When people are driving and talking on their cell phones, and they suddenly find them selves in dangerous spot because they were distracted, why can't they seem to make the connection and GET OFF THE PHONE?

They probably know why they’re in harm’s way but speaking to their friend or relative is more important than life.

Because people constantly think, “Sure, accidents happen to all those people, but I’m a good driver so it can’t happen to me.”

Someone needs to get Natural Selection off of union mandated hours and breaks. There are idiots in need of removal.

They can’t be consciously thinking that @Aster.

@Winter_Pariah But even after repeated near-collisions they still think it can’t happen to them?

@Dutchess_III Sure. My mother and her friends are perfect examples of this. “Oh wow! That was close, I’ll be more careful next time. Thanks god for looking out for me.”

…

It’s against the law to drive while on your cell phone here in Illinois and I wish the punishment was a lot more severe than it is. The fine is only $75.00 if you are caught texting but $100—$500 if caught talking on the cell phone. That is so bassackwards IMO.

Seriously @Cruiser.
The ONLY time I’d ever talk on the phone while I was driving is if I was on a 4 lane and there were no cars anywhere around me, and then ONLY if I had to and only briefly.

I had a girlfriend who was a horrible driver. She scared the shit out of me. But she constantly pointed out the fact that she had never been in a car accident was proof of her superb driving skills. I always said, “Well, I’ve never died either. Doesn’t mean I won’t.”
FINALLY she got into an easily avoided wreck. She was stopped at 4 way stop, didn’t take the precaution of observing a driver approaching on her right….she pulled out and he T-boned her when he ran the stop sign.

Texting increases your chances of getting into an accident by 23x. Handheld devices increase your chances by only 4x. Why the fines are flip-flopped is beyond me.

I’ve been in more accidents than I care to admit. Not one of them involved talking on the phone or texting. Distracted driving of all kinds can be dangerous. Pay attention!
They weren’t ALL my fault…

As a staunch believer that talking and texting while driving is insanely dangerous—and don’t tell me hands-free is any safer; the driver’s mind is still distracted from the one and only thing he/she should be doing, driving—I’ve often asked myself the same question, and I’ve come to the conclusion that most people simply believe that they and they alone somehow have a magical dispensation from road accidents, that accidents only happen to other drivers.

I am with @Winter_Pariah here; it’s a lot of “bad things only happen to other people; I am immune from consequences” type of thinking. Then again, I think the vast majority of humanity is too stupid to live anyways :/

@Pachy I think hands-free is safer, and here’s why. The type of person who wouldn’t spend the sort of effort to configure their phone to operate in a manner that leaves both hand available for controlling the vehicle are the types of people that would find something else to distract them if cellphones never existed.
Don’t blame cellphones here. Have you ever seen somebody driving while doing their makeup, or reading a paperback? It isn’t that phones that distract drivers; it’s that some drivers that seek distraction use their phones as the distraction they crave.

Hands free IS safer to a certain extent. However, it still isn’t the same as talking to a person who is actually in the car. I read an article once that said fellow passengers serve a second purpose, and that’s co-driving. Part of that is seeing something developing down the road and they stop talking.

I’ve often wondered the same thing, of sorts, about people who are bad drivers and their cars are beat to pieces. And it seems to follow one philosophy I have about people in general, some being worse than others:
1. Some people learn.
2. Some people learn the hard way.
3. Some people never learn! Like a child or an animal that seems to think their will can overcome any obstacle, they practically beat their brains out continuing in their behavior, until they destroy themselves and anything else that is unfortunate enough to come into contact with them. The “irresistible force meeting an immoveable object.”

@Dutchess_III I agree about hands free cell phone as IMO it is actually safer than singing along to Bohemian Rhapsody while driving.

People do that shit without being on the phone. If you can’t drive and use a hands free mobile device, you shouldn’t be allowed to have passengers in your vehicle because you are stupid and they might distract you by talking to you.

@cheebdragon Or radios, or climate control. Of course, those people would then find something outside the car to distract them…

Sometimes, when riding with others, and they’re looking at the road ahead, you wonder if they actually SEE anything. You wonder if they even process what’s coming up. You wonder if they’re just zoning.

@Dutchess_III Given the number of times I’ve nearly been sideswiped by somebody whose front wheels were even with mydoor handle, I don’t wonder; I know they’re zoning.

Don’t zone and drive!!

Why after so many accidents and deaths and lawful penalties do people still drive drunk? There are drink limits in every bar yet these people by-pass it by bar hopping and there are free taxi rides in some cities yet they still drive drunk.. If you can answer my question then you will be able to answer your own. as each reason is related to the other.

Well, drinking impairs one’s judgment. That’s no excuse, of course, but in some ways you aren’t in your right mind.

This texting and driving stuff, though, is done by stone sober people who have all of their brains (such as they are,) and just choose not to use them.

Rick was driving our giant, 39 ft RV, ready to go camping. He got to the end of the street where there was a stop sign and some idiot woman came flying around the corner, talking on her phone and almost hit him head on. There was nothing blocking her view of that intersection. There was no way she couldn’t see that behemoth from a block away, but she didn’t because she was concentrating on her phone call. I almost wish she HAD hit him!