Home > Duluth.Talk > Archives > 2008 > January > 09 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USBlame longer commutes on cellphones
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Readers of my blog (all five of you - thanks, Mom and Dad - the rest of you, the check’s in the mail) have read about my “reluctance” to join the cell phone culture.
My Mom got me a cell phone for Christmas 2006 - my first one. Because of my stroke, she felt that I would have access to a communication device if I needed assistance.
I see the benefit of a cell phone, but I’m not a slave to it. Only a few people (maybe the aforementioned five) know my number. I forget about it more than I use it, which is no surprise to people who know me.
My biggest complaint about cell phone users is their rudeness. Talking loudly in public areas, not paying attention in checkout lines, interrupting conversations to “take this call” (I mean, come on. What does it say about me when you interrupt my conversation to start another one with someone else?), and holding up traffic are a few of my beefs.
It turns out I have some vindication. Drivers talking on cell phones are making our commute even longer, concludes a new study as reported by Seth Borenstein for The Associated Press.
Motorists yakking away, even with hands-free devices, crawl about 2 mph slower on commuter-clogged roads than people not on the phone, and they don’t keep up with the flow of traffic, said study author David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah.
“The distracted driver tends to drive slower and have delayed reactions,” said Strayer, People kind of get stuck behind that person, and it makes everyone pay the price of that distracted driver.”
Strayer’s study found that drivers on cell phones are far more likely to stick behind a slow car and change lanes about 20 percent less often than drivers not on the phone. They took about 3 percent longer to drive the same highly clogged route (and about 2 percent longer to drive a medium-congested route) than people who were not on the phone.
Friends and neighbors, any of you driving on the streets of our fair community have experienced this. My informal survey found about 6 out of every 10 drivers talking on their cell phone while I was driving home. Many cell phone users drove between 10-15 mph slower, in the left lane, than their fellow commuters.
Turn signals are used infrequently enough among commuters, but are nonexistent among cell phone users. My favorites are the talkers who are evidently lost, first wanting to turn left at the intersection, then right, then left again. They changed lanes regardless of whether or not they had an opening to do so.
Turn left at a traffic light? Not if a cell phone gabber is in front of you. They are oblivious to traffic movement, to when the light changes, even to whether or not they are blocking an intersection. And all of this is just the tip of the iceberg.
The cell phone is an accessory; I am not. There has to be a way to put these thoughtless cads in their place. So I ask you, my good readers: What can we do to regain respect from rude cell phone users?
Permalink | Comments (50) | Post your comment | Categories: Bill Allen
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
Comments
By One
January 9, 2008 2:55 PM | Link to this
This is why I blow, blow, blow my horn!! If it doesn’t let them know they’re holding up traffic, it scares the heck out of them because they think they’re about to hit something (usually they are)!
By j-man
January 9, 2008 3:27 PM | Link to this
I totally agree. I’ve had a cell phone for about 10 years and it’s great but I don’t talk while driving or in public areas and the one that really burns me is when people turn away from you during a conversation to answer their stupid phone. Also when I see those stupid ear bud thingys I just want to choke the idiot who thinks they are important enough to wear it. I’ve actually seen people talk on phones during movies and even while bowling! Come on people, use basic common sense and respect people around you!
By t.dekkers
January 9, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this
it is crazy, everyone had to talk on a cell phone. I see people leaving their home and are already on the cell phone. Just leave your phone in the car if u go to the store or bank or any other place u have to do any transactions. How did we do without cell phones all these other years???
By Smiley
January 9, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this
My favorite thing to do to the loud talking cell phone user in public is to talk loudly where they can not hear the person on the other end. Or better yet, ask them a stupid question, just to make them stop talking.
If you are riding along at a decent little clip, you exactly when the person in front on you answers their cell phone as they automatically slow down. It is as if the accelerator is attached to the on button of the cell phone; they answer the phone and the car slows down.
If I am with someone who continually answers their phone, I excuse myself. Apparently I am less important than the phone calls they are receiving.
And by the way, I only have a cell phone. I will let it go to voice mail if I am in the store or talking with someone. Just plain ole common decency.
By yep
January 9, 2008 3:51 PM | Link to this
I get to have double pleasure each day (besides at work) I take an elevator at home since I live in a high-rise. With that being said it still amazes me how people will hold up others before they go into a parking garage or try to ride the elevators and hold a conversation thinking that they still can get a signal while just yapping away. Then they are like: “hello, hello, hello, you there”? What a bunch of idiots.
By rotary phone drone
January 9, 2008 4:10 PM | Link to this
Of all the self indulgent acts I have witnessed in my 36 years, talking on a cell phone in public is the single most absurd gesture of them all. Who wants to hear about what’s her name at your office who never takes a bath and is cheating with the boss?? Keep me out of your conversation by keeping your cell phone in your car. Blasphemy!
Oh, and do people really think that by letting me hear all of your phone’s ring tones, that they are somehow hip and cool? Buy a pet rock and throw it at yourself, it makes for good cellphone chatter… Boring….. Sorry, I have to take this call, I’ll be back on later…
By BiteMe
January 9, 2008 4:11 PM | Link to this
OMG, Bill, I could NOT agree with you more! I can’t tell you HOW MANY TIMES I have almost been killed while driving due to other people just gabbing away - I truly believe that cell phones are an ADDICTION, as people act like they cannot breath or live unless they are rattling on 24-7. And the people that wear those blue tooth ear pieces (I think that’s what they are called) look like total @ssholes, I can’t help but laugh at them everytime I see one.
I have SO much to say on this topic, as I have been ranting about this for years, but won’t take up much of your time here. I also have a cellphone and rarely use it, but that’s ‘cause I don’t need a security blanket and frankly do not enjoy talking on the phone constantly (although I LOVED the phone when I was a teen over 20 years ago!) I once did a personal check on other drivers once, and 8 out of 10 cars had people gabbing on the phone…..At 7 AM! Who in the #@($)#@*”$ does everyone have to talk to that early in the morning?
Ridiculous.
Thank you for pointing out what myself and thousands of others have thought for SO long. I wish they would outlaw cellphones in public places. I remember if a call was that urgent, you would drive to find a payphone or wait unti you got home!
Ahhhhhhhh, the good ol’ days.
By John
January 9, 2008 4:18 PM | Link to this
Life was so much more pleasant before cell phones. I hardly ever turn my phone on. I like the feeling that I’m not available 24/7 to anyone. If I want to talk to someone I’ll call. Otherwise, voicemail gets it and I’ll get back to you when it’s convenient for me.
By OldSchool
January 9, 2008 5:02 PM | Link to this
This morning, as I drove to work through a residential area, I had to pull over to the shoulder to avoid a slow moving cellphone yakker who was drifting into my lane. Luckily, I wasn’t hit although as he passed me, his Chevy Subdivision was straddling the centerline on that very narrow small town street. Really foggy early mornings and cellphone idiots make for one scary drive!
And would you believe the same deal with the SAME IDIOT occurred on my drive home? Different road, different weather, different time of day but same idiot yakking on the same cellphone and still drifting!
Small town…I recognized him and the Chevy Subdivison he pilots.
By Alexis
January 9, 2008 5:51 PM | Link to this
Driving while talking on the cell phone is not a sin. Many of us do it. And to the person who asks to whom people could be talking at 7am while driving to work — usually someone in another car at 7am also driving to work. Wonderful is the cell phone for it’s connectivity powers. I personally love my Blackberry, it goes with me everywhere. If an important call comes in while I am talking to someone face to face, usually importance is judged by whether or not it’s someone who is more important than the person I am presently speaking with, I will take it. So, let me just say, the grocery store checkout clerk, the kid at the drive-thru at Starbucks, etc etc ad nauseum of simple service people, well you typically lose the battle of importance to the person on the other end of my Blackberry. Sorry to say it, but it’s true. People need to get over their clinging to the past. It’s the 21st century. Communication is mobile. No longer is it the 50’s where your phone is in one room of the house with a cord attached to it. So get over it already.
By Lone Man
January 9, 2008 5:58 PM | Link to this
Amen and Thank you!
I hate cellphones.
I most especially despise those who use cellphones while driving, and if you actually start counting the amount of those who use them while driving (just count them while you’re waiting for the light and watch them run the light!), it’s appalling!
On the interstate, death is just a call away as some zip head either slows down or speeds up and it doesn’t matter which one, because they will wander over into the next lane.
I’m still left with a loud question and this question hits me daily: why in the hell we don’t have a law about cellphones?????
They are a MAJOR liability and safety risk!!
Furthermore, what the hell is so damn urgent in your life that you feel you have to have a oral communication device with you 24/7?
I remember when vacations were to get away from the phone—not take it with you!
By Alexis_is_a_troll
January 9, 2008 6:02 PM | Link to this
Another fake post designed entirely to provoke others, and having nothing to do with your own thoughts…Nice to see you’ve picked something other than gays or abortion to troll about, Alexis.
With such a need to drop in on multiple blogs to get attention, you need to find a shrink.
By Jason
January 9, 2008 6:11 PM | Link to this
I think Alexis’ comments demonstrate a truly obnoxious trend toward selfishness and inflated self-importance demonstrated in public. I’m sorry but this argument of picking up the blackberry in the midst of an exchange with a store employee, checkout clerk etc. is truly ridiculous. I am a twenty-something, a polite one who is not so self-obsessed as to think that a worker needs to wait for me to talk to someone “more important” than he or she is, and then complete the exchange when I have completed my call. These people are working. To me talking on the cellphone in the midst of paying a checkout clerk is equal to having some a* pick up the blackberry in the midst of a meeting and expect me to sit and wait as he’s deemed the caller more important than I am. I hope someday some checkout clerk deems the person standing behind Alexis “more important” and sends her and her ear attached to the blackberry to the end of the line. I know I’m sick of standing behind someone talking on the cellphone, ignoring the clerk while I wait patiently. Forget the modern era, get a grip on reality. The world orbits around the sun, not you.
By givemeabreakselfishho
January 9, 2008 6:29 PM | Link to this
Alexis, shut up. You are the reason why so many people have accidents and die, because of people like you and your selfishness in assuming that the entire world should revolve around you and your precious phone. I can almost 100% guarantee you are not as important as you think you are in carrying around your Blackberry. I’m sure you can get your PTA updates on your home computer while doing laundry and chatting with the other housewives.
Don’t drive off a cliff anytime soon while yakking on the phone!
OH, wait, no..please do.
By BiteMe
January 9, 2008 6:33 PM | Link to this
Hey, AlexisIsA_Troll blogger - I thought the same thing! KUDOS TO YOU! OH, but wait, silly me….I’m sure it’s the OTHER Alexis this time on the blog……I keep getting her multiple personalities mixed up.
Man, she is scary.
By strange
January 9, 2008 6:43 PM | Link to this
I didn’t think Alexis was allowed to leave her house — much less own a cell phone.
By noshit
January 9, 2008 6:51 PM | Link to this
Alexis would leave her house, but she’s too scared the gays will get her.
By Sarah
January 9, 2008 7:14 PM | Link to this
I work for a major hometown bank and let me say if you are talking on your cell phone, whether you are in the drive-thru or the lobby, and you come to my window while on your phone, I will make you wait until you are done to help you. If you don’t finish up within 1 minute, I will send you to the back of the line. I have no time for you if you have no time for me. By the way, the “No Cell Phones Please” sign that’s right next to my face includes everyone. Communtications may be mobile now, but that doesn’t mean I, as a “simple service person” don’t deserve a little respect and courtesy.
Side vent: the drive-thru is for bank cliens only, there is a limit of 3 transactions per car, and you must have all your deposit slips and checks signed and ready. If you fail to meet one of these requirements, you will come inside. Thank you!
By sokak6
January 9, 2008 7:49 PM | Link to this
Oh Sarah, if only you worked at my bank.
By Chris
January 9, 2008 8:02 PM | Link to this
Cell phones obstructing our ability to make decisions and think independently! So often I am out in public when someone nearby has to call someone on their cell phone to get assistance in making the SIMPLEST decision - it’s as if they weren’t aware there was MORE than one brand of toilet paper available and this new development has left them completely helpless.
By Bruce Wicox
January 9, 2008 8:04 PM | Link to this
To get even with the cell phoners I give them Alexises number.
By f(x) = 36x^2
January 9, 2008 11:08 PM | Link to this
It’s not the cell phones that are the problem - it’s some of the people who use them.
I ONLY have a mobile, because that’s the most convenient method of contact for me. My phone goes where I go. However, I observe very strict rules. I do NOT answer the phone when I’m interacting with someone else, unless the call is coming from one of my parents, and I EXCUSE myself before answering. I do NOT keep the ringer on during movies, plays or classes, or any other event in which a cell phone should not be allowed to interupt.
I DO keep conversations in public places to the absolute necessary. I DO NOT talk on the phone while in a checkout line (as someone who works in retail, I find this practice to be VERY insulting and rude) unless the call comes while I’m IN the line, and it happens to be from the very small number of people who might call me in an emergency.
The problem is not the cell phone - it’s the lack of etiquette associated with it. The technology, like any other technology, is neutral. It’s what people do with it that matters.
By LT5000
January 10, 2008 12:04 AM | Link to this
Ah another idiotic blog from the AJC staff.
Here is what makes for long commute times. School being in session, construction and poorly laid out streets and traffic signals.
Cell phones only contribute when someone gets in a crash because they weren’t paying attention.
I lived in Boston for years and Atlanta’s commute is a dream.
How about some real blogs, say the fact that 8 days into the new year Norcross has had two homicides and a hispanic gang shooting.
Paging Sheriff Butch, time to get that INS training.
LT5000
By Kody's mom
January 10, 2008 1:16 AM | Link to this
I think that the root of the cell phones in public problem is pride. Many (but not all) cell phone users (like the woman in Publix yesterday who never missed a beat in her conversation although the cashier greeted her at the beginning of her transaction and then thanked her at the end) see themselves and their time as more important than anyone elses. They can’t spend their time merely shopping or driving or dealing with “simple people.” They must be multitasking.
As to drivers with cell phones, don’t get me started. I have seen someone driving with a cellphone held to one ear, a cigarette in the other hand, and both elbows on the steering wheel. I have started my own silent campaign against them. Many times I see another driver waiting to turn out of a parking lot into my lane or to go across it. Like many courteous Atlantans, I like to let them in. But if the driver is talking on a cell phone, I don’t extend them the courtesy. Maybe if enough people started doing this, people would get the message.
By Sick of Cells
January 10, 2008 4:23 AM | Link to this
In response to Alexis - We are all pleased that you are important enough to own a Blackberry and that it is the center of your universe. But when you are holding up lines at the grocery store or Starbucks, or almost causing accidents because you need to yap on your precious Blackberry then you are just plain rude and ignorant and you need to get over yourself.
By Alexis is an idiot
January 10, 2008 5:51 AM | Link to this
Cell phones turn people into self entitled morons. As soon as their phones ring they think they are the most important person in the world. We were much better off before them.
By grumpy
January 10, 2008 6:16 AM | Link to this
I also blame longer surface street commutes on the glut of giant SUVs and trucks which, generally speaking, seem to take longer to start off at traffic lights, don’t corner well and have trouble staying in lanes. OK, maybe it’s really poor drivers who are at fault but the result is still the same. And it’s probably a very small difference but, along with the cellphone use and DVD viewing and GPS checking and newspaper reading and make-up applying, this stuff adds up. :p
By Katie
January 10, 2008 6:31 AM | Link to this
Driving is driving, period. You shouldn’t be doing anything but paying attention to that. No TV’s, cell phones, laptops or anything else while driving. The drivers test should also be made tougher. It seems to me that many people I see driving don’t know how to and shouldn’t even be on the road. I’m not sure if SUV’s are a problem, but I do know many of these soccer moms driving them are. They can’t drive them or stay in their lanes because they’re too busy talking on their cell phones or looking at them selves in the rear view mirror making sure their face spackle looks good.
By Jaybird
January 10, 2008 6:32 AM | Link to this
I too have a cellphone. It is nice for my family to be able to reach me via a local number because I travel. However, I do not care for public use of them. I hear that more and more restaurants are putting in electronic blocks as a courtesy to other diners. At a restaurant in Maui several years ago there were signs posted and menu notes asking that people refrain from using them in the restaurant. While we were there the Maitre-D actually escorted two different patrons to the lobby to finish their “all-important” phone call.
When I need to take or make a call while driving, I get off of the road either at an exit, rest stop, or on the shoulder. Most times I let it go to voice mail until I can stop and return the call. I’ve seen the resulting carnage from cell distracted drivers. I was even rear-ended by a guy in a pickup truck who was retrieving voice mails and texting, at 65 mph in the left lane. Seems he was keying text and didn’t see that all cars in all lanes ahead of him had stopped.
By Anon
January 10, 2008 7:40 AM | Link to this
African American women are the worst offenders of talking and driving slow. They can’t drive in the first place, then add a cell phone into the mix. It’s like the world revolves around them only, and they are the most important person on the road.
By DarkBrown
January 10, 2008 8:12 AM | Link to this
Anon - Yes, your post offended me. But I guess there is no law against offending people.
For me, it’s quite ironic that you point out that African American women are the worst offenders of driving while under the influence of cellphone. My irony - I was rear-ended by a white man who was sending a text while driving.
By Bill Allen
January 10, 2008 8:37 AM | Link to this
Cell phones are equal opportunity offenders. Like many things, the abuse of these devices are not restricted by race, gender, religion, creed or place of natural origin. I don’t want to turn this into a forum of blind-sided attacks by people with an agenda.
If you have statistics to back up your opinion, Anon, please share them. Let’s discuss them. If not, please don’t turn my blog into an opportunity to bait anybody because they don’t share your heritage or gender.
By knottedpanties
January 10, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this
Poor little Anon nothing to add but a racially dumb and incorrect comment. All people of color that you see in the US are not African American. Jerk that you are you see a color and want to assign a label, thus making you fell justified in your disillusioned insults. It is not the cell phones but the inconsiderate users. BTW I am all for making hands free a law as it is in NJ, NY and PA. Alas, once again GA falls behind in progressiveness.
By Anon
January 10, 2008 9:05 AM | Link to this
Apparently I hit a nerve. I don’t have stats to back up my findings, just personal observations as I drive around this city for a living. Any time I see someone doing something stupid on the road, 9 out of 10 times is is an African American woman on her cell. Sorry, but it’s true.
I didn’t know we weren’t allowed to express our OPINIONS on a blog. And if my opinion offends you, too bad. It’s my opinion. And I’ll express it in a community blog.
By knottedpanties
January 10, 2008 9:28 AM | Link to this
just personal observations as I drive around this city for a living While your driving and making these observations you should be paying attention to the road. OPINIONS are like a*******holes everyone has them. Only yours are issued from an A*******hole prespective
By Eric
January 10, 2008 1:55 PM | Link to this
The answer to the question ” why arent there laws for driving with a cell phone” Simple, the lawmakers are also the ones who use them while they drive!
By woodie
January 10, 2008 5:22 PM | Link to this
I don’t own a cell phone and would never use one driving a car, but I don’t believe this “study”. If you are in a traffic jam, generally nobody is going anywhere. So chatting on the phone shouldn’t matter. It’s only at stop lights where you lose time. Many people waste time at green lights. This increases commute time. But then again, many people who can’t negotiate a green light don’t have cell phones. So the whole study is probably incorrect. Increased danger maybe. Slows traffic, not likely.
By Mark
January 11, 2008 2:35 PM | Link to this
Anon
I totally agree with your post. Black women are the worst when it comes to talking while driving. They must think that they’re important or something. Nog women, put the phone down and drive.
By DarkBrown
January 12, 2008 12:56 PM | Link to this
Ignorance ALWAYS hits a nerve.
By Nannie Pie
January 15, 2008 11:12 AM | Link to this
The worst I’ve seen is, yes a black woman, on I-285, talking on her cell phone with one hand and texting on another phone with the other….guess her knees were driving ! Now, to be equal, I was behind a white man driving erratically recently, yes he was on the phone and his cigarette was bobbing in his mouth with out 2” of ashes……wonder what he said in the phone when the hot ashes fell in his lap ?
I work part time in an upscale grocery store and noticed a woman come in the other day, shopped and never stopped talking on the phone. Everytime I passed her I could hear parts of the conversation that shouldn’t of been heard in public….tmi !
I do agree that if you are in a traffic jam it is ok to talk on the phone.
By Jais AAA duluth
January 15, 2008 8:57 PM | Link to this
Hey Bill, been a few weeks since we talked. Here’s a good one for all you folks who know cell phones are a danger to everyone:
Woman is idly driving through gwinnet just yapping away on her nokia. She wandered out of lane around an otherwise tame curve in the road, HITTING A GAS TRUCK headlong. She remarkably emerged from the wreck and began hailing people for help, thinking she’d just bumped her head. They began screaming every time she approached someone until a man pulled off the road who was an EMT. He promptly laid her down and informed her that she had a phone buried in the side of her head.
True story. Can you hear me now? Good! (I guess all those techs should probably have one guy in the crowd with a megaphone to yell HEADS UP when one of their customers feels like chewing the fat at 80mph.)By Amused in the Background
January 16, 2008 10:56 AM | Link to this
Maybe we should get a clue from the Motor City - my friends in Detroit told me that the city of Detroit and several surrounding suburban cities have made talking on the cell phone illegal while driving. It is a primary offense, so you can be stopped just for that. And it carries a fine of $150 and 2 points. Wake up, Georgia Legislators!
By Darrel
January 16, 2008 3:34 PM | Link to this
I have a cellphone!. Hmmmmmmm? Now where did I leave it? Ahh! Never mind, it’s not important anyway!
Oh, and those little phones that clip onto your head/ear: they look like a big cockroach hanging on your head!
By Katie
January 17, 2008 6:07 AM | Link to this
Seen yesterday on 85N. A woman in her mercedes on her cell phone trying to merge onto the freeway going 25 mph. Are you f-ing kidding me???
As a woman I can honestly say that most women shouldn’t even be allowed to drive cars. Some are just way too stupid!!
By GW
January 18, 2008 11:31 AM | Link to this
Ok folks, put this in perspective. A 3 percent increase in a one hour commute means an extra 108 seconds. If you get wound up about an extra two minutes, then get your blood pressure medicine increased! Talking to someone you love on the phone beats listening to drive time radio any day.
By Jais AAA duluth
January 19, 2008 11:04 AM | Link to this
you ever get into music GW? or haha like…Ah I dunno guys. I could verify scientifically that cell phone use at those speeds isn’t safe. Bruce lee in his book ‘the tao of jeet kun do’ describes using words, confusing sounds and flashy lines to confuse his opponents, as these are sensory distractions that the mind CANNOT be trained to filter out. It’s Kryptonite for the only natural weapon a human posesses: a high complex brain.
This being said, a gadget that you must look at, meddle with and talk to is probably not the best thing to have in your corner when other drivers trust you with their saftey. I myself do not roll dice, and take thousands of pounds of steel and glass moving at high speeds very seriously. I can see law being put into effect over this issue. I would vote yes on making cellphones illegal while driving and possibly yes on banning them from public buildings outright. ANYONE who stops their conversation face to face to take a call is a poorly-raised
By Katie
January 22, 2008 7:58 AM | Link to this
GW, it’s not about the 3 seconds added to commutes, it’s about public safety. If someone crashes into you and kills you because they were talking on their phone, how do you think YOUR loved ones would feel? Now, given that argument, think of all the other people on the roads who aren’t you. Their safety is just as important as yours and having that precious phone conversation really isn’t that important—is it?
People, it’s not all about you, think of other people once in awhile. Phone calls really aren’t that important.
By GW
January 22, 2008 2:01 PM | Link to this
But guys, we’re not talking about high speed, we’re talking Atlanta RUSH Hour traffic!!!
By Katie
January 23, 2008 5:41 AM | Link to this
You see people going 80 mph talking on their phones so no, we’re not only talking about RUSH hour traffic in Atlanta.
This city is already known for its poor drivers, why add something more to the confusion. Drivers here have enough problems negotiating turns and using their turn signals. Heck, they’re lucky they’re even allowed radios in their vehicles.
By GW
January 23, 2008 10:15 AM | Link to this
Reread the article, it’s about commute times being longer. That’s rush hour! If I’m stuck in traffic that’s moving slowly, I should be able to talk to someone to pass the time. I just pointed out that the 3 percent longer commute time is only an extra two minutes.