@mplspug1 If you reread DT’s quote, he’s referring to citing more people over the age of 30 for texting while driving than under the age of 30.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>deertracker wrote:</div>
@mplspug1, you can be pulled over for texted and seatbelt as a primary offense. At least in MN. Surprising I’ve probably cited more people over 30 for texting while driving than under.
DT
I am way more surprised now!
This is a problem that will naturally go away as voice recognition and control improves.
I agree with everything except my voice recognition now is pretty flawless. Before the new lease I mentioned, I had to look at the phone to follow directions, although it does call out all the turns and what not. Now the car displays everything on the radio screen. And now I can listen and reply to texts coming in too, without using my hands.
Before I never text and drive. As they say, there is nothing so important to text that you can’t wait until you reach you destination. I’d rarely take or more phone calls before either, mostly because I don’t get a lot of calls. But now I can take a call if the phone reads a contact I am interested in answering. All without using my hands.
I had tried texting once or twice a good 4-5 years ago, but even with not having a close call and doing it when I thought it was safe, I realized quickly that it is way too dangerous. It simply isn’t safe.
I don’t even like to drive through the ‘cities’ because I don’t want to get in an accident.
Lots of things distracting people.
Dogs on the steering wheel
Phones in laps
People being tired
People’s comfort level with riding your ass, this one blows me away every day.
I avoid cities driving as much as possible… It is rare I’ll enter any kind of rush hour. People are insane the risks taken every day on the road.
I’m much more comfortable going 30mph in zero visibility fog with ice bergs and logs than I am driving anywhere!! Peeps crazy!
Heck, the weather forecaster could predict snow and get it wrong and 200 people will still crash.
Snows an inch and we got over 400 morons that get into an accident because their normal driving practices are terrible and a little snow cocks the whole program!
I don’t even like to drive through the ‘cities’ because I don’t want to get in an accident.
Lots of things distracting people.
Dogs on the steering wheel
Phones in laps
People being tired
People’s comfort level with riding your ass, this one blows me away every day.I avoid cities driving as much as possible… It is rare I’ll enter any kind of rush hour. People are insane the risks taken every day on the road.
I’m much more comfortable going 30mph in zero visibility fog with ice bergs and logs than I am driving anywhere!! Peeps crazy!
According to multiple studies country driving is more dangerous than city driving.
“The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that, in 2013, nearly 3,000 more fatal car accidents happened on rural roads than on busy urban streets.”
-https://www.esurance.com/info/car/where-car-accidents-happen-most
“Despite the frequency of collisions in cities, country drivers face serious risks as well. In fact, statistics show that collisions on country roads are 40% more likely to be fatal than accidents in cities. This means that while more accidents occur in the city, you’re more likely to be killed in an accident in the country.”
-http://www.carinsurance101.com/are-country-roads-safer-than-big-cities/#.WMwdNTeQw3U
“According to the data from the 2010 United States Census, [3] 19 percent of people in the United States lived in areas that were classified as “rural.” Despite the rural population being the distinct minority, NHTSA reported that over 50 percent of all traffic fatalities occur in such rural areas. In 2012 alone, 18,170 people died in motor vehicle accidents that occurred on rural roads, as opposed to 15,296 reported traffic fatalities in urban locations.”
-https://www.dolmanlaw.com/auto-accidents-common-rural-urban-areas/
Just some food for thought.
Half measure laws are not the answer, information pertinent to the subject goes a long way.
http://www.nsc.org/learn/NSC-Initiatives/Pages/Understanding-the-Distracted-Brain.aspx
This is a download from the National Safety Council give it a read it may enlighten you on the myths behind the use of hands-free cell phone devices.
I dont offer this to change anyones mind on using a cell phone while driving its only to bring awareness.
A snippet from the White Paper.
Inattention Blindness – Vision is the most important sense we use for safe driving. It’s the source of the majority of information when driving. Yet, drivers using hands-free and handheld cell phones have a tendency to “look at” but not “see” objects. Estimates indicate drivers using cell phones look at but fail to see up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment.
of course your chances of being “killed” are higher on a country road… “higher speeds”, less “safety barriers” and longer emergency response times. but your chances of getting hit by an inattentive idiot are way lower on a country road… just some food for thought.
but your chances of getting hit by an inattentive idiot are way lower on a country road… just some food for thought.
And while you are pondering this, how about considering how many of the city accidents eave people permanently crippled… brain dead or coma, paraplegia or quadriplegic or minus climbs or eyes. Its easy to lump non-fatal accidents together and not show some of the ugliest injuries.
I have no problem navigating in the TC but like FB&RM I avoid driving there during any rush.
“I have no problem navigating in the TC but like FB&RM I avoid driving there during any rush. ”
When does that happen? It seems like the major freeways around here are always busy and full of cars. All night long, Sunday morning, it doesn’t matter. And I’m with you guys, I’d rather poke along on a country road than claw my way through metro insanity.
SR
but your chances of getting hit by an inattentive idiot are way lower on a country road… just some food for thought.
For years now I have considered picking up roots to get away from the metro. The east side of woodbury was protected for a long time but no longer. The wonderous world of Sconieland or north central Minnesota (away from Brainard)I’m looking at. With global warming 
north central should be getting ice outs earlier rather quickly. Wont have to relocate when others realise north central is the new mid state and the old mid state becomes Iowa 
because I’d be worm food by then.
Canada here we come start that wall now if you know whats good for ya.
Professional Driver here… Money talks. Big business and $$$ will not allow legislation to pass anything that would completely ban use while moving. That’s why they even allow the conversation of a single ear bud or hands-free to be part of the discussion.
No one wants anyone to die. But where does it end? Biggest thing is education and for God’s sake, START raising your kids to practice self control and discipline! Teach consequence….. They’ll still make mistakes but it’ll quickly be known who’s kids are admired and respected and who’s aren’t.
Everyone that has the privilege of not having to take medical updates and annual safety courses to possess their drivers license, consider yourselves “honorary experts” on the subject. Opinions and research do not an expert make. Studies can be manipulated to any originator’s point of view. From controlled environment to limited resource to unrealistic representation. People who live behind that wheel and have their lives completely monitored and subjected to federal regulation have a far better grip on things. A study once showed that professional drivers were involved in more accidents than non-professional drivers. This study was skewed by addressing personal records over a 20 year period. By sheer exposure, this puts a professional at a disadvantage. But, take the same comparisons at accidents per million miles driven, and professional drivers are amongst the safest in the world.
Distracted driving as a whole is a problem. It’s more a discipline issue than anything else. If you have cars all around you, wait. If pedestrians are everywhere, wait. If you have to physically dial or program, WAIT until you get to a SAFE area. The shoulder is NOT a safe place!
Cell phones are sometimes checked at weigh stations. They’re looking for activity while a driver is on drive duty. If a headset can’t be presented and hands free/voice command is turned off, they’re likely getting a ticket! For them, it’s over $3000.00 personally and $11,000.00 to the company. Companies are now passing that fine back to the driver. Now I ask, if the world can sock it to the people that live all hours of weeks and months behind the wheel steep fines like these, why can’t we do it to everyone? No accountability runs amuck in our world!
Bottom line is to simply use that lump on top of your shoulders. Calm down. Leave space. Look as far ahead as possible at all times. Check your mirrors and mentally note who’s where around you. Someone on your ass? Slow down. They’ll pass. “But that slows me down”…. Realize you can sacrifice 100ft. of road surface and add only 1 second to your drive time. You can do this 60 times before you lose a full minute! No one is ever going to convince me that they had to give up more than that on any typical commute. Getting “ahead of you” usually risks for more than the few seconds you actually gain. And while we’re on the subject, if you lose even 5 minutes, wanna tell me what life changing tragedy occurred because you sacrificed 5 minutes today? Heck, you won’t miss those minutes 24hrs later so please, keep it in perspective. I’m willing to bet we blow more than 5 minutes staring at a tv screen daily.
At 16, most of us are issued a license and NEVER tested or quizzed ever again! Do you look at those newbies on the road as driving experts? Congratulations… if you’re not the possessor of a commercial license, you’re still driving on that same 16 year old’s qualifications. I guarantee, each and every one of us has developed a bad habit or two since then.
If you really want better roads and drivers, the trick isn’t fixing everyone else but convincing everyone to fix themselves. Discipline. Respect. Consideration. Accountability. It’s typically 3-5% that create all the negative publicity in each category of representation. Overall, most of us have learned to do fairly well under ideal conditions. However, it’s still this 3-5% strongly creating the awareness and negativity. When you’re willing to be blatantly honest with yourself and admit which bad habits or poor skills you possess, you’ll curiously find that same 3-5% calculation ratios to all the other things you do to operate a motor vehicle. So, essentially…. all of us are part of SOME problem on our roads. Start with yourselves and teach, teach, teach! Those efforts will go much further than any piece of government legislation.
And don’t get me started on the country folk driving 55 in a 55. LOL. U can at least go 60. And for the country folks who need enough space to merge an aircraft carrier when changing lanes, move it or lose it. I’m not waiting all day with your blinker on trying to merge. If your vehicle fits, go for it! If you’re a country folk in the cities and traffic is going 75, DRIVE 75! OH, for country folk AND ESPECIALLY ST CLOUD FOLK, learn to zipper! Drive your lane all the way to the big arrow and than merge. Those people who ride it to the very end are not the devil nor do you swerve over and try to block them, riding a merger to the arrow is what you do!
Okay, drunk appropriate city guy driver over. LOL.
After driving in St Cloud, most of my life, minus my 6 years in the TC’s…. TC driving is for the kids and beginners… anybody can do that.
how did this thread turn into a city vs country one is better than the other conversation? Last time i checked people in the country use cell phones too.
Cell phone signals should be terminated once the tower knows he phone is moving faster than 20 MPH. The software is out there. Just a matter of time.
-J.
The Cell companies are unlikely to do this as the phone users could be passengers in a private vehicle, Bus, Train, etc.
Yes, it is out there. Try using Gasbuddy to report gas prices. I do this from the bus, minute we start moving it pops up a warning are you Driver or Passenger? It will shut down if you click driver.
Waze is the same. Of course that is coded into the app on advice of the companies law counsel.
Man o Man,,, How do keep up on some of these threads?!
What has it been 4 to 5 days and somewhere at about 4 pages consisting of 30 comments each?
I really must be getting old as not only am I getting the freeway in town by most everyone driving “The Speed Limit”, and all of you speeding bullets!
Waze is the same. Of course that is coded into the app on advice of the companies law counsel.
Last I tried Waze you could override the app by telling it you are the passenger. That was last summer though. The navigation in my wife’s car will not open manually if the car is in gear, no passenger override.
I use Waze pretty sparingly. I got tired of a stretch having what seemed to be 50 police markers only to drive by and see none. I always just keep going back to Google Maps (navigation). Once in awhile it displays accident info that it says was reported through Waze.
I know it would ask me sometimes if I was the passenger, but I can’t tell you when that would happen. It was pretty straight forward with being able to thumbs up a police, car on the side of the road, etc, and easy to add those events…
However to the point of this thread I stopped using it because it became more of a distraction.
I did try the Brian Williams voice for fun a few weeks back, which was a little disappoitning. 
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
I don’t even like to drive through the ‘cities’ because I don’t want to get in an accident.I avoid cities driving as much as possible… It is rare I’ll enter any kind of rush hour. People are insane the risks taken every day on the road.
I love this guys posts!!! (Maybe its the beer, but that’s about the funniest thing I read all week) Accidents, insane risks… When I leave the cities and drive thru st. Cloud, I want to kill every driver…way worse drivers there than the cities. And don’t get me started on the country folk driving 55 in a 55. LOL. U can at least go 60. And for the country folks who need enough space to merge an aircraft carrier when changing lanes, move it or lose it. I’m not waiting all day with your blinker on trying to merge. If your vehicle fits, go for it! If you’re a country folk in the cities and traffic is going 75, DRIVE 75! OH, for country folk AND ESPECIALLY ST CLOUD FOLK, learn to zipper! Drive your lane all the way to the big arrow and than merge. Those people who ride it to the very end are not the devil nor do you swerve over and try to block them, riding a merger to the arrow is what you do!
Okay, drunk appropriate city guy driver over. LOL.
What your missing is that your comfort level with doing everything you started probably did not come on day 1 of driving. Likely it is a behavior you learned over time and got very comfortable with through a period of years. Most geezers will quickly forget what it is like to not be an expert at everything.
You wouldn’t expect a boat owner to be good and quick at launching a boat his first time doing it…
If you see other drivers as people and not objects you might consider respecting them more and carry with you a little patience.
Example, when following close to someone and wanting to scream around their slow ass, would to feel the same way if you new that guy in front of you was your neighbor or co-worker?
Patience is a virtue.
The whole slam on brakes slam on gas routine actually slows people down. Providing space between cars actually moves things faster.
Things to consider. Enjoy your beer bob.
Until the human factor is removed, people will continue on the same path. Education and self control can only go so far and cannot be enforced.
Self driving car’s seem to be the answer, remove the human factor. The idea’s are endless. They could communicate to know exactly when one brakes, turns, slows down. They would know the actions of the car in front of them before it actually happened. Emergency vehicles could activate lights and cars automatically pull over.
Sure, not all roads are possible and weather presents a challenge as well. But major roads and highways could easily be restricted to self driving only. Or have lanes dedicated to it, similar to carpool lanes.
“Self driving cars” intead of the guy/gal shaking, rattilin and rolling to the beet of the music their now cussing the car out. 
As a person who is already exposed to “smart transportation”, I can’t wait until this crap comes around so we can start a new thread on that! Machines fail and have shortcomings too and frankly, I hope it gets much better than where it is today or I’m gonna put a bullet through my car!
I just about got T-Boned on the driver side today when a guy ran through a red. Looked like he had a cellphone in his hand. He briefly gives me a look like wtf am I doing and then realized what happened. Luckily, I was first in line and just starting to accelerate and swerved away a little and he saw me soon enough to slow and swerve enough to not make contact.
However this is Florida, so I wouldn’t compare it to Minni. He have been talking into a brick or a shoe.
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