<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 10/9/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Neil Brooks</b> <<a href="mailto:neil0502@yahoo.com">neil0502@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:</span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
a) studies CONSISTENTLY show that cell phone users are as dangerous as drunk drivers, regardless<br>of whether or not they use a hands-free device, so ... </blockquote><div><br>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.
<br><br>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.
<br><br>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.
<br><br>Serge<br> </div></div><br>-- <br>NOTE: Any opinions expressed above are mine and not necessarily shared by any organization in which I am involved.