About distracted driving

[LunaP]

I believe cel phones are able to make 911 calls, even if there is allegedly no coverage. Every cel phone I have ever owned, if there were no 'bars', said "Emergency Calls Only" on the screen.

Mobile phones still need a decent signal to make 911 calls, but they're programmed to allow them regardless of which carrier the signal is coming from. So if your Sprint phone was set for no "roaming", but the only signal it was picking up was a Verizon tower, you might get "emergency calls only".

If you want an emergency-only phone, you can take any phone locked to any carrier*, without paid service of any kind, turn it off and keep it charged (turn it on periodically to see how well the battery stays charged when not in use), and keep it in your purse or pet carrier or coat pocket. It won't let you call home, but if you need police or medical aid, you can make the call.


*AT&T and T-Mobile use one kind of phone, Verizon and Sprint use the other. Most cities have coverage with both, but if you live in the boonies, you should check to see which has coverage and use the matching kind of phone. For example, any AT&T phone will work like this in an area with good T-Mobile coverage.

That's good to know!!! ^_^

[Southerner]

And when in doubt, choose Verizon. There are two prepaid services around here that run on it. Page Plus, which I use and personally recommend, and Straight Talk, which doesn't get best reviews for its customer service. That plus not all ST phones run on the VZW network; you have to pick the right phone.

There may be others in different areas.

[Roose Hurro]

You can always turn it off while you're actually driving- the phone doesn't HAVE to be a distraction.

When I carried a cellphone way back, this is what I usually did, since I only had the phone for emergencies, anyway.

[Edwub]

I know a few people that worry about addictions to smart phones or texting or whatever, and so the best advice is: don't get one of "those". Tons of people still have old phones laying around. Grab one, toss a SIM card in it and activate it. Get a cheap crappy plan if you want. Or buy one cheap (they're FREE with contract, for sure). Or as suggested above, a pre-paid phone is a great idea. Just keep it on you when scooting.

From a safety standpoint, I can't really imagine anyone not recommending it. Being able to call your family, the police, a tow-truck, Roadside Assistance, whatever, is amazing. Who knows where/when/what will happen when you're scooting.

If you get an "old" model phone that just makes/receives calls, I don't really see how it's being any more distracting than having a landline in your house. Maybe even less, as you don't have anyone trying to call your current (nonexistent) cellphone, which I think makes it even more desirable to get.

[Edwub]

Also, I get the whole "well, people used to manage just fine before ___ date" thing, but it's 2011. There's a lot of things we do now that I'm happy aren't done the way they used to be. When it comes to tech, people pick and choose for their comfort zone.

What it looks like most people in this thread have posted is:
"Don't do what used to be done over 20 years ago, and if you don't feel like being current, why not compromise and do what used to be done 10 years ago?"

Which is, as I said above,
- > generic cell phone for making/receiving calls, no different than a traditional landline (without the wire).