[Ads-l] [Marketing Mail] text stop (OT)

[Benjamin Barrett]

It sounds like an urban rumor. The page at 

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120516-the-impossible-driving-test

may dispel this.

Aloha from Maui
Benjamin Barrett

> On 14 Jan 2016, at 11:52, Cleve Evans <cevans at BELLEVUE.EDU> wrote:
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Cleve Evans <cevans at BELLEVUE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: [Marketing Mail] Re: text stop (OT)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> I'm sorry, I find this really hard to believe. Are you sure this wasn't fro=
> m The Onion?
> And research on this subject shows that the percentage of human beings who =
> would EVER be able to learn how to text and drive safely at the same time t=
> o be extremely small. If this were true it would not "raise expected standa=
> rds of competence" but would simply raise the traffic accident death rate. =
> Allowing texting while driving would be "dumbing down", not vice versa.=20
> If there is any country where this has become part of the driver's test, I'=
> d bet it's too show people just how dangerous and impossible this is, NOT t=
> o encourage them to do it.=20
> 
> And as regards Denmark in particular, a quote from the website below:
> 
> http://www.danishnet.com/travel-denmark/ddriving-car-denmark/
> 
> Mobile Phones and Driving
> The use of mobile phones while driving is strictly prohibited while drivin=
> g. Use of the phone handsfree is permitted. However, the handsfree system m=
> ust be built in to the car. A headset is not considered to be a handsfree s=
> ystem
> 
> Subject:      Re: text stop (OT)
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ----
> 
> My wife told me of a news story that in one EU country (Denmark?) they have=
> decided that since so many people will be texting while driving anyways, i=
> t will now be a required task on the diving test.
> 
> The instructor will text a question requiring a topical information search =
> - a US equivalent might be: 'What is the capitol of South Dakota?' - and th=
> e driver must successfully navigate a field of cones while searching for th=
> e answer and texting the instructor.
> 
> I find the notion of raising expected standards of competence to be a welco=
> me change from the dumbing down we've witnessed for decades.
> 
> - GLL
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ----
> 
> Just as an aside, this was in the news some months ago.
> 
> Joel
> 
> =3D20
> 
>      From: James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=3D20
> Sent: Monday, January 11, 2016 8:26 AM
> Subject: [ADS-L] text stop
>  =3D20
> On I-684 in New York, just north of the Putnam County line, there is a "tex=
> =3D t stop".
> 
> It is an ordinary "rest stop" with, one assumes, attention paid to making u=
> =3D sre cell-phone service and maybe WiFi is available.
> 
> Signs along I-684 warn drivers to stop there if they want to text on their =
> =3D cell phones.
> 
> - Jim Landau

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org