voodoochild.org

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saturday 27-april-02 2:34 AM

monday 8-april-02

So this is my new website. Four years of HTML experience has brought me....here. So I guess this is where I am supposed to write something terribly poignant or introspective. Instead, I'll opt for something that was sent to me by Adam. It's an article about cell phones and one of the reasons I don't like them.

Study: Mobile Phone Users Worse Than Drunk Drivers Fri Mar 22, 1:54 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Motorists talking on mobile phones while driving are more dangerous than those who are over the legal drink-driving limit, a report said on Thursday.

Tests conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory in Berkshire, England showed that drivers' reaction times were on average 30% slower when talking on a hand-held mobile compared to when they had been drinking alcohol.

It took mobile users half-a-second longer to react than normal, and one-third of a second longer than when they had been drinking. They were also less able to maintain a constant speed and found it harder to keep a safe distance from the car in front.

Direct Line insurance, which commissioned the research, said that 4 out of 10 drivers admit to using a mobile phone when driving.

"We were surprised to discover that talking on a mobile phone is actually more dangerous than being drunk behind the wheel," said Dominic Burch, road safety campaign manager at Direct Line.

"In effect, this means that 10 million drivers are partaking in a driving activity that is potentially more dangerous than being drunk."

Tests showed that hands-free mobile phones were also a considerable distraction, Burch added.

Direct Line said it would support Member of Parliament Janet Anderson, who is campaigning to make it an offence for motorists to use hand-held phones while driving. The second reading of her bill is due to take place on April 12.

"Eventually," Burch added, "we would like to see the use of mobile phones when driving, both hand-held and hands-free, become as socially unacceptable as drink driving."

PS. No, cellphones are not as bad as Satanism.