The Art of Distraction
While walking to and fro over the last few weeks, I have noticed a disturbing number of commuters whizzing by in their automobiles with cell phones attached to their heads. A new provincial law banning this distracting behaviour came into effect on the 26th of October 2009, while the three month grace period officially ended this past Monday. Even so, on my walk home from work yesterday, I counted nearly half a dozen Kingstonians who had yet to receive the memo and purchase some sort of compliant, hands-free device. As I rounded the last corner to my home, I came across a police cruiser who had just pulled over an unwitting commuter. While trying my best not to eavesdrop, I slowed my gait, removed my headphones, and tuned into the conversation. It quickly became apparent that this driver had been texting on her cell phone and was just being educated on the $500 fine she was about to receive.
The new law applies only to hand-held wireless communications and hand-held electronic entertainment devices. This means drivers must only use wireless devices that can be used in a hands-free manner:
- a cell phone with an earpiece or headset using voice dialling, or plugged into the vehicle’s sound system;
- a global positioning system (GPS) device that is properly secured to the dashboard or another accessible place in the vehicle; and
- a portable audio player that has been plugged into the vehicle’s sound system.
Some wireless devices require that users push a button to activate and/or deactivate the device’s hands-free function. This activity is permitted under the law.
Some critics argue that these new regulations do not go far enough, and are calling for an outright ban, specifically on in-car operation of mobile phones. Is the temptation to text, email, play with app’s and talk really that great, and honestly that dangerous? This got me thinking, where will we draw the line? If we are deemed incapable of talking on a cell phone and driving at the same time, then what about listening to music, conversing with passengers, or eating? I wonder what the fast food industry would have to say about an all out ban on coffee, burgers and french fries in your vehicle.
Accidents are bound to happen, and while I can see the logic behind hands-free devices, I honestly can’t support a movement that would see mobile phones banned outright from our cars. I get that driving should be the primary concern of people who are driving, but I have a flawless track record when it comes to multi-tasking in my car. Unfortunately there are other people out their who can’t even walk down the sidewalk and use a cell phone at the same time, so clearly these folks should refrain from driving around Kingston, or any other place for that matter, even with a hands-free device.
What do you think? Do the new laws go too far, or not far enough? Will we ever reach a point in time when talking on a cell phone while driving will be as taboo as smoking during pregnancy, or driving without a seatbelt? Special thanks to Ryan Harvey for today’s accompanying photo.
...or at least wipe the vaseline off this one...KIDDING!
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Comment by Matt Pedlar on 4 February 2010:
As I was driving home this week trying to eat a giant sandwich from Stuff'd I was wondering how it is illegal for me to talk on my cell phone, yet perfectly legal for me to eat?
I feel like eating and driving produces worse results for me personally than talking on my phone (even though I do use hands free now). I feel that the legislation should have given police a little more leniency to pull people over for doing anything stupid while they are supposed to be driving, including eating giant sandwiches.
Comment by Harvey Kirkpatrick on 4 February 2010:
Fully agree, but that leaves the law up to way too much interpretation. So instead of being pulled over for doing x (talking on a cell phone, eating, etc…) a police officer would have to make a judgment call as to how distracted you seemed. Let's hope that's not a delicious sandwich, else your enjoyment could be misinterpreted as distraction. I suppose that's all to say, eating, for some, could easily be as distracting as talking on a cell phone.
Comment by Jeff Cho on 4 February 2010:
I think that any activity that involves one (or more?) hands being occupied for more than, say, 30 seconds (arbitrarily) is a danger to driving. Texting, holding a cell phone to your ear, chowing down on a burger, folding intricate origami on your center console… these things all detract from your attention to the road and impact your reaction times.
Now when I eat in a car, I usually pick up whatever item, take a quick bite, and then put it down again. But I can see how it’d be a problem if people were just holding the wheel in one hand, clutching a Big Mac in the other the whole time.
This is one of those issues where they feel they have to target the lowest common denominator in the name of public safety, I think – I saw a guy the other day with a cell phone on one ear (held by his shoulder), a Blackberry in one hand and a pen in the other, writing down something on a pad which was being held against his steering wheel. I don’t know what magical appendage he might have been driving with. This was downtown Vancouver, one of the craziest places to drive that I’ve been so far in Canada.
But I’ve read multiple articles that state that, statistically, the ban on cell phones and GPS have not reduced accidents. I wonder how much of that’s because people who are bad drivers are still bad drivers regardless of whether they’re chatting or not, and how much of it is because most people don’t seem to care about the law change and continue on with old habits.
Comment by Flying_Monkey on 7 February 2010:
The basic problem is that being inside a car with all its safety features, warmth, music etc. makes you feel invulnerable. It also makes you less attuned to and distanced from the comparative vulnerability of other people – especially cyclists and pedestrians. Keeping down the distractions certainly helps, but it doesn't address that question of the psychological distance from others.
As a cyclist, I see plenty of people on bikes doing stupid things, but its far harder on a bike to tune out the world, and almost anything you do is likely to rebound on you rather than do harm to someone else. And the list of ludicrously dangerous things I see drivers doing as a matter of course just gets longer and longer.
However the things that are much better in Canada over the UK (where I came from) is that people generally drive much slower and are a bit more polite here. Slower speed and some consideration make a hell of a difference.
Comment by Harvey Kirkpatrick on 11 February 2010:
I would love a link to some of those studies/articles. Agreed that this law is catering to the lowest common denominator, but that's the sort of thing we do in the name of public safety. Just take a look at the warning labels on the products we use. Who in their right mind would think it's a good idea to spray Windex in their eyes? And sleeping pills…thanks for letting us know that you cause drowsiness.
Comment by Harvey Kirkpatrick on 11 February 2010:
I would be interested to know what the nataional per capita for accidents attributed to cell phone, gps, eating etc.. is. How does Canada rank in comparison to other countries? And to take that one step further, how does Kingston rank against other Canadian cities?