[rant]
Why must ppl find more and more ways to distract themselves while driving down the highway, game consoles, dvd players, tv reception systems, hacking nav systems. I'm all for ppl modding their vehicles as they like, whether I like the results or not, but I personally have a problem with mods that risk the lives of innocent people just so someone can have a "cool" mod. "Oooo, look at him he can play xbox, wow you can watch movies!" Cell phones are bad enough.

Sorry but this is absurd. In my 20 years of driving, I've been lucky to have been in only 2 accidents, neither of which had injuries, but both of which the other driver wasn't paying attention and I had no where else to go, both times I got sideswiped. I'm inherently very attentive on the highway and maybe that's due to my training and job to some degree, the rest is that I don't want to be one of the 40,000+ people that die needlessly due to someone elses ignorance, which I have seen run rampant on many forums, not just here.

Ask anyone what they would wish for all humanity, most respond "Peace on Earth", I say, "A Modicum of Common Sense". A vehicle is inherently a complicated machine in which we all are jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none, we are all constantly learning the intricacies of driving the vast array of roads available to us. And seeing as though a majority of accidents happen within 25 miles home shows just how complacent ppl get to their surroundings, add to that a movie playing in an RX-8 driven by a less-than-stellar driver with less-than-stellar experience and you've got a recipe for disaster; a dead pedestrian waiting for a bus or rearending that family at a stop light.

You want a big *** whale-tail on the back, knock yourself out, you want to put 13" wheels on your ride and scrape the undercarraige as you drive, that's your business, put on as many stickers as you want if it makes you feel like you go faster. Leave the TV, DVD, and game console to the living room.

The only exception, and I mean the only exception are those vehicles such as SUVs, mini-vans that have such systems in the rear-passenger part of the vehicle.

You have my word, if I see a movie or game playing in the front of a vehicle as I drive behind you, I won't be behind you much longer because I'll have to make room for the Z28 Highway Patrol Cruiser about to pull your *** over, that I took the liberty of calling.
[/rant]

Enjoy and Stay Safe!
-Drew-

 

I guess I'll just avoid Palm Harbor, FL from now on.

I fully understand what you're saying. I like to be extra-perceptive of all the cars around me, and one of the things I look for when driving is whether the other drivers are talking into a cell phone so I can expect acts of stupidity.

I think it should be illegal to drive while holding the cell phone to your ear. Studies show however that hand-free cell use, even nav computers, kids in the back seat , stereos are a distraction to the driver, but I think that they should allowed. Certain people are bad drivers even without any distractions, so should we ban stereos, nav computers, all cell phone use, etc? I don't think so.

It is possible to ignore a movie playing in the front compartment. Hell, mother's often tune out their loud-mouth kids and I don't know how they do it Regardless, are you going to report a guy driving safely playing movies for his kids in the back seat (to entertain them so they're less of a distraction to him )? In fact, what's the highway patrol going to say? How about this:

You: Some guy is playing movies in his front compartment.
Cop: Is he driving erratically? exceeding the speed limit?
You: Well, no, but he could do so at any moment.
Cop: Sorry, I have bigger fish to fry.

 

You didn't read everything; "The only exception, and I mean the only exception are those vehicles such as SUVs, mini-vans that have such systems in the rear-passenger part of the vehicle."

Not likely, but I wouldn't be so non-chalant about it either, trust me, he would get stopped. No cop is going to risk his career or possible lawsuits should he decide NOT to pull him over.

Thanks for concurring with me on how we have enough distractions and do not need anymore.

 

It doesn't mean it should be made illegal. First of all, IF I was capable of playing movies, then I certainly wouldn't let it distract me because I'm not an IDIOT. Personally, it would be way more effective to make driver's tests actually test SOME skill.

I did read everything, I was just giving an example where I think you're being a little overzealous. It's even an example where the driver may be less distracted with a movie playing (i.e. with two screaming kids in the back seat). I don't know, which would tend to make me drive more aggressively, one movie (where I can control the volume) or two screaming kids? Not that I have two screaming kids, but this is just a hypothetical situation.

You want to do something about public safety, why not report drunk and/or reckless drivers, which are a much bigger problem, rather than the small percentage of people that can even play movies in the front compartment?

If you want to report even people driving safely, then go right on ahead. It's a free country, so I'm free to think it's a waste of time. It's just that if states legislate against everything that anybody objects to, this wouldn't be a country that I want to live in.

 

More to my point, with 2 screaming kids, is that not enough? For those that don't have kids, does that mean we allow them distractions where there should be none. Typically, someone that doesn't have kids, initially, are the young and inexperienced drivers to begin with, so it should be okay? At the expense of other's safety, no.

I have reported erratic driving, as for reckless, I haven't had the opportunity, though I'm unsure if i would be willing to get close enough or challenge the situation, though I would still report what i could. I don't imagine that I would even come across someone with such a mod as a DVD or game console in the front compartment, since it's more of a rarity at this point. Just the fact that ppl are considering it with apparent disregard to their safety and the safety of others is what's disheartening.

So where are we now? Drunk drivers or under the influence of something else, screaming kids, reckless road ragers, cell phone addicts, do we need to add such mods to an equation that's already difficult to control?

If this was a forum of family van or SUV owners discussing some fancy install techniques for a movie player in the back seat to calm those crazy nuggets, that would be one thing. But that's not it, is it? It's ppl that want to hack a nav system so they can watch movies as they drive, watch the local game on the way home, have their buddy kick on a console game with a screen in plain view of the driver. Is this really necessary? come on. "Modicum of Common Sense". Maybe that covers only 1% of all fatalities, but that's still 400 people that will see the sunrise, spend time with their families and friends, be able to get back in their 8.

 

The only difference in opinion is that you think it's impossible to video playing in the front of the car without being an impossible distraction to the driver. If I see someone that is distracted by watching a movie while driving, then I'd be the first one to turn them in. Hell, they're stupid enough that they shouldn't be allowed to use sharp pencils.

What I'm trying to argue is that it IS possible for someone to use this in a rational manner, that's all. You simply assume that everyone is going to abuse it and endanger lives, which I don't believe is true.

 

Sad to say but ANYTHING can be a distraction. Even your woman feeling risky. I plan on doing some rather interesting (to me) mods but I am responsible and dont plan on actually using anything more than the mp3 player or GPS while actually driving. People have the choice to be idiots or not. Having the gear for it doesnt mean they will be. Making it illegal is about as smart as making pot illegal (in my view wich of course differs from a lot of people) rather than alcohol. I know a lot of people dead from drunk drivers, yet dont know anybody killed for stoned drivers. Yet one is universally accepted almost as a right, while another is shunned quite emphatically in a lot of places.

I personally dont trust anybody but myself on the road and drive acordingly. You just need to do the same.

 

How can you be so attentive while checking out every other driver to ensure they are not on a cell phone, or playing a video on some television?

Why not pay attention to your lane, your vehicle, and the MOVEMENT of the ones around you, not whether the driver is calling home, or playing a DVD on an LCD screen to show it off.

I do not have any televisions, play stations, VCRs, DVD players, etc in my car, unless they are in the trunk for some reason, but, that is not my thing. I grew out of that mess 10yrs ago.

I fly for, and do a lot of business with, a local police department, and allow me to tell you, at least locally, they could care a less about wreckless drivers, speeders, and the others you commented about here. It is BOLO'd (Be On The Look Out) & forgotten at best. It is a different story if the officer is there & see's it, but if you call it in, typically they don't care.

With that said, I lost my sister to a car accident. Inattentiveness is a bad deal, but it tends to be the moron that is busy being pretend cop, or drinking and driving over the one making a phone call.


Nothing personal, just my opinion.

 

Never said that, just why do we need to add to the already numerous distractions we have to contend with.

Never said that either, but we're taking an already complicated, inherently dangerous task and making it more dangerous...and for what purpose, highway entertainment?

My point........

Again, I never said that, but now that you mention it, it wouldn't bother me in the least. though I can't personally see the correlation between vehicle mods and the use of controlled substances.

More to my point, but driving is a privaledge and abuses of that privaledge needs to be kept in check.

No one has yet justified any reason for such mods in the forward cabin.........

 

oosik, if it's any consolation, I COMPLETELY agree with you. I think having any additional possible distractions to the driver is a bad thing, and we're headed down the proverbial slippery slope; it started with cup holders, then CD players, then CD changers, then cell phones (oh my god the cell phones), then nav systems, now DVD players/televisions and game consoles! What's next, laptop computers mounted in the dash? Microwave ovens and cappucino machines? I know my examples are getting a bit ridiculous, but so are the things being installed in cars to distract drivers.

 

I, too, do agree with most of the things oosik said.

 

A friend of mine, a family guy, has a van with the overhead dvd/game console for his kids in the back. Personally, I think that's cool, entertain the kids on those long trips. Swap out driving with the spouse and you can sit back and watch a movie with the little ones for a while. Actually, I think those systems are pretty cool. But I"m sorry, no one can ever justify putting those things in the front cabin. I don't play console games and I know if the passenger up fron was watching a movie I'd probably be distracted at times and I don't need that.

I found, early on, that just driving my 8 is entertainment, in and of itself so I need nothing else.

If those kinds of mods are something you have to do just to do it, fine. Use while your driving and get into an accident, you'll get zero sympathy from me and probably from most ppl if they knew. If the system was rigged that it could operate when the vehicle was at a complete stop with the parking brake set fine. I guess you'd have to play in parking lots, but I can't imagine why on earth you'd do that.

All I want is for ppl to think about what they are really doing and what their intentions are. I'd really hate to come onto this forum to find out someones precious RX8 was wrecked either due to their own stupidity or that of someone else. Anytime I see pictures of damaged 8's here, I cringe. Even though it's not my car, I know how it feels all too well.

Do to your car what makes you happy, regardless of what anyone says, just use common sense and don't do anything that will risk your personal safety and the safety of, by far, the best looking car on the road!!

 

One time I had to leave on a trip when I was only about 50 pages from finishing a very good book. Know what I did? Yeah.

 

"I know a lot of people dead from drunk drivers, yet dont know anybody killed for stoned drivers."

Maybe thats because at least as of now Pot is illegal. Im all for making alcohol illegal as well then you wouldnt have so many drunk drivers either.

 

As I've said before, people who get in accidents because of this won't get my sympathy either. oosik, I know you didn't exactly say those things, but those conclusions I draw from your statement

"You have my word, if I see a movie or game playing in the front of a vehicle as I drive behind you, I won't be behind you much longer because I'll have to make room for the Z28 Highway Patrol Cruiser about to pull your *** over, that I took the liberty of calling"

regardless of whether the vehicle is being driven in a safe manner. You say that it would distract YOU, but it IS possible for someone else to IGNORE the video. I don't see that as making driving more difficult than listening to the radio.

If it makes you happier, I probably won't get a permanent video setup up front on my car, but I will bring my laptop along on long trips so my passengers can watch movies

 

I love these people that say they're capable of cooking a pizza and conducting an orchestra while they drive.

It must be great to have three heads.

---------

A stupid bitch crossed half of my lane and hit my leg (was on my motor bike) a few months ago while she was chatting on the hand held phone, driving her volvo. I stayed up and avoided getting killed - she denied all knowledge.

...ego and stupidy seem to go hand in hand!

 

What about the flip out touch screen CD recievers, with bigger text and buttons to make it easier to use?

Anyway, i mostly agree with you. I try not to talk on my cell phone at all while i am driving, and if i leave it on, it's for emergencies only (expecting a call.)

I usually dont change CD's at night during deer season for risk of keeping my eyes off the road for only a second or three.


However, should it be illegal? Well, maybe. We'll also need muzzles for the rugrats.:D

 

The problem with that is that there are too many people who do abuse it and endanger lives. And there are too many people who are not responsible enough to admit to themselves that it does distract them. They truly believe that they are capable, when in fact they don't take an honest assessment of the situation, but instead they foolishly assume that they are good enough. And that goes for about everything, not just distractions while driving.

There are people out there with the skills, and responsibility, that they can drive safer 20 miles over the speed limit than most people can at the speed limit. There are vehicles out there that with the same driver, are safer 20 miles over the speed limit than others at the speed limit. But there is no feasible way of identifying them, and allowing them to drive differently. In the system we have today, everyone has to be held to the same standard.

This was proven in the last ten years in Montana. When the national speed limit was lifted, Montana had no set speed limit during the daytime. Instead, the limit was as fast as conditions would allow. What happened was that people drove in what they thought were within their and their vehicle's capabilities. There were two problems: A) There were many many people who obviously did not make an honest assessment of what they or their capabilities were, or thought it was a free ticket to drive recklessly, and B) There is no way for a trooper to make an accurate assessment of a driver or vehicle's abilities. Sure, you can tell if someone is being reckless, but you can't determine someone's limits. For example, my brother canNOT drive my car as capably as I can. He is a perfectly responsible driver, but the responsible limit for him on a twisty mountain road is significantly less than mine, and there is no way that a trooper on the side of the road can tell the difference between the two of us. Several years back, Montana eventually had to put an actual speed limit up, because there was just no way that a trooper or the courts could fairly judge whether someone was driving past their capabilities.

So, even though there are a couple of people with vehicles that can safely drive down an open freeway at 100 mph, we have to restrict them to the same speed limits as everyone else. And so, even though there are a few people who actually can keep a video screen from distracting them, we have to restrict them from that like everyone else too.

---jps

 

WOW.........that would freak me out. That's why I don't own a motorcycle and why, when I see one I stay the hell away from them. Bikes make me more nervous than big rigs.

 

You see a lot more on a bike (of drivers) one guy I remember seeing in a tunnel had his filofax on the steering wheel held by his left hand, pen slotted through left fingers, a mobile in the crook of his neck and using his right hand to sip the coffee he had between his legs when not taking notes with the pen.

Then you have women that apply eye make up as the drive along. There can be no brain at all in those heads!!!

Maybe a video screen on the back parcel shelf, facing forward with a view from a camera at the front of the car would be a good idea. That way women with children could spend all of their time twisted around facing the back seat and yelling at their kids instead of only half of it.

I'll end my rant by asking how anyone here would feel if they ran over a child because they were too busy with their attention on a video display to see the kid run out? (Don't be foolish enough to think this can't happen to you).

 

OK, I skimmed thru this thread. But I would call bad in-attentive drivers, bad in-attentive drivers.

If you want to go back to the begining of distractions, don't forget radios, tape players, and the ones the "professional" drivers use most 2-way radios. Be it truckers or law enforcement. Have you seen the equivilent of laptops in police cars these days.

 

You're right, more and more toys for the auto come out to make our lives simpler, yet, possibly put us in more danger. Hopefully most people can weed through these things when making a decision. Though it seems there are more and more visual distractions, where as in the beginning is was more aural. I think visual distraction is more dangerous by far.

 

So I'm slightly confused. Are those of you who don't like the added distractions in cars arguing that we make them illegal or simply recommending that people shouldn't put game consoles and similar things in their cars? In my opinion it's foolish to put a game console in a small car, but by no means am I going to tell you that you aren't allowed to if you so choose. As for people watching tv or playing games while they are driving, again I believe people should make their own decisions, even if they might be retarded ones.

It seems to me, though, that most of you are advocating making these new distractions illegal in cars for security. I even see some of you saying that we should illegalize alcohol so people won't have the opportunity to drive drunk. Do you really believe illegalizing alcohol will keep people from drinking it, and moreover from drinking and driving? It worked really well in the 20s and it's working well with drugs right now, minus the "it worked part". You people are so ready to throw away your freedom and let the government regulate everything just for the possibility of security. As Benjaming Frankilin so eloquently put it "they that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty". I don't think by any means that this is an essential liberty, but I still don't want the government regulating everything I do. This includes making foolish decisions to put game consoles in my car. I'm willing to take the risk and allow others to make their own decisions.

 

I'm glad for you that you're willing to take the risk of doing something stupid. If you were the only person that would be killed or injured as a result of your own stupidity I would also endorse it. BUT THAT IS NOT THE CASE!!!

It's fine to quote Benjamin Franklin, but I can't imagine many parallels in his day that would equate to a speeding drug addict playing a game console driving past a school at the wheel of two tons of steel.

Let's face it, the ability of many individuals to make intelligent choices must be getting pretty close to non existent in recent years. Common sense is no longer common. Laws have to be introduced to protect the innocent from the morons and criminals that have no regard for the safety of others.

If this makes installing a game console in a car that can be used by the driver while the car is in motion a crime - GOOD!!! Because it may safe someone's life.

If you think having the freedom to do something really stupid that can harm or kill others is important, you are a FOOL of the hishest order. (Notice here that I said "if you think" - not "you are").

While you're quoting Benjamin Franklin, remember that if you did something that needlessly caused death to others in those days, you'd probably have been shot dead within a few minutes - is that the sort of freedom you want???

 

The person who applies eye makeup or watches TV while driving is assuming most of the risk himself. Not all, but most.

Since the invention of the spear thousands of years ago, man has been able to take the life of another with a flick of the wrist. Responsibility has been a core human virtue for at least as long. The old lessons still apply.

You're exaggerating. There have always been morons and criminals, and there have always been people complaining that civilization is going right down the crapper. It is not.

There are an infinite number of ways in which one person could harm another through irresponsibility. Should we outlaw each one? Each new law brings new bearucratic overhead, and it's gotten to the point that your life is governed by thousands of times more laws than you could feasibly understand.

Not only is it important, it is absolutely vital. Have you ever thrown a baseball in an area where a stray throw might have given a concussion to a passerby? Imagine such a simple right taken away, and maybe you'll get a sense of why some people guard their freedoms jealously.

Uh, do you have a reference for that? I actually thought that they had laws and courts and judicial process in his day. Or are you exaggerating again?