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Comment by danbruc | Hacker News Reader

Why can't we just stop using phones while driving? No matter how much one reduces distraction, it is still more distracting than not using it in the first place. Twitter while driving - why on earth?!? For navigation it is obviously a good idea because you can keep your eyes on the street and don't have to look to your GPS or even try to read street names.

Watch »From One Second to the Next« [1] from the »Texting and Driving - It can wait« campaign.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BqFkRwdFZ0

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Hmm, I also can't get this - WHY is it so hard to just answer that text / facebook message / call 10 minutes later after you stop. WHAT in the world is SO URGENT it has to be done right now?!

It's not hard to understand, even though it's completely insane. People simply don't think about driving as a dangerous activity requiring their full attention.

This is actually one of my favorite things about riding a motorcycle. It removes the 'safety net' of the car and forces one to pay full attention to the road. Texting is simply out of the question.

Unfortunately it is also one of the least favourite things about riding a motorcycle - always having to look out for car drivers who are not paying full attention to the road.

Just imagine the road safety if cars had this feature specially integrated.

well the lack of a safety net also greatly increases the risk of life-altering injury if something happens.

You can be as careful as you want, but driving is a collective process, and if the guy next to you messes up, you can suffer a lot.

http://youtu.be/K59eMpWsyNE

Well of course there are exceptions. Personally I've tried the "emailing from my laptop while riding a bicycle" thing - you take your hands off the handlebars, swing your backpack around (that's the hardest part and most likely to bring you of-balance), take out your laptop, open it, wait for it to come out of sleep and compose and email with one hand while holding it with the other. Of course on an empty park path with a friend to watch out for other people. Depending on the inherent stability of the given bike frame, and the weight of the laptop, it's actually not that hard...

Because instant gratification. We are living in the real-time world after all!

"I killed a pedestrian on the way home, but so glad I got your text about mac n cheese for dinner! Smells yummy, let's eat!"

It's because of the act of driving itself. Before it was phones it was shaving, doing makeup, or eating. Driving promotes an individualist mentality. Backed up by the fact that cars are designed to remove and protect you from the environment that you're still participating in. This separation leads to many things including road rage and not believing that being on your cellphone is a problem. *IMHO

I think it's just that we all suck at multi-tasking but underestimate how much we suck at it. I have never actually met a good multi-tasker. People who do lots of tasks sequentially, but never anyone who does a satisfactory job at two things that are done simultaneously.

I pray for self driving cars, so these idiots can use their phones all they want.

I was following a riced out Acura today that was flashing the brakes all the time, GF said ?old person?, but grandma doesn't drive that car. Some rapper's white girl friend in head to toe pink was diddling on her phone WHILE DRIVING and tapping on the brakes every time she looked up. I see phone usage while driving everyday and the majority of it isn't talking it is interacting with the device itself. Madness.

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