[SDCBC] FW: bike safety and good neighbor relations

[Serge Issakov]

On 10/9/07, Neil Brooks <neil0502 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> a) studies CONSISTENTLY show that cell phone users are as dangerous as
> drunk drivers, regardless
> of whether or not they use a hands-free device, so ...


What I've read indicates a cell phone user is about as dangerous as a .08
drunk driver, the least dangerous of all legally drunk drivers.  Just a few
years ago .08 wasn't even illegal.  So I think it's not entirely accurate to
say that cell phone users are as dangerous as drunk drivers, the most
dangerous of whom are way over .08.

What's most interesting to me is that cell phone users are just as
distracted several minutes after hanging up on the phone, which indicates
it's the pure mental inattention that makes them be as dangerous as a .08
drunk driver, not the process of engaging in a cell phone conversation.

In other words, I suspect a driver thinking deeply about a presentation at
work, or how cyclists should stay in bike lanes "where they belong", is
probably about as dangerous as a .08 drunk driver, or a driver using a cell
phone.  Of course, that's a lot harder to test for in a study.  But if it's
true, then probably a huge percentage of drivers, perhaps the majority at
any given time, are probably as dangerous as a .08 drunk driver, even though
they're stone cold sober and not using the cell phone.  In any case, it
behooves us to ride accordingly.  So I try to avoid riding in a manner that
has my safety depend on any particular driver paying attention without
verifying as best as I can that they have noticed me.  In other words, it
doesn't much matter to me whether they're .08, on the cell phone, or
thinking about work.

Serge

-- 
NOTE: Any opinions expressed above are mine and not necessarily shared by
any organization in which I am involved.
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