"you should watch where you're walking!"

[zoom-zoom]

Good work Beth! People are such assholes these days, and the cell phone has a lot to do with it!

Yep...add a big luxury SUV to the mix and it's an a-hole with a penis extender. Ick.

[Crankin]

Yesterday, I almost got "crashed" by a woman in the grocery store, wheeling her cart, while talking on the phone. She continued to talk on the phone through more than half of her time there, so I just glared at her every time she passed me in the aisle. I only held my tongue because her teenaged son was with her. It was late afternoon and the store was crowded.
Zoom-Zoom, my DH drives a big, luxury SUV. I think he would have laughed at the penis extender idea.
He doesn't drive and talk, though.

[zoom-zoom]

Yesterday, I almost got "crashed" by a woman in the grocery store, wheeling her cart, while talking on the phone. She continued to talk on the phone through more than half of her time there, so I just glared at her every time she passed me in the aisle. I only held my tongue because her teenaged son was with her. It was late afternoon and the store was crowded.
Zoom-Zoom, my DH drives a big, luxury SUV. I think he would have laughed at the penis extender idea.
He doesn't drive and talk, though.

Ha...I think it's that cell-phone thing that separates the drivers from the "Mr. Importants." All too often I get the feeling that the bigger the vehicle, the less a person thinks they need to be careful. As if they feel that the smaller guys need to just get out of their way. There seems to be a false sense of safety with SUVs for a lot of people. I know one of my best friends has admitted that she has to remind herself that 4WD doesn't mean she is immune to bad roads and that her vehicle really isn't safer than smaller ones (and she requires more distance to stop and is at greater risk of roll-over), but she sometimes doesn't drive as defensively as she did when she drove a smaller car.

The grocery gabber--ugh, they annoy me. Never fails that when I am trying to get in-and-out quick that I get stuck in aisles with several of these. And they are always completely oblivious to the other shoppers around them.

[OakLeaf]

Unfortunately, it's not just the big SUVs any more.

I've seen people riding motorcycles talking on the phone.

I ride with a guy who will sometimes take phone calls in a paceline (not a tight or extremely hard paceline, but still).

Part of it is "Mr. Important," certainly, but I think most of it is the culture that lets people believe that they don't need to pay attention when they're on the road. Honestly I see more women (and girls) than men and boys talking on the phone while driving.

I mean, just start the topic on this very forum of wearing an iPod while running or riding...

[PscyclePath]

Zoom-Zoom, my DH drives a big, luxury SUV. I think he would have laughed at the penis extender idea.

A Ford F-150 crew cab (with the extra chrome package) here, and I can assure you that no, ma'am, it doesn't work that way ;-)

[XMcShiftersonX]

I'm so glad they just made talking or texting on a cell phone (as well as reading, etc.) while driving in Washington State illegal. It's about time. Our culture has allowed people to think that it's no big deal to do while driving, and I think now that so many people are getting killed and hurt because of it, people are taking notice. However, I'm interested to see how far this goes, as a lot of people still drink and drive, and it's a similar situation.

I think part of it is you get all these smart phones, and programs like Facebook and the more you use them, the more you get addicted to them, and you begin to think as soon as you get a message or call you NEED to respond. I got my first smart phone about a year ago, and I fell into that same trap. But after "being connected" all the time, I realized I liked life better before, and recently deleted my facebook account, and now leave my cell phone off or on vibrate when out in public.

[Crankin]

I agree with the 4 WD stuff. I have had one for years (although now I have a smaller AWD sedan), as it went a long way in reducing my fear at having to learn to drive in the snow at age 37. But, I always say 4WD does not mean 4 wheel stop! For a few years I had a 40 mile commute, one way to work. There were a couple of years with just horrible blizzards, where I would routinely see people flying by me in their 4WD cars, only to see them a bit later, rolled over, in the ditch.
Yes, I am not sure why people feel the need to be so connected constantly. I just don't have that many people to talk to, or that much to say. It's like they lose sight of everything that's going on around them, because they are on the phone.

Psyclepath, I have had similar thoughts about guys who drive around here with their snowplow attached to the front of their huge trucks, as soon as the calendar turns to November!

[Eden]

It's like they lose sight of everything that's going on around them, because they are on the phone.

It's exactly like that..... studies have shown that hands free devices in cars are really no safer than cell phones without headsets..... but no legislator has yet had the cahones to put an out right ban them while driving for everyone, though it is now illegal for teens with learner permits or intermediate (restricted) licenses to do any phoning at all, hands free or not, here in Washington.

[bmccasland]

Numb-nut was on a hand-held cell. One would think that if he could afford a Mercedes SUV, he could afford the hands-free blue tooth too.