[MissoulaGov] cell phones

[Paradigm1 at aol.com]

Interesting... but i'm not sure we want our daily  lives regulated by the 
"Experimental Psycology" crowd. See the study below. It  tells us that cell 
phones increase risk by 1.3 times... and Cups in cars can  increase risk by 9 
times... I am wondering why we are banning the 1.3 times risk  factor item, instead 
of the 9 times risk factor item...  anyone....?
 
 
"A study released in April 2006 found that almost 80 percent of crashes  and 
65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within  
three seconds of the event. The study, The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study,  
conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National 
Highway  Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), breaks new ground. (Earlier 
research  found that driver inattention was responsible for 25 to 30 percent of 
crashes.)  The new study found that the most common distraction is the use of 
cellphones,  followed by drowsiness. However, cellphone use is far less  likely to 
be the cause of a crash or near-miss than other distractions,  according to 
the study. For example, while reaching for a moving object such as  a falling 
cup increased the risk of a crash or near-crash by nine  times, talking or 
listening on a hand-held cellphone only  increased the risk by 1.3 times. The study 
tracked the behavior of the 241  drivers of 100 vehicles for more than one 
year. The drivers were involved in 82  crashes, 761 near-crashes and 8,295 
critical incidents."



In a message dated 3/19/2009 4:28:32 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,  
psopko at peoplepc.com writes:

Here's an abstract for another peer-reviewed  paper from the Journal of 
Experimental Psychology:
 
 
"Drivers talking on cell phones are more distracted and  more prone to error 
than if they were speaking with a friend sitting next to  them in the car, a 
new report finds. A recent study, published in the December  08 issue of the 
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, involved  41 men and women ranging 
in age from 18 to 26. Each participant was paired  with a friend and asked to 
navigate a 24-mile multi-lane stretch of highway  with "real" highway 
conditions represented on a simulator. Participants were  presented with three 
scenarios: driver talking on a hands-free cell phone,  driver talking with a 
passenger, and no conversation at all. Half of the  drivers talking on cell phones 
missed a designated exit, while only 3 of 24  drivers missed the exit when 
talking with another person sitting next to them.   
Talking with a passenger is considerably less hazardous  than talking on a 
cell phone.  
A driver talking on a cell phone is four times more  likely to get in a crash 
than a driver who is not. The risks of talking on  hands-free cell phones are 
the same as those talking on hand-held cell phones.  More information is 
available at _http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=621873_ 
(http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=621873) .  " 




----- Original Message ----- 
From:  _Jim  Sayer_ (mailto:sayermon at yahoo.com)  
To: _echilders at ci.missoula.mt.us_ (mailto:echilders at ci.missoula.mt.us)  ;  
_BJaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us_ (mailto:BJaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us)  ; 
_Paradigm1 at aol.com_ (mailto:Paradigm1 at aol.com)  
Cc: _missoulagov at cmslists.com_ (mailto:missoulagov at cmslists.com)  
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 11:01  AM
Subject: [MissoulaGov] cell  phones


FYI, I've seen a lot of comments and speculation about  the cellphone ban but 
not as much hard information. Here's a list of  data from this website -- 
_http://www.nationwide.com/newsroom/dwd-facts-figures.jsp_ 
(http://www.nationwide.com/newsroom/dwd-facts-figures.jsp) :  

    *   Distraction from cell phone use while driving (hand held or  hands 
free) extends a driver's reaction as much as having a blood  alcohol 
concentration at the legal limit of .08%.  (University of Utah)  
    *   The No.1 source of driver  inattention is use of a wireless device. 
(Virginia Tech /NHTSA)  
    *   Drivers that use cell phones are four times as  likely to get into 
crashes serious enough to injure themselves.  (NHTSA, Insurance Institute for 
Highway Safety)  
    *   10% of drivers aged 16 to 24 years old are  on their phone at any one 
time.  
    *   Driving while distracted is a factor in  25% of police reported 
crashes.  
    *   Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of  brain 
activity associated with driving by 37%.  (Carnegie Mellon) 

Also, here's a short news summary from  cnet on a study from the University 
of Utah comparing driving with a  cell phone and driving  drunk:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-6090342-7.html

BTW,  there's also a story in today's Independent on Dave Strohmaier and the  
local debate:  
http://www.missoulanews.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=1B1A1542-14D1-1357-9CA97A6558961B35



---  On Thu, 3/19/09, Paradigm1 at aol.com  <Paradigm1 at aol.com> wrote:

From:  Paradigm1 at aol.com <Paradigm1 at aol.com>
Subject: Re:  [MissoulaGov] Committee Update 3-18-09
To:  echilders at ci.missoula.mt.us, BJaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us
Cc:  missoulagov at cmslists.com
Date: Thursday, March 19, 2009, 9:52  AM


Hi Bob... These updates are great-- thank you very  much! 
It will be interesting to learn how talking on a  CB  or Two way Radio while 
driving, is less dangerous than  talking on a phone ?
 
Carl P.
 
 
In a message dated 3/19/2009 9:39:22 A.M. Mountain Daylight  Time, 
echilders at ci.missoula.mt.us writes:

Thanks, Bob. Wonderful job. As I mentioned on the Council  floor, I wish John 
H. would do one.
The leash conversation is  likely to be spirited. Judging from public 
comments and from my  previous experience,  we'll also discuss dogs in-town. And  
probably leashing cats, before we're done. :)

Ed Childers, City Council, Ward6

Bob  Jaffe wrote:  
 
Greetings, 
We changed things up today and started with  Public Works this morning.  We 
discussed the situation with  the right of way vacations on Miller Creek road. 
Here is a very  brief synopsis for folks who are unfamiliar. 
We are doing a project to rebuild the  intersection between upper and lower 
miller creek on down to the  Walmart.  The project requires some right of way  
acquisition. During the process of researching the right of way  boundaries it 
was discovered that over 100 years ago additional  right of way was 
established that no one was aware of.   This additional right of way expanded the 
public property right  through some of the homes on the west side of miller creek 
road.  It goes without saying that the folks affected were not so  happy. What 
was a negotiation to sell us right of way turned  into a negotiation to ask us 
to vacate right of way. The City  was not to hot on the idea of vacating 
right of way that we  would have to buy back later the next time the road needed 
to  expand. 
So the engineering folks drafted up what the  anticipated future needs would 
be and we will vacate the  balance. 
In Conservation we had interviews and made  appointments to the greenhouse 
gas committee. We had four  applicants for one position. We picked one but were 
so impressed  with the other applicants that we want to talk to the committee  
about expanding their membership so we can also appoint the  others. Recently 
this committee has become much more active and  is actually taking on work 
projects. It seems wrong to turn down  such qualified people who want to 
volunteer. 
In PAZ we did six interviews for three spots  on the historic preservation 
committee.  For the first time  since I have been chair of the committee we have 
an open PAZ  schedule. We may actually skip PAZ for a few weeks until the  
zoning update stuff makes it through planning board. I assume  this is 
indicative of the building slowdown. 
In Public Safety we discussed the driving  with cell phone ordinance.  CB and 
two way radios have been  removed from the proposal. Discussion focused on 
having  different rules in Missoula from the rest of the state; Primary  or 
secondary offence; are the reckless driving laws already  adequate. We set a 
public hearing for I believe April  13th. 
Then we had a joint Public Safety and  Conservation meeting to discuss the 
conservation land leash  laws.  The press was there for that one. We had TV 
cameras  and Missoulian photographers and a bunch of public comment. We  mostly 
just walked through the history of the subject from the  last five or so years. 
The likely outcome of all this is that  there will be work done in the context 
of our conservation lands  management plan to establish a policy.  Then we 
will modify  ordinance as needed to memorialize that policy. A great deal of  
the public comment received to the council and in conversations  I have had with 
people is in regards to dogs in parks and on the  commuter trails. Dogs are 
required to be on leashes in these  places. The current issue before council 
pertains only to the  north hills, mount jumbo, and the kim Williams trail east 
of the  university. 
We finished the day with committee of the  whole to discuss the revisions to 
the ward boundaries and a  resolution regarding transportation funding. By law 
we are  required to keep the wards equal to maintain equal rights of the  
electors. The courts have set the bar at around 10% variance  between wards. 
Based on our best estimates we have a 13%  variance with ward two being too large. 
The best way to fix it  is to shift the population clockwise around the map. 
So part of  ward two goes to one, part of one then goes to three, three then  
to four. Five and six are about right the way they are.  
So the proposal has all of the northside now  part of ward one.  If Mr. 
Hendrickson is considering  another term this is good news for him. The University 
becomes  part of ward three. I plan to run again so this is probably good  
news for me. Unless I end up running against someone more  liberal than me. I 
believe I have become more conservative  during my term. There is something about 
this experience that  pulls you towards the middle. The area southeast of 
Arthur and  Beckwith goes to ward four. I’ll miss Molly but probably not  Philip. 
The Wapikia neighborhood goes to ward five. I don’t  think ward six changes. 
The transportation funding resolution came  out of TTAC. It outlines the 
various ways we are being screwed  on transportation funding by DOT and the state. 
 John  Hendrickson, Dick, Renee, and Lynn voted against the resolution.  Mr. 
Hendrickson suggested that he would like to put forth a  minority report 
countering the request for more equitable  distribution of funds to Missoula. I 
look forward to seeing this  minority report because I am a little baffled by the 
suggestion.  I encourage folks to read the resolution. We are being robbed to 
 support incredibly irresponsible funding priorities and bloated  DOT 
bureaucracy.  
_ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/Packets/Council/2009/2009-03-23/TransportationRes
olution.pdf_ 
(ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/Packets/Council/2009/2009-03-23/TransportationResolution.pdf)  
Thanks for your interest, 
Bob  Jaffe 
Missoula City  Council, Ward 3




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