How to Drive and Talk on a Cell Phone

After years of careful observation, I have put together a list of tips for drivers who talk on their cell phones.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A vehicle
• A cell phone

1. Drive slowly. Remember that, if you're not paying as much attention to what's in front of you, you'll need that extra time to react.

2. Drive in the left-most lane. The right lane has too much going on (with cars entering and exiting the road, not to mention those big trucks), and the center lane has vehicles on both sides of you. Only the left lane will allow you free to monitor activity on just one side of your vehicle.

3. Maintain a large gap between you and the car in front of you. For the same reason as step #1, you'll need that extra time to react, so keep those following distances large. In fact, if you can make it so there is NO car visible in front of you (say it's 20 miles ahead), all the better.

4. Don't worry about signaling. After all, you only have 2 hands (one for the phone, and one for the steering wheel), and both are far more important than using your signals. Besides, if you're going slowly enough (see step #1), no one will care if you signal or not.

5. If you miss your exit or turn, just stop and wait. Eventually somebody will let you merge, or wait for you to slowly (see step #1) cut across the lanes to make your exit. You certainly wouldn't want to have to try to find your way if you were lost. And, since you're already on the phone, you can't exactly call for directions.

6. If you need to text or dial, wait for a fairly straight stretch of road before looking down at your phone. And make it quick (no more than 3 or 4 minutes) before glancing back up at the road. This is why lane selection (step #2) and following distance (step #3) are so important.

7. And, finally, never feel the need to hang up. The person you're talking to is far more important than all those strangers on the road. And, besides, the people on the road tend to be obnoxious, with all that honking and yelling. Don't feel like you need to be polite to them.

[buitenstaander]

on 10/22/2008 Good article - I just wish people didn't do it since they drive slower, and act strange while on the phone.