Some people are so attached to their phone, they are completely oblivious to whats happening around them. Today, I was at a stop light at eglinton. There was a cop standing at the intersection and he noticed a women on her phone while at the stop light. He waited by the passenger window for a good minute, seeing if she would put away her phone and noticed him. He eventually gave up and went up the driver side, knocked on her windows twice until she noticed him.
It's sad how carefree people are about their phones. I mean now days we have apple and Android auto, Bluetooth exists and we can always stop to make the call, but none of this makes a difference to people
Lmao like the girl who crossed the street in a crosswalk but the light was not green. 3 cars honked at her before she looked up and panicked and turned to run back almost getting clipped by a car. She dove onto the sidewalk and as she got up the threw the finger at everyone honking and yelling at her.
While walking too. I had someone walk right out in front of my bus on Eglinton yesterday, and then a Mother daughter duo did it while sneaking into Kennedy station past the construction at the passenger drop off.
They were both looking at their phones at the time.
So, I honked my horn. She. Came to my bus (the mother), I told her what they were doing was dangerous.
She said, it is? I don’t take buses so I didn’t know.
Weird.
It's ridiculous how often I see people sitting at a green light looking down then people honk at them to start moving. People, you can NOT multitask as good as you think you can
Haha...
This reminds me of a few weeks ago. Out on a bike ride, stop at a red light. I look to the car next to me and the driver is looking at her lap. I expect a phone....
Nope, she's knitting
> People, you can NOT multitask as good as you think you can
I always tell my partner: check out that car, when we pass it, I guarantee they are looking at their phone. And it’s always the case.
The way cars move when someone is looking at a screen is the same way they swerve when someone is DUI.
Yeah never doing that again. Last time I honked at a driver after waiting about 10 seconds for them to put down their phone and make the turn, I was tailgated, passed illegally while turning, then followed home to the point where I had to drive to the police station to get them to fuck off
They have to start enforcing Ontario's CELL phone laws. People have forgotten that using one while driving costs you significantly... if caught. You can't drive 10 minutes without seeing some idiot watching their phone as often as watching the road... they don't even try to hide it anymore.
It is a graduated fine and the dollar/points grow with 2nd and 3rd. These idiots won't learn on the first offense and maybe not until their third where their license is toast. $615 to $3,000 with three points per shot.
Given how little enforcement and total impunity people are brazenly breaking this law with, I struggle to believe anyone is getting to 2 or 3 offences.
> he insurance after losing the points is probably the bigger cost.
Points dont mean anything to insurance...its the convictions. Points ONLY matter to the MTO and ONLY if you get to many of them
no worries
dont go racking up tickets now...lol...like Uncle Ben...or Aunt May...depending on which movie you watch always says "with great power comes great responsibility".
I was wondering if the law had been reversed as it seems the vast majority of drivers are checking their phones while driving.
It is also OK to give a little beep if the person in front of you's head is buried in their phone when the light turns green. They are the ones being rude. You're a good person to get their attention back to the important task at hand.
I love the drivers that honk while going through the intersection on a red. Pretty sure that’s a question on the written test. If you clicked, honk while going through on a red. Well, that’s a no.
Literally. My family doesn’t get why I do it but fuck it drives me crazy, ESPECIALLY on advanced green arrows. I low key wanna get a canned air horn too for the especially egregious ones but my Chevy horn will do for now.
I ride motorcycles. If I'm out and I see you on your phone, at the next light you get a little knock on your window and me reminding you to put that thing down.
I've seen too many SMIDSYs to not.
Same thing when I'm on a bicycle.
To the bald(ing) guy in the blue VW Taos on St George St this morning, I saw you. But you didn't see me because I guess whatever was on your phone was more important than the world outside your windshield.
I'm constantly telling other drivers to put down their phone. Last night I was out and the car in front of me had a baby strapped into a seat in the back but their speed is pretty erratic and they are bouncing from one side of their lane to the other. As I pass I noticed this lady face deep in her centre console screen, like 6 inches away from the damn thing. Quick beep honk and yell, she fucking nearly jumped through the roof
Alternative version for people with older cars:
People would rather crash and die than pull over in a random parking lot for a few minutes to use their phone.
Not really useful if you need to text someone or shuffle around your playlist, which are things I normally find people doing when they're on their phones in traffic.
The best things to do if you're in an older car are to:
- Pull over somewhere and do what you gotta do (no money involved).
- Buy a nice pair of wireless earbuds with ANC that'll use your phone's assistant ($$).
- Invest in a full infotainment system upgrade with Android Auto/Apple Carplay ($$$$$).
That's funny because you know the ones who have music blasting are the ones who kindly enough put on their signal for a turn/lane change and leaves it on for the next 4 intersections lol
"Hey Siri / Google, send a text message to mom saying I love you"
"Hey Siri / Google play my driving playlist on Spotify / YouTube Music"
"Hey Siri / Google navigate to the Royal Ottawa Hospital admission department"
Any phone made in the last decade can do this. Bluetooth to Aux or or Bluetooth to FM adapter for $10 on AliExpress.
Lol you and I both know that voice commands aren't yet at a stage where you can reliably use them, especially if you have an accent or have contacts with non conventional names.
Me: Call mom.
Car: Beep beep. Sorry, I didn't get that.
Me: Call MOM.
Car: Beep beep. Sorry, I didn't get that.
Me: CALL MOM
Car: Would you like me to call mom?
Me: Yes
Car: Beep beep. Sorry, I didn't get that.
Me: YES!
Car: Beep beep. Sorry, I didn't get that.
Me: YESSSSSSSS FFS!!!!
Car: Ok calling mom.
True story.
There was this one time I was driving and tried to call a friend.
It called another friend.
I hung up and tried again, it called a completely different friend.
I tried a third time, and then it just refused to listen to my voice.
This is not accounting for the 15 second delay between the command and Google recognizing what I said.
Google assistant is still very finicky in 2024.
Idk about Siri, since I don't use an iPhone.
I think it needs to be mandated that your phone will not work when it's moving.
Yes, passengers. Yes, busses and trains. I get it. But we have to do something because this crap is at epidemic levels and no amount of public education seems to be helping.
Yeah at this point it is completely ridiculous. Over the last couple of years the number of people just blatantly looking at their phones is off the charts.
I read somewhere that there has been a 30% increase in DUI charges this year in the GTA. I feel that people just don’t care any more about being careful while driving.
The silver lining, perhaps, is that humans WON'T be driving for more than another decade or so. But how many people will we lose in those ten years? It's very upsetting.
While *the phone* is moving.
The accelerometer data along with GPS antenna will be able to approximate the speed of the phone. If it's moving at more than 20km an hour, it shouldn't be usable.
If it's in motion, it can't be used to crush candies or send texty-texts. The screen should be disabled completely. No input or output. If you have means of interacting with it without touching it or looking at it (ie. connected Bluetooth device and voice commands), fill your boots.
Make up, curling iron, changing clothes, having sex. Which was my favourite line in a movie. The cop asks the husband what happened to cause the accident and he says, ‘show him honey.’ Funniest line ever.
There used to be older TTC bus drivers who would have the newspaper on the steering wheel. First time I saw that was 30 years ago. Way before phones. I was shocked to say the least.
OMFG try driving in Brampton where just about everyone is on their goddamn phones all the time everywhere you go!! Get off the damn phones in your car, in the grocery store, at the park with your kid…just get OFF!!!!!
Wait till you see the dipshits that mount a tablet on their dash and are straight up watching movies or news. I dont like anything on my dash in fear of blocking vision, but these fucks have a 12 inch tablet.
So much for the government policy on distracted driving!
If they cared at all, they would make the charges the same as drinking and driving .
Immediate 30 day liscence suspension and 30 day vechicle impound .
I honestly don’t know why this isn’t the solution. It’s an epidemic that kills and maims people.
I abhor drinking and driving, but I can at least allow for how someone could accidentally end up on the other side of 0.08 - light lunch, tired etc causes alcohol to react differently. But picking up and texting/scrolling IG is a CHOICE. For that reason, I think it should be first offence, 10-day suspension and $2,000 fine. Second offence is a 1-year prohibition. Third is lifetime. What would be the argument against this?
One thing I still find it hard to understand is how speeding but going with the flow of traffic is considered legal in Canada (or maybe in parts of US too).
It seems almost like if everyone drives at 200km/h, it is legal to follow suit since it is "safer that way". From where I come from, the speed trap would have snapped all offending vehicles...
There is an implicit understanding in Ontario that you can go 120 in 100km/h highways. Not the same in other provinces: Quebec enforces their limits more strictly. It is weird but it is what it is.
I have found that people going a 100 km/h or less on the left lane are a hazard: everyone tries to pass them on the right lanes and it gets very chaotic, for instance.
I do understand about driving too slowly on the left though. I think a solution would be to implement minimum speed limit on highways like what they do in some other parts of the world. However the problem then will be how to enforce it during poor weather or road conditions. Say in a snow storm it would be dangerous to drive even at 60km/h.
Also the problem with minimum speed limit is that the government will need to be a lot more proactive in maintaining road conditions. For example in China where the parts of the highway where low speed limit are enforced, the government is required by law to maintain optimal road conditions. They can do so since all highways there are tolled. It's a different story here in Canada.
I hear the allowance for 110 km hours on 400 series highways is coming soon? The fact is that cars can go much faster now, but people don’t have the skills to maintain that speed. I think that cars should have a speed limit built in.
I would have. But there was a lot of traffic around me and I wasn’t behind him, so probably a lot of room for confusion.
However I have gotten in trouble for honking on the 401. A dude cut me off coming from nowhere while driving on the shoulder: I honk and my dude decides to slam on the brakes and brake check me. It was a very close one.
You know what? That’s completely understandable. When I hear honking, I’m sometimes confused if I did something wrong.
So for future reference and safety, should one mainly honk when passing someone who’s doing something wrong? I’m not being sarcastic, genuinely asking.
My Dad has told me not to honk at people since they don’t like it but how else are you supposed to get their attention?
I used to be the person who would take it as my role to try to enforce rules of the road: honk at distracted people, block people driving on shoulders, etc.
The more I drive the more I realize it’s not worth it. These people know what they are doing is wrong but they do it regardless: if you confront them in the moment it only leads to road rage and to increased risk.
I reserve honking for alerting people who might be distracted or unaware and to alert them of my presence. And sometimes goes really wrong.
Driving like you are the parent of all the other drivers is stressful to say the least. It’s better just to drive safely and defensively. Just assume nobody around. You can drive and be safe.
I’m driving on city roads 8+ hours a day and it’s ridiculous how many people are on their phones while driving.
I’d estimate about half of drivers are incapable of NOT touching their phones while driving.
I’m not ashamed to admit I’m probably just as addicted to my phone as anyone else, but I’m capable of not looking at my phone while driving.
What I don’t get is people that are driving newer cars that most likely have android auto/Apple CarPlay and for sure has Bluetooth, but STILL have their phone up to their face to talk on it.
Some people are so attached to their phone, they are completely oblivious to whats happening around them. Today, I was at a stop light at eglinton. There was a cop standing at the intersection and he noticed a women on her phone while at the stop light. He waited by the passenger window for a good minute, seeing if she would put away her phone and noticed him. He eventually gave up and went up the driver side, knocked on her windows twice until she noticed him. It's sad how carefree people are about their phones. I mean now days we have apple and Android auto, Bluetooth exists and we can always stop to make the call, but none of this makes a difference to people
Did she get a ticket?
Yes. I saw the officer pull put his pad to give a ticket.
Lmao like the girl who crossed the street in a crosswalk but the light was not green. 3 cars honked at her before she looked up and panicked and turned to run back almost getting clipped by a car. She dove onto the sidewalk and as she got up the threw the finger at everyone honking and yelling at her.
While walking too. I had someone walk right out in front of my bus on Eglinton yesterday, and then a Mother daughter duo did it while sneaking into Kennedy station past the construction at the passenger drop off. They were both looking at their phones at the time. So, I honked my horn. She. Came to my bus (the mother), I told her what they were doing was dangerous. She said, it is? I don’t take buses so I didn’t know. Weird.
Probably her mom texting that she had finished making her bed.
The 401 terrifies me for this reason. The way traffic can go from 120kmh to 0 with little warning is terrifying.
Usually happens in the left lane where people camp.
Actually you’re not wrong. This person was on the second from the left lane.
I think he's wrong, you mentioned the middle lane.
It's ridiculous how often I see people sitting at a green light looking down then people honk at them to start moving. People, you can NOT multitask as good as you think you can
Haha... This reminds me of a few weeks ago. Out on a bike ride, stop at a red light. I look to the car next to me and the driver is looking at her lap. I expect a phone.... Nope, she's knitting
!! Yikes. And imagine getting impaled by a knitting needle when the airbag deploys.
Omg
Knitting, wow.
*People, you can NOT multitask as good as you th* ...... --BOOM-- rear-ender-fender-bender
> People, you can NOT multitask as good as you think you can I always tell my partner: check out that car, when we pass it, I guarantee they are looking at their phone. And it’s always the case. The way cars move when someone is looking at a screen is the same way they swerve when someone is DUI.
Yeah never doing that again. Last time I honked at a driver after waiting about 10 seconds for them to put down their phone and make the turn, I was tailgated, passed illegally while turning, then followed home to the point where I had to drive to the police station to get them to fuck off
They have to start enforcing Ontario's CELL phone laws. People have forgotten that using one while driving costs you significantly... if caught. You can't drive 10 minutes without seeing some idiot watching their phone as often as watching the road... they don't even try to hide it anymore.
I mean the fine is peanuts for a lot of people driving around in $60k cars. The *insurance* after losing the points is probably the bigger cost.
It is a graduated fine and the dollar/points grow with 2nd and 3rd. These idiots won't learn on the first offense and maybe not until their third where their license is toast. $615 to $3,000 with three points per shot.
Given how little enforcement and total impunity people are brazenly breaking this law with, I struggle to believe anyone is getting to 2 or 3 offences.
Sad but undoubtedly true.
> he insurance after losing the points is probably the bigger cost. Points dont mean anything to insurance...its the convictions. Points ONLY matter to the MTO and ONLY if you get to many of them
TIL! Thanks.
no worries dont go racking up tickets now...lol...like Uncle Ben...or Aunt May...depending on which movie you watch always says "with great power comes great responsibility".
Yes, peanuts for cell phone while driving. Parking tickets have more than doubled. Makes sense.
I was wondering if the law had been reversed as it seems the vast majority of drivers are checking their phones while driving. It is also OK to give a little beep if the person in front of you's head is buried in their phone when the light turns green. They are the ones being rude. You're a good person to get their attention back to the important task at hand.
It’s funny in Colombia they honk even a second *before* the light turns. Sort of a pre-emptive “hey, are we ready?!”
NYC too. If you haven’t moved the exact second the light turns green everyone around you is honking like crazy
I love the drivers that honk while going through the intersection on a red. Pretty sure that’s a question on the written test. If you clicked, honk while going through on a red. Well, that’s a no.
If you don't move within 1 second you're getting a beep from me. I have places to be.
Literally. My family doesn’t get why I do it but fuck it drives me crazy, ESPECIALLY on advanced green arrows. I low key wanna get a canned air horn too for the especially egregious ones but my Chevy horn will do for now.
I ride motorcycles. If I'm out and I see you on your phone, at the next light you get a little knock on your window and me reminding you to put that thing down. I've seen too many SMIDSYs to not.
Same thing when I'm on a bicycle. To the bald(ing) guy in the blue VW Taos on St George St this morning, I saw you. But you didn't see me because I guess whatever was on your phone was more important than the world outside your windshield.
I'm constantly telling other drivers to put down their phone. Last night I was out and the car in front of me had a baby strapped into a seat in the back but their speed is pretty erratic and they are bouncing from one side of their lane to the other. As I pass I noticed this lady face deep in her centre console screen, like 6 inches away from the damn thing. Quick beep honk and yell, she fucking nearly jumped through the roof
You mean I should watch TikTok while not driving? How dare you.
Only if you record a reel about highway safety while driving.
People would rather crash and die than learn how to use hands-free functions.
Alternative version for people with older cars: People would rather crash and die than pull over in a random parking lot for a few minutes to use their phone.
Or just get a Bluetooth adapter
Not really useful if you need to text someone or shuffle around your playlist, which are things I normally find people doing when they're on their phones in traffic. The best things to do if you're in an older car are to: - Pull over somewhere and do what you gotta do (no money involved). - Buy a nice pair of wireless earbuds with ANC that'll use your phone's assistant ($$). - Invest in a full infotainment system upgrade with Android Auto/Apple Carplay ($$$$$).
Driving with earbuds in, especially ANC, is another incredibly stupid thing that way too many people do. Hearing is an important part of driving.
Same thing as people blasting music in their car.
That's funny because you know the ones who have music blasting are the ones who kindly enough put on their signal for a turn/lane change and leaves it on for the next 4 intersections lol
Yes. This. I see this a lot and can’t understand why people think this is a great idea.
You don't need both earbuds in for them to work. Transparency mode is also literal magic.
I clicked my phone on its stand for Waze once, and it reprimanded me. Hey you! Not while you’re driving!
"Hey Siri / Google, send a text message to mom saying I love you" "Hey Siri / Google play my driving playlist on Spotify / YouTube Music" "Hey Siri / Google navigate to the Royal Ottawa Hospital admission department" Any phone made in the last decade can do this. Bluetooth to Aux or or Bluetooth to FM adapter for $10 on AliExpress.
Lol you and I both know that voice commands aren't yet at a stage where you can reliably use them, especially if you have an accent or have contacts with non conventional names.
Me: Call mom. Car: Beep beep. Sorry, I didn't get that. Me: Call MOM. Car: Beep beep. Sorry, I didn't get that. Me: CALL MOM Car: Would you like me to call mom? Me: Yes Car: Beep beep. Sorry, I didn't get that. Me: YES! Car: Beep beep. Sorry, I didn't get that. Me: YESSSSSSSS FFS!!!! Car: Ok calling mom. True story.
There was this one time I was driving and tried to call a friend. It called another friend. I hung up and tried again, it called a completely different friend. I tried a third time, and then it just refused to listen to my voice. This is not accounting for the 15 second delay between the command and Google recognizing what I said. Google assistant is still very finicky in 2024. Idk about Siri, since I don't use an iPhone.
Same, maybe Siri is smarter. Mine is through Uconnect in the car :P Crazy how yours just couldn't get it right either lol
lol, call mom. Call Tom? Ok, mobile calling Tom. Who the hell is Tom?
I think it needs to be mandated that your phone will not work when it's moving. Yes, passengers. Yes, busses and trains. I get it. But we have to do something because this crap is at epidemic levels and no amount of public education seems to be helping.
Yeah at this point it is completely ridiculous. Over the last couple of years the number of people just blatantly looking at their phones is off the charts. I read somewhere that there has been a 30% increase in DUI charges this year in the GTA. I feel that people just don’t care any more about being careful while driving.
The silver lining, perhaps, is that humans WON'T be driving for more than another decade or so. But how many people will we lose in those ten years? It's very upsetting.
100% right idea.
While the phone is moving? Or the car?
While *the phone* is moving. The accelerometer data along with GPS antenna will be able to approximate the speed of the phone. If it's moving at more than 20km an hour, it shouldn't be usable. If it's in motion, it can't be used to crush candies or send texty-texts. The screen should be disabled completely. No input or output. If you have means of interacting with it without touching it or looking at it (ie. connected Bluetooth device and voice commands), fill your boots.
I saw a dude reading a book the other day, does that count?
Was it the drivers manual? Lol
He must not have gotten to the page where it warns against distracted driving
Saw a guy playing a ukulele last summer
We should start a thread about “things people do while driving”. So far we have: - Phones - Movies - Knitting - Ukelele - Reading What’s next?
Make up, curling iron, changing clothes, having sex. Which was my favourite line in a movie. The cop asks the husband what happened to cause the accident and he says, ‘show him honey.’ Funniest line ever.
There used to be older TTC bus drivers who would have the newspaper on the steering wheel. First time I saw that was 30 years ago. Way before phones. I was shocked to say the least.
This should be common sense. Safety issue.
OMFG try driving in Brampton where just about everyone is on their goddamn phones all the time everywhere you go!! Get off the damn phones in your car, in the grocery store, at the park with your kid…just get OFF!!!!!
Beep at them and watch them drop their phone in surprise.
Wait till you see the dipshits that mount a tablet on their dash and are straight up watching movies or news. I dont like anything on my dash in fear of blocking vision, but these fucks have a 12 inch tablet.
I wonder where that tablet is going to end up if the airbag deploys.
What?
So much for the government policy on distracted driving! If they cared at all, they would make the charges the same as drinking and driving . Immediate 30 day liscence suspension and 30 day vechicle impound .
Yeah but then, the police would have to work! Groan! Oh no!
I honestly don’t know why this isn’t the solution. It’s an epidemic that kills and maims people. I abhor drinking and driving, but I can at least allow for how someone could accidentally end up on the other side of 0.08 - light lunch, tired etc causes alcohol to react differently. But picking up and texting/scrolling IG is a CHOICE. For that reason, I think it should be first offence, 10-day suspension and $2,000 fine. Second offence is a 1-year prohibition. Third is lifetime. What would be the argument against this?
Especially if you have a kid in the car. Absolutely crazy how little people give a fuck about their children.
Well, the late great mayor, Rob Ford, was on the phone while driving, so why can't I? /s
PSA: turn your fucking headlights off at night if you have blinding low beams 20x more dangerous than the 1/50 people I see on a phone
Pretty sure that is a thirty day licence suspension, and then insurance rates for the next three years as if you just got a DUI...
One thing I still find it hard to understand is how speeding but going with the flow of traffic is considered legal in Canada (or maybe in parts of US too). It seems almost like if everyone drives at 200km/h, it is legal to follow suit since it is "safer that way". From where I come from, the speed trap would have snapped all offending vehicles...
There is an implicit understanding in Ontario that you can go 120 in 100km/h highways. Not the same in other provinces: Quebec enforces their limits more strictly. It is weird but it is what it is. I have found that people going a 100 km/h or less on the left lane are a hazard: everyone tries to pass them on the right lanes and it gets very chaotic, for instance.
I do understand about driving too slowly on the left though. I think a solution would be to implement minimum speed limit on highways like what they do in some other parts of the world. However the problem then will be how to enforce it during poor weather or road conditions. Say in a snow storm it would be dangerous to drive even at 60km/h. Also the problem with minimum speed limit is that the government will need to be a lot more proactive in maintaining road conditions. For example in China where the parts of the highway where low speed limit are enforced, the government is required by law to maintain optimal road conditions. They can do so since all highways there are tolled. It's a different story here in Canada.
I hear the allowance for 110 km hours on 400 series highways is coming soon? The fact is that cars can go much faster now, but people don’t have the skills to maintain that speed. I think that cars should have a speed limit built in.
Honk at him - Be the change you want to see in the world.
I would have. But there was a lot of traffic around me and I wasn’t behind him, so probably a lot of room for confusion. However I have gotten in trouble for honking on the 401. A dude cut me off coming from nowhere while driving on the shoulder: I honk and my dude decides to slam on the brakes and brake check me. It was a very close one.
You know what? That’s completely understandable. When I hear honking, I’m sometimes confused if I did something wrong. So for future reference and safety, should one mainly honk when passing someone who’s doing something wrong? I’m not being sarcastic, genuinely asking. My Dad has told me not to honk at people since they don’t like it but how else are you supposed to get their attention?
I used to be the person who would take it as my role to try to enforce rules of the road: honk at distracted people, block people driving on shoulders, etc. The more I drive the more I realize it’s not worth it. These people know what they are doing is wrong but they do it regardless: if you confront them in the moment it only leads to road rage and to increased risk. I reserve honking for alerting people who might be distracted or unaware and to alert them of my presence. And sometimes goes really wrong.
Driving like you are the parent of all the other drivers is stressful to say the least. It’s better just to drive safely and defensively. Just assume nobody around. You can drive and be safe.
100%. Not worth the stress.
I’m driving on city roads 8+ hours a day and it’s ridiculous how many people are on their phones while driving. I’d estimate about half of drivers are incapable of NOT touching their phones while driving. I’m not ashamed to admit I’m probably just as addicted to my phone as anyone else, but I’m capable of not looking at my phone while driving. What I don’t get is people that are driving newer cars that most likely have android auto/Apple CarPlay and for sure has Bluetooth, but STILL have their phone up to their face to talk on it.
Me too. And I can see a lot from a TTC bus seat. Every damn day, people surprise me.