In article ,
Its not so much 'talking on the radio' per se, but the _kind_ of conversations that go on. In that respect, cell-phone 'conversations' _are_ radically different from the query-response and/or instructions of a typical 'dispatch' system. Cell-phones _are_ a problem in this respect because the users get emotionally involved in the 'story being told' (either as the teller or the listener) to the point of "forgetting about" the reqiremets of the 'primary task' (driving) in which they are engeged.
It is a 'natural' failing for a person -- given things that are 'competing' for their attention -- to focus primrily on the 'interestinng' thing, while giving minimal, 'rote', mental expeditures to the 'routine'things. And, it works OK _most_ of the time (providing self-reinforcig feedback) -- *until* the 'unexpected' occurs.
It is also true that police officers _do_ have more training on the subject than "Joe Sixpack' does. I don't know of a civiian 'drivers ed' course that touches on the matter, nor a state license exam that addresses it.
Law enforcement training courses, on the other hand, *DO* expressly cover things like 'radio operational procedure', 'use of radio during a pursuit', etc.. Driving _itself_ is also explicitly covered -- not just 'pursuit', but also 'defensive' driving, and observing _everthing_ going on 'outside' (see 'situational awreness', below0. The matter of when _not_ to use the radio is also eplicitly covered.
L.E. _field_ trainig stresses the necessity of maitaining 'situational awreness' at *ALL*TIMES*, -- that concentrating on one thing, and ignoring the 'rest of the world' is a good way to get yourself killed. Talking on the radio _without_ letting it affect ones situational awareness -is- a natural outcome of such training.
Compare this to the 'situational awareness' shown by the archtypical "blonde" touchig up her makeup, _and_ exchanging juicy gossip on her cell-phone as she merges into rush-hour traffic on the freeway.
Yeah, law-enforcement types _are_ better trained.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Did you notice the scandalous story in the papers a couple days ago which stated that in about twenty states, there is no _mandatory_ training required of police officers who are freshly hired? In all but two or three of those states, new officers are _supposed_ to be closely supervised by an experienced officer for the first sixty or ninety days, or until the new officer completes an _optional_ training course? PAT]