the same mountainbike: I have USB. Scrolling through a few thousand tunes is not a safe option unless stationary. I was rear ended on a clear dry day when I stopped for a red light at the intersection of two 4 lane state highways. At least 2 dozen vehicles in 2 thru lanes plus the left turn lane were already stopped. I remember screeching tires and the impact. After several blank seconds the first thing I remember was tapping on my driver’s side window. It was the idiot who rear ended me tapping with his cell phone. He must have been yakking on the phone, tuning his radio, and diddling himself to not notice that many vehicles stopped at a red light!
Bing: That is also my rule. Buckle up or get out. I grew up without seatbelts but they do save lives. 30+ years in military aviation including ejection seats convinced me. A few recent local fatalities were attributed to them not being worn. Darwin awards!
I can’t speak for other areas of the country but it seems around here anymore the vast majority of auto commercials on TV dwell on connectivity, touch screens, OnStar, GPS, and safety features that are installed to try and save your worthless axx after you’ve done something stupid behind the wheel.
I’ve often wondered when the TV news reports an accident or there is mention of one in the paper how many of them are directly caused by electronic distractions that are never reported or known. Most of the time it’s just “…ran off a curve and was killed” or something like that.
On the radio the other day a Harley commercial was dwelling on the Rushmore model; focusing on high horsepower and a touch screen. Now you have sense of balance thrown into the mix.
Eighty miles an hour on a winding road and focusing the eyesight on a touchscreen sounds like an accident waiting to happen.
Let’s have a show of "aye"s. How many here have been hit by a driver distracted by technology, whether built into the car or hand held?
Me: Aye!
Not yet
Not yet but literally dozens of close calls.
no, but one close call. Woman driving a large SUV went through a red light, almost hit me, talking on the cell phone, no seat belt I could see, and two children in the back seat.
Wow. Just wow.
Like Marnet and jtsanders, not yet, but I have had a few close calls as a result of women piloting huge late-model SUVs with one hand, while holding a cellphone to their ear with the other hand.
Aside from the obvious hazards and the illegality of their use of hand-held cellphones, it brings up another question, namely…
Are they too dumb to be able to activate the Bluetooth device that their late-model vehicle came with from the factory?
Speaking only for myself, I’m too dumb to activate the Bluetooth but smart enough to pull over to use the phone. 
mountainbike
speaking of using the phone in the car . . .
In my neighborhood, I saw a guy pulled over, in front of a house. It was legal to park there, and he wasn’t blocking anybody.
He was in his car talking on the phone
A police officer passed by, saw him on the phone and gave him a ticket. The police officer told him if he’s going to talk on the phone in the car, he can’t be sitting in the driver’s seat, buckled up and with the engine running, transmission in drive, with the foot on the brake pedal
db4690: Lovely. A driver uses their phone in a perfectly safe manner and Barney Fife issues a citation.
In VA. you can get a DUI or driving on a suspended/revoked license and the car does not even have to be running. Just be sitting in the car, including the back seat and have the key in the ignition. IIRC the statute even stipulates the vehicle does not even need be capable of running ie. out of gas broken. I read this in the VA code while researching driving on suspended/revoked license, statutes.
A friend was stopped by the police. He wanted to be helpful and got his wallet out before the officer got to the car; he had to unbuckle the seat belt to do this. The officer sited him for not wearing his seat belt because it was retracted when the officer arrived at the car. Let no good deed go unpunished, and don’t get your wallet until the officer arrives and sees that you are buckled.
A guy I know got a $100 ticket for not wearing his belt from a Minnesota Patrolman. He lives about a mile out of town and has a gravel half mile to a stop sign for the highway. His phone went off and he took his belt off to answer it while he was stopped at the stop sign. Patrolman went by and saw it. I would have said this kind of raw deal didn’t happen in Minnesota but I remember a Patrol friend of the family years ago bragging about giving a ticket to one of the Twins players. He got me one morning too. All I can say is lets take it to court and put me on the jury.