[Slade]

Don't even get me started on the SUVs...

[srmoore]

SUV.. where the hell is the Sport in them?

They are friggin trucks. You should need a different license and a reason to drive em!

(And that is all i'm gonna say on that.)

[Slade]

I'm sure some people need the satisfaction of being able to drive across the atlantic ocean if they ever found the need. Or some people probably like driving straight up brick walls. Everyone else is just either advertising or overcompensating.

[StarWarsIsUs]

SUVs are good. You know why? Because they are sporty. And sporty is good enough for me. *grins and winks*

[Mnesymone]

Hah! Sporty... a sporty car is something like a Lotus Elise, which is quick, agile and weighs so very little that one person could push it as far as they liked. The average SUV is neither sporty nor utilitarian - they weigh so much you could never take them offroad and as for sprinting the only ones that can do that are the European ones like the Porsche Cayenne... imagine push-starting a Hummer... that'd suck.
And don't forget the fuel bill.

[Slade]

Yeah, I could push start a Hummer...

if I was three hundred pounds of muscle and not one hundred and seventy of flab.

[StarWarsIsUs]

Hah! Sporty... a sporty car is something like a Lotus Elise, which is quick, agile and weighs so very little that one person could push it as far as they liked. The average SUV is neither sporty nor utilitarian - they weigh so much you could never take them offroad and as for sprinting the only ones that can do that are the European ones like the Porsche Cayenne... imagine push-starting a Hummer... that'd suck.
And don't forget the fuel bill.

Speaking of pushing vehicles, I could probably push an SUV.... if I was pushing down a steep hill.

[barend]

Yeah, I could push start a Hummer...

if I was three hundred pounds of muscle and not one hundred and seventy of flab.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

but can anyone hummer start a leafblower...?

[Slade]

I can't think of anything to say on that matter that isn't wildly inappropriate at the moment.