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"Even if you are otherwise driving safely"

(20 posts)
  • Started 12 years ago by Wilmington's Cow
  • Latest reply from ruggtomcat

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  1. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Just came across this on the AA website about using a mobile phone while driving:

    "If you break this law, even if you are otherwise driving safely, you could face a fine of £60 and three penalty points on your licence"

    That 'even if you are otherwise driving safely' creeps in everywhere doesn't it? It's like the speeder who is an 'otherwise law abiding motorist'. Is it not the case that if someone is on their mobile they simply are not driving safely? There's no 'otherwise' about it... Seems to hint at 'it's not really that serious, honest' type of mindset to me.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. cb
    Member

    'Obviously I wouldn't consider using a mobile if I was driving dangerously, but I might consider it if I was driving safely.'

    That's what you could infer.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. ruggtomcat
    Member

    It might be instructive to use some of the deconstructionist tools of modern feminism to have a look at driving and car culture.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. fimm
    Member

    What on earth are "the deconstructionist tools of modern feminism"?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that....

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. steveo
    Member

    'Obviously I wouldn't consider using a mobile if I was driving dangerously, but I might consider it if I was driving safely.'

    I always slow to the national speed limit before sending text messages to do other wise would be irresponsible, you know, for safety's sake.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  7. minus six
    Member

    use some of the deconstructionist tools of modern feminism to have a look at driving and car culture

    the dominator culture may be yang in essence

    but that doesn't preclude feminist participation

    Posted 12 years ago #

  8. Min
    Member

    I'm usually too drunk to use my mobile while driving anyway.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  9. Arellcat
    Moderator

    "Pragmatists and deconstructionists agree that everything is a social construct and that there is no point in trying to distinguish between the natural and the merely cultural. They agree that the question is which social constructs to discard and which to keep, and that there is no point in appealing to the way things really are in the course of struggles over who gets to construct what. Both philosophical schools can agree that if there are no values and beliefs not bound up with power, then the term ideology threatens to expand to the vanishing point. But both find this a reason to be dubious about the utility of the notion of ideology, at least if it is supposed to mean more than a set of bad ideas."

    So that's cleared that up, then.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  10. splitshift
    Member

    you lot are so old school, i never even carry my phone now in the car, or lorry , i have a laptop on the dash, watching a movie while e mailing !
    (tweet !

    Posted 12 years ago #

  11. PS
    Member

    I think there's a bit of psychology at play here - average driver thinks he/she is a good, safe driver, even on those rare occasions when they just have to check that text that came in. By the AA telling them that they could get a fine even when otherwise driving safely (ie, even when they are not involved in an "incident") they are more likely to take notice of this warning than if the AA simply states using your mobile means you are not driving safely.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  12. Uberuce
    Member

    Ill have to track it down and exclude the chance it was a joke, but I heard that something like 80% of people consider themselves an above average driver, and that figure does dip but remains well above 50% even when the sample in question is drivers who are in A&E being treated for injuries sustained in collisions which were later found to be their fault.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  13. crowriver
    Member

    That's human nature: fragile egos over emphasising competence to save face.

    Frankly those 80% should be stripped of their licenses and forced to re-test. Only those with sufficient humility should be put in charge of hurtling metal death carriages.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  14. cc
    Member

    The Dunning-Kruger Effect. The skills needed to make you (e.g.) a good driver are the same skills needed to assess good driving, so if you're a terrible driver you don't recognise the fact.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  15. Min
    Member

    A bit like Wonko the Sane in H2G2. Those who feel they would be best at running the universe are actually the least suited to do it.

    I'd be quite interested to know what the definition of good driving is. I expect most of the 80% feel that it means being able to drive as fast as possible without crashing. Too often.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  16. slowcoach
    Member

    As well as considering themselves (ourselves?) better than the average driver "Between 85% and 90% of drivers claimed to drive slower than the `average driver.'" NZ survey

    Back to the AA, I found some points in a presentation by the AA's Edmund King on the Road Safety GB conference interesting

    Posted 12 years ago #

  17. crowriver
    Member

    @slowcoach, very interesting. From the .ppt:

    “Shock news – AA President cycles”

    “Edmund King, the President of the Automobile Association, is an urban cyclist and a weekend warrior”

    Posted 12 years ago #

  18. minus six
    Member

    disappointed that deconstructionist navel gazing didn't unravel this thread into total derailment

    Posted 12 years ago #

  19. Roibeard
    Member

    @cc - lovely piece of work this. Possibly referenced by someone else here, I'm sure I read recently of this effect, and the corollary that exceptional folk underrate themselves on the curve, as they think others are better than they really are.

    The fun part is when one shows the exceptional other people's work (e.g. by inviting them to mark other papers), they are surprised, and subsequently assess themselves more accurately (i.e. more highly).

    Underachievers, even when shown better examples, still don't reassess their incorrect self-assessment...

    Robert

    Posted 12 years ago #

  20. ruggtomcat
    Member

    'Possibly referenced by someone else here,'
    <-guilty.

    Posted 12 years ago #

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