Shock PSA warns against texting at wheel

nnguyen

#1 – 7:21 AM August 17, 2009

I don't understand teenagers. I guess it's because I didn't have a cell phone until college. But really, it's not that hard to look at the fucking road while texting, learn where the keys are and text by touch. If you can't do it, then DON'T. Obviously touchscreen phones are out of the question, which is one of my main reason for not having one, I don't look at my phone alot when I call or text people.

hohum

#2 – 7:45 AM August 17, 2009

How about even if you think you can, just don't? Pull over? Just wait until you get to where you're going? It's crazy to me how people don't seem to respect the power and responsibility that they're given by driving these machines…

RedShirt77

#3 – 7:45 AM August 17, 2009

Ahh,

Young + Stupid + Distraction = Accident
Old + Distracted = Accident
Bad road design = Accident
Drunk = Accident

Lets just put all drivers in a capsule with no radio, cell jammer, and no distractions and see what happens. I bet daydreams become the number one cause of accidents. People seek distraction from menial tasks, whatever distraction the majority seek will be the leading cause of accidents and when paired with inexperience you see twisted metal.

HeatherB

#4 – 7:46 AM August 17, 2009

It's not just teenagers Nnguyen, I think recent bus accidents involving drivers and the fact that I know some of my own adult friends will text me while they are driving is enough to prove that it's far from a teenage problem.
You don't need to be texting while driving, full stop. Not even if you can not look at the screen. It's unsafe and stupid. I can crochet without looking down but I am sure as hell not doing it while I'm driving because my full attention needs to be on driving and my hands need to be on the wheel.

Rob Beschizza

#5 – 7:47 AM August 17, 2009

I don't understand alcoholics. I guess it's because I didn't have a drink until college. But really, it's not that hard to look at the fucking road after a couple of ales, learn where the turns are and drive by memory. If you can't do it, then DON'T. Obviously getting really leathered is out of the question, which is one of my main reasons for not driving really drunk.

toolguyd

#6 – 8:20 AM August 17, 2009

It's not just teenagers that text when driving. In the past few months, there have been cases where adult drivers, train operators, and others have been distracted by texting.

That video is a bit excessive though - it makes me not even want to drive at all. In other words, it does a great job of getting the message across.

soar

#7 – 8:38 AM August 17, 2009

In my opinion, texting while driving is way, way worse than talking on the phone while driving. So why the hell is talking and driving banned unless you have a bluetooth (which is just as bad because you're paying attention to the CONVERSATION and not the road) and texting not COMPLETELY banned? It's ridiculous. These lawmakers have to be really stupid.

Patrick Austin

#8 – 9:00 AM August 17, 2009

This video is almost enough to make me run out and buy a 6,000lb SUV for my wife to drive.

The insane thing is, there are still people who think cell phone use shouldn't be banned in vehicles. They compare it to other distractions like talking to a passenger, listening to the radio, etc.

Fact is, cell phone use is an unusually dangerous distraction. There's a lot of good science (both laboratory and real-world accident analysis) that shows there are maojr differences between talking/texting on the phone vs. talking to a passenger, listening to the radio, etc.

@nnguyen: I'd love to see what happens when you blow a front tire at 80 mph while typing on your phone. Your brain is not present when you're doing that shit, even if your eyes are still up and looking down the road. That's why talking on the phone is bad, too.

Tenn

#9 – 9:16 AM August 17, 2009

Good video. I'm fed up with fellow teenagers texting while driving. Sure, you can drive, even if you're not looking at the screen, but distractions like that reduce your ability to respond immediately to certain situations.

Like the guy that cut me off on a blind curve on Davis the other day at 55mph. This curve ends in a stoplight. (Don't even ASK me whose idea that was. The light is a ways distant from the truncation of the curve, but the line at the light gets long, so you turn and suddenly you realize that there's a line of cars there.)

Decides that me and the F250 aren't going fast enough- perhaps because me and the F250 in the lane next to me / slightly ahead on my left have realized the light is changed- and cuts me off with less than a foot to spare between my vehicle, his vehicle, and his vehicle, and the trailer the 250 is hauling. No turn signal.

Then does the same thing to the 250.

Then slams on his brakes, the 250 has to slam on his brakes, the quick braking causes the 250s trailer to juke to the side, almost slamming into me.

A cellphone in my hand, my likelihood of swerving appropriately would have been reduced. Also, I drive stick. Unless I'm on the highway, picking up and using my cellphone uses a hand I need.

I had a friend text once driving eighty. He laughed when I told him to stop. I was sitting in the middle seat so I leaned over and drove for his ass, then told him to pull the hell over and let me take the wheel if he was going to do that.

Friends don't let friends drive dumb.

hohum

#10 – 9:26 AM August 17, 2009

@5 Rob, Fantastic retort :)

Also, I didn't really comment on this in my first pass through the thread here, but I agree with #8 Tenn, it really is a good video… I feared it would be much cheesier than it is, but it was really quite brutal. I don't know if it'll work on those who do this sort of immature dance with death, but I thought it was well done.

The Life Of Bryan

#11 – 10:07 AM August 17, 2009

@7: Why do you want to increase her odds of death or life-altering injury on the road?

Amazing video, really ruined my morning. Very chilling.

Salvatron

#12 – 12:12 PM August 17, 2009

Not to say that this PSA wasn't well made... but am I the only one who found the crash scene somewhat hilarious? The "squishy" sound effects and all the head banging killed me.

Also, Why does the second car hit them? Whose driving that vehicle?? Were they txting too? Cus it looks like they were driving in the oncoming lane for no apparent reason.

jerwin

#13 – 12:45 PM August 17, 2009

Inappropriate for the intended audience. Oh well. Such determinations are why I find "parental controls" and other implementations of subjective rules in objective computer code to be slightly nauseating.

Caroline

#14 – 1:11 PM August 17, 2009

Yeah, do not text while driving. There is no way to do it safely.

People say of the iPhone "No tactile keyboard? How am I supposed to text while I drive??" and I always want to say "If it'll keep you from texting while driving, then please for God's sake buy one."

ofindustry

#15 – 1:56 PM August 17, 2009

At the point where the man said to ring an ambulance, everyone in stopped cars that picked up their cellphones should have been hit from all sides by lorry drivers. Just to bring the point home.

Halloween Jack

#16 – 2:27 PM August 17, 2009

The risk of accidents while texting is no joke; there was a teenager near here that got ejected from her SUV in an accident while texting--I've no doubt that her injuries were more gruesome than the ones shown here.

That having been said, I couldn't help but imagine a shot of a bloody thumb slowly typing "ZOMG WTF". I guess I'm just a bad man.

This video is almost enough to make me run out and buy a 6,000lb SUV for my wife to drive.

They're less safe than regular sized cars, due to the danger of rollover.

HeatherB

#17 – 2:27 PM August 17, 2009

@ #13 That's right!

MarkM

#18 – 3:13 PM August 17, 2009

This PSA has the best production values I've ever seen... Why didn't they show stuff like this when I was in high school? If so, I never wouldve drunk-drived, had sex, or done any drugs.

ClaMs

#19 – 1:58 AM August 18, 2009

@Markm

well, that would have been a boring life now would it?

karen

#20 – 8:11 PM August 23, 2009

I make a non-emergency police call for every texting driver I see. We are in a college town and at least once per week, I observe a car which can't stay in its lane--it's either going off the side of the road, then over correcting, or drifting into other lanes. One time I did see the driver was a little old lady. Every other time, the driver has been someone either talking or text messaging on a cell phone.

my brother is a fireman and cuts these idiots and their innocent victims out of wrecked cars on a regular basis.

Rick

#21 – 12:30 PM August 28, 2009

Excessive? I have been a EMT and FireFighter for 27 years, trust me this was not excessive. I have seen things that still keep me awake at night. This is a great video for every new driver to watch. And from what I see many of the long time drivers who now have a cell phone. Just leave the phone off while behind the wheel. Is it really that important that you can't wait to talk to or text someone after you safely arrive at your destination?