Highway Interchange

[John Fenna]

Agreed. The current predominant distraction seems to be texting.



John the other passengers didn't find it out of the ordinary for a simple reason: it's not. I can both eat and concentrate at the same time. I can also walk and chew gum at the same time while carrying on a conversation.

I am sure that my driving skills are compromised if I am holding food and drink in each hand, holding the wheel with only the little finger of each hand (or only one hand while gesticulating at the scenery) tilting my head back to drink or looking at the food/drink I am about to introduce to my mouth...
I am OK at chewing and concentrating - but not multi-tasking on that kind of level!

 

[Harvestman]

I am sure that my driving skills are compromised if I am holding food and drink in each hand, holding the wheel with only the little finger of each hand (or only one hand while gesticulating at the scenery) tilting my head back to drink or looking at the food/drink I am about to introduce to my mouth...
I am OK at chewing and concentrating - but not multi-tasking on that kind of level!

Wasn't there a case last year of the police stopping someone because he was eating an apple whilst driving? If I recall correctly the driver was prosecuted for driving whilst not being in full control of his vehicle.

 

[John Fenna]

Wasn't there a case last year of the police stopping someone because he was eating an apple whilst driving? If I recall correctly the driver was prosecuted for driving whilst not being in full control of his vehicle.

I did hear of someone being done for eating a sandwich... not heard of the apple one before...

 

[santaman2000]

Mate, i think it's time to get your eyes retested

Slowest 60mph, fastest 80mph.
That's a 25mph difference or just under 50% of the slowest speed limit.

As i say though it really doesn't make any difference to my point that coming from the UK to drive in most US states it feels soooooo slooowwwwwwwww.

Be that freeway speeds or driving in general

Yep. But both of those extremes are in pretty limited areas. Not at all widespread. If you check my earlier comments I conceded variation; just that it was/is limited. Only 11 states (That 85mph zone shown in Texas is wrong) which look to comprise less than 10% of the land mass (less still of the highway miles) fall outside the given rang of 70mph or 75mph.

Slow compared to the UK? Has your limit been raised since I left? IIRC the motorway limit was 70 or 75 back then. I may be wrong, after all it's been 25 years.

Looks like 85 mph to me

Yeah I saw that. It's wrong; there aint no 85mph limits in the Austin-San Antonio area.

 

[santaman2000]

I am sure that my driving skills are compromised if I am holding food and drink in each hand, holding the wheel with only the little finger of each hand (or only one hand while gesticulating at the scenery) tilting my head back to drink or looking at the food/drink I am about to introduce to my mouth...
I am OK at chewing and concentrating - but not multi-tasking on that kind of level!

Yeah, me too if I did it in that much of an exaggerated fashion (both hands, etc.)

The simple act of eating a fast food meal while driving is another matter altogether though; that's why all the fast food restaurants have drive through service windows and service priority goes to those windows. Likewise the act of looking around, carrying on a conversation, etc.

It's all a matter of perception John. To y'all that would be compromising your driving skills. For us it's impossible for these simple acts to compromise driving skills because they're part and parcel of said driving skills.

 

[pysen78]

That is simply not true. Research shows that all those things increase your reaction times significantly. On par with mild intoxication or being tired.
If the traffic allows for that increased reaction time or not is beside the point. Your capacity to act as a driver is impaired.
One measure of reducing the risks paired with those increased reaction times is reducing speed.
As we know velocity x time = distance.
I rarely follow speed limits rigidly if I feel I can cope with the situation at hand, but the 30kph limit I always follow since they're there for a reason.
Research shows that the fatality of accidents with pedestrians rises from near zero to near 100% between 30 and 50 kph.

 

[pysen78]

On a less serious note: NASCAR, isn't that basically driving really fast on a piece of highway built in a big circle? Bet my mother in law could do that. With a taco in her hand...

 

[cbr6fs]

It's all a matter of perception John. To y'all that would be compromising your driving skills. For us it's impossible for these simple acts to compromise driving skills because they're part and parcel of said driving skills.

I know you are trying to put a case for driving standards in the USA by that statement, but to me it pretty much shows how bad they are.

It's not like people are going to die from starvation or dehydration on a commute is it.
Even in severe cases like say a Diabetic starting to feel a drop in blood sugar levels, there are plenty of places to stop safely for a bite to eat.

I always thought drive through windows were for folks that were too lazy to get out their cars, as most the time i've seen them they sit in the car park to eat their "meal"

 

[santaman2000]

That is simply not true. Research shows that all those things increase your reaction times significantly. On par with mild intoxication or being tired.....

Irrelevant. If you don't have that level of coordination you shouldn't be driving.

On a less serious note: NASCAR, isn't that basically driving really fast on a piece of highway built in a big circle? Bet my mother in law could do that. With a taco in her hand...

NASCAR is the same skills that were used during prohibition to outrun pursuers while smuggling moonshine. For many (not me) it's a popular spectator sport. If your MIL can do it well you should send her over. The top drivers make millions. Danica Patrick seems to be doing well.

I know you are trying to put a case for driving standards in the USA by that statement, but to me it pretty much shows how bad they are.

It's not like people are going to die from starvation or dehydration on a commute is it.
Even in severe cases like say a Diabetic starting to feel a drop in blood sugar levels, there are plenty of places to stop safely for a bite to eat.

I always thought drive through windows were for folks that were too lazy to get out their cars, as most the time i've seen them they sit in the car park to eat their "meal"

Starving or dehydration is irrelevant. The drive throughs were developed well over 50 years ago to facilitate the highway culture The whole point is eating while on the road as opposed to making unnecessary stops. As to the comment about seeing most people using them and eating in the parking lot; you're either confusing drive "ins" with drive "throughs (drive ins were developed even earlier) or you're dreaming. I do agree that their use has indeed evolved over the ensuing years. Dehydration? I suppose that's regarding the habit of always having a drink of some sort in hand. Frankly I never begin a trip of more than 10 minutes without some sort of drink to take along. Usually a large (20 ounces or more) diet Coke or coffee, and refill it every hour or so. Not a good habit I'll grant. but for reasons other than driving.

As for me "trying to put a case for driving standards in the USA..." Well, why would I b other? We don't try to justify our driving standards; we try hard to understand how weird they are in the rest of the world. We look at most European standards as OTT and most 3rd world countries as non-existant.

 

[cbr6fs]

Drinking and/or eating while driving is illegal in most states.
It may not categorically state that you can't drive while eating, but “A driver shall exercise due care in operating a motor vehicle on the highways of this state and shall not engage in any actions which shall distract such driver from the safe operation of such vehicle.”

Even if it's not illegal it's still a daft thing to do, as pointed out it's not like you HAVE to eat while driving to survive.
Drop a pickle, drop the burger into your lap and you've gone from not paying enough attention to down right dangerous driving, if a bit of food goes down the wrong hole and you start choking there is absolutely no way you can control the vehicle.
Different set of hazards but i'd rate eating while driving up there with talking on the phone.



Thing is mate, you can nit pick and pull out all the pedantic tricks in the book if you want, i'm sorry to say it makes no difference to my opinion that the standard of driving in the States is poor as in my experiences so far very few Americans i have sat in a car with or witnessed pay the amount of attention to the road that they (IMO) should do.

My overall feeling is that most Americans treat their daily commute as a train journey and concentrate about as much.

I have to go back over again this year so i hope i see and experience things differently enough for me to change my opinion, call cynical if you want but i wouldn't bet money on it.

 

[cbr6fs]

As for me "trying to put a case for driving standards in the USA..." Well, why would I bother? We don't try to justify our driving standards; we try hard to understand how weird they are in the rest of the world. We look at most European standards as OTT and most 3rd world countries as non-existant.

United States of America - 11.6 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year
The exact same figure as Bangladesh a country that's not renowned for it's standards of driving.

Canada - 6 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year (with snow and ice covering vast areas of the country most the year)
Germany - 4.3 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year (no speed limit n certain autobahns)
United Kingdom - 3.5 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year

So maybe not that OTT after all

 

[santaman2000]

Drinking and/or eating while driving is illegal in most states.
It may not categorically state that you can't drive while eating, but “A driver shall exercise due care in operating a motor vehicle on the highways of this state and shall not engage in any actions which shall distract such driver from the safe operation of such vehicle.”........

Nope. Not illegal in any state. There's not a cop or a court in the country that would consider eating or drinking to be a distraction (drinking alcohol is quite another matter)

United States of America - 11.6 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year
The exact same figure as Bangladesh a country that's not renowned for it's standards of driving.

Canada - 6 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year (with snow and ice covering vast areas of the country most the year)
Germany - 4.3 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year (no speed limit n certain autobahns)
United Kingdom - 3.5 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year

So maybe not that OTT after all

Accidents per unit of population (fatal or otherwise) is irrelevant. The proper way to compare would be how many accidents per mile driven (how many Bangladeshis drive at all? How many out of 100,000 Brits? We have an average of 2 or more cars per family of 4 with each driver in said family averaging a 15 to 40 mile round trip commute every day just for work or school) If 100,000 Canadians only drive 1,200,000 miles compared to the same number of American citizens driving 36,000,000 miles then you begin to get the real picture (I have no idea what the mileage per Canadian citizen averages, but that average for Americans is going to be on the light side)

 

[cbr6fs]

Nope. Not illegal in any state. There's not a cop or a court in the country that would consider eating or drinking to be a distraction (drinking alcohol is quite another matter)

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/01/20/cheeseburger-driving-ticket/22059407/
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/20/man-cited-in-georgia-for-eating-cheeseburger-while-driving/

First 2 that came up from a google search

Accidents per unit of population (fatal or otherwise) is irrelevant. The proper way to compare would be how many accidents per mile driven (how many Bangladeshis drive at all? How many out of 100,000 Brits? We have an average of 2 or more cars per family of 4 with each driver in said family averaging a 15 to 40 mile round trip commute every day just for work or school) If 100,000 Canadians only drive 1,200,000 miles compared to the same number of American citizens driving 36,000,000 miles then you begin to get the real picture (I have no idea what the mileage per Canadian citizen averages, but that average for Americans is going to be on the light side)

So basically you are saying that Americans rely wayyyyyyyyyyy too much on theirs cars compared to other nations
Sorry mate couldn't resist

As per your request:

United States of America - 7.6 Road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km
Canada - 6.1 Road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km
Germany - 4.9 Road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km
United Kingdom - 4.3 Road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km

Maybe time to revisit your opinion now?

 

[OurAmericanCousin]

Not sure why folks are after the US drivers.

You've got your ways, we've got ours.

I recall when a visiting European cousin did the math in the car when just the previous day I offered to take them to Las Vegas, Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. He looked up at me driving through the desert(both hands on the wheel, BTW) and said "That's like driving from our house to Moscow." But, that's how we do it. It's a driving culture. We drive, we drive on the Moon. I don't give a hang for any online stats in this case; I will bluntly state that many Americans will have driven many-times more miles than most other citizens of the world.....with more cars/trucks and more miles to do it in. So what. We get in our vehicles and drive hundreds of miles at the drop of a hat. Big deal. But, don't come back with figures, 'cause if you ain't worn out a few pairs of shoes, don't tell me what a runner you are.

Not looking for a pat on the back or anything. I know that waaay too many drivers here have IQ levels to match their shoe size. That they do things they shouldn't (BTW, cellphone use when operating a motor vehicle here in California has been illegal for some time). That many are crazier than a football bat. But, it's what we've got.

I believe every story thus far about various experiences witnessing US drivers. But that shouldn't define us all. No more than anyone here would be justified in thinking Brits were drunken, pretentious, arrogant and selfish if that's all they'd seen.

 

[vestlenning]

In order to take the test in Norway you have to have done lessons driving in the dark and driving on slippery ground. Is this common elsewhere?

 

[santaman2000]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/01/20/cheeseburger-driving-ticket/22059407/
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/20/man-cited-in-georgia-for-eating-cheeseburger-while-driving/

First 2 that came up from a google search.....

Both of those are the same story. Read it carefully. EVERYBODY who commented is in disbelief; the reporters, the lawyers, etc. If it were an excepted thing it wouldn't have made the news. It will NOT wash in court unless there's way, way more to the story than being told.

 

[santaman2000]

......So basically you are saying that Americans rely wayyyyyyyyyyy too much on theirs cars compared to other nations
Sorry mate couldn't resist .......

Actually I think that's a gross understatement. Our cars are our reason for existing Earlier Toddy mentioned taking a train (as others have referenced train travel) If you recall, I replied that even if I were inclined to take a train, I would have to first make a 300 mile drive to the station. That was NOT an exaggeration. The nearest passenger station (with trains going north or 3 times a week) is in New Orleans (3 states west of here) The very nearest is still 200 miles northwest of here (in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; near where I grew up) with trains going north 3 times a week.

 

[santaman2000]

.........As per your request:

United States of America - 7.6 Road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km
Canada - 6.1 Road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km
Germany - 4.9 Road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km
United Kingdom - 4.3 Road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km

Maybe time to revisit your opinion now?

Much, much better. And well within acceptable standards.

 

[Mesquite]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/01/20/cheeseburger-driving-ticket/22059407/
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/20/man-cited-in-georgia-for-eating-cheeseburger-while-driving/

First 2 that came up from a google search

Nothing unique to the US for issuing crazy tickets to drivers.

This was on the first page I found when doing a UK search. There's lots more there Link

 

[santaman2000]

Nothing unique to the US for issuing crazy tickets to drivers.

This was on the first page I found when doing a UK search. There's lots more there Link

I suspect wed do have the record for people driving without licenses though. Just my guess.