Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?

For those of you who were always jealous of braindead,
cellphone-distracted cagers, Motorola has now made your dream of being
a braindead, cellphone-distracted motorcycle rider come true:

http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detail/0,,4666_3990_23,00.html

I'll admit that on more than one occasion, I've wished that I could
make a phone call when I was on the bike, but I've never taken any
steps toward finding a solution because of the obvious hazards.

Even assuming that you wouldn't think of trying to look up numbers or
dial while moving on your bike, I can't imagine even talking while
riding. It would just be too distracting.

Just my humble opinion.

EJ

 

More distracting than passenger intercoms? Interbike intercoms? AM/FM
radios? CD players? Tank maps. CB's? Your instrument cluster? The list
is endless. Cellphones are no more distracting than any of these. They've
just become a political rallying point for stupid politicians. And dummies
who blame cellphones because they are more visible than reaching for that
station selector button/knob. The same people who get in accidents on
cellphones are the same people who get in accidents for a dozen other
reasons. They're careless and don't pay attention.

nb

 

I disagree, and I have first-hand experience. 2.5 weeks ago I was
commuting in my cage, a RED Acura Integra. While waiting for oncoming
traffic to pass so that I could turn into my complex, with my brake
lights and turn signal on, I got rear-ended by a guy in a Ford
Expedition. He hadn't even touched his brakes. The very first thing
he said to me when he got out was "I didn't see you! I was talking on
my phone."

My car was totaled. It barely scratched his bumper. I had to go find
a new car to replace my beloved Integra which I'd driven for 137K+
miles and had expected to drive for another five years and/or 100K
miles. All because he was too distracted by his phone conversation to
remember what the &^$%##$% he was doing behind the wheel of his
three-ton behemoth.

 

So what? I've been rear-ended twice in the last 15 years. Neither had cell
phones.

I'm sorry. It just don't wash. What is it that makes a cellphone such a
distraction? It can't be the fact one hand is taken away from the wheel. So
does a manual shift. So does lighting a cigarette. So does tuning the
radio. It can't be that your brain is distracted by someone talking. So
does AM radio. So does your kids fighting in the back seat. So does your
MIL yapping about whatever. It can't be that you have to converse, to
speak, while driving. One does it all the time with passengers. Please
identify the precise component of a cellphone that is soooo distracting. You
can't. It's all bogus.

I seem to recall someone recently came out with a survey that actually
pointed out that cellphones were not really the no. 1 distraction and were
several places down on the list. I think your radio and food and coffee
cups or something like that, were worse. No matter. Believe what you like.

nb

 

Well said, Ray. Thank you for spelling it out better than I could've.

 

So, why stop with cellphones? let's seal all drivers in a little sound
proof chamber with a head brace and wire their eyes open. Yeah, that'll do
it.

nb

 

I was hit under a similar circumstance where the guy just failed to stop.
Fortunately not a major hit. In his case, appeared to be in a new car and
I believe he was fiddling with the unfamiliar radio controls.

The problem and solution remain with the driver. You can't remove all the
distractions and in the case of the phone have to accept the benfit side of
the equation exists. You punish drivers for bad driving, it's that simple.

If I could easily (read, cheaply) get it working on the bike, I would. I wouldn't
use it while lanesplitting (duh), but there certainly are times where I want to
accept a call long enough to get a message, or talk 30-60 seconds without having
to pull over and take off the helmet.

 

The act of conversing with someone not present. It has nothing to do
with the motor skills, it has to do with using your brain for speech
acts (other than shouting obscenities at other motorists), and in fact
visualizing the other party -- some folks make the same involuntary
gestures as if the other person were present.

No, hands-free mobile phones are just as distracting (according to my
brother, cop, who cited a NHTSA study).

I don't think it is. I think that the difference is that conversations
with a party not present use up too much of the cognitive budget. For
some people (he adds, thinking himself to be the exception ;-)

Did this survey include reading, eyelash curling, leg shaving, etc. ? ;-)

Well, cell phones are just another minor problem -- until we start
requiring that people get slits cut in their bellies so they can
see out.

 

The reason/cause notwithstanding, are you OK? If your car was
totalled, you must have been hit from behind pretty hard; that can
lead to some serious injuries. I hope you are OK.

-Keith
'03 Blackbird

 

Hogwash.

At one time I was a fireman who often had to drive a very large truck
through crowded streets at high speeds (for a large truck) while talking on
a two-way radio about life and death situations. I didn't crash once. And
don't give that bull about "special training". There's no such thing, as if
some sort of training could make one's mind work better under such
circumstances. The bottom line here is FOCUS! It's what the majority of
drivers on the road lack (you as bikers know this) and taking away
cellphones isn't going to change it.

OTOH, if you'd like to take them all away, you're welcome to try. I
couldn't care less as I despise the damn things and wouldn't own one if you
gave it to me. But, it just isn't going to happen. It's a technology
that's aleady insinuated itself and is used by both businessmen and
bureaucrats alike. Sorry Charlie! You're just going to have to protect
yourself from all those evil cellphonies the same way you do every other
whacked out driver on the road ....be a better driver yourself.

nb

 

Thanks for the concern, Keith. Amazingly, I'm OK. I think what may
have saved my neck is the fact that I had just glanced at my rear-view
mirror right about the time his headlights filled it. So my head was
probably only about 1/2" from the headrest and didn't have far to go or
rebound. And of course I was belted in, too. He was doing about 30
mph at the time--the going rate on that street.

I consider myself very fortunate. Of course, that means the moron who
hit me was fortunate, too--he doesn't have to spend the next couple of
years settling up with my insurance company, lawyers, judges, etc. I
only hope he considers the incident as a wake-up call.

 

Glad to hear your OK.

What are your throughts on replacement cars?

 

Not according to the insurance statistics. Both here and in the UK.
For the duration of the call, it's about as distratcting as being
drunk. Fortunately, it doesn't usually last as long, but while it
does, it's bad.

Al Moore
DoD 734

 

No one can drive drunk. But quite a few can drive on the phone. Insurance
statistics say nothing to counter that.

If not, I'd have killed dozens by now.

 

First, this might go without saying, but by "bad idea" I din't mean
cellphone helmets should be outlawed or regulated. I merely meant
that, as motorcyclists, our vehicles take more focus and motor control
than four-wheeled vehicles, so this might not be where we want to go
with technical advancements for motorcycles.

You know. We're better than cagers. We don't just want to ride from
here to there; we want to ride well. That kind of thing.

Second, I do firmly believe that there is a difference between active
listening and passive listening, and, as a previous poster stated,
carrying on a coversation on a cellphone is different than listening
to music (at least passive listening; not the head-banging, air guitar
kind of listening). I do, however, agree that among the offenses of
inattention that cagers commit, only some of them (maybe not even a
majority) are due to cellphones. Eating, applying make-up, hitting
kids, you name it. They all take away attention and cause accidents.

So back to motorcycles, since you can't eat, apply make-up or hit your
kids while you're riding, I see this cellphone thing as a line being
crossed. I think it's different than the other "distractions" (e.g.,
listening to music) that are common to motorcycles.

Again, just my opinion.

EJ

 

Funny you should ask....Since I hadn't planned on needing a new car for
another five years, I hadn't really kept up much on the newest cars'
features, so I combed the web and appealed to everyone I knew for
suggestions on vehicles that fit my basic criteria:

1. Somewhat sporty
2. Gets decent gas mileage
3. Manual transmission
4. Can tow my trailer with two bikes on it, while loaded with all my
race gear
5. Not a truck

I half-considered SUVs such as the Honda Passport and the Nissan
Xterra, but they just don't get that great of gas mileage. I wanted
something that got good mileage at least when not towing anything.

The short list became (in no particular order):

- Subaru WRX wagon
- Toyota Celica GT
- 3rd-generation Acura Integra
- Acura RSX

I test-drove them all, and brought home a candy-red RSX Type S. A 2002
with less than 15K miles on it. The WRX was a very close second, but I
got the same feeling driving the RSX that I did when I test-drove the
Integra 14 years ago, and there's something to be said for that.

The insurance settlement check from my Integra is a drop in the bucket
for the RSX, but I expect to have it for the next 14 years just like I
did my Integra.

Next week it's getting a trailer hitch!

 

I think that cell phones have gotten the attention they have because they
are one of the more recent (and pervasive) additions to the growing list of
things a driver can fool with when he should be driving. As others have
said, the root of the problem is inattention.

Possibles remedies might be found in restricting use of such devices,
educating drivers (right) or more severe penalties for accidents where the
driver was distracted (might be hard to prove in some cases).

ab

 

Nice. I nearly got the RSX-S myself. I love the transmission and
engine feel.

But in the end I decided I was willing to forgoe some mileage and
handling to get something bigger for passangers and cargo, so I got a
Mazda 6 hatchback: Dignity of a sedan, cargo room of a station wagon.

Yeah. Honda engines will last forever just as long as you regularly
change the timing belt.

 

That's good to hear. Enjoy the new Accura!

-Keith
'03 Blackbird

 

Given all the information that cellphones record about calls made
to/from them, it might be relatively easy to demonstrate that a person
was using a cellphone at the time of the mishap.

Rich, Urban Biker