Using your phone while operating a vehicle, your views, and where are you from?

[Pankratous]

I've been seeing a lot of TikToks recently of police pulling over drivers who were on their phone or texting, and the comments section is always unbelievable to me. In particular, videos where the driver was "parked" in a line of traffic at lights, the comments section is trying to justify the driver's actions and stating that using your mobile phone when "parked" is acceptable.

I can't even wrap my head around their use of the word parked because sitting in fucking traffic is not that, but whatever.

So I'm interested in seeing where people come from and generally what their views are. I'm from the UK and using a phone whilst the engine is on is categorically unacceptable to me. You're not fully aware of your surroundings. Even if waiting at lights, it's still not acceptable. You could easily fail to see the lights have gone green, or get startled when you realise you need to move and fail to notice another road user navigating close to you.

I would wager anyone from Australia has similar views as they have similar laws to the UK.

 

[Nostremitus]

Stay off your phone unless you're parked. I'll answer calls that come through the car Bluetooth, but that is it. I'm from all over, but live in Alabama (USA).

That said, at a light I may reach over and turn on the screen to see what a notification was, but I don't pick it up to respond or play on it or anything... just the one button press to make sure I don't need to pull off the road to take care of anything.

 

[Deleted member 9241]

I have kids so I set a good example of zero tolerance with cell phones and driving. I always tell them the phone is the job of the navigator (whoever is in the passenger seat) to handle. If your car has hands free capability, then go nuts.

I'm in the US.

 

[The Albatross]

I'm completely incapable of multi-tasking so if I have to do something on my phone I legitimately like pull off the road and park in a parking lot or w/e to do something mundane. Android Auto makes a lot of common tasks easier (skipping tracks on a podcast, or w/e), but for anything remotely attention-needing I am incapable of multitasking. I generally don't talk on the phone while driving at all, I ignore 99% of calls that come in while I'm driving and basically never place calls while driving... I just don't have anybody to talk to that can't wait.

generally these days I see fewer people using their phones and driving, but those who do just so so blatantly... phone on the steering wheel type shit.

I think it's 100% wrong to use a phone while driving, akin to drunk driving, maybe worse. I live in the US, north east, I'm an older millennial. For something like answering a call or making a call while driving, I think it should be handsfree and I think the calls should be limited. I get it, people do it, and I don't think you can ban it realistically, and efforts to make handsfree calling also illegal would probably be used more for harm than good (e.g., racial profiling if a cop "thinks you were talking on the phone" just to harrass someone). You used to see the false equivalence justification for talking on the phone (either holding it up or handsfree) that "so should you ban people from talking in a car...?" but it's not the same. When two people are in a car talking they can both react to things happening around them and change their conversation... Like, say someone runs a traffic light or something, you'll likely both stop talking to each other and naturally pause your conversation to pay attention to that moment, but when your'e on the phone the other person can't respond to the things happening around you, and it's naturally more distracting.

What I'm constantly amazed by is people holding the phone in front of their face on speaker, blatantly, and also that like ... they have that many important conversations.

 

[Martin]

I don't use it at all while driving. Here in Germany you also get a fine if you use it while waiting on a red light.

 

[Shadybiz]

I'll answer a call if it's from someone I know, but I have Bluetooth, and don't need to take my eyes off the road for that.

Won't send or answer texts; that's idiotic.

I'm usually listening to Spotify, and I have buttons on the steering wheel for switching songs/changing volume.

 

[Shake Appeal]

There was a study that showed that people who thought they were best at dividing their attention between the road and their phone were actually the worst at it.

I have a Pixel, so I can mostly give voice commands for navigation, music, and maybe texting if I need to do it. It's still not great (your attention is still divided), but I don't touch my phone while I'm in the car, and I only glance at it for map stuff.

 

[Xando]

Only using the hands free hardware i have

 

[PS9]

If you touch your phone while driving then you're a dickhead.

 

[teruterubozu]

I felt safer during the old school Garmin GPS days. Using your phone for in-car street navigation is just fucked. Way too many distractions.

 

[BasilZero]

While I am in the car and driving - only use the phone for music or gps

Calls I ignore or use my Bluetooth for my car

I live in the US but ya using your phone for anything else is a no no

 

[Symphony]

Given the huge road safety campaign we had here in the UK in the early 2000s telling drivers they must use a hands free kit in their car, seeing so many people using their phone while driving because the government stopped bothering to push the issue during the smartphone boom is rather annoying. Cars even have hands free functionality built in now, but it doesn't matter as everyone is using their phones to check Facebook or whatever instead of answering calls.

 

[SwampBastard]

Don't touch your phone while you're driving unless your car is in Park. 99% of the time I see people driving like idiots, they are looking at their phone. There should be HUGE fines for it.

US

 

[gnexus]

Only thing I do is change tracks on Spotify(which I have buttons on my steering wheel for easy access) while driving and maybe Waze. Texts? Nope. Phone calls? No. It can wait. I enjoy driving and don't like any distractions. It sucks that a lot of other jackwagons on the road don't really respect the vehicle and the fact they're guiding a 2-ton bullet.

 

[dkeane]

My car supports Apple CarPlay so it's very convenient.
I still don't text anyone though. Just use it for music and navigation.

In the US

 

[Rosebud]

In Brazil it's a serious infraction.

 

[Weebos]

I use it more than I should while driving (navigating a sudden GPS change, turning off an alarm, etc), I would deserve it if I got pulled over and dinged for that. It's a bad habit I need to break, pulling over for 30 seconds isn't the end of the world.

 

[angelgrievous]

I have my phone set to where it goes to sleep while I'm driving. Basically turns it into an iPod/GPS and I can't receive notifications.

edit: in theUS

 

[TheJackdog]

stay off your phone you idiots.

 

[trashbandit]

I don't personally think there's anything wrong with doing something quick on your phone if you're at a red light, but you gotta be able to gauge that you're not going to hold up traffic, because that's unacceptable. I try to never use a phone while the car is in motion, unless there's an emergency or something.

 

[Parthenios]

For a few years I've wondered if it would be more effective to instead of trying to get people to practice "phone use abstinence" while driving, if we should teach "safe phone use." We know people are going to use their phones while driving and at a certain point your returns start diminishing on fighting human nature. If we incorporated how to do this safely during drivers' ed maybe that would be effective?

 

[DarkLegion]

The most I'll do is swipe around the GPS at a red light for a second to see where I'm going, other than that I do not touch my phone. Terrified to try lol

In the US

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Don't touch your phone while you're driving unless your car is in Park. 99% of the time I see people driving like idiots, they are looking at their phone. There should be HUGE fines for it.

US

Click to shrink...

This is the only right answer. Even people talking with hands free devices are unsafe.

• A person's ability to process moving images decreases by up to 33% when talking on a phone.
• Drivers talking on a cell phone can miss up to 50% of what's around them.

 

[KorrZ]

I don't think there's anything wrong with using your phone when you're stopped at a light at all. If you're just sitting there with your foot on the brake, it's not like you're gonna crash into someone cause you're starring at your phone screen, lol.

I just make sure that I don't hold up traffic, so if I see the light turn green I put my phone down immediately even if I was in the middle of sending a text or something.

 

[Doom]

The idea that you can't touch your phone while at a red light, unless you are the first person stopped at the light, is completely preposterous to me. Cars aren't moving. There is literally no danger.

That being said, operating your phone while moving should be a harsh penalty. And Apple CarPlay (and other forms of it) aren't okay either. If anything they're just as distracting. If it can't be done without looking and from your steering console, it should wait until you're stopped at a light or parked.

 

[Krakatoa]

Stay of your phones unless parked. I've witnessed a car get t-boned because of some idiot browsing on their phone instead of the road.

 

[Doomguy Fieri]

I might refresh twitter once or twice at a red light.

 

[FriskyCanuck]

It's as bad as drinking and driving.

 

[yongeandcollege]

I think using a phone while operating a vehicle should be punished as harshly as drinking and driving. Even using the infotainment unit in a modern car feels dangerous to you and others.

 

[ChrisBliss117]

I learned my lesson the hard way when I was 19. I rear ended someone on the highway because I was texting and totaled my car. I will only talk on the phone via bluetooth I set up so I just press a button on my driving wheel.

 

[UltimateHigh]

I don't text and drive.

I will talk and drive. On speaker.

just as I would talk and drive with someone in the vehicle.

we gonna fine all potential distractions now?

 

[Brinbe]

Hate that shit. Eyes on the road.

 

[Transistor]

Texas, here. If you're driving, put your phone down. Period. It doesn't matter if you're at a red light, either. If the car isn't in park, put the phone down. Why is that so hard for some people?

 

[AstralTurfWarrior]

In Finland just a while ago it became legal to use cellphone while the car is stopped (e.g. in red lights). And that's fine, it's really not the issue.

Stay away from it while driving though.

 

[LuigiMario]

I'll change a song or pull up directions at a stop light, anything beyond that is a no go for me.

 

[Tomasoares]

I do it sometimes but shouldn't

 

[Ambient]

There is no excuse for using a phone with your hands while driving.

If I really need to use my phone to send or respond to an important message and I can't through voice I will pull over to the side of the road or a safe area and then use my phone.

 

[Annubis]

I don't think there's anything wrong with using your phone when you're stopped at a light at all. If you're just sitting there with your foot on the brake, it's not like you're gonna crash into someone cause you're starring at your phone screen, lol.

I just make sure that I don't hold up traffic, so if I see the light turn green I put my phone down immediately even if I was in the middle of sending a text or something.

Click to shrink...

Counterpoint: you lack attention to your surrounding for when you'll resume driving.

I know someone that was doing that exactly and they rear ended someone because the one behind them honked at a red light (like not a quick honk... the keep it on one) and they thought they had missed the light turning green and pressed the gas before looking in front.
Read ended the car in front. The person behind likely saw that she was on her phone and pretty much honked hoping this exact scenario would happen.

 

[Vapelord]

There's some quick lights here where 3 cars can get through at best. Almost always there's a douche canoe at the front of the lights staring at their crotch that only notice they have the green when honked at and then is the only one to then make the then yellow light. Rinse and repeat ad nauseum....

 

[HeySeuss]

As widespread of an issue texting and driving is, especially among the younger generation that also thinks it is ok to wear earbuds while driving, I find it interesting that this thread is 100% no so far.

Edit... 1 person had enough guts to admit they do it. I like that person for being honest.

 

[ParanormalFupa]

If you have tried texting and driving, and still do it, whew.... Talk about an inability to consider. Easily one of the most dangerous things you can do no matter how good or clever you think you are at it. It's so apparent when people are doing it. Way worse than an intoxicated driver that is at least trying to pay attention to the road.

 

[bmdubya]

Phone stays in my pocket while I'm driving, unless it's plugged in so I can listen to a podcast or a Spotify playlist. I choose that stuff before I start driving and then I don't touch my phone again. I mainly just listen to the radio while I drive since we have a really good public music station here in Colorado. I'm seeing an increased amount of people holding the phone up at eye level at the steering wheel while driving. It drives me insane.

But yeah, fuck people who use their phone while driving. It's incredibly selfish. If you're so important that you need to use your phone while in a car, then you probably shouldn't be driving yourself around.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Should be treated as seriously as drink driving. UK.

 

[Phellps]

Just no. If you want to quickly check your phone when at a traffic light, fine, but if you really need to use your phone, park your car. There's no reason to risk causing an accident and putting other people in danger.

Seriously, the amount of people I see driving ridiculously poorly because they're checking/talking on their phone is insane.

 

[MrCibb]

Pretty much agree with the OP that while the engine is running you shouldn't even be touching your phone, and if you do then you're a cunt. Even if you're stuck at a light you should be paying attention. Cyclists might come up along side you, etc. I think going on your phone while on the road should be treated much more seriously. I've seen a few near accidents from some cunt on their phone, can always tell because they're looking down at their crotch.

 

[Marshall]

If you touch your phone while driving then you're a dickhead.

Click to shrink...

This.

 

[Thordinson]

Nope. I'm terrible at multi-tasking so I wouldn't even attempt texting and driving. I have the passenger look at my phone in case it's something important. The SO does the same. We don't talk or text while driving.

 

[PoppaBK]

I have Android auto so it's a non-issue. Even without it, your phone can use Android auto with hands free voice recognition.

 

[Right]

It's okay if you are the only car on the road 🤷‍♂️

 

[Sobriquet]

I was blown away when I moved to NC and learned that using a phone while driving was legal. Should be illegal in all states.