Comments on: Carpong: Riding with your SMS on

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:32:18 +0000

I just noticed this is titled “Riding with your SMS on” rather than “Driving with your SMS on.” That was an unconscious, perhaps Freudian slip. I must have been thinking about daydreaming about riding my motorcycle. It’s 36 degrees and raining here in New England, so I am not riding anywhere for a while.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:27:31 +0000

Barb,
Great thoughts. I never considered the bike to car angle. Excellent idea re: the DMV.
I ride a motorcycle and have similar experiences with people following too closely. I can stop much faster than they can. In the motorcycle safety course that I took 20 years ago, you are taught to slow down gradually is someone is tailgating you are high speed. Seems counterintuitive, but it’s safer to get off the road and let them go by. The only appropriate signal I can give to tailgaters is to wave them by me with my left hand; there are others but I am not usually going to win a road rage incident.
I will keep your idea in mind when the season opens up here in New England in about two months. If police find they are getting texts or calls or even tweets about the same cars, some states with anti-aggressive driving laws might pay attention.
Tim

By: Barb Chamberlain

Barb Chamberlain — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:28:00 +0000

In a car-centric world, everyone thinks of drivers communicating with other drivers.

I’m a year-round bike commuter. While there’s certainly a hassle factor involved in a stop for a cyclist (can’t text and bike quite as easily as texting and driving, and I recommend neither), I’d love to be able to text to a driver who just cut me off or came close to hitting me. Pedestrians could do the same.

After repeated offenses by the same driver, maybe a politely worded letter could go out from DMV with reminders of the laws that apply to all of us as we share the road.

@BarbChamberlain
Co-chair, Bike to Work Spokane
http://www.biketoworkspokane.org
@Bike2WrkSpokane

By: Barb Chamberlain

Barb Chamberlain — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:21:44 +0000

How about cyclists and pedestrians using this to report drivers who behave badly and threaten our safety?

My mother (who’s now 88 years old) thought of this idea 40 or so years ago. Her thought was to have something like a readerboard strip on the front and back of your car so you could type in a short message (which she, of course, wanted to constrain to make sure it would be polite) along the lines of “you’re tailgating.”

@BarbChamberlain
@Bike2WrkSpokane

By: Brett

Brett — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:13:31 +0000

My first and last post on this site would probably be, “Hey Buddy, stop carponging while you’re driving, and pay attention.” Good idea, but this probably won’t improve any persons actual driving habits.