Cellphones and driving [Telecom]

I thought most cell phones (at least the postpaid ones) had voice mail. I suspect even those that don't log incoming calls with Caller-ID.

For many cell phones (with voice mail), this is the "POWER OFF" button. Some also have the ability to set the ring mode to "Silent" (*not* "Vibrate"). If any cell phones have a "Do Not Disturb" (silently send all incoming calls to voice mail), that would work also.

No, for a safe cellular answering machine, it must make *NO* noise whatever in operation. That beep tends to cause sudden 5-lane lane changes to the shoulder without adequate checking of the rear-view mirror..

2 microseconds should be enough.

That can be life-threatening denial of service attack should an incoming call show up shortly before or after an accident, whether the incoming call caused the accident, whether it was complete coincidence, or whether the call was intended to prevent the victim from summoning help before the attacker murders him. And making

911 an exception doesn't change the fact that not all emergency calls need to go to 911.

My cellphone goes through to voicemail if either I don't answer in 5 rings, or I hit "cancel", or I turn it off. So if I'm driving I have the option of immediately knowing a call went to voicemail, or just having the phone quietly collect messages until I check.

Hard to imagine that cellphones in California don't have those features.

Dave

As a cellphone user since the early 1990s, here are two tips I've picked up over the years:

1. program-in the landline equivalents of 911 for all the cities and areas you expect to be in. For some locales the landline equivalent goes to the 911 dispatch center, for others there are separate land- line numbers for police and fire/medical. Check the front "Government" pages of the locales' phone books for FIRE and for POLICE, For example, my local phone book has these entries:

FIRE Emergency . . . . . . . 911 or . . . . . 650 9xx xxxx [...] POLICE Emergency . . . . . . . 911 or . . . . . 650 3xx xxxx

What I have for the locales around me are cellphone directory entries for "COPS city" and "FIRE city" even if the numbers are the same.

That really came in handy one day circa 2000 in San Mateo CA when a humongous piece of telephony gear fell out the back of a PacBell truck onto El Camino Real straddling two lanes with the PacBell driver unaware of what had happened and driving onwards. Pushing "COPS SAN MATEO" had the police there within 2 minutes from their HQ 1/2 mile away.

FWIW, 911 calls in Silicon Valley now seem to go to the proper agency. When I dial 911 while driving along I-280 to report road hazards or accidents, I get the CHP. When I dial 911 from home (about 1/2 mile from I-280) I'm instantly in touch with the local city's 911 dispatch. I suppose that's implemented knowing which cell tower(s) is/are being used.

1. "ICE your cellphone". ICE = In Case of Emergency. Program "ICE" in the cellphone directory with the number of a person to be contacted for any emergencies. A friend at Stanford Medical Center informed me emergency medical responders now look for cellphones and, if found, seek an "ICE" entry and will dial it. "ICE 1", "ICE 2", ... would also seem useful.

Why not just use a hands-free unit which is legal in California.

California is "special": (1) cars don't have turn signals, (2) drivers with 10 DUI convictions/accidents retain their licenses, and (3) full-feature cellphones are surgically bonded to hands and faces.

Just kidding, but seriously: (1) false, but one wonders ... (2) sadly, TRUE (3) probably not yet, but it sure "seems" true just looking around.

:-)

They shouldn't be, for all the same reasons using a handsful cellphone while driving is dangerous.

I want to call a person -- my spouse, say -- who may be on the freeway, may be at a stop.

If they're at a stop, I'd like them to answer the phone.

But if they're on the freeway, I'd like them to get an audible beep, and maybe a kind of audio tweet, saying that I've called -- but I DON't want them trying to answer the phone or take the call, even hands free.

I have been using radios of one kind or another since I was in High School, starting with Ham radio. I don't care if you are using hands or not: your attention is split, [and it's] even worse with a Cell Phone. I never use mine, even hands free, on the highway or city streets, [where] it is even worse. I see people using their phone, both holding the phone and hands free, and to me it does not seem to make a difference: they look like they are in another world - many are moving their hands and arms and screaming into the phone. In stores it is even worse: I got knocked down by a woman using hers in a supermarket.

The laws or the fines appear not to make a difference: several years ago a driver was using his phone and hit a van, killing all in that van. He was tried for manslaughter and was convicted.

I see people doing this tens of times per day. Whatever the safety effect of this law if it were obeyed, drivers are disregarding it in numbers not seen since the national 55 mph speed limit.

(Which does not necessarily mean the law is unpopular. Just as most people won't ride public transit but will vote to build more of it for other people to ride, so the average driver thinks it's a great idea to ticket other people for phoning at the wheel. Go figure.)

It seems to me that leaving in place a law that's disobeyed so often undermines respect for the law, and deservedly so. Legislators should either repeal it, or increase the fine to the point that the law will actually deter. $500 might work, $1000 certainly would.

***** Moderator's Note *****

Careful, John: you sound like a spokesman for NORML!

How about 150 years in prison?

The city of Riverside has start really enforcing the handicap laws, they are issuing tickits and booting the vehicle. It can cost up to $1000 for the fine and boot removal, I'm told it only happens once.

I've got you beat. I have had cellular service since it was launched in Los Angeles for the Oylmpics in 1984. I programmed the directory numbers for the Orange County Sheriff where I live and have the same set up for the Sedona area of Arizona.

Even if I am in a town in Orange County that has its own police department, the Sheriff's dispatch center can reroute that in a flash.

Having said all this, just simply dialing 911 on a cell phone today usually works quite well, far better than just a few years ago. What is important is to be able to provide a accurate description of your location. Some agencies can now accept GPS coordinates but that concept is seriously lacking as a rule. Highway number and mile post marker works everywhere.

But, they are, and my car has a great linking system to my cell phone; it will accept up to five of them.

I think a first-rate hands free system, although of some distraction, is far, far less hazardous than holding a phone to one's ear.

I've been using radios all my professional life as a pilot. I feel I have the discipline to use a hands-free cell phone without becoming an idiot like you (and I) see out there. We normally use the cell phone on trips, where we forward our home phone. A brief conversation on a rural interstate or backwater road is quite safe.

I don't think your kidding is too far off. Add to that 50% of the drivers are "me first" and feel they are being impeded by me doing 70 on the freeway.

California has a zillion terribily serious problems, one of which is a terrible lack of traffic enforcement on the metro freeways. I recently spoke with an Arizona State trooper who readily admitted that he has a special eye out for cars with California plates because they know that lack of traffic enforcement has created a lot of horrible drivers. As he said, "Most of us go to California on a fairly reqular basis, so we see it all firsthand."

***** Moderator's Note *****

I'm very surprised to see your post: I lived in California during the

70's, and traffic enforcement was _incredibly_ strict. Of course, I grew up in Boston, so the bar wasn't all that high to start with, but California seemed like a much more rigorous environment.

Bill Horne

There have been quite a few studies on the subject that do not agree with that conclusion. It's not the hands being tied up, it's the mind.

How on earth do you use FIVE cell phones at once? One bluetooth earbud on each of five ears?

The challenges are that most people are not trained in how to use radio communication while operating a vehicle. Further, your radio communications when flying are on very specific topics related to the safe operation of the aircraft and are between you and others who are also well trained in the proper use of radios in flight.

Unfortunately, the pilot's 1st rule ("fly the plane"), does not appear to be understood by most drivers; let alone those who talk on the phone at the same time.

I used to think I could talk and drive at the same time with no degradation. After paying attention to it for years, I do believe telephone conversations (handsfree or not) do impact my ability to operate a car. Now, if I have to take a call while driving, I keep it short and change my driving procedures to be even more defensive than normal. Unfortunately, as we all can observe, most people do not follow these rules.

-Gary

Well said. An important technical difference is that telephones are full duplex -- people expect to be able to interrupt each other. Another important difference, which you are touching on, is that telephone conversations are usually of a format not designed to be compatible with doing anything else.

I see lots of people who can't even *walk* safely while on the cell phone (they step in front of buses or bump into people). My daughter saw a college girl get trapped by an automatic door, and instead of stepping out of the trap or pushing on the door, all she did was squeal into her phone that the door was closing on her!

A few years ago I came up to a car and looked over to see him with 2 phones to his ears, a laptop on his dash, eating something and smoking all at once and he was steering with his knee, I pulled past him and got as far ahead as I could. That guy really scared me he was doing

40 plus miles an hour on the road. I wondered if he ever hit something.

Been on I-95 lately? It is marked 55PMH in most locations but I regularly see 70MPH or higher on it.

The local cops on the other hand have gotten much more strict. I actually saw a district commander pull someone over. Prior to this you rarely even saw your DC out on patrol. But cities are hurting for revenue.