I also really don't want to be on the other end of the phone when I hear the person I'm talking to get involved in a crash, so I never talk while I drive. If someone calls me, I wait til I can pull over and deal with it safely.

It blows my mind that our illustrious Texas lawmakers have as yet failed to make texting and driving illegal. There have been city ordinances passed against doing so, but statewide? That would make the state our "nanny", according to the powers-that-be.

Ya know what? We obviously need a nanny.

My daily commute is about 35 miles round-trip, and every single day, both going to the office and coming home, I see people twiddling with their stupid little hand-held devices. Just recently I sped up (the accelerator can be a godsend) to get around some fool in a pickup who was all over his and my lane, performing rocket science (or presumably something equally important) on his iPad, which he was holding up to eye level in his right hand.

It's beyond ridiculous. We have hands-free systems in our vehicles, but even using those can be very distracting.

Very good video. Thanks for sharing such a vital reminder.

It's illegal to text or do anything else on your smart phone (other than talk) in my state and people do it all the time. Passing a law doesn't stop it from occurring. We have many, many laws we don't adequately enforce thus the behavior continues. Had a friend on a motorcycle hit by a car that crossed the center line this summer. Fortunately he's alive after two months in the hospital and the loss of a leg.

Remains to be seen exactly what the driver was doing at the time but distracted by something. Apparently at the scene of the accident she made it known that her phone was in the glove box. Really? Who puts their phone in the glove box.

Passing a law doesn't stop it from occurring. We have many, many laws we don't adequately enforce thus the behavior continues.

That's very true, but the ability to penalize offenders is the place to start. I think of how laws against DWI have become zero tolerance for those under the age of 21 in my state, and I think an equally hard stance should be taken against all drivers who abuse the privilege of being on the road with other people by willfully allowing themselves to be so distracted.

If it saves the life of just one person, it's worth it.

I have called the non emergency line a few times in my province to report terrible distracted drivers, they encourage it here. Of course I would check the practice in your state first.

Ida - we already had reckless and careless driving laws which it seems would cover the texting phone use problem. Maybe TX does too. Though I recall that when I lived in TX you could drink and drive; i.e. have an open container of alcohol in the front seat with you. I imagine that may have changed by now.

Really? Who puts their phone in the glove box.

Mine stays in my purse and it's usually turned off.

Though I recall that when I lived in TX you could drink and drive; i.e. have an open container of alcohol in the front seat with you. I imagine that may have changed by now.

Oh, no. Thankfully that's been illegal for many years now, but I too remember "back in the day" when it was not considered an offense. ::shudder::

Well, I think the laws should take it a step further and remove all the computerized gadgets from cars too. It makes me crazy to see someone fidgeting with their dashboard trying to get the GPS going.

My GPS does not work when the car

is in motion. I mean, it tells you where

to go, but if you touch it, none of the buttons work. Basically, you have to put the address in before you leave, or pull over somewhere to operate it.

for the first time in my life I am intellectually afraid to drive, because of texting. I have never worried about drunk drivers, other than being mindful if I was out on roads late at night or New Years, that kind of thing.

But texting goes on every day, every hour, every minute, on every road. And it's actually worse and more dangerous than drunk driving because at least a drunk driver's eyes are on the road! A texting driver has not only their eyes off the road but also their mind.

I can't imagine what the solution is, though.

3katz, I remember that, too. Then they made it illegal, so you just got a Dr. Pepper sleeve to put over your Lone Star.

But you could also drive down the highway with the tailgate down and the dogs in the bed of the truck. Tailgate up if the kids were back there.

So, why aren't people using hands-free voice texting and telephone use? I would think most people that regularly text are not using flip phones so most would have Siri or Android-equivalents that facilitate voice texting and voice-activated/Bluetooth phone calls/answering. What am I missing?

Studies show that hands free is no less distracting than hand held, and that voice to text is most distracting of all.

I have a friend who's notoriously bad about always being on the phone when he's driving. The other day he said, "Hold on a minute," and then I heard typing.

"Are you texting?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh no," he said virtuously. "I'm just emailing,"

My car is a 2010 and has bluetooth built in but cars older than that do not.

Not as dangerous but very annoying are those who wait to check their phones at stoplights, and then don't realize when the light turns green and subsequently hold up the line. I missed crossing a light this morning because a driver several cars ahead was checking their phone. Of course, I don't have proof of this but I've seen it enough to know this was probably the case.

"Delilah66

So, why aren't people using hands-free voice texting and telephone use? I would think most people that regularly text are not using flip phones so most would have Siri or Android-equivalents that facilitate voice texting and voice-activated/Bluetooth phone calls/answering. What am I missing?"

Why can't people wait until they get to their destination - or pull over - to use the phone at all, whether hands free or not?!

If I were to guess, 99% of what is being yakked about, whether by phone or by text, is trivial and is more about the addiction of not being able to be away from the phone for 10 seconds than it is about any urgent or needed communication.

Imagine killing or maiming another person while typing "LOL". A lot of people have died, or killed someone, because of a meaningless conversation.

It is insanity to me.

Yes to trivial conversations! Just awhile back when you couldn't turn on your cell until the plane came to a complete stop at the gate, I can't tell you how many times I heard conversations similar to, "Yes. We are at the gate. No they haven't opened the door yet. I'm waiting to get my bag. I see the people at the front of the plane are starting to move now...."

Then there was the time I heard a guy go by our street on a motorcycle and talking on the hand held cell phone and I heard him say, "I have to hang up now as I need to shift."

Starting to see more signs around here in service-oriented business that read along the lines of "We are happy to assist you - but please refrain from using your cell phone during our transaction." At first I thought that was a bit off-putting, but I'm starting to think they have a point. Just the other day I was in a long line at the pharmacy, and the man at the counter was just yak-yak-yakking on his cell phone, loudly. He was saying (I kid you not): "You need to BLOW it! You just need to BLOW it!" (WTH?!?) The exasperated pharmacy tech finally caught his eye and said sternly, "I NEED to ask you a QUESTION." Only then did he say, "Hold on" into the phone, but he never put it down. What a tool.

Just a different version of distraction that we've always had. I used to commute in the NJ/NYC area many years ago (before cellphones were easily available and cheap) and every day I would see drivers applying makeup, shaving, holding a big open map over the steering wheel, reading the WSJ or NYT, reading a hardcopy book, smoking, eating breakfast, etc, etc. Many more manual cars then too, so even more complicated to multi-task!

I don't do any reading or typing on my cell phone while driving. Sometimes use hands free for a call and use Waze for navigation.

The distracted drivers have always been there, just distracted by different things, so I'm always paying attention and assume other drivers might do something stupid at any time.

Starting to see more signs around here in service-oriented business that read along the lines of "We are happy to assist you - but please refrain from using your cell phone during our transaction."

An indictment of how rude and self-absorbed society has become.

The distracted drivers have always been there, just distracted by different things ...

I don't think they've always been there in the numbers that we're seeing today, though. I remember it used to be an unusual occurrence to be driving near someone and realize they were occupied with something else in the car. Now it happens daily - several times a day. It's reached epidemic proportion.

I Agee, IdaClaire. I've seen lots of weird things on the expressway in my time ( I do live in FL, after all). I've seen people shaving, reading the newspaper, eating a giant bowl of soup, and I gues my fave was when I looked over one night and saw an iguana driving a Chevy down I-95, but in spite of all that it was nothing like it is now.

and I gues my fave was when I looked over one night and saw an iguana driving a Chevy down I-95

LOL! I've got a mental image of that, and now I want to know the full story!

Well, I'm afraid it didn't have a phone, but that was back before everyone had cell phones. It was just a common garden-variety iguana, about a three-footer. The owner was hiding down by the gas pedal, so driving blind. I guess he was hoping for some dramatic reactions, but in Miami people just looked, shrugged,and went on their way.

I was kind of horrified that someone would do that at 60mph, but then I realized that he wasn't quite so likely to run into anyone as he would have been on a regular street.

The iguana had both hands on the wheel, incidentally.

A car full of talking people be they children or adults is so much more distracting to me than a voice text. I also cannot have the radio playing when others are in the car.

Really, who puts their phone in the glovebox?

Well, I ask my teenage daughter and son to do that. it is nearby if they have an emergency but out of reach to avoid temptation while operating the car.

This is a good paper on distracted driving and why hands free are no better than handhelds.

Drivers talking on cell phones make more driving errors than drivers talking with passengers.

Drivers are more likely to drift out of lanes and miss exits than drivers talking with passengers. Why? Adult passengers often actively help drivers by monitoring and discussing traffic.37 Passengers tend to suppress conversation when driving conditions are demanding.38, 39 Although some studies found that passengers did not reduce conversation distraction, so research evidence is mixed.40

Talking on cell phones has a different social expectation because not responding on a cell phone can be considered rude. In addition, callers cannot see when a driving environment is challenging and cannot suppress conversation in response.41, 42 Passengers can see the roadway and may moderate the conversation.43, 44

Listening to music does not result in lower response time, according to simulator studies. But when the same drivers talk on cell phones, they do have a slower response time. Researchers have concluded that voice communication influenced the allocation of visual attention, while low and moderate volume music did not.45

This discussion does not mean that listening to music or talking with passengers is never distracting. Loud music can prevent drivers from hearing emergency sirens, and cognitive processing can lead to a decrement in vehicle control.46 Some conversations with passengers can be distracting to drivers.47 Any task that distracts a driver should be avoided.

A car full of talking people be they children or adults is so much more distracting to me than a voice text.

From the same report cited above, people are often not aware of exactly how distracted they are by certain activities:

Some researchers have studied whether distracted drivers are aware of their decrease in safe driving performance. Findings show distracted drivers may not be aware of the effects of cognitive distraction70 and using cell phones while they are driving.71-74 Also, drivers perceived they were safer drivers when using hands-free phones, but actually showed decreased performance while using hands-free phones.75 One study found drivers who thought the task was easy tended to perform the worst.76

And that's the real danger. Just like the majority of people believe they are above-average drivers, (Lake Woebegone?), it's those who think they are better at it who do it more often, when the reality is, they're just as distracted as the rest of us.

Another major cause of accidents is people reaching for something...they take their eyes off the road, and/or they swerve while reaching. Whether or not they're reaching for their dropped cell phone, I don't know.

reaching for something as a distraction, yes. Reminded me of horrible car crash 25 years ago -- younger son was in high school, driving home just after school let out when the car in front of him swerved into a large tree -- girl driver (a friend) had dropped a lit cigarette on the floor, reached for it and was killed outright in the crash. Son was first on the scene -- traumatic experience all round.

Just a different version of distraction that we've always had.

Nope. It was never so ubiquitous. Also, texting requires full attention with eyes off the road. I don't care if idiots want to endanger themselves or their own property, but I have nothing but contempt for the dull-witted, narcissistic jerks who think their desire to text justifies jeopardizing everyone around them. If I ever see a texting-related accident, I will be sure to stick around as a witness to let the officer know exactly what recklessness the driver committed before inevitably crashing. In fact, I am shopping for a dash cam to mount in my car to ensure I can cause as much legal distress as possible to texting drivers.