I would assume they're really just trying to "catch" people talking on cell phones, and people singing are causing "too many" false positives of the detection system?
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If the delivery-person is walking, the potential impact of being distracted by their phone conversation is negligible. In that case, I sympathize and respect their efforts to conduct two jobs at once.
However the situation is very different when operating a delivery vehicle, where errors have a greater impact. In that context, their multi-tasking is no longer something to respect, but instead recklessness that should be condemned.
This is especially true if it leads to the death of a pedestrian, which might be a serious crime known as manslaughter.
I asked if hustling via hand free driving was what you took umbrage with.
Again, I am not that user. Insofar as I have "umbrage", it's that I don't think anything should need this much explaining.
> hustling via hand free driving
I believe that their concern is over dangerous driving, which includes but is not limited to cases where it is being caused by "hustling" with a hands-free device.
Is there a problem with that?
Okay we have to stop with this "huh???" nonsense. You knew what he meant, stop trying to make people seem unreasonable (yes, that is the purpose of this "huh?" even if you don't realize it)
This isn't Reddit.
A few US states, Singapore, Japan, UAE, South Africa .. some AUS states.
Pretty much everywhere else in the world, this is considered "normal behavior"
In addition, laws often contain compromises for feasibility. I expect many jurisdictions permit hands-free conversations partly because it's difficult to prohibit them.
If you want to argue that phone-conversations while driving are safe compared to quiet driving, you should be pointing to experiments rather than popular belief.
I think that the main problem is if they were in the car with you then they'd be able to modulate the conversation in line with parts of the drive which are more or less demanding. It's much harder to do this successfully on the phone.
Do y'all just ride absolutely silent when you have passengers or...?
The point of the article is the bluntness of the tool, not that they are trying to reduce dangerously distracting phone calls, and understanding the true objective doesn't undo that.
It's not like amazon is making it up. Studies have shown that music can have an adverse effect on driving.
I for one listen to music at full blast and tend to drive spiritedly which requires full 110% concentration. So I would agree that there are bigger fish to fry than listening to music while driving. But I'm going to be honest and say I've seen folks who don't listen to music and do bonehead things on the road because they're distracted. So yes, let's bad roadside billboards. I'm with you on that.
What studies? The only quality meta-analysis I could find showed mixed results, "It was concluded that, in some indicators, listening to music has adverse effects on driving. However, in many indicators, music has a positive impact on improving driving safety." [1]
Personally I find music can help me focus - both when driving and at work.
From the link you posted:
On the other hand, listening to music while driving could raise the driver’s mental workload index and, thus, impair their driving performance. In fact, both driving and listening to music compete for the driver’s limited cognitive capacity.14 According to a study by the American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in-vehicle driver distraction, such as listening to music, is responsible for 25% of traffic accidents.15
And if every healthy driver (old,young, strong or weak) before you could move and complete 200 stops in a day but you can only do half of that. Does that mean the expectation is unrealistic or is it something else?
Sure, previous driver Bob made 200 stops in a day, what does that have to do with safety? Especially considering Bob was forced to pee into a bottle to make his numbers:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/selling-bottles-of-amazon-dr...
https://www.reddit.com/r/Truckers/comments/qd1l4x/how_many_o...
Plus, the vast majority of people have a significant need for social contact. Working an eight hour shift alone in a car without any contact with any social contact (except a quick sign off when dropping a package), 5 days a week, is inhuman.
This is not true, because people physically in the car have the context of what's happening on the road, and can be aware enough to pause for a few seconds while you navigate a difficult situation that requires your full attention.
It measurably impacts my own ability to concentrate, I have noticed. We should dispense with such absolutist claims; there is no doubt that any action not directly related to driving a car has potential to impact safe operation of that vehicle.
The function of the law is to discover and enforce tolerances, balancing freedom with safety. We don't have to ignore even minimal safety implications in order to secure freedom, an honest conversation is better for both sides.
It is definitely inhumane to expect drivers to not move their lips or talk while working in solitude for 8-10 hours a day. Instead, we need to design our various systems such that they are capable of withstanding such a tolerance without severely impacting safety.
It seems to be less so for people without ADHD in my experience, but we can't just say it has zero effect. It's better to discuss the threat to safety in terms of potential, since that accounts for individual variance.
Curious why you state that so confidently when every study I'm aware of has found the opposite.
(e.g., https://www.nsc.org/getmedia/2ea8fe8b-d7b7-4194-8ea5-306d30a...)
And then it seems the manager failed to articulate that point (or perhaps they did, but people are the meeting were so upset that they weren't quite listening anymore).
that is an insane overreach by the employer. They should be outraged!
If you think this is strict, have a look at what UPS requires of its drivers. They have very specific rules for how to do everything related to delivering packages and operating the vehicles. And not that I've specifically focused on it, but I can't recall ever hearing music playing in a UPS truck.
Do they get to keep a gun in the glove box? You know, for when they need to kill themselves?
For the most part, we have the freedom to do most anything we want. However, we’re not supposed to waste company time (going to pick up a friend) and there’s specific rules that prohibit non ups employees from being on the package car. As for music, yes. Different drivers use different methods, I personally use earbuds, some drivers use a speaker.
I listen to audiobooks and a couple podcasts once I'm done with my commercial stops (ie: not talking to customers anymore). Sometimes when I want to finish work faster, I'll put on some high energy music to keep me motivated, but that's only occasionally because it's harder on the body.
Granted, these posts were from 5 years go and UPS may have cracked down since then. But if their posts are to believed, they've no need keep that gun in the glove box in case they ever need to find a speedy way to check out, just yet. As to the drivers stuck working for Amazon -- we can't be so sure.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving
The concern here is most likely people diddling with their phones (which tends to accompany such conversations but may be harder for the cameras to detect), followed by the distraction of zoning over a long conversation over any kind of device. Not singing along with the radio, obviously (which is what people seem to be reacting to so emotionally here).
You don't have to like it, and I would never work with Amazon in any capacity anyway (not for this, but for a whole bunch of vastly more important reasons).
But it's definitely neither insane, nor overreach on their part.