I have an honest question. How many people here actually text and drive?

[BigDemVoter]

I'm curious. I already mentioned this in a response to an OP, but I have almost gotten crushed 3 separate times in the past 6 weeks while walking in my city. I do not have a car, and I walk everywhere. As I live in California, it is illegal to text while driving, but I see almost every single driver texting at every stoplight or stop sign. How could anybody think it's safe or a good idea?

The 3 times I've almost been run down were all at crosswalks. I walk across at a stop sign, and the driver is texting. . . . They don't even fucking look. They keep texting and take their feet off the brake. Consequently I get knocked down by an enormous car.

I'm certainly not fragile, but I can't compete with a vehicle. I'm not surprised that death rates on the road have climbed precipitously. If you're texting and driving, you better not run me down, because I'll fucking own you. And if you kill me while you're texting, you really better watch out, as I have instructions for my relatives to go to any legal means to have you punished.

This is bullshit. And yeah, I know pedestrians can be assholes, but we're not the ones in the "tanks", and I stay the hell out of the way unless I'm in a crosswalk or other legal passage.

[jodymarie aimee]

1. do not own a cellphone

and never will...so NO.

[guillaumeb]

2. No cellphone no texting. My solution. eom

[Iggo]

3. I don't drive.

[Hoyt]

4. I seldom even answer my cellphone while driving, too distracting.

[csziggy]

14. I pull the car over - if I notice my cell phone ringing

Often I don't notice it at all. My old non-smart phone was small enough to fit into my reading glasses case so any rings were muted and I usually didn't hear it.

The new smart phone has it's own case and I do hear it ringing sometimes but often don't realize it's my ring. I seldom give out that number so hardly anyone calls me on it and I forget what the ringtone is like since I've heard it maybe twice since I got that phone a month ago.

I only text when I am sitting still, in the car or at some stopping place - but I text less than I receive calls on the phone.

[Hoyt]

18. Had to put my ringtone to an old rotary phone sound, otherwise I just ignored it as all new gadgets

beep for some reason and I am just oblivious.

If I tried to answer my phone while driving, I'd have to locate it under all the junk on the street; look at the number to see if I answer with my friendly voice, work voice, or leave me alone voice; then I have to find the button to answer the phone. By then, I would have run into the back of a truck or run over a bunch of school kids crossing the street. So I either don't answer, figuring they'll leave a message, or pull over like you.

As I get older, it's a lot easier to get distracted with the technology.

[csziggy]

22. That's what I had on my old phone - the new one doesn't have that pre-loaded

I guess I could find one and upload to the phone. Or find the "24" control center ringtone - I always liked that one.

Another ringtone I considered would be a recording of someone saying my name. Then it would be unmistakable!

Someone I knew used to have Ozzy Osborne screaming for their ringtone. Scared the hell out of me the first time I heard it since I thought it was a person screaming in real life.

[madokie]

26. My cell ring tone is the ooog'm horn

from the early ford model T's and A's

I keep my cell phone in my front pocket so I have to stop to get it out and by the time I do that whoever called has long ago hung up so I just take note of the call and if its someone I want to talk to I'll call them back when I get to my destination.

[csziggy]

30. that would be cool!

I haven't investigated uploading ringtones. I don't know what the sampling rate should be, how long is recommended or what format should be used.

My cell phone has a pocket on the side of my purse and stays there with my extra reading glasses. That's why having the old one in the glasses case was perfect since I have to put them on to see the phone screen. If I am driving alone, the purse is on the passenger seat and I could reach it if I needed to. But if I have a passenger with me, it's is in the back seat and completely inaccessible while I am driving. That's OK with me since I have no intention of using it while I am behind the wheel and the car is in gear!

[madokie]

32. My phone is an iphone 5 s

and it was one of the ring tones that came preloaded.

As a kid our family car was a 31 model A ford 4 door sedan and it had the ooog'm horn. We lived way out in the boonies so the model A ford didn't seem so out of place back in the early '50s
My dad told me when I was in High school that I could drive it to and from school but it embarrassed me to no end just to think about doing that so I never did. I'd like to have that old car today. It was so cool, as I look back on it now

[csziggy]

36. I just looked up how to create a ringtone for an Android

Since mine is a cheap Tracfone (ZTE Citrine), that is what I have.

Making a ringtone for an Android is easy - basically it's a MP3. Now I can decide what I want - maybe something from Firesign Theatre ("Uh, Clem" comes to mind or maybe "Shoes for Industry, Shoes for the Dead!&quot or the beginning to In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida are my first thoughts, but there are millions of possibilities! I think this phone will let me assign ringtones to people so I can have one for my husband, another for my sister, etc.

Today a Model A would be so cool. But teenagers never appreciate the old cars.

For a while the car my sister had to drive to school as a teenager was an early 1950s Jaguar sedan my Dad got at an auction. Problem was the power steering and brakes never worked so my 100 pound sister had to wrestle the thing around corners and stand with both feet on the brake and pull herself up on the steering wheel to stop it. She was so happy when it finally quit completely - until she found out the replacement was our grandmother's old 1958 Buick sedan. I inherited the Buick when she went off to college - it was perfect for me. I could load two bales of hay and several bags of horse feed in the trunk and still have room to carry my saddles in the back seat.

Either of those cars would be a collectible these days!

[mainstreetonce]

5. Cellphone never out in car

Used only for emergencies

[Warpy]

80. That's the only reason I'll get one

to call for the hook if the car conks out or any other inconvenience requiring a phone call to sort out. Since cell phones came out, pay phones have completely disappeared, another way of pushing what used to be a public service onto our shoulders.

[GoCubsGo]

108. Same here.

Except for when I bring it in to re-charge it, and forget to put it back in my purse. I have only given my number to three or four people since I got the thing, and I don't even turn it on unless I'm going to make a call. I feel sorry for people whose whole existences are wrapped up in their damn phones. Look up. There's a whole world around you that is far more interesting than what's on that stupid, tiny screen.

[stopbush]

6. Never

Phone is synched with the car sound system for hands-free operation if someone calls.

[Siwsan]

7. I use a flip phone

And I have no clue about how to text. I stand before the world as an unabashed neo-luddite.

[El Supremo]

8. What's texting?

Is it like sexting?

[BigDemVoter]

12. hehehe

I'm so grumpy after work, and you actually made me laugh.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

104. Sexting while driving is a whole 'nuther level.

I can't do cirque-du-soleil type contortions, so I probably won't even try this.

[aikoaiko]

9. I text or check mail at red lights.

But not when I'm moving.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

38. I'm having a train horn installed for people like you.

(Yeah, I've done it too. Lol.)

[aikoaiko]

44. i'm pretty good at attending to the traffic flow when green lights switch on

But yeah, sometimes I've noticed that all the cars across three lanes have drivers checking their phones at red lights.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

74. Me too. Except when I'm not.

I usually give a few seconds and a friendly toot on the first incident. I recently had some lady I was stuck behind for several lights. On the third light I let her have it. She had the nerve to throw her hands up like "what?"

My company car is an expedition so I can usually see what's going on - hunched over, clacking away, 5-10 second delay, then peel out out of embarrassment when they get the horn.

Definitely getting an air horn

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

42. I don't ever text and drive - even at stop lights - as I'm too busy reading the newspaper and playing Candy Crush.

[pangaia]

58. Winner!

[immoderate]

10. It's the crosswalks. -- That's where pedestrians usually get run down.

Avoid them. --imm

[LisaM]

11. Absolutely not.

See it constantly.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. Let me say this: I had a friend killed by a drunk driver.

In my book, texting and driving is just as bad. Statistics bear this out, too.

[shraby]

15. No cell phone here. Shit I can't even run and chew gum at the same time.

[True Dough]

16. I never text while driving

and I'm too slow to type texts at red lights (kids these days can text faster than I can type on a regular keyboard, but I'm a one finger texter so it takes forever).

I do, however, sometimes use my phone as my GPS and prop it up in the cupholder (haven't bought one of those dashboard mounts yet, but I'm gonna). The voice commands usually work, but sometimes they don't. It leaves me taking the occasional glance downward, but I pick my spots carefully. No close calls to date.

[woodsprite]

47. We had better success with a mount that fits in the a/c vent.

It's got a rubbery grip and is held in by friction. My problem is my bifocals. Don't need them to drive, but need them to see the gps, and the darned focal length is different than if I'm performing music or reading.

We're heading home from visiting my in-laws in Florida, and passed some girl on I-95 through NC today going 70mph futzing with her cell phone as we passed her. We were passing because she kept slowing down and speeding up, drifting, etc. Called her plate into 911 as erratic, unsafe driving.

[True Dough]

59. Thanks for that tip.

Will keep it in mind when I go looking for a phone mount.

Safe travels!

[woodsprite]

94. Just asked hubby. He got it at Brookstones in our mall. n/t

[Bucky]

17. Guilty as hell. Sorry, I try to fight my urges

I know better, and I don't converse any more, but I have been known to google directions at stop lights and even look up traffic patterns under gridlock conditions to cut down on my travel time.

I know better, but I'm weak with impatience.

[orleans]

19. i don't text

a friend of mine was busted for texting at a red light

[Alekzander]

20. I do but not at the same time.

[Ever-Green]

105. Me too

and the wife jumps my butt when I do.

[Alekzander]

109. She should & she is looking out for you. Happy New Year.

Another thing about those who do both at the same time. Known fact here; the first thing law enforcement & insurance companies look for anymore with accidents is your cell phone records (if needed) especially if there are people hurt & a law suit. The activity they get will show precisely what your cell was doing at the time of the accident. They will know if you were texting or talking on the phone.

[Ever-Green]

111. Well, she's breaking me of the habit slowly but surely.

And a Happy New Year to you, sir!

[Alekzander]

112. Thanks, take care & may 2017 bring good health to you & your family.

[crazycatlady]

21. Maybe I'm a generation younger than most of this forum

but I have a 3 year old smartphone. I've never had a landline in my own name (last had one when I lived with my parents, but after I got my cell, I never used it and it was theirs). I will occasionally take a phone call when driving (basically only my boss or an emergency)

As far as texting and driving. I never do it. In 2000, I was rear-ended by a woman on her cell phone in an Expedition. She didn't see that the light was red and I have been against cell phone use while driving since.

I've also noticed that more people who text and drive use iPhones than Android phones. Maybe Apple should do a few PSAs about this.

[moonscape]

81. I don't text, but have an equally bad confession, even

though it was about 40 years ago. I used to ... tough to admit ... try to read books while in rush hour traffic. Thought I was so clever - would hold the book/magazine along with the steering wheel, as if because it was right in front of me it'd be okay.

One day the inevitable happened, I rear-ended the car in front. Thankfully it was just a tap, no damage to either car, but that cured me. Felt like an idiot!

Even if I did text, I know I wouldn't do it while driving because now I pull over if I need to check something on my iPad.

[neeksgeek]

23. No. I've been on two genuinely scary rides...

As a passenger, where I felt certain I was going to be in an accident (but wasn't, thankfully).

Once was when I caught a two-hour ride with a girlfriend's recently-licensed teenaged daughter, who was still figuring out the notion of "following distance." Yikes!

But that was nothing compared to riding with my manager once ten years ago, when texting was still pretty new, to pick up my car from the shop after work one day. He texted the entire fifteen minutes, was all over the road, and also talking to me while I held on tight. Yikes my ass, it was truly frightening! I never rode with him again.

[BigDemVoter]

24. That was terrifying to read!

Yikes!

[WillowTree]

25. Never. Not.....ever.

[RKP5637]

27. Never! n/t

[LeftInTX]

28. No way

Don't answer my phone either

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

29. My phone goes into a dock when I drive.

Bluetooth in the car automatically fires up a car mode which blocks incoming texts from notifying me.

I don't text anyways, but even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I wish Bluetooth was more of a standard for cars now than it is.

[dionysus]

99. My car actually reads me the texts, pretty neat.

[politicat]

31. Phone is synced to car, steering wheel has buttons for accepting/rejecting calls.

Calls get rejected. It's that simple. The neuroscience is too clear -- brains on cellphones are way too busy to be also driving.

When I'm going someplace I don't know, phone is mounted to Driver's right vent, for GPS. (I'm good at navigating. But I live someplace that has issues with Can't Get There From Here because of ridge lines, and way too many in-filled sub-cities that change street names at the town border.)

I still don't answer texts.

The whole point of a text is that it's not supposed to be instant communication. It's supposed to be less intrusive on the recipient's time and attention than a phone call. Anyone who can't deal with that? That's someone who doesn't respect other people's time and attention anyway, and probably can't cope with boundaries or other people having independence. So likely to become a Not My Problem person real fast.

[liquid diamond]

33. Never

[RedWedge]

34. I do, but only in certain circumstances. I don't in stop-and-go/city traffic.

Long stretches of interstate? Well....

[KT2000]

63. long stretches

is where I have almost been hit by people crossing the centerline while texting. Think of it this way - if you were texting, hit and killed someone and it was your fault - would the message make it worth it?

[RB TexLa]

35. I do

[KT2000]

65. I know someone killed

by someone texting. She left work and said - see you tomorrow - only she didn't. A young woman thought her text was more important that anyone else's life.
I am sick of people crossing the centerline while texting, only to correct after I have to drive on the shoulder and lay on the horn.

For every accident while texting, the message that was so important should be posted publicly.

Please stop driving and texting.

[RB TexLa]

97. I know someone killed

by someone who was driving and didn't even own a cellphone.

Please stop driving.

[KT2000]

100. Please -

this does not even make sense.

[chillfactor]

37. never...

I neither text nor talk on the phone when I am driving...it is insane to do so. Risking my life is one thing, but risking another's life is criminal.

[Codeine]

39. I'll be honest; I've done it.

I don't anymore, but I did it pretty regularly for a while about six or seven years ago without even thinking about it. After a while I realized how reckless I was being and pulled my head out of my ass.

Luckily my selfish stupidity didn't have any consequences.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

40. Never. Once or twice I've gotten a text

message I want to read, so I pull over to do so.

I think the main reason so many cars are so slow to move when a traffic light turns green is that they're texting.

[hunter]

41. What is this "text" thing you speak of?

Nah, just messing with you.

For me, texts are not an ordinary form of communication. And if I happen to have my cell phone with me in the car it's probably turned off.

My kids make fun of me.

For all my love of technology, there are certain technologies that simply annoy me.

[marlakay]

43. I have siri text for me once in awhile

If i need a longer text i pull over.

[HassleCat]

45. Are you within the law?

Didn't California outlaw walking in public?

[nini]

49. Yes.. we all have Jetson cars now and fly around

[hollowdweller]

46. I don't have a cell phone so I don't....but I sure see a lot of people who do.

If I look over and somebody is texting or talking on a cell phone beside me I try to get past them or slow down and get way behind them because they jerk around and weave like crazy.

[nini]

48. I never text and drive.. rarely even text ..However....

I can't tell you how many times I almost hit a pedestrian who was texting because they' stepped off a curb against a red light or similar. The last few blocks of my commute is near a big transportation hub - buses trains etc.... The people strolling along go to that area are too engrossed with their phones to care if they have the right of way or not.

Personally I hate smart phones - people are too addicted to them. But that's another topic.

[Generic Brad]

50. Never ever

It is on my list of things to never do whilst driving - like driving impaired or streaming Nickelback through my phone.

[PatrickforO]

51. I don't. Ever.

If I must text, I pull over.

[mnhtnbb]

52. No smart phone here. Don't give my cell number to people--except family--

or if necessary when traveling. I only occasionally text (too hard to type with old flip phone).

I don't initiate phone calls while driving. Have NEVER texted while driving. I have occasionally answered the phone
when driving, but usually let it go to voice mail and pull over to get the message and return the call.

I see so many people on phones--talking and texting--while driving. It's really dangerous.

[applegrove]

53. Even driving and talking on a hands free cell phone is dangerous for some people.

I can't drive well and listen to something important at the same time. Thank god I no longer drive.

[flvegan]

54. If you text and drive, you are a fucking moron. Full stop.

The people that do this are too fucking dumb to respond to this. There is no excuse, no reason. Nobody will own up to it. Because...fucking stupid dipshit moron tag hurts.

[Drahthaardogs]

60. You are going to die, or kill someone

it is not a matter of if, it is a mater of when. You are distracted and eventually, the odds will catch up with you. Better for you if you die, if you kill someone else because of texting while driving, when they are done with putting you in jail and then suing you, death would be better.

[flvegan]

62. Do us all a favor

"I'm a bad driver in traffic" and you admit to texting and driving. Go away. Remove yourself from the pool of idiots beforehand. Thanks, shitwit!

[Liberty Belle]

68. Get a voice command program

where you dictate the text verbally.

Typing is very dangerous and one of these days you're liable to miss a hazard on the road and cause a crash that could cost a life. Your work is not worth that.

[KT2000]

70. your work is not more important

than someone's life. It really could happen to you - that you will kill someone. It happens all the time - crossing the centerline and hitting someone head-on. I'm sure you've had the experience when you know you should look up but continue to finish the text instead.
You think you are aware of everything around you but in fact you are not - your attention is on the text and your other senses are muted.
You don't get to choose who you may hit - but they and their loved ones will be with you for the rest of your life.
Don't do it.

[LeftyMom]

75. Wait, aren't you also in poor health and getting up there in years?

You're going to kill somebody. Maybe just yourself, but I wouldn't count on it.

[Wiseman32218]

56. Not me, don't drink and drive, talk and drive nor text and drive.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

57. Not me, but I've made speed-dial phone calls while driving and...

I needed to look at the phone briefly to do it.

If traffic is even slightly congested and moving, I won't even do that.

No calls just to chit-chat either!

[ailsagirl]

61. Don't even text

[flamingdem]

64. I live in Socal and people are getting very rude on top of texting

They know perfectly well to let a pedestrian cross in the crosswalk but millenials I notice especially female like to pretend they don't see you. They just can't get it through their heads what polite means because they want so badly to get back to their texting. At least I've stopped yelling at them.

[Timer]

66. Years ago...

I passed a driver who was reading the newspaper as she drove. Turning pages, looking up to check traffic, back down to read the paper, all while she was driving. That was scary.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

72. If it was a guy I would say it might have been me.

I would have been reading the paper or slumped over sleeping against the glass.

But my buddy was scrunched down actually steering the car.

Come to think of it, he was the same buddy we "hung" from a tree on Ogden avenue near the road in the forest preserve. Cops caught us on that one.

We got a stern talking to - supposedly we made some elderly lady really upset.

[leftyladyfrommo]

67. Not me.

I very rarely even answer my phone if I am driving.

[Liberty Belle]

69. I never text while driving.

I recently got a car with phone that works through the dash, so I can answer calls etc. hands free.

I don't text much (bad eyesight) but if I must text, such as to let someone know I'm stuck in trafffic and late, I'll pull off the road to do so.

As a news editor I've reported on way to many sad stories about people killed while texting and driving, or worse, they killed or injured some innocent person.

[hughee99]

71. I have, but not in many years.

I didn't really think about the dangers when I was younger, but when I started hearing about accidents related to texting, I stopped. That was probably about 10 years ago or more.

[sarah FAILIN]

73. I can't walk and text

Driving and texting will not happen but I have checked a message while sitting stopped at a light. Just as illegal, but I'm a super fast reader.

[smirkymonkey]

76. I don't drive, but I cannot stand it when I am in a car with a driver who texts.

Like my sister and my mother. Fortunately I only see them on holidays so I am rarely exposed to their stupidity. I only feel comfortable in the car with my father who has wisely never taken to texting.

[DesertFlower]

77. don't know how. my cell phone

is a flip top. it's for emergencies, i.e., flat tire, etc. when i'm home it's turned off.

[catbyte]

78. Not me. I have a hard time when I'm NOT driving, lol. I hate screen touch keypads.

[LeftyMom]

79. Hell no.

I just told a relative that I won't ride in her car or let my son do so because she won't put her phone down and drive. I hope she gets a hefty ticket but honestly I don't think that will stop her, either.

[montana_hazeleyes]

82. I didn't get to read the thread yet,

but my answer is no I don't text and drive. It is illegal here, but I still I still wouldn't anyway.

There is a good documentary I saw on Netflix called " From One Second To The Next" that is truly heartbreaking and eye opening. Victims as well as persons who caused tragedies tell their stories of how accidents quickly destroyed and changed lived forever because of texting while driving.

[BigDemVoter]

84. That scares me to death!

I only drive but rarely, as I don't have a car. But when I am behind the wheel, I always try to keep in mind that I have a several ton vehicle under my control, and as you said, 'from one second to the next' is really all it takes.

[braddy]

83. I've never texted, and I pull off to return a call, my only issue when driving is when I get a

voicemail and I need to see if it needs to be quickly responded to.

On my cheap phone, I can't see the screen in daylight, and I can't hear my voicemail with the car noise.

[Binkie The Clown]

85. Don't text. Ever. Only drive 30-40 miles per MONTH.

That's what legs and bicycles are for.

[malaise]

86. I have a cell phone

but I never use it in a car

[PearliePoo2]

87. No I do not.

If I get a message or call, I pull over and stop in a safe, wide place.

[greymattermom]

88. If traffic is totally stopped

on the perimeter or I75, I look at my texts. I don't text back. If something is important, I call using my car bluetooth. Texting while driving implies that the car is moving to me, but I don't actually know that for sure. Sometimes the car seems to be legally parked.

[HoneyBadger]

95. I hate running over children and going to jail, so I do not

[TransitJohn]

96. A whole helluva lot more than will admit to it. eom

n/t

[moondust]

98. Never.

Gadget Zombies are my pet peeve--mainly those endangering the public while driving but also those in public spaces unaware of what is going on around them and expecting everybody else to stay out of their way.

[yuiyoshida]

101. No car...

No Smartphone. I am sadly lagging.

[Jakes Progress]

102. RW Assholes

That's who text while driving. Or read texts.

Selfish idiots who have no concept of the term "others", little imagination, fungible morals.

I haven't read any of the replies so don't know whom I might be impugning. Sorry, but if you are so self-important that you think your idle curiosity is more important than other people's lives, you are just an asshole.

[Chipper Chat]

103. Never

[Vinca]

106. Never. In fact I rarely use my cell phone at all.

I have had several near collisions with cars driven by people too involved in conversations to pay attention to things like stop signs.

[ileus]

107. I don't own a cell phone or a TV.

Nor do I drive cars.....

[Greybnk48]

110. Never.

I'll answer calls and talk on speaker, but I am such a klutz I have to pull over to dial/speed dial someone if I need to talk to them.