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Cell phone texting while driving?

It's been banned in CA since July, or maybe before that. However, I don't see anything wrong with texting while stopped in long lines of traffic, often with the parking brake on. That should be the rule: Texting OK as long as the car is either in Park, or with the parking brake on. That way, it isn't a total waste of time to sit for 40 minutes while a freight train detaches and reconfigures it's cars while blocking the road. I usually pull out my Acer notebook, and go on the internet at those times, or while on the 405 Freeway at rush hour, when you only go a couple inches ever 10 minutes or so when there's been an accident. Texting, talking, and net surfing being allowed during those times would actually curb some violence from angry, frustrated stuck drivers, and injuries from people walking around killing time outside their cars. I've seen so many occasions where a driver gets out, goes to another car to chat, and doesn't notice that the rest of the traffic on the highway is starting to move! Then he has to dodge traffic on an 8-lane road to get back to his car, and get going.

Charles
 
Use of a cell phone by the driver while driving in California is illegal. People blatantly still do it. whether it's texting or calls. They should be shot.

Texting is downright dangerous while moving period. A girl was killed locally while texting when she was hit by a train while walking across the tracks. She also had headphones on. In SoCal some bozo rail car operator was killled along with a number of passengers when he was texting while driving. I also recall a local bus driver of all people texting while driving getting into a crash.
 
KeninDC said:
Shoulda seen me scramble for my meth pipe last night while crossing the American Legion bridge over the Potomac at 11:30 PM going 85 mph after entertaining clients at a DC strip club.

I had Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" blasting and needed a quick hit to keep from nodding off.

I burned my hand, dropped the pipe, and almost burned the leather on the passenger seat of my BMW 7 series but I had an open Colt 45 to douse the flame. I swerved into one of those tiny Smart cars and gave the driver the finger.

Close call. Music in cars ought to be bannned.
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Ken, I think we could make this into a hit song! I'll have my people contact yours.
 
First, I need to be very clear that I am completely opposed to talking on a cell phone while driving a car. I've done it, we've all done it, and anybody who doesn't believe that arguing with a boss/client/spouse takes up so much brain bandwidth that you barely even know where you are is in complete denial. Don't even get me started on texting. I damn near got killed last week when a kid ran a red light at 45 mph and almost t-boned me. I caught up to her, and she was looking straight down in her lap, punching away on her cell phone. I'm pretty sure she never even knew she ran the light. Stupid ****er.

whoaru99 said:
Don't most places already have a general "inattentive driving" regulation?

Perhaps we don't need more laws and rules if the ones we already have were enforced.
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:thmbsp: Unfortunately, these are the only two relevant points in this argument.

Coupla thoughts...since the city of Chicago is considering a ban of one kind or another there have been many discussions/editorials lately...

1. It's already utterly against the law to be distracted by using a cell phone. In all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Just like it's against the law to fail to pay full attention to your driving because you're distracted by eating your bagel and drinking your coffee. It's also already against the law to be distracted from driving because you're reading your morning memos, curling your eyebrows, shaving, changing a CD, leaning into the back seat to smack your kids, having sex, lighting a cigar, arguing with your wife (whether or not it's on a cell phone), etc., etc..

Why do we need a separate law that lists every possible thing a human being can do in a car, other than driving?

2. How do we propose to ask a police officer to enforce a ban on cell phones? Obviously, if you're holding one to the side of your head, that's going to be easy. What if you have a speaker capability in your cell phone? How about hands-free? Is a cop supposed to pull you over because he sees your lips moving? You're not allowed to sing along with the Beach Boys anymore? You're not allowed to rehearse the speech you've been working on? You're not allowed to say out loud the reasons your wife should let you buy the new HDTV?

If a cop sees your lips moving, and you have a cell phone in your car, are you going to be cited for possession of a cell phone? Even if it's off? What if it's stone cold?

Here's what needs to happen: People need to get tickets for failing to pay full attention to their driving. If a cop sees you weaving, slowing down and speeding up, following too closely, driving too fast, driving too slow, or anything else that would logically catch his attention, all he needs to do is watch you for a moment. He'll see the phone, or you waving your arms while your lips are moving, or juggling your Big Mac and giant diet Coke, or whatever you're doing, and he should pull you over.

We don't need any more laws that won't be enforced any better than the ones we already have. [Edit]: Much less new laws that are totally unenforceable.
 
fisherdude

excellent post

KeninDC - too funny



I used to do a lot of texting in my car at red lights - not anymore

I do not have a 20 year old blond girlfriend anymore - ha ha

I would put my phone on the passenger seat when the light turned green
and not pick it up again untill I was stopped at a red light.

my cell phone is never a problem in the car
I do not take or make calls in my car

my cell phone lives in my laptop case - off most of the time.

I never really got into talking on the phone while driving.
 
onepixel said:
Use of a cell phone by the driver while driving in California is illegal. People blatantly still do it. whether it's texting or calls. They should be shot.
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No, they should be ticketed and fined. Heavily.

For a state on the verge of bankruptcy and paying folks with IOUs it's absurd that they don't immediately tap into this revenue stream.

See someone with a cell in their ear? Snap a picture and fine them $1000. That would sure help, at least in the short run. :yes:
 
botrytis said:
There have been many studies showing talking on the phone, even hands off, is the equivalent of driving while drunk - period.
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Got any links for that? I'm genuinely curious about the hand free stuff.

I don't see talking hands free as any different than talking to a passenger sitting next to you. Dialing? Yep, that's a problem. Digging for your phone because it's ringing? Bad news. But if you're using an earpiece that only has 1 button and you answer a call and just talk, how is that different than talking to the person in the seat beside you? The only real difference I see is that if there's a person there you're tempted to look at them to make a point or to see their expression or whatever, thereby taking your eyes off the road. With a hands free setup, there's nobody to look at.

Is there some mental process that takes more brainpower to talk on the phone rather than talk in person (honest question, I don't know).

Back to the OP, texting while doing anything other than sitting or standing still is probably a bad idea, and especially while driving.
 
it's been illegal here to use your phone without a hands free setup for a few months...you still see people driving with their phone,the law needs to really be enforced,and the fines need to be heavy,perhaps including a suspension as well.afterall the insurance companies really don't care WHY your license was suspended,only that it was..hit em till it hurts enough that people won't dare risk getting caught,that's all that works...everybody is exceptional don't you know?all those silly laws and studies apply to everyone else...not them,they're safe

i saw one such exceptional young lady just today,yakkin away phone jammed in between her shoulder and ear,struggling to drive with one hand while eating an ice cream cone with the other...i didn't even know what to say,where's a cop when you need em???

as bad as phones are.texting while driving is just plain IDIOTIC.as much as i hate seeing peope talking on thier phones while driving...i d really rather texters grabbed even the tiniest bit of brainpower and just called each other!
 
:yes:I whole heartedly support a ban on hand held cell phone device use while driving, but for Pete's sake lets make the consequences something to think about.

Yep, here in California they first banned hand held cell phone use while driving. Nice theory that a hands free device will not be distracting, but as posted earlier so is the person in the passenger seat talking to you. Oh and when the law was first passed to ban their use, well the legislature gave nearly 2 whole years before the law would go into effect. (STUPID: Yeah the state lawmakers thought " I know you will cause accidents, injure and kill people, but lets give you enough time to think about refraining from doing so") Then some wise elected official realized that the law they passed only forbid the talking on cell phones and did not include text messaging. So they amended the law to include text messages, but did not include surfing the internet in the ban. (AND again you are given many months to stop texting before the act becomes punishable.)

But here is the true kicker, the fine is only $25. So who gives a rats @ss, not the offenders, cause $25 is hardly anything, and not the law enforcement because the fine of $25 for the first offense is not worth their time to pull them over, write the ticket etc: time better spent catching a speeding car with a single driver in the car-pool lane who is not wearing a seat belt (easy to do here in so cal).

Since cell phone use has been shown to be as dangerous (or more so) than driving under the influence, I SAY: Make the punishment fit the crime. First offense should be at least $500 or perhaps $1000. Penalties should increase with further offenses.

No Joke: Just today cruising along the 405 freeway, traffic doing perhaps 60 mph, I notice the car next to me, driver was texting with one hand and occasionally glancing up to follow the flow of traffic. I quickly got far away from that car :yes:
 
It is illegal to text while driving in Utah. There was a rollover a few blocks from my house and witnesses believe that the driver was texting. They saw her looking down when driving.

I think that here in Utah, the law was put on the books so that if a situation did come up where texting were to cause a crash there could be proper charges filed.


I think it is a good law, enforcement is the real issue with any law.
 
KeninDC said:
Shoulda seen me scramble for my meth pipe last night while crossing the American Legion bridge over the Potomac at 11:30 PM going 85 mph after entertaining clients at a DC strip club.

I had Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" blasting and needed a quick hit to keep from nodding off.

I burned my hand, dropped the pipe, and almost burned the leather on the passenger seat of my BMW 7 series but I had an open Colt 45 to douse the flame. I swerved into one of those tiny Smart cars and gave the driver the finger.

Close call. Music in cars ought to be bannned.
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You're not too far off. Before cell phones came along, the #1 accident causing distraction in cars was drivers changing the channels on the radio.

Ever taken a sip of hot coffee while driving? Punched directions into the GPS? Searched for change for the toll booth?

There are a ton of distractions while driving. While I don't think typing on a cell phone while driving makes a ton of sense, I also don't see anything wrong with checking messages while stopped at a light, or having a hands free conversation while in motion.

No guilt here.

bs
 
The fundamental thing here, is not what particular activities are or are not banned while driving; the point is that the driver MUST have good judgement of his/her skills and attention, and MUST judge what NOT to do at the wheel. Laws cannot create wisdom or intelligence. I know I cannot drive and talk; not even to a passenger next to me. So I don't do it. But to outlaw a particular activity will only shift the responsiblity from the driver to the legislature, and will not fix anything. Responsibility for your actions, Responsibility for your decisions, Responsibility for the lives of yourself and your fellow citizens.

Charles
 
kx250rider said:
The fundamental thing here, is not what particular activities are or are not banned while driving; the point is that the driver MUST have good judgement of his/her skills and attention, and MUST judge what NOT to do at the wheel. Laws cannot create wisdom or intelligence. I know I cannot drive and talk; not even to a passenger next to me. So I don't do it. But to outlaw a particular activity will only shift the responsiblity from the driver to the legislature, and will not fix anything. Responsibility for your actions, Responsibility for your decisions, Responsibility for the lives of yourself and your fellow citizens.

Charles
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But, the problem is, a lot of people don't want to take that responsibilty in to account when they are driving! :no: So you have to treat them like little kids and punish them when they doing wrong. How many times have you heard of someone being arrested for DUI and they are driving with a supended license and have been arrested 4 or 5 times before for the same thing. Is that being responsible? Their ass should be in jail as far as I'm concerned, because they have not learned responsibilty for their actions.
 
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