I hope to God that I'M using a tablesaw at 70.
Father is still using one at 72, and I'll admit that he doesnt' have much stamina. But he can still rip timber. Just not much at a time.
I'm planning on being a woodworking geezer into my 80's.
Bill
...
But whether it's more or less than appropriate depends on which activity, methinks... :)
My Dad will turn 82 this next month. Been living alone since his wife passed away in Jan.2001. This last June, he calls and tells me to come get his tools, he has sold his house and is moving into an assisted living facility. So I rent a big van and drive out to Arizona from Iowa and get him settled and the van loaded with all his tools. Now let me tell you that this van is squatting when we are finished loading it, it is full. Two weeks ago I get this letter from my Dad telling me he has found love again with a woman about 60 years old living in the same facility and they have a lot in common, been dating up a storm, blah, blah, blah. Now I just know that they are gonna get married, settle down, buy a house together and Dad will want his tools back. Well, I will have room in *my* shop again.
... and how do you separate this as being any different from being engaged in a conversation with a passenger in the automobile? That also is an active vs. passive activity. Do you really want to go down the path of making the car a sterile environment?
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
... and if he were sitting with someone else and without a cell phone, you would get to hear his loud, obnoxious conversation with his dining companion (BTDT).
OTOH, it does seem that a lot of people tend to speak much more loudly when using a cell phone than when engaged in normal conversation.
IMO, we really don't need more laws, what we need is more training in proper etiquette and being polite around others. The old fashioned virtues of being concerned about what the other person thinks about us, not making others wait because we are engaged in some activity that will cause them to have to delay for us (even if they only "have to slow down for 30 seconds" to go around us - remember that's not *your* 30 seconds of their time to waste), remembering that others are sensitive to sights, sound, and smells (and I'm not just talking perfume here -- I'd rather smell perfume than unwashed body any day), and all of those other little things that make a civilized society, well, civilized.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Big differences really. If I'm listening to the radio or talking with a passenger, I can just tune them out or not reply when my attention is needed on the road. Phone conversations though, tend to take more concentration and the phone user is less likely to mentally swap brain power to the road ahead while they are giving tech support, taking an order, getting instructions, etc.
The passenger may even see the upcoming traffic, the sudden turn, the big splash from a truck and actually shut up knowing you need to concentrate on driving. The phone caller does not see any of that.
Many of us look at our cars as our private space to do as we please. Eat breakfast, read the paper,shave, make sales calls, all while trying to drive. Some of these tasks take more attention than others. Traffic and road conditions vary too, but not everyone puts away the phone when they are severe.
US phone companies will not give up their call records, but a study was done inAustrailia that showed an increase in accident rates for phone users. This was published in the Hartford Courant a couple of months ago. I don't think they should be banned, but drivers must use a lot of caution and common sense and know when to put the phone away.
Sterile?
I drove a medical transport van for six years around a large-ish Midwestern city. (Non-emergency. No lights. No siren).
I've personally witnessed people blowing right through red lights and stop signs while they were obviously engaged in telephone conversations. I saw one lady that drove up over the curb(!), and the look of surprise when she found herself in the median was priceless. I've seen people drift across lanes on high-speed expressways, obviously more engaged in their conversation rather than driving. I've seen any number of near collisions (and a couple of actual collisions) when an unexpected showdown occurs and following drivers were slow to react.
Any number of times, I've personally witnessed one of the MOST dangerous situations, and that's someone stopped at red light, totally engaged in conversation to the point that they never notice when the light changes green. They sit, 'till someone blasts their horn, then they, involuntarily, slam the gas pedal down, charging across/into the intersection, without ever looking to see if that green light is now yellow, or even red.
When I started driving the van, I would chatter on my cell phone as much as anyone. Slowly, it became apparent that me that I (a trained, specially licensed, highly experienced driver) was every bit as distracted by the cell phone as anyone else. I no longer talk on the phone and drive at the same time. If the conversation is important to make the phone call, it's important enough for me to give it my full attention, and pull out of traffic.....
If the conversation is not important enough to pull out of traffic, it's not important enough to have in the first place. (Part of the problem, I'd surmise, is that you'll never be able to predict in any conversation, when something is said that literally demands your full attention, for whatever reason. I'd also advance the idea that with the increase in just plain scary drivers, there has been a corresponding increasing in frustrated drivers, i.e. road rage.)
And yes, I've seen people that were also distracted by....
Changing CD's/or radio stations... Reading papers across their steering wheel.... Putting on makeup... Arguing with kids...especially in the back seat. Cleaning their glasses...blind Drunk... Stoned... Incompetent/daydreaming
But for sheer volume of poor/dangerous driving practices...nothing (with the possible exception of driving drunk) rivals the cell phone. People talking on a cell phone are every bit as imparted as a drunk driver.
I thought it was liberals who believed in mankind's perfectibility?
IOW, it'll never happen. Even in past days, those "old-fashioned virtues" only held sway among the middle and upper classes.
How much have accident rates risen in the last few years?
I drop my kids off at school daily and I estimate that at least a third if not more of the drivers are on their cell phones throughout the whole process. (my question is "who do you call at 7:00 in the morning for a long chat?") If driving while on your cell phone is as dangerous as all the research indicates we should be seeing dramatic increases in accident rates.
No harm, no foul.
I don't have quick access to those statistics, but I am guessing that if there really was a significant increase it would be all over the news. Human beings really are remarkably good at multi-tasking.
-- "We need to make a sacrifice to the gods, find me a young virgin... oh, and bring something to kill"
Tim Douglass
I'm not arguing for "perfectability", but when you look around you, our society is much more crude than it was even 1 generation ago. There may have been pockets of such crudity in earlier times, but this has become the norm rather than the exception in our society.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+Tim Douglass wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
I don't have access to the stats either .. but I've seen a couple of pretty well controlled experimental studies. The one that sticks out in my mind was done with drivers on a closed track, and sensors to monitor head and eye position.
The drivers did the course with no/minimal distraction, then while talking casually on the phone, then while being asked over the phone to do some very simple calculations.
The difference in awareness (by virtue of eye movement) was pretty remarkable.
My takeaway? There's alot of 'close calls' (pun intended) caused by cell phone use. (And other distraction, too -- radio, kids in the backseat, what-have-you).
Me, -- I don't talk on the cell while driving; and since my safety depends at least somewhat on the ability of those driving around me -- I don't think they should be either.
Controlled tests are all very fine, but if they don't actually translate into the real world they don't mean anything. I'll go out on a limb here and guess that the people who are badly distracted by talking on the cell phone are simply substituting one distraction for another. They would be just as distracted if they were in a sterile driving environment with no outside interference - they'd just be focusing their attention on the nice load of QSWO in the back of the truck instead of their driving.
-- "We need to make a sacrifice to the gods, find me a young virgin... oh, and bring something to kill"
Tim Douglass
If you're driving and looking for an unfamiliar address, do you turn the volume on the radio/stereo down?
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