Re: Working through pain

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 22:31:13 -0500, "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 18:53:56 -0800, "R. L. Divergins"
><see-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
><news:lqllt1lq25s11ar0a168fpbn1shultte29@xxxxxxx> in
>rec.arts.sf.composition:
>
>[...]
>
>> Yes. If a lot of police accident reports cited cell phone
>> usage,

Officially on the form, OR if the other driver tells the investigating
officer and the officer tells the captain. Policemen are smart. They
notice patterns, long before the official paperwork gets re-designed.

[....]
>Moreover, it's often very hard to determine.

Many people notice and complain about cell phone use even when there is no
accident. Once the other driver claims that he saw a cell phone being used,
then it can be verified by the driver's cell phone bill.

[....]
>> then I think there would be some serious studies real quick
>
>It's very difficult to study.

Why, unless the time of the accident is unknown -- or the cell phone
companies will not release the phone bills, which is why I mentioned
congressional investigations.


> In fact there *have* been
>some studies. There was one a number years ago that made
>the cell phone enthusiasts very happy; as Patricia noted,
>there have been more recent ones

/note to self: check plural/


> that suggest that driving
>while talking on the phone is definitely *not* a good idea.

Testing reactions in a lab means little: on the highway you have real
incentive to keep attention on the road -- and lifelong habits of doing so.


>> Followed by easy congressional committee publicity:
>
>I see no reason to think that you (or anyone else not paying
>very close attention) would necessarily even be aware of
>congressional hearings on the subject.

If a congress critter chose to publicize the results, they'd get a lot of
coverage; it's a hot emotional issue, obviously. Therefore either they
didn't do much studying -- or got results they didn't choose to publicize.


> In fact I know that
>there's been enough congressional interest, real or
>potential, to have given rise to a fairly significant
>lobbying effort against any federal restrictions. There's
>been quite a bit at the state level, too: several states
>have laws that forbid municipalities to impose restrictions.

Now that's about what I figured. It's been a hot emotional issue for years;
so, long ago, some politicians quietly looked into it and found it not
worth pursuing. Since those wonderful folks who gave us 55 mph speed
limits don't think cell phones are worth restricting....


>Besides, congresscritters are among the last people whom I'd
>expect to be willing to give up talking on the phone while
>driving.

That could explain lack of political action in the past: why give up their
own phones when most other drivers couldn't afford phones anyway. At some
point the risk/benefit might have swung the other way, IF wider phone usage
was REALLY putting everyone, including the cc's and their own families, at
risk. By now we have improved phones and drivers that are more
experienced, using the phones, in and out of cars -- so the risk
(whatever it was) per driver may be on the way down.


>
>[...]
>
>> I'd expect the insurance companies to be watching for any
>> such correlations too (at least back before almost
>> everyone had a cell phone), and be right out there with
>> higher premiums.
>
>And just how would they determine who pays the higher
>premiums?


In the past, people who admitted owning mobile phones. Now that most people
have cells, people who admit on the application that they use a mobile
phone while driving. /insert quote from insurance policy about false
statements voiding coverage/


[....]
--
RL at houseboatonstyx com (insert one 'the')


.

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