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Doesn’t matter how much you put up the fines, there are still absolutely assholes out there that not only insist on jawing on their cell while driving but will text or read their fucking Kindle as well. I hope these reckless pricks hurt themselves before they hurt others. —No Sympathy For Texters
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2010.
69 Comments
Im with you…I was driving behind someone last night who was texting (I know this because I could see the cell phone lit up) and took the speed limit from 50 to 30…not that I was in a hurry but it was fucking dangerous
I dunno, wishing someone death seems a bit harsh though.
agree…never wish death on someone. Let’s hope there do some damage to their car where no one is injured and it teaches them an expensive lesson.
is that a pomeranian blondieboo? another tag!! i can barely walk and talk at the same time. driving a car should take all of your attention
Anybody watch CBC’s Doc Zone last night? It was all about how technology and how it affects us, especially when texting. Texting and walking: only about 25% of people noticed a clown unicycling amongst them while they were engaged in texting.
The same holds true for drivers. The interesting part is that the texters thought they were 100% aware of what was happening around them. WRONG! The prevalence of this dangerous activity, driving and texting, only ensures one thing…catastrophe. Which is preferable? Driving and texting? Or living the rest of one’s life with daily flashbacks to the moment one’s driving and texting caused the death of an innocent person.
The prevalence of texting while controlling a vehicle has even extended itself into the cockpit of commercial airliners (with suspensions for the pilots), train engines (one in California with fatal results) etc. Uni profs are noticing a trend in students being unable to concentrate for long periods of time because of the influence of technology which focuses attention for short spans before moving on to something else. Just the quality one wants to have in their health care pros, pilots etc.
I don’t see answering your phone while driving to be all that big a deal. But then , I am capable of chewing gum & walking at the same time.
Texting while driving is a completely different animal. So is looking up a number or trying to dial a number while driving, they take almost all your attention away from driving . IF one cannot simply talk while driving, then why are passengers able to talk to a driver ?
Why is it that if simply talking on a telephone is so dangerous in your vehicle …you take a hand off the wheel, you may be slightly distracted etc are the arguments. Why can we eat a sandwich while drinkiing our take out coffee & driving & that is not illegal ?
It seems the no talking rule is simply a knee jerk reaction ( as usual) by government, for other problems & they figured this is the best solution…yet you can still have a head set on & dum, dum, DUMB!!!! drive your fucking car while talking on the PHONE & that’s not illegal !
I wonder if anyone checked to see if blue teeth or other hands free companies, made political party contributions at that time ?!? ~;)
i sure did oceansis. it was very good, but not surprising. i loved the price tag for going to a “retreat” 27,000 clams for three months just so you can be weened off your crackberry…arsetards
ralm…how do you know they were texting ?
Maybe they were doing what I was doing the other night, looking at their electronic device which was in GPS mode & showing them where their next turn will be !
paingirl: she is a peki-pom..but she has the pom features ..her name is Daisy! 🙂
No, I def wish death on any driver who kills me while texting. That is my #1 fear while riding my bike: being run over by someone who doesn’t even notice running me over. I’ve already been involved in a car-totalling rear ender by some a-hole texting and have had friends hospitalized by a texting driver while they were riding their bikes. So yes, bring on the death.
My friend who is a horrible driver to be begin with is constantly texting (even when we go out to a club/bar/restaurant, but that’s a whole other bitch!), and it doesn’t stop while he’s driving. When he’s looking at the road without a phone in his hand, he’s swirving all over and slamming on the brakes! You can imagine how awful it is when he’s texting. Luckily he doesn’t have a car of his own.
Yeah , and while were at it we shouldn’t be allowed to have our animals crawling all over us, No eating , no makeup , no hair combing, no playing with the stereo , GPS etc.Hell no talking to other people in your car either.All of these can be major distractions as well and you see it all the time.No laws being passed for these though. Accidents are going to happen no matter how much our government tries to nanny us . Soon we will all be in bubbles…
Drivers should only be involved in one activity, and that is driving!
I sometimes wonder how people managed to drive before cellular phones were invented? You actually had no gadgets to bother you (other than the radio, maybe a nagging wife!) All cellular phones really accomplished was making people self-important illiterate twits (Look at me, I’m on my cell phone, I’m so busy and important, LOL, ur so kool…).
Texting while flying a plane (especially a commercial airliner) is a bit different tahn driving while texting though because planes have autopilot. That being said, I think the pilot still needs to periodically check various gauges and whatnot.
The good news is that if a person causes an accident and had been texting/talking on their cell phone at the time, the telephone company can be requested to hand over the time/date stamps of the text/call thus showing they were in fact texting/talking, and thus the cause fo the accident. That places them 100% at fault.
I see people every day texting/talking on their phones. I don’t believe the police are doing enough to catch these people. Think of the revenue they could bring in for HRM.
Its not a problem until you or someone you know is affected by it.
I was talking to an acquaintance of mine a while back who had recently been hit by someone who was talking on the phone. Apparently he has had a number of accidents while talking on the phone and immediately called his mechanic to send her over to have her car repaired. She said she could hear the mechanic laughing at him because he got into yet another accident because he was chatting away.
Some people don’t learn and/or have too much money. However, money isn’t going to help anything once someone winds up dead.
While we’re at the “what not to do while driving” please ad picking your nose and popping zits. I almost threw up watching some chick pop about 10 zits on her face looking in the mirror while behind me in traffic (moving slowly but still moving) – then biting her nails.
I’m digging the avatar, Minty.
“..checked to see if blue teeth…”
HAHAHA….
blue teeth? like smurfs?
it’s also the name of the technology, not a hands free company.
Give us credit zZz….even Brendon gives us a day before he points out his witty-ness
Teehee – bazinga!
Lovin’ the christmas av RC!! I’m SO PUMPED for Christmas and all the wonderful activities that go along with it – starting with the parade tomorrow! 🙂
ME TOO!
Uh, who is this Minty Blondieboo. Hello, good day.
herp a derp derp bleep bloop to the noobs
well hopefully the moose game gets out in time to stroll around for some of you crazy folk.
will have to wait and see. I’m definitely swinging past in front of roots on SGR.
the only confirmed location I think I’ve heard thus far.
Narf!
moose play games? shouldn’t they be in the parade? wait, that’s reindeer…hewhaw. roots was mentioned
I’ll be watching the front of roots from a new undisclosed location…lol. (You almost got to find out my identity today – I’m having a real problem loading anti-virus on my computer and came close to asking you for assistance.)
Can’t wait for the festivities to begin!!! Got most of my shopping done.
Haha PG.
Apparently Hugo will be on Barrington? and RC will be somewhere?
I’ll wear a shirt that says “Are you Phursty?” Lolz.
narf? rawk?
Orgasma-Brendon will be in a black fedora, Ivan’s at the shop, Z’s pic can be found on match. The rest of you…well I’ll be looking out for super hero type characters as I picture you all in my head.
i probably won’t be there but i am 6ft. tall and have a lot of hair(on my tete)
RC, some day…
which antivirus?
AVG?
Norton?
McAfee?
built into router?
RC, AVG. Best free anti-virus that I know of.
http://download.cnet.com/windows/antivirus…
I’ll keep an eye open Donk 🙂
I’m, 1.9m, 95kg, & grey.
AVG is good
but if you can find an old install of norton, they never checked subscriptions back then…
I have a 2002 disk that installs and gives me a year’s worth of protection free.
after a year (if I’ve miraculously made it any entire year without reinstalling the OS) I just uninstall norton and re-install it again for another free year.
the only caveat is that it takes FOREVER when installing to get the last 195 megs worth of virus updates that have come out since 2002. (195 megs of TEXT!)
after that though, all is smooth sailing.
Pilots texting in the cockpit, students texting in class, train engineers texting while moving major tonnage! The Doc Zone even showed footage of a motorcycle rider reclining on his bike texting away as he sped down the highway! Wasn’t that just insane, soeur-de-bread? What’s next? Surgeons texting during operations?
The show touched on the cause of all this craziness…ADDICTION. Social networking technology is highly addictive. All the innocent victims of texters NEED the texters to recognize that they have an addiction that unless addressed, places them and other people at risk, often fatal. The fact that only 25% of the surroundings are recognized by texters who mistakenly believe they see 100% of their surroundings is pretty scary. The ‘basketball pass/witch addition’ test was fascinating in that full attention was being paid by the viewer (in my case, moi) who does not necessarily see the whole picture even when paying absolute attention to the scenario. Did you also have the same response cyber-soeur? Further proof that all that we see is not what it seems. Reduce that by 75% awareness and we’ve arrived at the Zombie Age! Aaaaaggggghhhhhhhhh!!! These are the people who will be caring for us in our dotage. Does this scare anybody else but me?
it scares me oceanbikerchickpeasis. i saw everything in the test but i watch things very carefully. i need to be hyper-vigilante when it comes to shoplifters
I’ll be on SGR too – white hat with a red flower on it. And I’ll likely pop in to say hey to Ivan on Barrington at some point too. I’d liek to get started on my shopping as well. Oooh! I’m so excited. 🙂
For you OC; “I’m yet another resource-consuming kid in and overpopulated planet, raised to an alarming extent by Madison Avenue and Hollywood, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you’re old and weak.” – Calvin
@ Orgasmatron Thanks! I loves me some Borderlands <3
@ Donk 2 – I’ve been lurking/stalking for a few months now and figured I’d finally take the plunge and join the group. 🙂
Welcome Siren. You are accepted into the fold … unless of course you’re like Annie … You’ll learn about he who shall not be named soon enough.
ah… a fitting tail.
usually how unsuspecting people get hooked.
You think you don’t need to do it often….
it’s just a sometimes thing.
You don’t need to do it every weekend….
you’re strong and have willpower.
BAM, you’re a Bitch Junkie
welcome to the jungle
http://www.harrisfellman.com/wp-content/up…
welcome Miss Minty….nice avatar. and z is right….I use t just watch from afar….joined over a year ago…stopped by once n awhile when work got boaring….now I’m logging on on Friday nights.
Bitchcrack! Damn, I’m hooked!
Yep me too. Yikes.
excellent… there is something for somebody in the sandbox
You’re a fucking idiot, Kirbul. You’re ACTUALLY defending texting while driving? Studies have shown that texting while driving is like driving drunk. Do you support drunk driving too?
Loser.
Now that I have an account, I find myself here on a Friday night for the first time ever. I think you guys have sucked me in 😮
I’m not familiar with any of this Annie business though.
PS: I’m glad there are Borderlands fans here.
We’ve got fun ‘n’ games, we’ve got everything you want. Honey, we know the names. We are the people that you find, whatever you may need. And if you’ve got the money, honey we got your disease.
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/Doc_Zone/12422995…
“Are We Digital Dummies?”
Anyone who thinks texting and driving is acceptable behaviour should really watch this.
minty fresh, hmmmm, sounds inviting if you are a female. i’m the suckster of bitchdom, and the annie thing, just let that one go. you don’t want to know about that. it goes by another handle, that if you say if three times in a row, it will appear, like biggie small from southpark. egads, i must be getting lame today. being all nice and shit. but i am the resident skirt chaser here, ask anyone, i don’t bite, i just like to nibble a bit.
Haha, I’m definitely one of those female types. And who doesn’t enjoy a good skirt chasing?
Mmmmmmmm…skirt chasing! 🙂
Good thing for the new Windows Phone… see what it does?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMFShvybfWE
Shut up, kay.
I text while driving all the time – no problem. I also eat, drink coffee, talk to people, change the tunes on my iPod, sing along, tap out the drumbeat on my steering wheel…no problems at all. Moreover, I have had the pleasure of living in a more free country than Canada for several years and it’s a communist one. Yup – communist. You folks should try it and see how free you feel – you can do almost anything you want….there a few laws, regulations, and societal claptrap. This society, govt and country continues to whittle away at personal freedoms all the time…and we just go right along with it like sheep. Are we really free here?
Shut up, commie bastard.
P.K. not sure why your getting your undies in a knot. I didn’t say anything about defending texting while driving. To be honest I am not sure how people do it. What I was saying is there is always going to be distractions while driving, and accidents are going to happen no matter what. I am just dumbfounded by the negative attention cell phones get when I see jackasses everyday putting on makeup , playing with their pets ( on there lap ), eating fastfood etc…but no one says anything ..I don’t get it. Whats the difference ?
PS: it sounds like you need a hug.
Oh PK while I am at it, someone commenting in The Coast’s Bitch section at 9 oclock on a friday night shouldn’t be calling anyone else a loser. Especially when they don’t know what their talking about.
Sorry everyone, I know how much you hate it.
“Their” should be “they are”
Got a little carried away.Just don’t start throwing stones..
Ha ha – I was actually going to correct you, but I’ve decided not to be such a snob. Not sayin’ I didn’t judge you a bit ;p
And by the way, we all have our addictions – just ’cause LTWWB is like crack to some… I was on the bitch page on Friday night – be then went out for drinks and late night sushi with friends, so I had a great Friday night – loser or not.
I agree with Kirbul… how different is texting while driving from putting on makeup, eating, and a whole lot of other things… I never noticed he/she mention that it was ok to do, just that all of the above are distractions.
I think it’s because cell phones are still a fairly new technology and anything new usually ends up being a scapegoat for all the world’s problems.
“narf? rawk?”
Screee!
you don’t need to eat with your eyes…. if I HAD to close my eyes while eating, I wouldn’t do it while driving as well.
you don’t need to look at your pet to pet it….
still, I don’t recommend letting them run wild.
makeup and texting both require your eyes AND hands…
both of which are pretty handy to have at attention whilst driving.
would you read a book while driving?
play sudoku?
yes? then you’re an idiot.
I don’t see why texting is different from eating, primping and preening, etc., either. But I’ll bet that any chickie slapping on her mascara whilst driving is gonna be just as much interest to a traffic cop as a driving-texter. Besides being a traffic violation, distracted driving is a selfish act. Go ahead people, text (or whatever) and drive. Is it really worth the horror and regret that will haunt you for the rest of your life if you maim or kill in the process? If your technology controls you instead of the other way around, a serious look at how addiction works is the best thing you’ll ever google.
i❤sudoku