Distracted Driving

[vorticon]

At the request of gyrene81


All my toys in my car could lead to distracted driving. Fortunately the only thing I "play" with while driving is the radio, which has a remote so I never need to take my eyes off the road.

It's like a mini-airport in my car

followed by a cell phone quality photos taken while driving at night at 50mph.

[MORAY37]

Being the victim of a distracted 17 year old driver that hit me doing 55 mph while I was at a STOPLIGHT... I didn't have time to be angry.  I woke up being pulled out the passenger side of my burning car, because of some punk kid texting his friends,  and never even seeing the traffic stopped in front of him. 

Don't get me started on "tort" reform in Florida.  I ended up extremely lucky, with only spinal compression, a severe concussion, and nerve damage in my neck.  Such soft tissue injuries are notoriously slow healing and difficult to prove in litigation. .  Because, in Florida, in order to sue for pain and suffering resulting from a CAR accident (yes, they differentiate between 4 wheels and any other here), you must show a measurable disability resulting from the accident.  My injuries were not measurable in that context, even though they were debilitating otherwise.

Basically, my life went on hold for 2.5 years which could not be recompensed, by the tort laws.  They paid for my totaled vehicle, my medical treatment and that's it.  I got about 15K out of it, ~$11,500 of went to medical bills.  The insurance low-balled my civic to $3,000....for a car that was 7 years old with 68,000 miles on it.  You couldn't get a 15 year old civic with 125K on it for that.  I ended up behind, but with my life.

My lawyer said it best....if it had happened in pretty much any other state, it was a case-closed 75K to 100K settlement. 

[MarineUS]

followed by a cell phone quality photos taken while driving at night at 50mph.

You can thank my girl for that one

I Saw that thread this morning. on one hand, i like it....on the other hand....i kinda think it's gsaudy. since i didn't have anything good to say this morning, i didn't reply in htere.

 a race car doesn't need/shouldn't have so much gadgetry, but it is kinda cool.

It's a show car. It has to potential to be fast but I built it mainly for looks. She'll live longer that way. Plus I can't afford to race her right now if I wanted to

[CAP1]

No need.  Poop happens.

I thought I was right once and my wife popped in and said I was wrong.   

well, there's the problem.

 i don't have a wife to catch my mistakes before i go and put em here......

[CAP1]

You can thank my girl for that one

It's a show car. It has to potential to be fast but I built it mainly for looks. She'll live longer that way. Plus I can't afford to race her right now if I wanted to

i know that feeling.

 i bought the shops camaro awhile ago. an 800hp+ beast that only weighs 2600# with me in it.......i can't afford to get her on the track though......

[gpwurzel]

The driving here in 29 Palms sucks the big ones - I'm now of the mindset of thinking of the stupidest thing someone can do, bingo, 2 mins later, some numpty does it. We've had so many hit and runs at night my wife and I no longer walk at night (we like the exercise, but not worth the risk). Only been here since July '10 and lost 2 friends to stupid drivers. Stopped to help a lady change a wheel, almost got wiped out by some spanner in a dually - give him his due, he stopped, apologised and made sure we were alright, but that wasn't the point. He was on his cell phone. 9 times out of 10, if ya see someone here doing strange things on the road, they are on the sodding phone.

Car got driven into at the post office, as the woman driving the truck decided to go backwards whilst on the phone. Not much damage, but she looked a little flustered - she was even more flustered when I told her where I was going to shove said cell phone if she didn't get a clue, sharpish.

Wurzel (used to driving in the UK (and no, the standards aren't any better over there either)

[MarineUS]

i know that feeling.

 i bought the shops camaro awhile ago. an 800hp+ beast that only weighs 2600# with me in it.......i can't afford to get her on the track though......

*looks for spare change*

[EskimoJoe]

*edit

Nevermind, this thread is so far off track that I'd only put things
back on track.

[CAP1]

cell phones are just an excuse.

 most responsible drivers that are going to use a cell phone when they're driving will use a bluetooth.

 look at the people in rush hour. women doing their makeup. men reading the newspaper with one hand, drinking coffee with the other. most of these people are 35 and younger. they lack planning, because if they did plan properly, they'd have read the paper as they ate breakfast(like all of our parents used to do), and had their makeup done before they left the house.

 there are no new laws that can be put into place. you can't legislate stupidity. you can try to enforce the laws on the books though. even talking on the cell phone can be written up under careless driving.

 if we want to get rid of the stupidity on the roads, we need to start teaching the kids(as they're getting their licenses) how dangerous a car really can be. teach them how to drive in the bad weather. how much distance they're covering in such a short period of time at any given speed.
 i don't mean teach em in the schools......i'm meaning that the parents should be doing this stuff.

[gyrene81]

if we want to get rid of the stupidity on the roads, we need to start teaching the kids(as they're getting their licenses) how dangerous a car really can be. teach them how to drive in the bad weather. how much distance they're covering in such a short period of time at any given speed.
 i don't mean teach em in the schools......i'm meaning that the parents should be doing this stuff.

ya, i don't know of any parents who do that these days...they leave it up to the drivers ed classes to do it for them...i was lucky to have a father who started teaching me in empty parking lots and farm fields before i even got into high school...

[Yossarian]

As far as I'm concerned, the solution to this is quite simple.  Make everyone watch the "Everybody Hurts" video from Australia before they take their driving test (probably best if it's done before the written test) - no exceptions.  I'd be amazed if that didn't get most people to think twice before being stupid (and even if it only caused a few people to rethink their actions - it'd be worth it).

[dedalos]

Just make the phones somehow not work or be in a standby mode while in a vehicle when using phone.  Kinda like a dvd player in front seat is disconected when vehicle is in drive if installed correctly.

Yes, so in case of emergency I could not call 911     You cannot fix stupid guys.  All these rules only punish or make it difficult for the ones that are responsible.  And again, there are so many other distractions we seem to not care about.

[gyrene81]

Yes, so in case of emergency I could not call 911     You cannot fix stupid guys.  All these rules only punish or make it difficult for the ones that are responsible.  And again, there are so many other distractions we seem to not care about.

geez dedalos...you're starting an ugly trend here...i can't argue with that... 

[dedalos]

geez dedalos...you're starting an ugly trend here...i can't argue with that... 

  

[Penguin]

Being the victim of a distracted 17 year old driver that hit me doing 55 mph while I was at a STOPLIGHT... I didn't have time to be angry.  I woke up being pulled out the passenger side of my burning car, because of some punk kid texting his friends,  and never even seeing the traffic stopped in front of him. 

Don't get me started on "tort" reform in Florida.  I ended up extremely lucky, with only spinal compression, a severe concussion, and nerve damage in my neck.  Such soft tissue injuries are notoriously slow healing and difficult to prove in litigation. .  Because, in Florida, in order to sue for pain and suffering resulting from a CAR accident (yes, they differentiate between 4 wheels and any other here), you must show a measurable disability resulting from the accident.  My injuries were not measurable in that context, even though they were debilitating otherwise.

Basically, my life went on hold for 2.5 years which could not be recompensed, by the tort laws.  They paid for my totaled vehicle, my medical treatment and that's it.  I got about 15K out of it, ~$11,500 of went to medical bills.  The insurance low-balled my civic to $3,000....for a car that was 7 years old with 68,000 miles on it.  You couldn't get a 15 year old civic with 125K on it for that.  I ended up behind, but with my life.

My lawyer said it best....if it had happened in pretty much any other state, it was a case-closed 75K to 100K settlement. 

 

-Penguin