Obligatory:

I will admit to texting while stopped a red lights, if someone just texted me.

Not while the car is actively moving. Worst that happens is that I get honked at.

Rincewind53: I will admit to texting while stopped a red lights, if someone just texted me.

Not while the car is actively moving. Worst that happens is that I get honked at.

yeah, eff those people.

bdub77: Obligatory:

I see I'm not needed here.

As you were.

If someone is texting me, it's not important.

Texting while driving... no.

Posting to a Fark thread while driving... mmm, I'm okay with this.

Rincewind53: I will admit to texting while stopped a red lights, if someone just texted me.

Not while the car is actively moving. Worst that happens is that I get honked at.

It's a bad habit. You really shouldn't be distracted while at a stop light. You never know when you are going to have to pull aside for emergency reasons. Or duck in case there is an accident in progress.

Darth_Lukecash: Rincewind53: I will admit to texting while stopped a red lights, if someone just texted me.

Not while the car is actively moving. Worst that happens is that I get honked at.

It's a bad habit. You really shouldn't be distracted while at a stop light. You never know when you are going to have to pull aside for emergency reasons. Or duck in case there is an accident in progress.

Yeah, I know it's a bad habit. But on safety grounds, it's really not particularly unsafe to be distracted while stopped at a red light. If an ambulance needs me to pull over, I'm not deaf, I'll notice. And we're talking looking down for maybe 5 seconds at a time.

Rincewind53: Yeah, I know it's a bad habit. But on safety grounds, it's really not particularly unsafe to be distracted while stopped at a red light. If an ambulance needs me to pull over, I'm not deaf, I'll notice. And we're talking looking down for maybe 5 seconds at a time.

I can't stand seeing people using headphones while driving. People use horns and sirens for a reason, you shouldn't intentionally block that shiat out.

scottydoesntknow: Rincewind53: Yeah, I know it's a bad habit. But on safety grounds, it's really not particularly unsafe to be distracted while stopped at a red light. If an ambulance needs me to pull over, I'm not deaf, I'll notice. And we're talking looking down for maybe 5 seconds at a time.

I can't stand seeing people using headphones while driving. People use horns and sirens for a reason, you shouldn't intentionally block that shiat out.

Totally agree with you on that, if you can't hear what's going on outside the car then you're not driving safely.

You should suspend their license as well as forbid them a cell phone for a year. That'll hurt em worse than anything.

/get a land line, biatch

mynameist: DUI laws will continue to be too harsh until penalties for using mobile devices become equal.

It's completely different. *I* know how to text and drive.

I have trouble driving while I drive.

And 10 out of 10 elderly drivers admit to driving.

basemetal: You should suspend their license as well as forbid them a cell phone for a year. That'll hurt em worse than anything.

/get a land line, biatch

Let them drive, but suspend their cell phone access for a year--that should do it. Better still: install the cell phone in their car, but don't let them use it if the engine is running. Torture is a delicate art.

drjekel_mrhyde: TheBeastOfYuccaFlats: If someone is texting me, it's not important.

This

This brings up an interesting point. Texting (or SMS, as well call it here) is the rage in Indonesia, where I live, and where every one of the approximately 220m inhabitants possesses an average 1.05 cell phones.

I've studied the issue and talked to people about when and why they text; the conclusion is not that texting is for trivial or silly matters but in many cases may simply be a more polite way of initiating a communication than phoning directly. When you phone directly you risk encountering anger, inconvenience, a noisy environment or someone in a critical situation. I often text first, asking whether it would be convenient to call them up - and if not now, then when.

When it's a client, or a superior, or somebody prone to nastiness, I find it infinitely preferable to text first. Also to be texted - it gives me the option of ignoring the message, which is considerably more diplomatic than hanging up or choosing to ignore the call.

Is it cultural perhaps?