cell-talking cager gets arm removed during crash
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Originally Posted by slagjumper
I guess we all would not think the womans' misfortune as funny if so many cyclists were not hurt, killed or maimed by cell phone wielding drivers.
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Originally Posted by linux_author
- who the *heck* are these people talking to, anyway?
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Originally Posted by Blue Order
Oh, we're laughing at ourselves, and not at the woman whose arm was torn off. I must have gotten confused.
Personally, I don't know what to think about the fact that I agree with most of the contradicting replies here all at the same time.
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People getting hurt isn't funny (in a morbid way I guess it is, but having seen people in the hospital I can't say I was smiling in any way shape or form). Maybe the accident could have been prevented had she not been talking on a phone. The accident definitely would have been prevented had she not been driving a big truck and known how to deal with an emergency situation.
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Originally Posted by jhota
Originally Posted by linux_author
- who the *heck* are these people talking to, anyway?
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Originally Posted by schwinnbikelove
I think Fred was talking more about the "big picture".
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I think cell phone use in a vehicle should be as serious a violation as DUII. I also think that, generally, anybody who injures or kills another person as a result of their cell phone use should have the book thrown at them. And I see the humor in a movie scene that depicts an arm still clutching a cell phone... in a movie scene.
I don't see anything humorous about this woman losing her arm, and I don't see any sort of "justice" in this woman losing her arm. Have cyclists been killed by cell phone users? Sure. Has this woman killed anybody? No. So where's the "justice"? Or do we mete out "justice" based on membership in a group these days?
I don't see anything humorous about this woman losing her arm, and I don't see any sort of "justice" in this woman losing her arm. Have cyclists been killed by cell phone users? Sure. Has this woman killed anybody? No. So where's the "justice"? Or do we mete out "justice" based on membership in a group these days?
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Originally Posted by supcom
This is not advocacy. This is ugly. Shame on you all.
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"It hurts so good..."
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
Hey, I've got an amusing scenario you and your fellow jesters should get a chuckle over.
A cyclist gets decapitated while cycling in traffic due to getting hit by a car (for whatever reason). Passerbys see that the head is intact and state "Sure is a good thing he was wearing his helmet, his head didn't get a scratch." And they tell their friends by email this amusing story for more chuckles. Ha, Ha, and Ha, eh?
A cyclist gets decapitated while cycling in traffic due to getting hit by a car (for whatever reason). Passerbys see that the head is intact and state "Sure is a good thing he was wearing his helmet, his head didn't get a scratch." And they tell their friends by email this amusing story for more chuckles. Ha, Ha, and Ha, eh?
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Originally Posted by twahl
+ whatever count I am. But then again, whenever I see "cager" in a thread title, I've come to expect the rest to be idiotic drivel.
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Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
You have a number or a percentage of cyclists' hurt, killed, or maimed by cell phone wielding drivers; or any substantiation at all for using the term "so many"? Please not the conventional wisdom or a few examples, and yes we all know about Sidney.
Q. Does cell phone use while driving cause traffic crashes?
A. Research shows that driving while using a cell phone can pose a serious cognitive distraction and degrade driver performance. The data are insufficient to quantify crashes caused by cell phone use specifically, but NHTSA estimates that driver distraction from all sources contributes to 25 percent of all police-reported traffic crashes.
So if there are 800 bike deaths per year, 150-200 involve distractions, certainly cell phones are distracting and encourage absence of presence.
In the scope of things this may not seem like much. But to think that simply talking on the phone while driving, more or less killed them is insane. I figure it is like cigarettes, it took 30 years after the evidence of a causal relationship between smoking and cancer that any significant laws where passed. It is a wonder that the car insurance companies have not started some kind of cell phone - free discount.
In my opinion there is not enough evidence in this case, from what I know -- to say that talking on the cell phone caused the accident. First there is the question of was she just holding the phone (Unlikely), but debatable. Second, there are other factors like "overcorrecting” a vehicle with a higher than a car center of gravity. Ultimately the driver is responsible regardless of the cause.
There is no shortage of cell phone bike death anecdotes. And those are compelling if not quantifiable. Like the woman in Hilton Head Island, who showed no remorse for her behavior. She was driving in fog while talking. We would probably be safer if we banned males younger than 19 from driving, then by banning cell phones.
Last edited by slagjumper; 02-22-06 at 08:27 AM.
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Originally Posted by linux_author
- who the *heck* are these people talking to, anyway?
I think it is perfectly plausable that this occurs in motor vehicles. Personally, I tend to pick up my cell phone and pretend to make a call when someone is harrasing me. Then again I do the same thing on a bike.
The offending motorist tends to panic and quit the harrasment.
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
I was watching a news program a few weeks ago and it stated that a certain percentage (what % I have no clue) are not talking to anyone. It's a status thing to feel important. Should we slaughter these evildoers also?
I think it is perfectly plausable that this occurs in motor vehicles. Personally, I tend to pick up my cell phone and pretend to make a call when someone is harrasing me. Then again I do the same thing on a bike.
The offending motorist tends to panic and quit the harrasment.
I think it is perfectly plausable that this occurs in motor vehicles. Personally, I tend to pick up my cell phone and pretend to make a call when someone is harrasing me. Then again I do the same thing on a bike.
The offending motorist tends to panic and quit the harrasment.
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A lot of you seem to want to overlook the fact that this lady was at least endangering the life of her daughter, if not other motorists and/or cyclists. So yes, this was "poetic justice," in a sense-if a pregnant lady got lung cancer from her pack a day habit, or a DUI was so trashed he ran into a brick wall, I'd feel the same sense of relief that maybe they'd learned a freakin' lesson without taking someone else out with them.
"Her arm was found near the accident still clutching a cell phone."
I don't care, that ****'s funny. But now hopefully every time this dummy wants to chatter about what's on sale at the mall while driving, she'll look over at her stump and think twice. It's a shame she couldn't have looked over at her little girl and decided against it before any of this happened.
"Her arm was found near the accident still clutching a cell phone."
I don't care, that ****'s funny. But now hopefully every time this dummy wants to chatter about what's on sale at the mall while driving, she'll look over at her stump and think twice. It's a shame she couldn't have looked over at her little girl and decided against it before any of this happened.
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I remember driving on 128 outside of Boston in the left lane, behind 3 other cars following a guy using a cell phone. We all were easily going 75mph, and noticed the cell phone driver was not exactly staying in his lane. All of us following him backed off some, when all of a sudden he swerved around. He lost control of his car and crashed into the median guardrail and bounced back out into the lane in front of us. Luckily all of us behind him were able to stop and avoid him and no one else got involved in the accident.
Once stopped, I leapt out to aid the driver. I found him laying in the front passenger side! Apparently, he dropped his cell phone and was reaching for it, and that's how he lost control of his vehicle. And no, he wasn't wearing a seat belt. The weird part was as I was asking if he was OK, he simply reached out with his cell phone in hand! So I ended up dialing 911 on his phone!
The state troopers and EMTs took and excruciatingly long time to arrive. There was even a private ambulance that simply crawled by during the ensuing traffic jam. Once help arrived, and I explained to the trooper what happened, I left the scene quite shaken.
Why do I tell this story? Because even though the driver's cell phone misuse was the CAUSE of the accident, it never occurred to me that he DESERVED this fate. That's just stupid and caustic thinking.
It's easy to point to a gruesome story and snicker at it, and quite another to actually see it happen...
This is a distasteful thread, and really hope people realize this.
Once stopped, I leapt out to aid the driver. I found him laying in the front passenger side! Apparently, he dropped his cell phone and was reaching for it, and that's how he lost control of his vehicle. And no, he wasn't wearing a seat belt. The weird part was as I was asking if he was OK, he simply reached out with his cell phone in hand! So I ended up dialing 911 on his phone!
The state troopers and EMTs took and excruciatingly long time to arrive. There was even a private ambulance that simply crawled by during the ensuing traffic jam. Once help arrived, and I explained to the trooper what happened, I left the scene quite shaken.
Why do I tell this story? Because even though the driver's cell phone misuse was the CAUSE of the accident, it never occurred to me that he DESERVED this fate. That's just stupid and caustic thinking.
It's easy to point to a gruesome story and snicker at it, and quite another to actually see it happen...
This is a distasteful thread, and really hope people realize this.
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Originally Posted by flipped4bikes
...
Why do I tell this story? Because even though the driver's cell phone misuse was the CAUSE of the accident, it never occurred to me that he DESERVED this fate. That's just stupid and caustic thinking.
It's easy to point to a gruesome story and snicker at it, and quite another to actually see it happen...
This is a distasteful thread, and really hope people realize this.
Why do I tell this story? Because even though the driver's cell phone misuse was the CAUSE of the accident, it never occurred to me that he DESERVED this fate. That's just stupid and caustic thinking.
It's easy to point to a gruesome story and snicker at it, and quite another to actually see it happen...
This is a distasteful thread, and really hope people realize this.
My nephew (my sister's only child) was killed at the age of 18 this past year. Yes, he had been to a party, he had been drinking, and he was driving too fast and lost control on a freeway and was killed. Fortunately, thank whatever god or goddess you believe in, he harmed no one else and was the only casualty of his stupidity. Yes he was stupid (trust me, his mother and I have cried about how dumb it was many many many days since last April). However, I don't think he deserved to die. How I wish he would have been pulled over and arrested that night. He'd still be here for people to say how stupid he was to drink and drive that night. My sister wouldn't be childless and spend her days sobbing and wishing that she would've died too that night. I tell this story only to make the point that just because someone does something incredibly stupid doesn't necessarily mean that that person deserves to be injured or die.
To get some sort of pleasure from other people's pain and suffering is quite revealing of that person's character...I think.
Let he/she who has never done something stupid/dumb/idiotic/crazy or dangerous throw the first stone. By reading through this thread, I see there are many people who have never done any of those things. What's that feel like to have never done anything stupid or dangerous in your lives?
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to me these last 2 posts just emphasise the basic problem (regardless of the supid things I have done or not done) these people basically all brought their misfortune upon themselves-they could so easily have brought their misfortune onto others. At which point like Sydney´s killer we would have had their sad little stories pitched to the court.
As cyclists encountering these people we often aren´t left with the luxury of being able to pitch a sad story to any court. We never get to see out loved ones again and they never see us.
So I am sorry if some of the posters seem heartless but life has consequences.
As cyclists encountering these people we often aren´t left with the luxury of being able to pitch a sad story to any court. We never get to see out loved ones again and they never see us.
So I am sorry if some of the posters seem heartless but life has consequences.
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One point which is coming to the fore is that many studies in multiple industrial countries shows that cell phone usage while driving is roughly equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.08%, which is a legally drunk driver. So those who are equating cell phone usage with DUI are spot on.
Part of my day job is driving instructor. Attached is a single slide from a presentation I wrote on the matter.
Headsets and hands-free rigs seem to help, but only somewhat. At least headset users are better able to turn their heads and look around. But they are harder to spot as cell phone users.
Part of my day job is driving instructor. Attached is a single slide from a presentation I wrote on the matter.
Headsets and hands-free rigs seem to help, but only somewhat. At least headset users are better able to turn their heads and look around. But they are harder to spot as cell phone users.
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I couldn't agree more, Royalflash, that life has consequences. Karma sucks sometimes and is completely unavoidable.
My issue isn't that life has consequences--because it absolutely does. My issue is more with the apparent joy that many in this thread seem to get from "cagers" and a "cell phone users" getting injured and even killed....simply because they are "cagers" and cell phone users. Maybe I'm missing something that is so obviously amusing about that. I await to be enlightened.
My issue isn't that life has consequences--because it absolutely does. My issue is more with the apparent joy that many in this thread seem to get from "cagers" and a "cell phone users" getting injured and even killed....simply because they are "cagers" and cell phone users. Maybe I'm missing something that is so obviously amusing about that. I await to be enlightened.
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Originally Posted by royalflash
So I am sorry if some of the posters seem heartless but life has consequences.
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Originally Posted by Bikeforums
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Last edited by KrisPistofferson; 02-22-06 at 04:32 PM.
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Originally Posted by arpy
My nephew (my sister's only child) was killed at the age of 18 this past year. Yes, he had been to a party, he had been drinking, and he was driving too fast and lost control on a freeway and was killed. Fortunately, thank whatever god or goddess you believe in, he harmed no one else and was the only casualty of his stupidity. Yes he was stupid (trust me, his mother and I have cried about how dumb it was many many many days since last April). However, I don't think he deserved to die.
I'm sorry for your loss. Kids make dumb mistakes, and it's sad when they pay a price that heavy. When I look back at all the dumb things I've done, I realize just how lucky I've really been. I hope I can help my "nephew" make better choices in his life than I've made. And hopefully, if he makes mistakes-- and he will-- they won't be fatal mistakes, and hopefully, when he makes mistakes, people will understand the difference between justice and revenge.
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I read some of the responses in this thread, and I am reminded of the media reports of some Palestinians and Egyptians dancing and celebrating in the streets after the planes took down the World Trade Centers in New York. I suppose zealots are all the same in that their cause comes before people, and they wait for opportunities like this to validate their beliefs. They (the zealots) have made this woman their enemy without actually knowing the person. Sad, really. Especially when we don't know the full story; people assume it must be the fact that she was using a cell phone and driving at the same time, only because it fits their dogma.
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Originally Posted by DigitalQuirk
Especially when we don't know the full story; people assume it must be the fact that she was using a cell phone and driving at the same time, only because it fits their dogma.
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Originally Posted by Blue Order
Oh, we're laughing at ourselves, and not at the woman whose arm was torn off. I must have gotten confused.
Concerning cell phones, I think their use by drivers in moving cars ought to be outlawed. My safety is threated on a daily basis by cell phone users.