I once saw a woman pulling on to Hwy 9 from a busy intersection (stop sign from her direction only), truck [newer diesel I think it was] pulling a medium-sized horse trailer and she had a cell phone in her left hand as she was cranking the steering wheel and pulling out on to that highway! How in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks does a new vehicle NOT come with Bluetooth?
The main highway I drive (530) is a death zone. Lots of big trucks. Crackhead drivers. Rich city folks coming out to race around in the countryside. Motorcyclists who believe they have different driving laws, that it's OK to pass in a no-passing zone (and do so around corners!) as well as just generally all over the place. Aggressive, tailgating drivers who believe:
Tailgating is my pet peeve. Had someone recently pass me with an oncoming car. I wasn't very far from a car in front of me, which had been going a bit slow. Ther passing car gained perhaps 1 second in that move. And then the same car passed a couple more cars as oncoming traffic had to veer off to the shoulder a bit. All this to then only turn off on a side street a handful of seconds later. And this was at night! Even IF there was an emergency it was less than a mile stretch till that side road came up! 60 mph means a mile a minute. Perspective!
And, of course, the young women/girls who have ZERO clue of physics, who have zero depth perception, whose parents utterly failed them how to drive properly. It's this as much as it is inattentiveness (though that's in play as well).
When people are killed we're always hearing about folks praying for the families. My wife and I say that they should be praying that folks educated their family members on how to drive properly!
Speaking of things changing, I know that older eyes are a bit more sensitive to light, but it's just amazing how many vehicles are running around with mis-aimed, non-working and just flat-out obnoxious lights. Add in those who can never seem to dip their headlights and all I can think of is that I'd like to just be at home.
Cell phones and driving... I won't use a cell phone unless hands-free. When getting a new stereo a couple of years back (for my now 21 year-old car) I got one that supports Apple Carplay and Android Auto. I'd got one for my wife's previous car some time before this and had ample time to watch her fumble around with cable connections and dash/window phone holders and all and I thought that there had to be a cleaner way to all this. I came up with a solution that uses a magnetic cable and adapter which greatly simplifies the phone-to-cable hook-up. Long and short of it is that I shove my phone into a slot in my car's dash and it automatically connects such that I have full function of Android Auto (Android phone)- my music, phone, texting (though one can only reply- voice-to-text) and navigation (which one has to poke one's fingers at- not used all that often, and when I do use it it's before setting out or my navigator/wife does it). ALL this was because I will not take my eyes and concentration off of the road!
I went a long time before getting a "cell phone." Basic one at first. And when I met my current wife she got a more advanced phone which she then passed along to me: cell phone use picked up dramatically when she was diagnosed with cancer- I was in high tech and I hate it, but when one actually finds real value in something I don't care! Anyway, my "phone" is mostly used for music and for taking pictures (I love taking pictures of scenery, especially of our place; and, documenting things as I work on them it an invaluable tool). I could do "Luddite," but will straddle worlds until the time comes in which it's necessary.
