From: calvin@remove.daxack.ca   
      
   rcp27g@gmail.com (rcp27g@gmail.com) said...   
   >   
   > I find it astounding to accuse the text message of being rude compared   
   > with a voice call.  The telephone and the behaviour that society expects   
   > of it, is exceedingly rude.  If I was in the middle of having a   
   > conversation with someone and another person walked passed, interupted   
   > my conversation and demanded I speak with them regardless of who the   
   > first person was or how important that other conversation was, that   
   > would be regarded as ubelievably rude.  And yet that is precisely what   
   > people expect to happen when the phone rings.  If I am in the middle of   
   > cooking dinner or reading a book, someone coming over to me and insisting   
   > that I stop what I am doing and speak with them would be the height of   
   > impoliteness.  Yet society expects we do that with the telephone.   
      
   I totally agree with this. By extension, this is why I believe that use   
   of a cell phone by the driver of any vehicle while the vehicle is in   
   motion (and to a lesser extent if it is stopped but in traffic) should   
   be illegal - hands free or not.   
      
   It is not the use of the handset that is the distraction, it is the   
   conversation that one has on the phone. This is NOT the same as a   
   conversation with a passenger present in the vehicle.   
      
   These expectations regarding a telephone call described above continue   
   when the call is in progress. The person at the other end of the phone   
   expects to continue to get your full and undivided attention as long as   
   the call continues. When having a conversation with someone in the car,   
   any event that requires the driver's attention from the conversation is   
   acceptable to those present. A pause of more than a few seconds while   
   on the phone is considered very rude. Many are unaware of this, but will   
   instinctively react by trying to continue the conversation at the expense   
   of providing proper attention to the driving issue at hand. Those who   
   are aware of this are extremely hard pressed to override the natural   
   need to keep the phone conversation going.   
      
   --   
   Calvin Henry-Cotnam   
   "Unusual or extreme reactions to events caused by negligence   
    are imaginable, but not reasonably foreseeable"   
     - Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, May 2008   
      
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