Outside The Media. Beyond the News. Live from Greensboro, NC.

Not even if you use a Bluetooth system ... studies are showing that it's frickin' dangerous. So I guess I ought to just ditch mine (and yeah, I know my friends will be most pleased if I do) and just rely on voice mail to catch up after I stop the car.

Pity ... I thought it would be a good alternative for use while driving. Just like talking to a passenger.

The problem is, most of our employers rely on us being available in the car... Mine for some reason called me 4 times the day of the funeral.... I say we go back to the days before voicemail and answering machines... back when you didn't answer the phone at dinner.

Lucky me, I've never gotten a call from work while I've been driving.

Now that I think on it, the "need" to be available while driving is rather neurotic, isn't it? I mean, I spend 1 hours out of 24 on average in my car. And I expect I drive more than the average commuter. I should think that VM would be just fine for nearly all situations. Provided you check it while the car is OFF.

I have twice had minor accidents after meeting my parents at the airport and driving home. In neither case was the accident my fault* but I'm fairly sure that had I been paying more attention and not been busy catching up on the news they wouldn't have happened.

But all sorts of things can distract us when driving and the world would be a boring place if they were eliminated


The best we can try to do is reduce them. I use my cell phone, usually on hands free and not when I'm in town or in heavy traffic. It's no worse than trying to navigate with a map on your lap.

* from an insurance perspective. One case someone rear-ended me after I stopped a bit sharpish at at pedestrian crossing, and the other when someone drove out of a side road.

I can't blame cell phones all together, as A.P. states... there are other distractions... radios are just, if not more distracting.

I wonder if it helps that I habitually work to become extra-vigilant when activating my phone while driving. Of course, generally, I drive on back roads, so there's hardly ever any traffic to worry with... Meh.

On Brainiac (a sort of British Mythbusters but it takes itself a lot less seriously) they decided to test drivers with and without distractions, They had three attempts, one with no distractions, one with loud music and one with other people in the car providing various distractions.

The chap who had a trio of models changing from day clothes to evening clothes while he navigated a course actually did better (faster with fewer penalties) with a bevy of partially disrobed beauties than without. Loud music was apparently the most distracting.

That's a safety accessory I should get installed in my car.