Do you ever make business or personal calls on your cell phone while driving? If so, you may want to pay close attention to a campaign launched this week by the National Safety Council (NSC) to prohibit even turning on a phone while behind the wheel.
The organization sent letters to governors and legislative leaders in all 50 states, urging them to make the ban part of their motor-vehicle laws. This idea goes way beyond the efforts that have taken place in many states and cities to ban drivers from texting and using handheld phones. The NSC says that dozens of studies have found that using a hands-free phone while driving is no safer than using a handheld one. It’s a distraction issue, and the group says studies show that about 6 percent of all traffic fatalities are caused at least in part by drivers not paying attention while on the phone.
This shouldn’t be taken lightly. This is from a big organization with lobbying clout, the same group that devised the “click it or ticket” slogan, adopted in many places to warn drivers to follow the law and buckle up.
The AAA motor club, another group with influence, has a campaign of its own to educate drivers to the fact that using a hands-free phone isn’t safer than using a handheld. But AAA hasn’t endorsed the safety council’s more radical position.
What do you think of a ban on using a cell phone while driving?
One of the more nerve-wracking moments a traveler can ever experience is waiting for a checked bag after an airline flight, knowing that prescription medicine or a valuable piece of electronic gear has been out of your control for hours.
If that’s ever happened to you then you probably already follow Rule No. 1 for hassle-free flying: Never pack in checked bags anything that would make you ill or heartbroken if the bag isn’t returned to you immediately upon landing.
The vast majority of passengers’ bags don’t get lost, and theft from bags in transit is rare. But jewelry, iPods, PDAs, cameras, chargers and other electronics will be the first items to disappear if you’re a victim, and airlines specifically exempt them from reimbursement if they’re lost.
Important papers or electronic storage devices should be in your carry-on bag as well. Airline web sites, including those for Delta and Usairways, have big sections on baggage policies but vary in how far down you must drill to find specific information.
Here are some practices road veterans try to follow when preparing and packing for any trip:
Most people who travel for work or pleasure have patterns for using some of the array of web sites that allow you to plan trips and buy tickets or other services, such as reserving hotels or rental cars. As you might expect, each travel site promises to be better and faster than its competitors.
I have jumped around a lot over the years in the sites I check. But recently, the one I go to first is FareCompare.com. It has many similarities but also some key differences, vs. other multi-airline travel sites whose names are more familiar, including Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity.
FareCompare makes forecasts on the direction air fares are headed, so that anyone who can plan weeks or months in advance can have a better idea about the best time to buy tickets. The site also has a greater variety of information and recent news about air travel than others I’ve checked.
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One of the more uplifting experiences for a blogger-writer on a general-interest news website like myself occurs when I ask readers in a column to tell me what they think of allowing cell phone calls on an airline flight.
This the third time in about three years I’ve asked, and the response each time has been rapid and vociferous, generating at least eight to 10 times more responses than I usually get to a column.
And what do the people – or at least my people – say? They are horrified at the very mention of the idea, with some vowing to stop flying or get into physical confrontations at 30,000 feet if they are subjected to the ill-mannered around them chattering away on the phone in a cramped airline cabin. Out of 58 e-mails and phone calls so far, 56 said they’re vigorously opposed.
Here’s a typical response, this one from a business owner in Chester, Pa:
I can think of nothing that would make travel more unbearable than cell phone use on airplanes. People are loud, rude and inconsiderate in the terminal. It would be even worse on a plane.
If you feel the same way, don’t worry. The prohibition about voice calls is not about to change. But the ability to access the Internet for e-mail and texting in flight is changing, and we want to know what web workers who have to fly on business think about all of it.
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For most of us, there may be no more tedious activity than waiting in a traffic jam. In this case, I mean waiting to clear security at an airport. Since 9/11, we have all become accustomed to the routine of shedding jackets and shoes, removing laptops and putting liquids and gels in 3-ounce containers.
At the risk of making your blood boil at the mere mention of the Transportation Security Administration, it’s time to step out on a limb and give the TSA credit for steps taken in recent months to reduce the natural anxiety we feel as we shuffle along in line.
The improvements are timely because the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, the most dreaded travel times of the year, are upon us.
The checkpoint process
The most recent development from the TSA is the establishment of “family lanes” at checkpoints at every U.S. airport. In many larger airports, the process goes a step further with the creation of three lanes for different types of travelers, using the same kind of diamond symbols that designate expert, intermediate and beginner ski slopes.
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It’s 5 o’clock on a Thursday afternoon and you managed to get through airport security on your way home, with half an hour to spare to check your e-mail and make phone calls. But your electronic device of choice is low on power.
Do you know where to find an outlet to recharge and work before your flight leaves?
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As a new contributor to WWD, I’ve been asked to pass on some of the practical knowledge I’ve manged to acquire from more than 25 years as a journalist writing primarily about airlines, airports and hotels.
A little about me: Last spring I left a fulltime position as a reporter, columnist and blogger for The Philadelphia Inquirer and joined your world as a home-based freelance writer — doing the same amount of work for half the money! I continue to write a Philly-focused column and blog for the newspaper. What I’ll offer for WWD readers will be more wide ranging, talking about ways to work efficiently wherever and whenever you’re traveling, along with throwing out ideas for stretching your travel budget to the max.
My first topic is a basic for the business traveler whose working life depends on web access, and is one that many of you probably have some experience with.
How do you avoid surprises when you check into a hotel, find your room and fire up the laptop to check e-mail or do other work online?
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Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
