I was just curious as to how many of you in here have perfected the artform of steering your vehicle with your knee (I prefer my left) thus leaving both of your hands free to do all the whistling one could desire??? I know that this would be taking WhOA dangerously further than just playing while sitting at traffic lights…however in just a few weeks of training, I have perfected this skill. I wonder who else is guilty of driving down the road playing their whistle hmmmmmm???
Note: This technique is best recommended for crazy people with tilt-wheel and/or cruise control.
Dale, this is your cue… 
Deja Vu. (Hmm, great name for a tune, or perhaps a band with a limited repertoire.)
I sit in the back and let Jeeves do the driving.
Steve
That’s absolutely helarious!
On 2002-12-17 06:37, Jens_Hoppe wrote:
Dale, this is your cue… >
Dale Force One must be out of wireless internet range, so I’ll step in.
Tsk, tsk, 2nd Wind. The warning already exists on the C&F main site: http://www.chiffandfipple.com/kneedriving.html
It is possible to survive a rod (or whistle) through the head, but Phineas Gage led a humorless existence forever after.
I do know a melodian player who also practices while driving…but then he’s a morris dancer and you know about THEM.
M
I actually mastered this art years before playing the whistle, when I was eating two meals a day in my car on the way to night school.
The one reason I don’t drive while playing is that I have this (irrational?) fear that I am going to be rear-ended and end up like Phinneas Gage.
John Mac
If your car has a air bag it increases the risk of being impaled. You could get yourself an F or G Generation whistle. It would do you less damage. Or you could pracice with the whistle pointing downwards.
On 2002-12-17 13:39, E = Fb wrote:
If your car has a air bag it increases the risk of being impaled. … Or you could pracice with the whistle pointing downwards.
I have this mental image of the airbag slapping against the downward pointing whistle and flicking one or two front teeth out. Bet your eyes would water.
Tony
I’ve never gotten the knee thing down…I always had better luck steering with my forearms. Problem is it makes my fingers stiffen up after a few minutes, but then that keeps me from getting TOO into my playing.
I should add, on a slightly serious note, that I never whistle while driving in town, only on those long, deserted Wyoming highways where there is zero chance of getting rear ended (since that would require another vehicle within two miles) and not a whole heck of a lot to think about survival-wise (keep an eye out for deer, though!). I suppose it’s still risky, but it keeps me from falling asleep at the wheel, which is a much greater danger than anything whistling might do to me.
Tom
I can’t drive with my knees and play the whistle, but I can steer, toy with my stereo, and eat greasy enchilladas from Taco Cabana at 3 AM while doing 80 mph all at once - can I get cedit for that?
Not that I’m trying to show anybody up here - it’s just that, in my Pathfinder, you need at least one hand to work the controls for the cruise control, and well, dammit, ya just can’t get around those lower hand rolls and swerve across the highway in between semis at the same time.
JH.
I can handle steering the car with my left knee whilst playing my whistle. That’s no problem. The problem is how to hold my stogie and my pint of Guiness whilst I’m whistling and steering the car with my left knee!!
It’s not the whistling drivers that bother me, it’s the wackos on cell phones!
http://www.autoaccidentlegalcenter.com/safety_first/cell/
The majority of drivers involved in crashes were talking on their cell phones at the time of impact. Therefore, phone conversations, rather than dialing, is the most frequently reported crash factor.
A few drivers were startled when their cell phone rang and, as they reached for their phones, they ran off the road.
An overwhelming majority of cell phone users involved in crashes struck cars or other large objects that were in clear view.
Manually dialing a cell phone can disrupt vehicle control activities, such as maintaining speed and staying in the proper lane.
Cellular telephone use while driving increases the risk of a crash.
As the number of cellular phones used while driving increases, the number of crashes will increase. "
I think it's time to pass some relevant laws...
1. Use a cell phone while driving, go to jail. First offence is 6 months minimum.
2. Use a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle and you will lose your license.
3. Register all cell phones. To own one you must have special training and carry a permit.
4. 15 day waiting period before owning a cell phone if you will operate a motor vehicle.
5. Special lock out device on car. It will not let you start your motor if your cell phone is on.
6. Automatic 1 year of jail time if you rear end someone while on the phone. (This has happened to me three times!!!!)
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I feel for you man! I too have been the stopping device used by some a-hole that was talking on his cell phone. The guy t-boned me as he was doing 50 miles an hour in a Parking lot, he flew through a stop sign, the sign I was expecting him to stop at. Then he slammed into me. He never even notice I was there until he bent my 88 sunbird in half around the Front bumper of his COMPANY OWNED 2000 Ford Winstar. Yup I was at work. At binney and Smith. I made crayola crayons. So After He hung up the phone he came out to see if I was ok then I recognized him. HArmon Smith the Corporate CEO in charge of of all things PARKING LOT SAFETY. Well after spending 3 weeks trying to get the video Tapes of the Security cameras in the parking lot I found out what else he was in charge of. He Is the Head of Security’s Boss. So those particluar tapes Disappeared, especially the ones that PROVED that he commiteted Insurance fraud when he said there was a whitness. I know who the whitness was, and he came out of the building 10 minutes after the accident. So nowadays when I see someone talking on their cell phone while driving. I write down their Car Make, model, and Liscense plate number, I PULL OVER to the side of the Road and call the state police on my cell phone. I’ve been responsible so far for 12 people being pulled over on Routs 80, 78, and 287 in New Jersey.
I’ve driven 6 miles to my mom’s house without ever touching the wheel, playing my whistle the entire time.
My seven year old said “Mom, shouldn’t you be driving with those hands?”
K
Airbag, whistle, soft palate, medulla oblongata. I just don’t like having that stuff all in one line.
On 2002-12-17 10:41, goesto11 wrote:
I actually mastered this art years before playing the whistle, when I was eating two meals a day in my car on the way to night school.
Wow, two meals worth on the way to night school? That’s sure some commute! 
Tsk, tsk, 2nd Wind. The warning already exists on the C&F main site: > http://www.chiffandfipple.com/kneedriving.html
Wow! Thank you for enlightening me with that url! I had no idea that page existed. I knew I wasn’t alone in this severe form of addiction! I mean Steve actually did some artwork representing my exact daily situation. You should see some of the weird looks I get from passers by at 75-80 mph on the freeway when they see my hands preoccupied with something else other than the wheel. I have decided to reconsider my ways however, because I don’t particularly care for my whistle to be imbedded into my Cerebral Cortex…I may suffer withdrawl but I think I can cope. Thanks for the helarious replies!
edited to reconsider my ways
Happy Holidays everyone!
Uriah
[ This Message was edited by: 2nd Wind on 2002-12-17 21:21 ]
-Got rear-ended last week stopping at a light behind another vehicle. Suspect but can’t prove the culprit was on a cell phone at the time. Ouch! -Culprit tried to beg off info. exchange, then tried to beg off (“I’m in a hurry, officer”) admitting the bash, then tried to buy me off in front of the officer in return for not filing a charge. I should have asked for a whistle
collection of all available keys in Silkstones, Burkes, Copelands and Abells for a start, with other high-end whistles and flutes to be named later. A short-sighted concern with spinal column health occupied my jarred brain, however,
so the liability whistle collection will have to wait. A VSB Susato was on the passenger seat , and not having it in hand or mouth proved fortuitous-not just for injury prevention, but for not having to explain a Phineas Gage type of injury to the officer.
Brian O.
[ This Message was edited by: brianormond on 2002-12-17 23:59 ]