I think people should learn to use the roads on morotbikes befreo they EVER get behind the wheel of a car. It opens your mind up to all possibilities that don't even enter your head in a car.
I had a car accident just turning my airconditioning off once so am not likely to play with gadgets in the car unless I'm stopped at the lights now. I too get nervous around people always doing something other than driving. And yes - I do get distracted with the kids in the car but if things get too raucous I pull over now. They all start getting worried then and it calms down ;-)
Being a woman...and not as young as I was...I do my best to be a squeaky clean driver.
I started driving on the roads fifty years ago...on a motor bike ... then a Robin Reliant...followed by many different makes of cars in the UK and Far East...and though I was a fast driver...have NEVER been involved in any traffic accidents. However...not long after I started driving over here...I was pulled up by a juvenile French policeman...because I failed to stop on a yellow light. He told me off too for speeding...I was doing 30 Km.
Last week on a foggy morning...my Beloved was carefully driving his beautiful 407 down a very narrow lane towards a crossroads...a young lad came screaming towards him...realizing too late that the lane was too narrow for him to pass...slammed on his brakes...which locked...so he skidded on the wet leaves into the side of the 407...crushing the door frame. My Beloved managed to get out of the passenger side...screaming at the lad that he was driving too fast for the conditions...and the lad just gave a Gaelic shrug and said..."C'est la vie"
Bless him :-)
My children distract me more than anything else when they are in the car. I am a professional driver (PSV licence and tour guide) so drive all the time for a living, usually pointing out sites and giving out endless information as I drive.
However, due to the kids fighting in the car whilst I was at the pumps, I managed to fill my diesel car up with PETROL last week. I haven't used petrol in a vehicle for years! Goodness knows what would have happened had I been driving at the time.
Pretty sure that EVERY parent who drives with their children in the car will spend a percentage of their time behind the wheel "distracted"! Almost any conversation that a driver has will reduce their concentration on the road, because they are thinking about that conversation! I do some of the "forbidden" things - but mostly when stopped at lights etc.
Also - I was interested to note that smoking didn't feature.... surely lighting a cigarette is every bit as much of a manual limitation as grabbing a bite of a sandwich for example!
I think we are pretty lucky with the roads and driving in France! I would definitely rather drive here than in UK or the States - where the traffic density is so much higher!! I am not suggesting that the driving is necessarily better, or worse - simply that there are fewer cars here which has to be an advantage! ;-)
LOL.....she will have had her knee up under the steering wheel. I do that when I'm rolling a fag....;o))
haven't got the hang of doing that one handed.....like some lorry drivers
I was once in the outside lane on the M25, doing 70mph, when a young woman started tailgating me. She had her phone held to her ear, and as I looked at her in my mirror, she took her other hand from the wheel, and straightened her hair in her mirror! I immediately shat myself, and got out of her way!
When you see police driving and texting, or holding phones up, it does sort of set a standard. I, personally, will not touch my phone if it calls or beeps while driving. nine out of ten times I pull over, and either answer it (and god help the person who stops me when I am on my way somewhere to take a call), or read it if it's a text.
My OH will call, text, or juggle mandarins while driving, and it is something that seriously, seriously grates on me. It is the cause of many an argument between us. "Allo"..... "hey, I'm on my way home, passing the bakery, do you want anything"..... "are you driving now?".... "yea, why".. BEEP BEEP BEEP. don't mean to sound crappy, but she's not the most alert on the road at the best of times.
I'm not coordinated enough to shift gears while holding a telephone and the steering wheel. I always wonder how people manage all of that. I am guilty of daydreaming while driving though. Once on a beautiful day while whistling along to some good music I drove twenty miles past my turn off before realizing it and got in to work late.
Hmmm...interesting topic.
I personally think the standard of driving over here is at the very least, questionable. I have seen some very strange behaviour on the road. Lane discipline does not really exist. The look of surprise on a drivers face when you appear round the bend is quite amusing sometimes..."well, you weren't there yesterday" seems to emanate from their expression.
I believe a lot of the problems stem from the fact that in France the roads, generally speaking are so much quieter than in the UK a certain amount of complacency sets in. Whereas in the UK driving is more a question of survival. I think I know which I prefer mind you. The odd bit of confusion over here is compensated by the fact you can drive for ages sometimes without seeing another car...lovely!!
I am guilty of driving while tired on occasions. Goes with the territory when making a trip back to the UK. Luckily I don't make too many trips.
Bonne voyage....out there!