Put away that flute and drive the car

venturacountystar.com ^ | 03/03/07 | Chuck Thomas

[Ellesu]

Can any legislation be successful in banning all distractions for motorists?

Like California, many states are banning the use of cell phones while driving a car, and some bans go way beyond cell phones.

So far, Vermont may have the longest list of no-nos for motorists, with a proposed law that even prohibits playing the flute while driving. I've played a bit of flute in my time — not very well — but not as badly as if I were trying to drive and "tootle" at the same time.

The Vermont law also would forbid such driving distractions as smoking, eating, drinking, reading, writing, personal grooming or "interacting with pets or cargo."

That last one brings to mind the most distracted driver of them all -— a mother with two youngsters in the back seat and she's trying to smoke, eat, talk on a cell phone and referee the spat in the back seat — and drive — all at the same time.

There are so many distractions for drivers — many of them predating the advent of cell phones.

Smoking and eating and trying to keep peace in the back seat have long kept drivers from focusing all their attention on the road, but cell phones aren't the only distractions added by technology. We now have hand-held video games and some other high-tech gadgets I can't even describe.

That trend all started with the car radio, one of the few technological innovations of my youth that's still around. Trying to find a favorite station while driving could be a bit of a challenge — before the arrival of push-button tuning.

Then came the tape player and the CD player, not to mention the in-dash TV set and the gadget that shows you a map on a dashboard screen so you won't get lost. None of this stuff encourages drivers to pay close attention to what's happening on the road. But cell phones have become the straw that made a sway-back camel.

Investigations of fatal collisions, in California and other states, have found an inordinate number have involved drivers using cell phones.

"Cell phones attracted people to this issue," according to Matt Sundeen, a transportation analyst with the National Conference of State Legislators. "Now that people are more focused on distracted-driving issues, they're beginning to talk about a broader range of distractions."

According to John Curran of Associated Press, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a study reporting that distracted drivers were involved in nearly 80 percent of the crashes and near-collisions surveyed.

But still, many drivers — maybe even most drivers — insist on engaging in some distracting behavior while driving. (I'll confess that I'm among the guilty: I once ran a car off the road and smack into a huge rock, trying to rewind a tape and replay just one part of it.)

Thomas Koch, the Vermont legislator who wants to ban flute-playing, explained his bill this way: "What pushed me over the edge was when I was at a stop sign and somebody opposite me was trying to navigate around a corner with a cell phone to the ear in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and she wasn't doing very well."

Then, when Koch's wife told him that she had seen someone trying to play the flute while driving, he added that to the list of no-nos.

Some of these bans are for the good of all drivers, although many don't see it that way. Anything that discourages people from smoking cigarettes is really doing them a favor.

Instead of spelling out all the activities being banned, some states have gone a more generic route, and have banned "any activity that could interfere with the safe operation of a motor vehicle."

There's no law that can force people to concentrate just on driving. Even without cell phones and/or flutes, we all get distracted by the radio, by what's happening in the back seat, by conversing with our passengers or just by letting our minds wander. No law can read people's minds to see if they're really totally focused on driving.

California's ban doesn't start until 2008, and it merely requires both hands on the steering wheel. You can still talk on a cell phone if it's a hands-free cell phone like the headsets you see in many offices, including newspaper offices.

Whether these laws are specific or generic, such bans are going to be an official migraine to enforce. It takes no hyperactive imagination to envision a driver out on the road, talking illegally on a cell phone, being closely followed by another driver, also talking illegally on a cell phone — as the second driver calls the California Highway Patrol to report the first driver.

[fishtank]

In the middle of west Texas and eastern New Mexico, I have played the blues harp while driving. Not much radio out there in the daytime.

[American_Centurion]

One time, at band camp, .....

[mysterio]

I will give up my cell phone as soon as children are banned from cars. I can't count the number of swerving parents I've seen turned around yelling at the kids. Safety first and all.

[Spktyr]

I've got it - children should be locked into "safety cells" in the car. Then they can't annoy other passengers (other children), nor throw things, and would be well protected in case of accident.

I'm in favor of it - if the parents have to pay for said cells to be installed. After all, it's for the children! (/dem)

[Sax]

"prohibits playing the flute while driving."

Can someone in the passenger seat play your flute while you're driving then?

[RebelBanker]

Typican nanny-state stupidity. This line really got me: Some of these bans are for the good of all drivers, although many don't see it that way. Anything that discourages people from smoking cigarettes is really doing them a favor.

[Thermalseeker]

I will give up my cell phone as soon as children are banned from cars. I can't count the number of swerving parents I've seen turned around yelling at the kids. Safety first and all.

My wife was T-boned in a Wal-Mart parking lot by a woman doing exactly that. This woman was turned around backwards yelling at her kids while going across the parking lot, ignoring the painted lines, and hit my wife dead center inbetween the front and rear doors of our Pathfinder. The woman was driving an Excursion, the Excursion won. The Pathfinder was totalled. It's a thousand wonders that my wife wasn't killed. On top of that, the woman had Geico insurance. The worst insurance company I've ever dealt with, bar none.

[Roccus]

"I've got it - children should be locked into "safety cells" in the car. Then they can't annoy other passengers (other children)..."

Maaaaa!! He's lookin' at me again! In the mirror!!!

[mysterio]

There were Car and Driver articles in the 90s that pretty much skewered Geico. I firmly believe that I have the last good car insurance policy in existance.

[Spktyr]

Did I mention the active noise cancelling system in each cell?

[Roccus]

LOL!!

[r9etb]

I see a guy every now and again who beats on his steering wheel with drumsticks as he drives. Does all sorts of fancy twirling and so on -- really impressive, and I'm guessing he's an excellent drummer. But I try to stay out of his way.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

I will give up my cell phone as soon as children are banned from cars.

When you're on the highway and stuck behind someone camping out in the passing lane, seven times out of ten, that someone is busy jabbering away on the phone, completely oblivious to his or her surroundings. I commute 80 miles round-trip every Monday through Friday, and I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me.

[bassmaner]

Instead of spelling out all the activities being banned, some states have gone a more generic route, and have banned "any activity that could interfere with the safe operation of a motor vehicle."

Since no human being can totally focus on one activity without at least small distractions, this sounds like a step along the way to banning all private operation of motor vehicles.

The lyrics of the Rush song 'Red Barchetta' ('the Motor Law') becoming reality ...

[SlowBoat407]

The Vermont law also would forbid ... "interacting with pets or cargo."

I believe there are other laws covering that as well.

Maybe not in Vermont, though.

[Ellesu]

The Vermont law also would forbid such driving distractions as smoking, eating, drinking, reading, writing, personal grooming or "interacting with pets or cargo."

[Calpernia]

How's THIS for distracted driving! :))



http://www.firstact.com/AboutFirstAct/InTheNews/09_28_2006_VW.aspx
First Act Rocks V-Dubs

Excerpt

First Act teamed up with Volkswagen of America, Inc. to present the First Act GarageMaster guitar, an innovative guitar that plays through the audio system of select VW models. During fourth quarter 2006, each new Jetta, GLI, GTI, Rabbit, New Beetle, and New Beetle Convertible included a custom-designed First Act GarageMaster guitar.

Owners of the new VW models were able to transform their cars into mobile amps, with a newfound freedom to rock in the driveway, play at outdoor parties, or shred in the beach parking lot. New rockers hit the road with a First Act GarageMaster guitar in the trunk, ready to stop and dispense riffs wherever the mood struck.

The Guitar and The Car

The key to the guitar's unique design is a special built-in pre-amp that allows the guitar to plug directly into the VW model's auxiliary jack. The pre-amp was developed with First Act's proprietary V-Stack Technology, a revolutionary analog modeling technique that emulates the tone of sought-after vintage guitar amps.

The guitar came in four VW-complementary colors. An engraved plate on the back of the headstock featured the same Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) as the newly purchased car.

(snip)

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

hmmm but even Cavemen can do it.

[doodad]

My favorite was a guy who was doing something that was causing him to weave, change speeds and generally drive like a moron. Two lane road and we were all stuck behind him. Road opens up and I get my own lane as we pull to the light. He puts down his coffee and empties the last of the milk from his cereal bowl out the door!!