Cell Phones & Driving: America's Deadly Obsession - Watch Now on Oprah.com

[dannyzmom]

Watch the Full Hour - America's New Deadly Obsession - Video - Oprah.com

 

[chefjeanine]

I watched this show and was AMAZED. I don't text (don't know how and don't have anyone that I would need to text) and can't believe people try to do this while driving. Scary and sad. It only takes a second to ruin your life and the lives of many others.

 

[Gina M]

I watched this earlier this week - I don't like talking on my cell phone and texting isn't for me either. How they think they can text and drive at the same time is amazing. I can barely change the radio station while keeping my eyes on the road! People need to realize how distracting the phone call is while they are driving!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Just a couple weeks ago, a 17 year old boy from this area was killed - he crossed the center line and hit a truck while driving to school one morning. He was texting his girlfriend and not paying attention to the road.

How sad to lose a child over a text message.

 

[Gina M]

I completely agree with you Becky. I would be heartbroken - luckily none of my kids (even my 15 year old) want cell phones and have the sense not to do this!

 

[pkd09]

I, too, saw this Oprah segment. I sat on my couch crying for these families who lost a loved one through a senseless act. I took the vow right then that I would NOT talk on my cell phone while driving. The call can go to voice mail until I have a chance to pull over and return the call. I have never text while driving. This should be shown in every drivers education class and high school across the country.

 

[Kelly8]

I totally agree. There are so many people I see swerving on the road and whatnot and then when I pass them, they're on the cell phone. Makes me so mad. But then here's a question for discussion: what about headphones? I was talking to my mom one day while I was driving and she got a little mad at me for driving and talking on the phone at the same time. I had my headphones in (I dialed and put the headphones on while I was in my driveway). I told her what's the difference between talking to a passenger in the car (or how some parents have to deal with children in the car while driving) and talking with headphones in? Just a thought...

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

TWD is illegal in my city, and should be. I almost NEVER text and certainly won't do it while driving.I am guilty of driving while talking, but dial before the car moves and will only answer if I'm in a safe location (like stopped at a light.) If it is a conversation that requires a great deal of thought, I call the person back. I have a blue tooth but it kept falling out so I don't use it anymore.

 

[raebates]

I text frequently, but never while driving. My phone has voice dial, so I can dial while driving. If i have to mess with buttons I wait until I'm stopped. I talk on the phone while driving, but I talk to myself if I'm not on the phone, so I figure that's a wash.

 

[dannyzmom]

I totally agree. There are so many people I see swerving on the road and whatnot and then when I pass them, they're on the cell phone. Makes me so mad. But then here's a question for discussion: what about headphones? I was talking to my mom one day while I was driving and she got a little mad at me for driving and talking on the phone at the same time. I had my headphones in (I dialed and put the headphones on while I was in my driveway). I told her what's the difference between talking to a passenger in the car (or how some parents have to deal with children in the car while driving) and talking with headphones in? Just a thought...

Watch the segment - it addresses this issue as well.

 

[pampered1224]

I have been captivated by this conversation as well and I am actually watching Oprah Live right now. The issue is not only talking on the phone but being distracted by it. Now, if you are talking to a passenger, you have already lowered your attention to the road by almost 20%. That was proven many years ago. So add to that the ringing of a cell phone, and you know you're gonna wanna look! There goes another 20% even if it is only for a split second. Pick it up to look and BAM - there goes you, a family member or a stranger. I love this, Holly Robinson Pete just said, there should be a bumper sticker that reads, "Honk if you love Jesus. Text if you want to meet him". It ain't funny. I started turning off my phone while I am in the car as of the first show Oprah did. I would rather be watching for the nuts who do not listen to these things than missing them completely because I got on my phone. It just is not worth it. If it ever comes to a vote, I will vote to ban cell phones completely from being used in vehicles. Rae, I sure as heck hope you know that even the headsets are not good. Pat uses one. He blew a stop light one day because his brother called him and as he was pressing the button to answer, the ear piece slid a bit and when he went to adjust it, the light turned red. He was not watching. He had stopped paying attention for just a split second to look at the unit in the rear view mirror. He blew the light going 35 just as a car started into the intersection. If the other car had not all the sudden noticed, Pat would have hit the car right where the guy was sitting. Oh and guess what? The other driver was on his cell! If he had not been, he would have seen Pat coming and not gone. So you all decide if any phone conversation is worth it. For me - no way. Never again.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

When Illinois went to "hands free" a few years ago, I bought a Blue Tooth phone because I was driving through Chicago to go out east and back. I've gotten very used to it and (holding hands over head and ducking) think that I do pretty well with it. I do not TWD nor do I read while driving. But I do answer the phone with the Blue Tooth. And I limit the conversation.When you see someone driving 10 mph below the speed limit, or 10 mph slower than the moving traffic, you can bet that the driver is on the phone. Almost worse than talking on the phone while driving is talking on the cell phone while in a store. I can't tell you how many times some moron has pushed a shopping cart into me while yakking on the frickin' cell phone. I also think it's incredibly rude to be yakking on the @~*&%$#! phone while checking out - the poor cashier is trying to deal with the miscreant and can't decide which phrases are intended for the phone or for the cashier. Not to mention, the yakker acts like the cashier is a moron when he/she passes on a phrase that was intended for the cashier, assuming that it was just part of the phone conversation. Invariably, the idiot continues yakking all the way out to the car, loads the car one-handed while continuing to yak, leaves the empty cart whereever it stopped rolling, then continues to yak as the moron gets in the car, almost backs over me, and continues to yak until they get home or gets in a wreck - and probably doesn't stop even then.It seems incredibly stupid to have to pass a law to regulate what should be common sense.

 

[esavvymom]

North Carolina just had a law go into affect to ban TWD but you also cannot READ them while driving. But most people they talked to about it- said they'll do it anyway. It's only a piddly $50 or $100 fine...and you'd have to be CAUGHT doing it anyway. I think they should make it a HUGE fine or jail time if you cause an accident and it's determined you were TWD...then they might think twice. I don't TWD. I don't even like to talk on the phone (or bluetooth(BT)!) when I'm driving. I've got a BT-capable radio so I don't have to touch anything and it flashes on my radio who's calling. If I want to ignore the call, I have to push a button to turn the radio off. Otherwise it answers for me. But even talking, I've noticed the few times I did it, that you get from point A to Point B and then go "How did I get here?? I don't even remember driving that stretch of the route!" That's scary. It's not like driving with someone in the car- not quite. Yes, you can be just as distracted (kids, etc), BUT I can STOP talking much easier I think with someone IN the car, then someone on the phone. It's mental.I like your idea John. I should just turn my cell phone ringer OFF while in the car - period. I can't read text/emails...dont' need to. I don't like talking on the phone and nothing is THAT urgent it can't wait for me until I get to where I'm going, usually less than 30 minutes driving anyway.Sometimes I like to sit at intersections and count how many people are on the phone. Usually it's 50% or higher. What on EARTH did we ever do before cellphones?? I'm only 37...and I remember just 15 yrs ago, we didn't have them, and we were ok!!

 

[pampered1224]

I have to laugh at that one Bobbi! I am much older and I still can not wrap my head around why it is so important to know everything RIGHT NOW! I look at it this way, even if someone died, I sure as heck would NOT want to hear about that while driving 40 to 50 miles an hour on the freeway packed to the gills with other drivers being stupid too! Could imagine the mess that would make? So I certainly do not think that which restaurant Pat wants to go to for dinner is worth a pile up. So he waits to find out as he knows I will not pick up if I am driving. That simple. If I get lost going to a PC party, I am gonna need to pull over anyway so I can take notes. So I personally have no reason to ever be on my phone in my car while driving. That's for me of course. With all the other people on the road doing weird stuff, I am too busy watching them as it is. I never want to be the one who goofed for even a single split second. If I killed someone or hurt them so badly that they would have rather been dead, I could never live with my self. And to do that to my family or Pat if I died, would be unforgivable.

 

[Kelly8]

I'm so glad that Nextel's walkie talkie fad has died out! I couldn't stand trying to enjoy dinner or whatever in a public place and hearing that stupid dodododo go off and then hear people's whole conversations! It was so loud and scratchy. I can't believe people didn't mind that everyone could hear! Drove me nuts!

 

[pampered1224]

Kelly8 - ain't that the truth! Pat and I and several friends were at dinner at one of the local sports bars. This guy about 4 tables over took a call on one of those. From the second he picked it up all we heard was his wife or girl friend yelling at him and berating him! It was so embarrassing that everyone within ear shot, which was the entire 20 tables or so, had started laughing just to break our own tension. Needless to say he slithered out of there very quickly from pure humiliation I am sure!