Cell Phones While Driving, P!$$ Me Off

  • March 2, 2009 2:45 AM PST

    I know everyone, especially those who ride, hate to see people talking on the phone when they're driving.  But today I am especially p!$$ed off.

     

    I work construction and we are working on a building that is really close to the street.  For saftey (at least I thought we would be safe) we coned off the right lane starting about 100 yards from where my guys are working.  All of the sudden I look up and see the jackass talking on the phone just running over our cones one by one.  I mean these cones are dead center of his car and he is still going about 35 mph.  I don't even think he realized it until about the 5th cone.

     

    Next thing you know he runs right into the company truck, totaling the back end and destroying our generator and a bunch of other stuff.  Thank God all the guys got out of the way.

     

    The jackass jumps out of the car and starts cusing us for having are stuff there, and he's still on the phone now telling the person he's got to go.

     

    Well needless to say the job is shutdown for the day.  Im thinking about going riding since I now have the day off, but not sure if I should push my luck.  I'm sure there is another A Hole out there on the phone.

     

    Ok, I feel better now that I got to bitch!!!

     

    Carlos

    • 5419 posts
    March 2, 2009 3:58 AM PST

    Couldn't agree more. And we have a law against that in California. Hope the guy got punished to the fullest extent. I have not figured out, even with hands free, why so many people need to have full on conservations on the phone while driving. I can understand a quick call to get or give some info, but not the type of call you should have while sitting in your office or on the couch.

     

    I consider myself fairly important at work, and personnaly I have a good number of friends. But you know I can spend an entire weekend on the bike and not have to talk to anyone unless the kickstand is down.

     

    ps - Carlos, hope you enjoy your day off.

  • March 6, 2009 8:58 AM PST

    Cell phones anywhere pi$$ me off if the person using it has no common courtesy.

     

    Why is it the same person that will have the talk quietly at a restaurant table to the person across from them so we all don't here their conversation, feels the need to yell into the cell phone in the same restaurant.

     

    It has just gotten ridculous. Cell phones are great and I love being able to get in touch with people when I'm out, but some there are some places its just not right. Especially in a public bathroom (hey I'm old and sometimes need to concentrate to take care of business. That's hard to do listening to some guy asking his wife if she picked up the dry cleaning). Are you really that busy of a guy that you can't just sit there and read the graffitti like the rest of us.

    • Moderator
    • 277 posts
    March 7, 2009 1:22 AM PST
    Lucky is right. There is a law in California that says no texting or talking on a cell phone while driving. Does that stop people? NO. They will put the phone on speaker and hold the phone low on their lap, so no one (cops) will know they are on the phone. How can people can concentrate on driving, even wearing a blue tooth? Folks need to get a grip. Life is more fun driving and listening to some rock music on the radio than talking to someone on the phone!!! I'd rather see someone banging their head to music than talking on the phone!
  • March 9, 2009 9:05 AM PDT
    It's not the cell phone, it's the moron that is using it. There are all sorts of distractions when driving. I've seen people putting on make-up, reading a book, writing, singing with eyes closed, eating, ...well you get the picture.

    When I'm on the cell while drive I don't make it a long conversation and I watch the road. When pulling out into traffic, I move the cell from my head, ignore the person I'm talking to, and look both ways just as I would if not talking. Driving is first cell conversation is second.

    Problem is people don't know how to drive without a cell much less with one. They can't police poeple using cells. But they should throw the book at people who wrecks while using one.

    Glad everyone is OK Carlos

    Johnny
  • April 28, 2009 6:47 AM PDT
    You know somehow I lived for the first 51 years of my life without a cell phone and got along just fine. Now I only have one because my kids want me to. Probably not a bad idea but I still only use it for calls that are really important, and even they can wait until I am in a safe place to make the call.
    • Moderator
    • 19007 posts
    April 29, 2009 12:45 AM PDT

    JR I agree with you. It is the idiot using the phone. And it certainly is not just while driving or riding.

     

    Two stories I would like to relate.

    While working with a customer discussing what I could do to restore their photograph she started saying things that did not relate in any way to our conversation. Being a reasonably bright guy I soon realized she was talking to someone else using one of those ear buds. So I walked away and went back to my previous project. When she finished she came to me asking why I walked away. Starting to explain that it was rude to do what she did without excusing herself then asked her to wait 1 minute by holding up 1 finger (no not that one), pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed my daughter and began a conversation. Very angrily she picked up her photos and stomped out of the store. Mike 1 - idiot rude customer 0. Good thing I retired from retail huh!

     

    I saw another one of those idiots sitting at a red light, on a bike! When his phone rang, he pulled it out of his shirt pocket then stuck it under his helmet strap and chatted away as he drove away.

    Now I see two lessons here.

    1. If you don't wear a helmet you can not hold a phone and ride. Of course you could use a bungee cord to hold the phone.

    2. Loud pipes can save lives by preventing cell phone use.

     

    OK where is that hot pink  load for my paint ball gun.

    • 1161 posts
    January 3, 2010 7:22 PM PST
    I dont like 2 talk on the phone while driving.   If it is that important ill talk to you when I get to where I was going or when I stop at a parking lot.  If you need me before then tough $h*t.  There is no phone chat worth my life or anyone elses for that matter,  But my future Ex-wife called me Uncouth (I think that is how it is spelled).

     dont mean to rant and rave but it kinda pi$$e$ me off with all the morons that cant drive in the first place let alone drive 2.  And as a Ham Radio Operator (and Storm Spotter),  Getting rid of All Talking Devices would be counter productive,  But Cell Phones and Blue tooth crap toss them in a Lake i dont care.
    • 5419 posts
    January 22, 2010 10:42 AM PST
    You know I heard the best line regarding cell phones and the new hands free laws the other day from Ellen (the comedian). She said...

    "I don't think hands free devices make it any safer to use your cell phone. If you're doing something that requires both hands, like driving, you should probably have you brain involved too."
    • 601 posts
    January 22, 2010 11:14 PM PST
    Don't use them, anymore and manage quite well. When you walk down the street every second person has one to their ear...yet when there were no cell phones i never saw a que outside a public phone booth, so whats so important...putting the chicken in the oven !
    • 5419 posts
    January 23, 2010 6:18 AM PST
    rory1 wrote...
    Don't use them, anymore and manage quite well. When you walk down the street every second person has one to their ear...yet when there were no cell phones i never saw a que outside a public phone booth, so whats so important...putting the chicken in the oven !

    Got to agree Rory.  I carry a cell phone, but really don't use it all that much, and when I do I would never use it when it could be dangerous or inconsiderate.  Like you said, why did these people not NEED this CONSTANT communication before cell phones.

    Somehow with all I have going on, I manage to ride my bike for an entire day and not talk to anyone until its safe, and not inconsiderate to others.
  • October 29, 2010 4:12 AM PDT
    You know we have had the law against using a cell phone while driving for a while now, and it seams to me there are just as many people using cell phones while driving as there were before the law. I thought at first maybe it was just me noticing the people talking on phones, but I have made a conscious effort to pay attention to it, and in the downtown area yesterday I counted 12 people using the cell phone in a half hour on the road!
    • 5419 posts
    October 29, 2010 5:29 AM PDT
    I think we all notice the same thing, and it really pisses me off.  Sometimes when I'm in the truck I feel like getting in front of them and hitting the brakes...just to make sure they're paying attention.
    • 846 posts
    October 29, 2010 6:17 AM PDT
    Many years ago when I first started riding the thing that scared us the most was little old ladies in Caddillac’s where all you could see is their hair and knuckles on the wheel. As much as it sounds like a cliché I’ve had a few of those run ins.
    What scares me now? Anyone on a cell phone while driving. Most of my encounters I’ve had with cages lately have one thing in common. Yes you guessed it cell phones. Every time I think of keeping my stock pipes I run into one of these **$@! (I’m censoring myself) and that the end of that idea. My last bike had straight pipes and when you dropped it down a gear that would turn some heads away from their cell phone conversations to pay attention to the road and who else was on it. It’s one of the reasons that next year’s addition to my bike is a different set of pipes.
    I’m going to shop here and again censor myself as this is a topic that gets the blood pressure up and I could rant on.
    Ride safe and watch out for the other bas**d.
  • November 3, 2010 4:06 PM PDT
    I hope after a day like that ya gotcher ride ? Ya sure deserved it...
    • Moderator
    • 19007 posts
    November 4, 2010 1:40 AM PDT
    On the subject of cell phones...
    I see it as similar to hand guns. It ain't the damn phone or gun that kills, it is the idiot using them inappropriately! I have two phones, one is my reserve since I depend on mine so much. I love gadgets and really use my smart phone. In fact I couldn't keep in touch with you all without it. When I am in the cage, in the big cage or on Rex it is in silent mode. I don't want or need the distraction. I can check it when I stop.
  • January 19, 2011 3:08 AM PST
    I agree with Rex, it is the person, and its not just cell phones. It is anything that distracts you from driving. Why is it that some people just can't seem to realize that while you are behind the wheel you are 100% responsible for those 1000s of pounds of steel under your control. There should be NOTHING more important than the task of ensuring you are managing that vehicle safely!
    • 1161 posts
    January 19, 2011 5:59 AM PST
    Dad was driving the Fire Truck down the road to get to a fire with Lights and Sirine going and some moron desides to try to pull infront of him from the right lane (on the phone) but the Air Horn was right about where the drivers Window was located and dad hit the Air Horn.  (apperently the guy with dad said she dropped the phone and put both hands back on the stearing wheel after he finally stopped laughing.) 

    Just thought I would share this I got a laugh about it. 
    • 202 posts
    January 20, 2011 1:18 AM PST
    What really pisses me off is when your talking with someone and their cell phone rings, they answer it and start talking away... they don't even have the courtesy to say, let me call you back... or to tell me, excuse me i have to take this call... they just stand there and start blabbing bullshit to someone.

    I don't think there is a lick of common sense in anyone anymore!
    • 467 posts
    January 20, 2011 3:05 AM PST
    WHile on the subject, I just thought I would share this link: http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/video?id=7893408 /> Pretty relavent, pretty funny, a lot stupid!
    • 58 posts
    January 20, 2011 5:48 PM PST
    I'll bet she texts at the wheel also.
    • 2 posts
    • 567 posts
    May 13, 2011 2:14 PM PDT
    Joyce & I were riding the other day on a four-lane. A woman in a pickup truck drove up alongside of us and then moved over into our lane. I laid on the horn button but she was too wrapped up in her cellphone conversation to realize she would have run over us if I hadn't backed off.
    Yes. I was able to catch up to her further down the road and flipped her off big time. She was absolutely shocked to see someone flip her off like that. I'll bet she never did figure out she just about killed someone.

    I agree with the previous comment: Cellphones don't kill people. A$$holes with cellphones kill people.
    • 9 posts
    May 13, 2011 9:33 PM PDT
    I'm with BMWToni. I lived over 50 years without one. And now, only if I really need it, do I even use it. And texting. Well, having them just talking while driving was one thing, but now the A-holes are actually TEXTING, too. My nephew says he's a better driver...that he's developed better peripheral vision, because of texting! Seriously??? Any excuse, to have yet another device attached to their body.....RIDE FREE---Electronic/BatteryOP/DISTRACTION...FREE
  • May 14, 2011 12:22 AM PDT
    I am most troubled by the younger group of people who have grownup with this technology and believe that to text is faster than a call and conversation. I have been told that they can text and do anything else with out loss of awareness. Even after going through a class to prove they can't drive and text, I have heard that the class was unreallistic. " Nobody needs to make those types of driving moves on the road" meanning avoidance turns, was a statement made right after the class.