J
Jay Beattie
Guest
[email protected] wrote:
> Tim McNamara wrote:
> >
> > Cell phones are intended to be used while driving. You can tell this by
> > the fact that coverage in almost all US metropolitan areas is excellent
> > on highways and spotty to poor more than 1/4 away from highways. In the
> > Twin Cities metro are there are many, many coverage holes and my phone
> > (Sprint) is frequently unusable on surface streets and in neighborhoods.
>
> Very interesting - and infuriating - point. I hadn't thought of that.
>
> > Not that talking on a cell phone and driving is a good idea. A dozen
> > times a day or more I see people driving neglectfully while talking on
> > cell phones- all of them probably thinking they are driving fine. NO
> > ONE drives safely while talking on a cell phone, and hands free phones
> > don't help much if at all. If you think you can drive safely while
> > you're talking on your cell phone, you are delusional.
>
> I agree.
>
> Since this is a tech group: I'd love to see a portable device that
> would deactivate or jam every cell phone within, say, 100 feet of my
> bike.
Except that this would result in drivers looking down at their phones,
pressing butttons, shaking the phone and generally not paying attention
to the road. That is the scary part -- drivers looking down to dial
their cell phones. Just yaking away is one thing, looking down at the
phone is another.
> Hmm. Maybe replace the caller's voice with "Watch out for the bike!
> Watch out for the bike!" repeated over and over!
I like this idea. -- Jay Beattie.
> Tim McNamara wrote:
> >
> > Cell phones are intended to be used while driving. You can tell this by
> > the fact that coverage in almost all US metropolitan areas is excellent
> > on highways and spotty to poor more than 1/4 away from highways. In the
> > Twin Cities metro are there are many, many coverage holes and my phone
> > (Sprint) is frequently unusable on surface streets and in neighborhoods.
>
> Very interesting - and infuriating - point. I hadn't thought of that.
>
> > Not that talking on a cell phone and driving is a good idea. A dozen
> > times a day or more I see people driving neglectfully while talking on
> > cell phones- all of them probably thinking they are driving fine. NO
> > ONE drives safely while talking on a cell phone, and hands free phones
> > don't help much if at all. If you think you can drive safely while
> > you're talking on your cell phone, you are delusional.
>
> I agree.
>
> Since this is a tech group: I'd love to see a portable device that
> would deactivate or jam every cell phone within, say, 100 feet of my
> bike.
Except that this would result in drivers looking down at their phones,
pressing butttons, shaking the phone and generally not paying attention
to the road. That is the scary part -- drivers looking down to dial
their cell phones. Just yaking away is one thing, looking down at the
phone is another.
> Hmm. Maybe replace the caller's voice with "Watch out for the bike!
> Watch out for the bike!" repeated over and over!
I like this idea. -- Jay Beattie.