Wednesday, March 21, 2012

It's The Same Damn Thing People !



Night line had an interesting piece last night that made me think a bit.

No, not the one about the bazillionaire southern boys who make tons off of hand made duck calls that look like home made bongs,...

Gas Buddy.

Interesting idea..and OF COURSE THERE IS AN APP FOR THAT !

People who sign up to do this and get the app drive around and make note of the various gas prices, one assumes on their regular commute.

It makes no sense at all to burn gas beyond a certain point to source cheap gas...at least to me, but I can see it if it is your regular commute.

And the reporter and the camera man are chatting away at various drivers that they are using in the piece and my mind hits the proverbial brakes.


Drivers who are making these notations on their smart phones are basically texting while driving.

The creator of this idea is all but turning his head to make eye contact during his driving interview and my mouth is about to fall open.


WTF ?


We scream at teenagers who text and drive.

Laws are being seriously considered that affect usage of any electrical device in a car , whether it be a phone , MP3, IPad or e-reader.

My husband and I car pool and have to navigate the streets around the court houses in downtown Houston to get to the HOV lane for 59. The HOV is for High Occupancy Vehicles - Buses, motorcycles or cars with 2 or more passengers aka carpoolers . We see every day day, both directions people paying no attention to the traffic because they are too caught up on their phones, regardless of whether they are using the bluetooth or not.

It doesn't matter one damn bit whether you are using a phone or bluetooth to speak or are actually texting while driving,

YOU , SIR OR MADAME ARE A F'G IDIOT !

I cannot tell you the number of times we have been cut off, nearly hit and so on because PEOPLE CAN'T STAY OFF THE F'G PHONE WHILE DRIVING.

Now some might say that the bluetooth ( teeth - ?) are better because you are not using your hands...yes...hands free.

WRONG !

Next time you notice some one being rude enough to subject John Q Public to their phone conversations via the bluetooth, really observe them..just go ahead and do it. You will notice that their body language and eye focus are not on the area that they are in, mentally they have connected to the caller and the conversation that they are in. It may not seem complete but I assure you it is enough to distract a driver.


So my point is..and yes....I have one..


Isn't it more than a bit hypocritical to laud this new gas buddy idea when the driver is doing the same thing that we are all railing against..cell phone use/ texting while driving ?


Yeah...I thought so.


Ciao,

Aunty Pol

1 comment:

kleinwort said...

Ha!! So true! I ran out and got me a bluetooth quite a while back. Where is it now? In the console of my car with a dead battery. Where is the charger? I dunno. I'll find it one of these days and, when I do, give the thing away.

Maybe I'm getting older. Maybe I'm getting wiser. But after trying bluetooth for about a month, I decided when I drive I drive. As you said, it felt like my attention was divided and, frankly, the calls I got were just not that important.

It's not like I can't pull over if I suddenly realize I can't wait to make a call. And I have yet to get a call that couldn't wait until I reached my destination.

I will cop to using my e-reader at traffic lights sometimes, especially if I know it's a long light. But using one while driving? Honey, I'm a decent driver but I ain't that good!