During the pandemic, distracted driving increased, and it hasn’t gone down since.
Until relatively recently, good data on the problem of distracted driving has been hard to find. The government estimates that 3,522 people died because of it in 2021, but experts say the official number probably majorly undercounts the number of deaths, in part because police are rarely able to definitively prove that a driver was distracted right before a crash.
In the last few years, though, the data on distracted driving has gotten better. Cambridge Mobile Telematics is a company that partners with major insurance companies to offer downloadable apps that drivers can use to save money on their rates. Via the apps, Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) uses mobile phone sensors to measure driving behavior, including whether a person is speeding, holding their phone, or interacting with an unlocked screen while driving (the company says it doesn’t collect information on what the drivers are doing on their phones). Its work gives the company insight into the driving behaviors of more than 10 million people.
CMT recently analyzed driver behavior during millions of car trips. What it found should be troubling to anyone who uses a road in the US: During the pandemic, American drivers got even more distracted by their phones while driving. The amount of distracted driving hasn’t receded, even as life has mostly stabilized.
Yeah, I’ve been norticing it alovt to form rova drivres! Throiew mex eoo er…
Damn it, I hate it when I almost crash while posting on Lemmy.
As I was saying, I’ve been noticing that a lot from other drivers. They’re a bunch of-
FUCK ALMOST MISSED THAT RED LIGHT
assholes.
Now I’m a bit sad. A part of my childhood has died. bash.org.
https://web.archive.org/web/20211017044655/http://bash.org/?browseI know there was one where someone was typing on IRC while driving his truck, and ends his quote with “fuck just rear ended a lady” but no way to find that quote directly now.
That was years ago, before smart phones I think.
There’s literally nothing in your social life, family life, social media life, etc that’s more important than driving while you’re driving. Put the fucking phone down. You will eventually one day crash or kill someone.
At the same time, whatever one’s destination is will still be there if one is three minutes behind the scheduled time one planned on arriving. Yet so many think driving is a Mad Max race to beat all the other cars that are, spoiler alert, not going to the same destination. If one is chronically late, just leave earlier.
So many just cram every step of life into driving, I remember one day some years back when I saw a woman driving down an interstate at 70MPH with her visor down so she could put her eye makeup on with one hand while eating a burger in the other. Like, what led your life to this point that you ever thought any of this was a good idea?
For all our intelligence, we humans are hilariously dumb animals when it comes right down to it.
The real answer is a better mixed-mode transportation system, at least in the US. Our rich became so addicted to all the money involved in cars existing that they crippled our country’s evolution. Really hope the trend of younger generations not owning cars, and modern cars being insanely overpriced continues, it’ll drive the car right out of the equation.
Literal karen drivers and decades of car-centric mentality is fueling this cesspool.
What if I’m walking someone through how to disarm a bomb, huh?! /s
Pulling over might help
In that case, get a bigger car and drive faster.
The US really needs better public transportation.
These problems go away when people are able to travel by bus and rail
I just saw a driver blocking a right turn lane, with 4 cars honking their horns behind her, while she was speaking on her phone.
what a piece of shit
I’ve been driving for 20 years now. I think the first 10 years i never used my horn once. I always thought it’s pointless when someone doesn’t doesn’t go immediately when the traffic light turns green. Now a days and since i drive for work a lot, i honk maybe once a day because people don’t go, because they are usually on their phones or filming tiktoks or whatever the hell. It’s sometimes downright scary seeing people on the other lane just driving absolutely blind.
Unpopular take, any video uploaded with the speaker driving and recording should be issues an instant fine and videos banned from the internet.
I think that’s a very popular take here!
I stopped driving as soon as I move to a city. sounds really dangerous
It always irks me when someone is tailgating me with one hand at 12 o’clock and one holding their phone. Sorry for driving 5 over the speed limit in front of your truck. And why are you having a phone conversation while holding your phone when I know damn well your truck has Bluetooth?
People do the “hold the phone out on speaker to have a conversation thing” because people watched The Kardashians do it (so that the camera mics can pick up both ends of the conversation). Now people think that’s how important people talk on the phone. It’s absolutely retarded and a meta form of main character syndrome.
I’ve never watched the kardashians, but I do this when I’m having a conversation on speaker because it doesn’t work very well if you leave the phone in your pocket.
If you actually need to use your speakerphone because the handset speakers aren’t good enough or busted, or if you need to be on speakerphone for the benefit of people around you who need to listen in, those are valid reasons. Too many people don’t have a valid reason.
People have been doing this shit ever since those stupid “walkie talkie” phones came out forever ago (before smart phones).
Edit: Nextel!
Some people can’t leave their phones alone for five seconds.
I was at the cinema the other day and this fucker sat on the front row and proceeded to keep going on their phone.
I had to resist the strong urge to pelt a minstrel at his head.
Why did you resist the urge? I would have stood up and walked over to his rude ass and confronted him. The rest of the crowd will almost certainly be on your side, even if they all lacked the courage to act.
My favorite is the phone mounted to the steering wheel so they can watch Netflix.
I would have to pull over if I saw that to make sure that car got about a mile away from me before I kept going.
It’s super fun heading down 95 south of DC and seeing two people pass you doing that 15 minutes apart.
Invariably, when I’m on Lincoln Drive in Philly and someone is swerving between both lanes, they are on their cell phone either holding it in their hand to talk or reading and responding to texts.
If you’re not familiar with Lincoln Drive, it’s a winding, twisting road with two lanes in each direction, with a drop to a stream on one side and a rise up a hill on the other.
There’s no shoulder at all for most of the way, so nowhere to go if you’re tailgating and something happens. People are always tailgating. The speed limit is 25mph, but you almost never see traffic going less than 35mph.
I live in a small town and I run through the side streets around me. Have been for years.
This winter season of running (when my evening runs are during dusk/dark) I wear multiple lights and have typically considered myself more visible than during daytime running. However that has not been the case this year. I’ve had to get out of the way of oncoming traffic a few times which has only happened one time previously.
It is ridiculous how little people are paying attention while moving around in 4-6k lb metal cages.
Whether it’s messing with their phone, or their touch screen infotainment systems it’s quite the time be along a roadway trying to exercise.
strap an IED to yourself, if they are willing to disregard your life, disregard theirs
This year for the first time, I’ve honestly considered finding two decent sized, easy to carry rocks to run with as encouragement to stay away from me.
Research “ninja rocks.”
I’m already excited by their name alone!!
Wiki for anyone who does not feel like searching: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_rocks
I should point out that when Wikipedia of all places has a legal status section you should take real care with how/when/where you have them.
Too subtle. Need to be jogging with an RPG at the ready.
Well see clearly you don’t run because I’d need two to keep balanced :)
Yeah, super important to go against the flow of traffic so you can see the cars coming that for some reason aren’t giving any room…
Ya for sure… It amazes me how many people don’t know this…
So I know this is slightly off topic of phone distraction but I’ve been thinking that if phone use ever got regulated there should be something in the rules about built in screens in cars. They are becoming really common and present many of the same problems that phones do, especially when badly designed with key functions like AC built in to them. It feels like the problem isn’t about using a phone specifically bit being distracted by screen use.
I’ve noticed it the most at stop lights. Light turns green and the person in front of you takes forever to get moving or you have to honk.
Some countries have an automatic year or two driving ban for drunk driving. It’s time we did this for phones.
It’s a lot harder to do for phones though really … mostly because unlike alcohol there’s not a test to prove you were texting 3 miles back. You have to be caught in the act and then it can be a “you vs the officer” thing.
Even if we required video evidence, it would have a huge affect on the problem.
You know, I’d never thought until now that this might have been why the dickhead who knocked me off my bike could have missed seeing me.
Food for thought.
Who needed confirmation they’re not imagining it? I can see it with my own eyes every single day.
I can steer with my knees just fine thanks
