Car Tech forum: What do you think is the biggest threat to safe driving?

Bad driving includes not recognizing limits. Paying attention to anything other than road conditions is bad driving. Reading directions, eating, drinking and talking are all things that make people bad drivers.

My parents got around the cellphone debate by combining errands and putting a kid in the passenger seat with the cellphone, directions/map and anything else that could take their attention away from the road. They drove and we took calls, just like we would it they were doing anything else that would keep them from the phone. Now that it's come out that talking on a cellphone while driving is just as dangerous as driving drunk, I'm really thankful they did that.

Car Stereo in mostly one way to use. You select your station or CD and forget about it. You just listen to the music or talk show. Navigation system, you input your destination and let it guide you. But cell phone requires more of you. Not only you need to hold the phone but you are trying to maintain a conversation with someone that does not know what are you doing but distracting you. Your eyes might be looking out thru the windshield but your mind is some place else. That is when you are not aware of what is going around you. Your mind goes into a temporally day dream and you are all over the road, slowing down for not apparent reason or worst causing an accident.

MADD has got it down. As the E.R.Medical Director of a hospital in the Florida Keys (No snow or icey roads;no mountain passes;no sharp curves) I can attest that driving under the influence of alcohol &/or other consciousness altering drugs is the biggest threat to safe driving, in my experience.

Drunk driving. It kills far more people than the war in Iraq or 9/11. Instead of worrying about terrorists, we need to focus on the real threat to our lives. There are about 50,000 per year killed by drunk drivers, not to mention how many are injured and maimed for life, yet there is no hue and cry about that. If the idiots that are crying about the war would pull their heads out, they would realize that their sons and daughters are at more danger right here at home than they are over there. If you take the age group that is currently stationed in Iraq and look at the fatality statistics you will see that the biggest threat to their life is automobile accidents yet you don't see anyone picketing about that. Just goes to prove that people are not rational creatures with logic.

People are going to be distracted by anything that distracts them. Take my mom. She can't walk through a room without tripping over a chair or jamming her knee on a wall. She's backed over bikes, run into poles and parked cars. Put her in a car and give her a car stereo. Of course she's gonna be distracted. (However, she thinks she's a good driver and gets very offended if there is any insinuation that she's not.)

The bottom line is that people can be distracted by anything. Radio, kids, shaving, eating, cell phone, gps, etc...

Some people are better at not being distracted. Some people can get dressed in the car. Congratulations. They probably shouldn't but if they have to...well...be careful. Who's to say that the guy getting into his Halloween costume while driving is any worse off than the guy who just found out his wife is having an affair? We can all be distracted at times. Thus, it's important to always drive carefully.

Don't drive fast. Focus when your turning. Have an awareness of everything around you. Mom. Even though you think you do, you don't.

I am seeing "bad drivers" with increasing frequency. Licensing is intended as a screening process for obvious reasons. Suspending someone's privileges may appear to be a harsh result, but not when compared to the consequences of a serious accident. If each person would consider what they could do that would make a difference,they might be surprised at the possibilities. Letting friends and family members know that you care about their well-being should be positive reinforcement and encouragement for "doing the right thing".
If you are mature enough to be "in the driver's seat", you should recognize the responsibility that requires. Be aware of the consequences of being reckless, careless, or excessively agressive.

Take most of that whole list, and it constitutes a form of bad driver. Get road rage out of the way first. That is attempted murder, or outright murder should someone get killed. The prison sentences should be stiff! Forget second degree; when somone decides to go after someone else, their car becomes a weapon, and they made a decision to attack someone. The same goes for DUI. When you make a conscious decision to consume booze, or use drugs full well knowing you will need to drive afterwards, you have made a decision that puts others in harms way. You do not care obviously, and should be a guest of the penal system, likewise. Secure the kids, and crate the pets. Figure some way, as my folks did to entertain your kids so as not to distract the driver. As to my former (and occasionaly still) avocation of storm chasing, for the scenic driver, and for the tech gadgets-PULL OVER!!

If you're going to ban cell phones, then let's ban Smoking.

When a person phones and drives at the same time, he/she is more focused on phoning than driving, has to drive with one hand if he/she does not have a hands-free model, etc. For these reasons, cell phones are arguably the worst force in car accidents.

I just said that most (again, not all) car accidents come from using a celluar telephone while driving.

Self-centered idiots who think they own the road, those on cell phones, those putting makeup/shaving in the car, those who attend to their passengers instead of the road, those who cut others off, etc...I can go on forever with this!

Most drivers use one hand to hold the cell phone instead of a hands-free mike/earbud; this means they only have one hand on the wheel,which is dangerous for him and other drivers on the road. Many drivers are so distracted by there cell phone conversation that they do not pay attention to their speed(they tend to drive slower than the rest of the traffic) or to maintaining the lane(one driver
going around a corner with a cell phone in his hand came over into my lane and nearly hit me if I had not slammed on the brakes). When I get a cell phone call in the car, I pull over to the shoulder and stop to talk; I feel much safer that way.

I say that somewhat with tongue in cheek, but Nascar has only added fuel to the fire of the epidemic of aggressive driving that is wreaking havoc and destruction everywhere. This is not the same as road rage...I've seen many otherwise mild mannered people lose their grip with highway reality when they get behind the wheel. But it is true that people with a self-obsessed view of life in general will also tend to be very aggressive driving a car. It's not all about who gets to their destination first: it's about getting there alive.

Okay, well maybe not really. Fact is though that the two DO go hand in hand. Yeah, I'm guilty of talking on my cell while driving too, but at least I use a headset or at the very least, that wonderful feature found on almost any mobile phone....SPEAKERPHONE! I don't answer the phone unless I really have to. Even then I find that people won't try to talk to me anymore when I'm driving because they know I'm not paying attention to them. Not sure what gave it away..."Uh-huh..... oh yeah?... right...Mmm Hmm" C'mon like you'd be able to tell I wasn't listening?

And then there are those drivers out there that really **** me off when they are driving with one hand on the wheel and the other one holding the phone to their ear. They tend to stray into other lanes, switch lanes without signaling (as their conversation is far more important that your well being as they sideswipe you), drive extremely slow, make left hand turns from the right lane (once again too busy on the phone to pay attention).... you know, the usual stuff. Lets take today for example. On the drive in I counted 3 people that were all almost causing accidents by drifting in to other lanes. Now can you guess what I saw when I caught up to them? Cmon, just take a guess Yup, you got it. They ALL had a damned cell held up to their head. Although one of them was actually drilling for oil at the same time too so he just didnt have any hands on the wheel Im waiting for the new, No Picking and Driving campaign to come out in the fall. Just watch, itll happen.

So basically, Id say that the two of these contribute to one another and youll have to take them both as to The biggest threat to safe driving. I challenge you guys out there that are always on your cell while driving to prove me wrong. Im waiting.

Bad drivers include several of your other options. Actually bad upbringing is probably the biggest problem. Not being properly schooled by parents in self control and and in behaving in a responsible manner along with the attitude that driving is a right when in fact it is a privilege are probably the biggest problems I saw out there as a professional driver.
If your attention is not on the road, you cannot possibly be a good defensive driver.

Some things are unavoidable - we have to drive our children and sometimes our pets around. But cell phones are not a requirement and they are avoidable. Road rage is not a sickness. It's bad upbringing.

We have bathroom mirrors for grooming and alarm clocks to get us up early enough to do it at home.

I see no problem with stereos being played at a reasonable volume but if it is so loud you can be heard coming for a city block or having earphones in your ears - well pretty selfish, pretty ignorant to say nothing of pretty hard to hear the ambulance coming up fast behind you. Not smart!

Drinking and driving - well if you want free government room and board, there are safer and easier ways to get it. There are some countries where drinking and driving merit the death penalty. Sounds a bit excessive but then I have to tell you there is very, very little drinking and driving in those countries.

Those are my thoughts. Thanks for the opportunity to vent.

Karen