Cell phones vs Radio

[johnbasalla]

Want to help radio listenership grow or stay steady? If a community sends up a trial balloon about banning cell phone conversation while driving, be sure to support it. Clearly, talking on cell phones is not as ridiculous as texting while driving, but the multi-tasking nature still takes part of the mind off the road.

Just out curiousity, a few days ago I specifically looked to see how many people were on cell phones while driving. I would say that in the half-hour I was on the road, over half were yakking away on their cell phone. Once you see that, you know that they are not listening to the radio. It's either off or so low that they can't hear it.

Have cell phones become one of radio's worst enemies?

 

[kd8hho]

Have cell phones become one of radio's worst enemies?

i would put it more to "cell phones have become everyones worst enemy"

nothing like getting killed in a car accident cause some dumbass was to busy with a cell phone on there ear. to be frank, i think cell phones should just be out right banned.

 

[Tom Wells]

Yeah, it's about half the drivers in the Chicago area, too. They're easy to spot, drifting out of their lanes, and generally
impeding the flow of traffic by not maintaining the speed of traffic around them.

I have answered the phone before while driving, and once or twice had to make a call, but I can't talk any longer than necessary to
impart or receive essential data, I sure don't like doing both at once.

 

[landtuna]

....and not only while driving. It seems common courtesy has gone to the dogs with cell phones as well. I've pissed of more than a few people by walking away when they chose to answer a cell call while we were in a face-to-face conversation. And it has completely ruined my theater-going experience. (Actually, it is an experience of a completely different kind now.) And don't get me started about the yakkers yukking it up in the middle of dinner at a nice restaurant. My wife's church now has a sign which tells parishioners to turn 'em off before services.

Sure glad I'm not trying to teach a classroom full of the damn things and their inconsiderate users.

 

[johnbasalla]

Making a call while driving is just as bad as texting while driving because you have to look at your phone to make sure you press the right numbers. I would think that most people would fiddle with the phone to get their hand in the right place, then either, while looking at the phone, press one number, look up at the road, then press another or do a two-fer... press two numbers, and then look up for a split second before looking back down at the phone. That unfortunately is plenty of time to have an accident unless you are going under 20 mph.

 

[TheBigA]

Whether it's cell phones or the internet, any interactive device that's placed on the dashboard is going to be distracting for the driver. That is the simple truth. Hands-free cell phones don't change the fact that the driver is being distracted. Every day I see drivers doing crazy things on the road, and all of them are talking on the phone. I'm surprised there aren't more accidents. Then again, I'm sure when the first car radios were installed, safety experts complained about the same thing.

 

[Gatekeeper007]

I have been a ham radio operator for years, yes I have had CB's in the day, two way radios for business, and ham radio's for pleasure and personal use for many years and never during that time have I heard of most anyone having trouble driving in most cases and using these systems but cell phones are another case altogether. When it came to radio's( the kind you talk on)the distraction level didn't seem to bother hardly anyone except a few rare people who couldn't use a two way radio for business and drive at the same time but they usally didn't stay at that job very long. Cell phones on the other hand by having to dial a number or (text if your dumb enough to do so while your driving) distract the driver worse than any other thing I have ever seen before and yes it is a wonder that there isn't more problems on the road than there is now. As for it taking away from radio listeners you can bet on that as the first thing they have to do is turn down the radio to answer a call or dail one.