Yep, what I see almost daily, my new Prius was rear ended in bumper to bumper traffic. I noticed a monster SUV left a hundred foot gap between me and him. Dead give away he not paying attention, on the phone doing text or email. Before I know it, he rolls into me and says his foot fell of the brake. Not a hard shot. Not a mark. It seams like we hit on that flat gray lower section of the bumper cover. I don't know for sure if the Prius uses this, but I've seen large Styrofoam blocks under other cars bumper cover. I took a look under the Prius. I has three module sections with plastic boxes. There are access doors, and pin type release's. I didn't try to get them open. My guess is the Styrofoam blocks are sacrificial, and get fractured from impacts. The good news is nothing looks like it moved under there. Ironically, I just sent Toyota a Email about not having 0 speed hold feature in the Prius. This issue has been my pet peeve for 10 years. It makes no sense not to have this option because the DRCC holds the brakes on when stopped. I just saw a Lincoln commercial marketing this feature. If one manufacture does it the rest do it, so maybe it's coming soon. Not because I've been bitchin.
THOUSANDS! DISTRACTED DRIVING: Now the NUMBER ONE cause of wrecks and deaths on the road. How STUPID can people be?! Pull your ADDICTED cell phone head out of your...... ***! Turn the damn cell OFF when driving! There is not ONE call or text or message that is SO important, that I have to answer the phone while driving! That's why you have voicemail! SAME WITH WALKING! Walking into poles, walking into fountains, walking into glass doors, even walking off a cliff because their head is down, buried in their cell phone! When, and WHY, did society become so addicted to cell phones?! What the hell is everybody talking about ,or texting??!! (I live next to a busy, main East-West street that goes across town, and 3 times a week I hear or see accidents... all rear-end jobs... you rarely ever hear a screech of brakes... just BAM! Total and obvious distracted driving. People are idiots!)
saw two kids riding bikes today, 13-14 y.o., both looking at their phones as they rode in the street, occasionally looking up. if i got in an accident, the first thing i'd ask the cops to do is pull phone records.
Yep! I believe we have a new law here. You can't even use a hands-free Bluetooth wireless device with your phone while driving. But of course, the traffic cops are so few and far between. It's almost unenforceable. Its a steep fine if you DO get cited.
wow, that's great. you can still dial and hold your phone here. i used to be a courteous driver, giving sway to anyone who needed to pull out or move into my lane. but now, if i see a cellphone in their ear, i give no quarter.
Sorry for the angry rant. But "distracted driving" is really an issue with me. Look how many DEATHS and serious injuries could be prevented, if people would use more common sense, and simply just silence their phone, or turn it off, or leave it in their purse/pocket. And yes, I realize some people use it for Navigation. That's fine, as long as they are not also texting/chatting. But we can talk until we are green in the face, and people will continue to do it. So now, innocent responsible drivers are put at risk, because of arrogant/ignorant idiots who just don't give a DAMN! Is that BLUNT enough?
Mixing phone and driving, including bluetooth? Please watch this recent video by Jacy Good, an acquaintance of mine— ... and forward it to those you love.
Excellent video, thank you. And it makes me SICK to my stomach! And it sure doesn't shine a very good light on young people! Somebody will have to explain it to me, as I'm an older man. But I just don't understand what the HUGE ATTRACTION is with cell phones??? It really has become an addiction, hasn't it? Just like I don't understand ANYTHING about all that "social media"' stuff. People put their ENTIRE LIFE onto some kind of website… Then they wonder why there's mean comments, and bullies, and their personal info might get hacked. Makes no sense to me. Kids are committing suicide! What the hell is going on with that social media crap?!
I'm with you guys. I hate the distracted drivers. Before phones I saw drivers reading the paper on the highway. As bisco said the only thing that will fix it is technology to shut it down.
it's not young people, it's the phone. definitely an addiction. someone must have studied it by now? Facebook is the same thing.
Even with Bluetooth calls I feel distracted, driving. Even when my wife gets a call while I'm driving. She's picking up on it, even though I didn't say anything. Says things like "I better let you go, we're on the road".
I've read several articles about the cell phone addiction / social media addiction. It's a genuine concern; close to being a "disorder" for some. It's a wonderful technology, but like anything else, if abused or used to excess I guess it can become an obsession? There's even support groups for the Internet addicts. Some kids are actually trying to get away from it... Although a small percentage. The article said they are going back to flip phones, with no or very limited texting access. I know I sound very snarky, or condescending, or arrogant. My apologies. And I'm certainly NOT perfect. When I first got my cell, I tried to drive and talk on the phone a couple times...and I was TOTALLY distracted! Very stupid. Never again. Maybe some people can do it, but not me.
Talk about addicted... Why am I posting silly pictures of my "2001 A Space Odyssey" multi-function HAL-9000 guidance computer???
