Advocacy & Safety - Sign a petition to ban cell phone use while driving

Koffee had this online petition linked in her signature, which asks congress to ban cell phone use while driving. I'm posting it in a more visible place so more people respond. Petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/7474355/)
When drivers talk on cell phones, according to one study (http://www.voiceoftheinjured.com/a-aa-cell-phones-accidents-injuries.html) accidents increase 4 fold. There is actually a website (http://www.drivenowchatlater.com/ ) dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of cell phones and driving.

Scientific American Frontiers had a special which talked, among other things, about how well drivers could respond to things around them while on the phone. They showed some fancy setup involving a fake car with screens in front and behind which would show cars swerving and other things. They did this to monitor and study how well the drivers noted changes going on in front and behind them. In one instance, the tested driver was on the phone. They missed, by a considerable amount, events going on each screen. Teenagers, incidentally, were much more prone to miss key events going on in front of or behind them.

What happened to sydney was wrong. I personally think that text messaging in a car is beyond negligent.
Yet, maybe, if people had to worry about getting ticketed for using/playing with their phones, deaths could be prevented. We can't bring sydney back, but we can honor his memory by attempting to make the roads safer.

Thanks. I signed the petition. It's about time.

I hate to appear a naysayer but following a ban in the UK there has been little percievable decline in the use of cell phones whilst driving.

The sad fact is that this is a law that is very difficult for the police to enforce simply on the grounds of a staffing issue. Occasional blitzes may take place but the drivers sub-conciously know that they are temporary and recidivism is simply a matter of course.

I'm not saying that such a law is not a good thing and certainly it should be pursued. However, it becomes one of those laws that gets used for book throwing and box ticking than having any discernable short-term impact. Any such legislation will require a definite commitment from the police and local authorities, not just for enforcement but also to try and bring about culture change. The experience in the UK is that this will be a long, slow process that cannot be let go. We here have let it slide and sadly the law is very much forgotten.

I hate to appear a naysayer but following a ban in the UK there has been little percievable decline in the use of cell phones whilst driving.

Ditto here in DC. It's been illegal for like almost 2 years,yet I see yakkers all the time. Considering the fine is $100,you'd like there'd be a push for some easy money. Of course,it doesn't help when you see cops doing it too. :rolleyes:

I signed anyway. Maybe if it's a national law people will wake up. Maybe.

Oh,and the Mythbusters did an ep about this. They found that driving while yakking was just as bad as driving with a couple drinks.

Any one ever see another cyclist talking on a cell phone. I'm not talking the 16 year old on the 20" fixed gear trick bike, but rather a regular cyclist/commuter?

Yes. On the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill, I see a lot of cell phone talking while riding -- not while riding well, mind you.

I'm gonna put up a link on my myspace profile. Thanks for forwarding this info :)

Why not to create a new municipal job?

Cellphone police! - pays for itself at ticket time. Flash! picture! Instant evidence of the cager yakker. Two person team ... at traffic stops at rush hour they would make more than the parking authority.

Oh ... the possibilities! ... I think I found my true calling.

Any one ever see another cyclist talking on a cell phone. I'm not talking the 16 year old on the 20" fixed gear trick bike, but rather a regular cyclist/commuter?

Yes ... in philly, riding no handed, no helmet, regular street clothes. But it was sunday 9 am so I guess it was

I signed the petition, but the problem is much bigger than cell phones. Motorists have to be held accountable for their actions, and to be educated to be much more attentive to driving.

Any one ever see another cyclist talking on a cell phone. I'm not talking the 16 year old on the 20" fixed gear trick bike, but rather a regular cyclist/commuter?
Yes. All the time. All ages. All income brackets.

I don't care if the law has little actual effect in the amount of cell phone use. It will have more effect than nothing. And possibly if someone hits a cyclist (or pedestrian) while on the phone they'll get a stiffer punishment. That would be worth a lot right there. Plus maybe cell phone driving will lose some of its cachet.

I signed the petition, but the problem is much bigger than cell phones. Motorists have to be held accountable for their actions, and to be educated to be much more attentive to driving.

Driving doesn't seem to be taken as a serious matter. People, myself included when I was driving, do all sorts of things that have absolutely nothing to do with driving while driving. When one is driving an automobile they are operating a heavy piece of machinery that has the potential to cause an incredible amount of damage to anything or anyone unfortunate enough to be involved if something does go wrong. I am so surprised by how many people drive without the consideration of what they are operating.

Any one ever see another cyclist talking on a cell phone. I'm not talking the 16 year old on the 20" fixed gear trick bike, but rather a regular cyclist/commuter?Yes I almost witnessed a bicycle versus car accident a few months back, but it was the bicyclist who was talking on a cell phone and pedaled right on past me and through a red light during rush hour traffic (I was waiting on my bike for the light to turn green). I was actually stunned at what he was doing and it took a few seconds before thought to yelled "watch it." Luckily for him the four lanes of cross traffic hit their brakes and let him through unscathed. I don't even know if it registered in his mind that he just about committed suicide. He just kept pedaling along and talking on the cell phone as if nothing was wrong and everything in the world was just about him. It actually pissed me off, because I could see the motorist that had to brake for him were visibly angry (and that can lead to all bicyclists getting a bad rap). I almost wished .......... oh, never mind.

witnessing other people on bikes on cellphones?

Why yes, just last night on my commute home! First of all, he's this 20-something guy dressed in black, no lights, no helmet, and riding on the wrong side of the road. I turn around to look at him in the face, and he's on a freakin' cell phone. I gave him a look of disgust, and was almost tempted to say "you know, it's bad enough that drivers who talk on cellphones can kill pedestrians and people on bikes" or "Get off your f'n bike and talk on the phone", etc etc :B

Koffee had this online petition linked in her signature, which asks congress to ban cell phone use while driving.
Why? We already have laws regarding the safe operation of a motor vehicle. If the driver is impaired while operating the vehicle, he is breaking the law. We do not need yet more laws governing us. Why stop there? Why not ban radios, conversations with passengers, eating, and drinking? I use my cell phone while driving and others need to as well for their jobs. I will not give up my cell phone nor will the millions of other motorists.

I use my cell phone while driving and others need to as well for their jobs. I will not give up my cell phone nor will the millions of other motorists.

What kind of job do you have that you have to endanger the lives of other road users?

I also wonder what people who did your job before the advent of cell phones did. My guess is that they all drove convertibles and used semaphore. I did ponder smoke signals but that would mean that you couldn't work in a crosswind.

What kind of job do you have that you have to endanger the lives of other road users?

By his signature, probably he is the Grim Reaper. j/k

... I always use the same example of how to operate a motor vehicle and a cell phone at the same time.

He is a friend of mine, and I saw him in full "car office" action for 1 hour. He had a nice headset with a boom microphone, and he also took notes on a little voice recording device that resembled a pen. In my opinion, although I am a "no cel phone while driving" nazi, he probably had one of the most reasonable driving habits I've seen. I testify that this person gets 30,000 on his vehicle, and most of the time he is on the phone mainly because he wants too. He also owns a vintage car, but he turns off the phone when he drives that. That driving is leisure time, not working time.
This guy is no grandma and drives a Dodge Magnum with a Hemi, but is not flying all over the place while talking.
What are the implications?

I am impliying that there are a number of professional people is probably on the same boat, making a living on the phone,and hopefully he is aware of the limitations of operating a motor vehicle like my friend does.

Why? We already have laws regarding the safe operation of a motor vehicle. If the driver is impaired while operating the vehicle, he is breaking the law. We do not need yet more laws governing us. Why stop there? Why not ban radios, conversations with passengers, eating, and drinking? I use my cell phone while driving and others need to as well for their jobs. I will not give up my cell phone nor will the millions of other motorists.
I'm with mac. While the death of sydney was tragic, outright banning is duplication of an exhisting law. The current law gives law enforment officers the choice to stop someone who is driving a vehicle and distracting himself. The law is not limited to anything spefic, and dashboard cameras in patrol cars, and motorcycles, can get convictions. Not leaving officers to thier discrestion, you'll be taking them away from other lawenforment duties that cause greater harm to the general public.

I am impliying that there are a number of professional people is probably on the same boat, making a living on the phone,and hopefully he is aware of the limitations of operating a motor vehicle like my friend does.

I would never argue that there are no people in the world capable of operating a motor vehicle whilst using a mobile phone. The fact that there are some that can is a fair and reasonable point. But shall we protect for the capability of the few in the light of the incapability of the many?

There are a few people who can drive reasonably well whilst legally intoxicated. Should we repeal drink-driving laws simply on the merits of this minority?

A simple point is that there is no affordable and easily implementable mean of testing capacity to drive whilst by some means impaired. Legislation against use of mobile phones while driving will officially recognise it as a form of impairment, a matter that is interpretable and arguable at the moment. I'm adverse to excessive legislation but this is one of those areas where such definition is necessary.

I use my cell phone while driving and others need to as well for their jobs.

Reminds me of a story on the news last week. Everyone's panicking in DC because there may be a Blackberry outage. People just can't live/work without them. :rolleyes:


I will not give up my cell phone nor will the millions of other motorists.

-1 Karma


You know,I'm really starting to hate cell phones. It's not just the obliviots driving with the things,but people can't even seem to walk with the bloody things. I've had people almost knock me down while walking on the sidewalk because they were in their own little world. And don't get me started on the selfish morons who let them ring in restaurants or movie theaters. People need to realize that when their mind floats off into the aether during a cell phone call,that their body remains here on Earth;where it can annoy or even cause harm to the rest of us.

I carry a cell phone for 3 reasons;in case of an emergency(injury,crime),to find someone's location on a ride,or when I leave the house when it's my turn to be on the pager. I'm always stopped when using it,and the rest of the time it's turned off.

Why? We already have laws regarding the safe operation of a motor vehicle. If the driver is impaired while operating the vehicle, he is breaking the law. We do not need yet more laws governing us. Why stop there? Why not ban radios, conversations with passengers, eating, and drinking? I use my cell phone while driving and others need to as well for their jobs. I will not give up my cell phone nor will the millions of other motorists.
Well, if your so obsessed with freedoms, technically drinking is a freedom. Drinking impairs a driver as much as using the phone. A car is not a recreation area, an office, a playroom or anything like that. A car was designed to get said driver from point A to point B- that is what a car is intended for. Since a driver is plowing along with tons of steel which can kill, that driver has a responsibility to pay *@#$%%^! attention to where they are going. Phone drivers don't pay attention to anything. Your rights stop where another person nose begins. If you kill other people in the process of exercising your "freedoms" you are imposing on other peoples rights. If you get too bored driving your car and you need distractions, then maybe you should ride your bike instead. That is never boring. On a bike you can talk on the phone and not cause a major wreck. Do your talking on your bike if you must.
Why don't we just encourage the proliferation of web cam phones among drivers. That way drivers could be even more entertained since they would see the person they are talking to. Who cares if they aren't looking at the road! A car is a personal office/funhouse anyhow. Maybe if we are lucky, those idiots will smack into a telephone pole. That would be natural selection, wouldn't it?

More Drivers Than Ever Talk on Cell Phones

By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 53 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - More people than ever are turning their cars into personal phone booths, with a million and a half drivers gabbing on cell phones at any given time. Women and young people are the most common yakkers.

About 10 percent of the people on the road during the day are using cell phones, up from 8 percent in 2004, the government reported Thursday.

Six percent of drivers were holding the phones to their ears, up from 5 percent last year.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which issued the report, recommends that motorists use cell phones while driving only during an emergency.

Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia prohibit talking on hand-held cell phones while driving. The new data could add fuel to the debate over whether drivers should be limited in their use of cell phones on the nation's highways.

Cities such as Chicago and Santa Fe, N.M., require handsfree devices in automobiles. But eight states — Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma and Oregon — bar local governments from restricting cell phone use in vehicles, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Researchers have tried to figure out the possible risks of driving and dialing. A study published by the British Medical Journal in July found drivers using cell phones were four times as likely to get into a crash that could cause injuries serious enough to land them in the hospital.

But the study, conducted by the Virginia-based Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety, suggested that using a handsfree device instead of a hand-held phone may not necessarily improve safety. Researchers found that both phone types increased the risk.

Industry officials contend cell phones are just one form of distraction: many drivers eat fast food, push buttons on their stereo, apply makeup or talk to other passengers.

"Talking on a cell phone is one of many possible distractions and by narrowly focusing on just this one could create a false sense of security with drivers," said John Walls, spokesman for CTIA — The Wireless Association.

Matt Sundeen of the National Conference of State Legislatures said state lawmakers have lacked the kind of conclusive data that was used in the past to bolster arguments for tougher drunken driving or seat belt laws.

"You don't have that wide body of accepted evidence yet on the driver distraction debate," Sundeen said.

The NHTSA survey was conducted between June 6 and June 25 at 1,200 road sites across the nation. Trained observers watched vehicles go by and charted what the driver was doing. The ages of drivers are estimates based on their observations.

The survey found that 10 percent of drivers between 16 and 24 were holding cell phones to their ears, compared with 8 percent in 2004. Only 1 percent of drivers ages 70 and above were using handheld cell phones.

Many states have sought restrictions for young drivers using cell phones. Ten states and the District of Columbia carry the prohibitions, with many of the laws approved in the past year.

The National Transportation Safety Board, meanwhile, voted in September to recommend that all states make it illegal for teenagers and new drivers to talk on the phone while driving.

Brian Schaffner, 24, who works for a political consulting firm in Washington, D.C., said his cell phone is "almost a part of me" and admits using it behind the wheel. But he doesn't think it affects his driving.

"I'm probably young and arrogant, thinking that I can't hurt myself, but for the most part I feel perfectly safe using when I drive," Schaffner said.

Women were more likely than men to use handheld phones behind the wheel, with 8 percent of women driving and talking into their cell phone, compared with 5 percent of men.

For the first time, the government examined drivers manipulating hand-held devices at the wheel, including dialing, typing a text message or playing a video game. Only 0.2 percent of drivers were observed fiddling with the gadgets.

Richard Roy, a state legislator in Connecticut who sponsored the state's ban on handheld devices, predicted the new data would help states pursuing similar laws.

"It will make it easier for other lawmakers to a get a law passed," Roy said.

___

On the Net:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: http://www.nhtsa.gov/

To see the NHTSA report: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/RNotes/2005/809967.pdf


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051215/ap_on_go_ot/cell_phone_drivers

Yeah, that's it. Play video games while driving. Wouldn't want you to have to put the games down long enough to drive, now, would we. :rolleyes:

I'd be willing to ban the damn things totally in public. A few weeks back a woman was standing behind me in the line at Subway talking loudly about her yeast infection. I very politely asked her to shut up as she was removing my appetite. She kept yakking.

Az

For one thing they would never ban cell phones while driving. I think the automobile manufactures and the cell phone companies are in cahoots with one another. The more cars people crash up while using cell phones, the more cars people buy, so they will never ban cell phone use while driving.

I'd be willing to ban the damn things totally in public. A few weeks back a woman was standing behind me in the line at Subway talking loudly about her yeast infection. I very politely asked her to shut up as she was removing my appetite. She kept yakking.

Az

Having been a cell phone user for a long long time, (I am in the industry) the primary problem I find is that people have not developed an etiquette for the darn things... unlike farting in public or picking one's nose... folks just go on and yack any time and any place about anything.

In your example, the best thing to do would have been to embarrase the heck out of her by asking how the yeast infection was proceeding. "Pardon me, I couldn't help but overhear... so how is YOUR YEAST INFECTION now?"

Much of my prejudice that cell phones impair the ability of a person to focus on reality comes from observing people just using cell phones when walking. I get stuck in halls and on the sidewalk by people walking really slow and weaving back and forth while talking on the phone. You say, excuse me, and it takes 2 minutes for these people to get out of the twilight zone and let you pass. I can get in the twilight zone when I'm on the phone. One time I walked into my open DVD player drawer on my computer while I was talking on the phone. Multitasking in this way is just too difficult for most people.

Heard some related news to this issue recently.

North Carolina has some of the nation's largest military bases, and last week the Pentagon issued a ban on cell phone use in vehicles on bases in the state. I'm pretty sure this is a national restriction, but I only heard this info on local news, so I can't verify.

Just thought this was an interesting development.

It's true for military and fed govt. No yakking on installations or while using govt vehicles.

Heard some related news to this issue recently.

North Carolina has some of the nation's largest military bases, and last week the Pentagon issued a ban on cell phone use in vehicles on bases in the state. I'm pretty sure this is a national restriction, but I only heard this info on local news, so I can't verify.

Just thought this was an interesting development.I work on Kirtland AFB in New Mexico and if the on base cell phone restriction is true, the word hasn't gotten here yet. Yesterday after starting my bike commute home I was waiting for a light on base to turn green and did an informal survey of how many motorist had cell phones stuck in their ears. Out of 23 cars/trucks/SUVs that went across the intersection, 9 of the drivers were holding cell phones.

I work on Kirtland AFB in New Mexico and if the on base cell phone restriction is true, the word hasn't gotten here yet. Yesterday after starting my bike commute home I was waiting for a light on base to turn green and did an informal survey of how many motorist had cell phones stuck in their ears. Out of 23 cars/trucks/SUVs that went across the intersection, 9 of the drivers were holding cell phones.

They just did a report on the news today:the ban doesn't take effect until 1 Feb.

I signed and got several other people to sign too. Maybe I should make more friends, then I could get them to sign, too. :D

I put my Hancock down.

Don't some places have cellphone jammers?
I'de like to see a small but reasonable ranged battery powered cellphone jammer we can carry on our bikes.
A jammer that broadcasts loudly in their ears, "SHUT THE F*** UP!!" over and over. :D

It's true for military and fed govt. No yakking on installations or while using govt vehicles.

Many private employers are also issuing such instructions. There was a recent incident when a lawyer, while discussing business, was involved in an accident. Not only were they personally being sued but the injured party also sued the lawyers firm as the accident took place while they were engaged on behalf of the firm.

My buddy's wife is a high powered attorney and when this hit the news her firm told all the lawyers no more discussing firm business while driving.

I hate to appear a naysayer but following a ban in the UK there has been little percievable decline in the use of cell phones whilst driving.

The sad fact is that this is a law that is very difficult for the police to enforce simply on the grounds of a staffing issue. Occasional blitzes may take place but the drivers sub-conciously know that they are temporary and recidivism is simply a matter of course.

I'm not saying that such a law is not a good thing and certainly it should be pursued. However, it becomes one of those laws that gets used for book throwing and box ticking than having any discernable short-term impact. Any such legislation will require a definite commitment from the police and local authorities, not just for enforcement but also to try and bring about culture change. The experience in the UK is that this will be a long, slow process that cannot be let go. We here have let it slide and sadly the law is very much forgotten.

I'm with Seldom Kill. I feel as bad as the next guy when somebody gets killed by someone else's stupidity. BUT ...... If you want to stay alive in this world, you have to be ready for others who may not be too bright, don't care, or have the attention span of a small puppy, to make stupid mistakes.

Having another *LAW* is not going to cure this problem. We've got too many *LAWS* already that are usually only applied *AFTER* it's too late.

Rik

FWIW, I don't think that the law will solve the problem, but it will at least give a fitting punishment to suit the crime. If you kill someone, surely you ought to get more than a misdemeanor and a slap on the wrist.

Koffee

Agreed. If there's a law,then when someone breaking it kills or injures another person,there can be consequences. Without a law,a yakker can hit someone and it's just 'an accident'. With the law,they were doing something illegal.

This may be dangerous, but I think a more generalized law would be better. Cellular phone distraction is one thing, but is there anything that states that it is illegal to watch DVDs while driving? I know that it violates regulations to install a TV/DVD player that doesn't work unless the vehicle is in PARK, but thousands of people circumvent that. Maybe a regulation that says it is illegal to operate anything that impairs your ability to drive, written in a more exact way. It would likely require coincidental extra evidence such as weaving to enforce the law, but it would be a good start.

This law is easier to enforce than you realize. There are millions of old people around. Many of them are ornery as all hell and itching for stuff to do. The state of CA employs a large volunteer force of them to enforce proper use of handicapped parking spaces and vehicle registration. Obviously they would be able to help only in parking lots and places like that where traffic is slow enough, but it could be a great start.

The real problem though is a society that is oblivious to the fact that they're operating something easily capable of killing dozens of people at a time. Firearms have been the same way. It's going to be tough to make people stop using phones when a drunk-driving related death often results in only a couple year (or less) sentence.

Maybe some of you have forgotten that it's been illegal to kill people with your car (or most any other implement) for ...........quite a while now, in fact, longer than I can remember. and hey, I'm gettin' downright old so I can remember back a bit

Maybe you all could explain to me how a $100 or even a $500 dollar fine is going to change anything. We (at least in MN) already have something called reckless driving and if that doesn't work we could use careless driving, Failing those perhaps vehicular manslaughterwould work. All of these already have a larger penalty than talking on the phone while driving is ever likely to have and vehicular manslaughter pretty much means jail time, lots of it. So tell me please ...... if these *laws* don't mean enough to people to keep them paying attention, what makes you think one more is going to make it any better???

I don't think anyone wants the guy who killed sydny to get a $500 fine. If you think that's supposed to be a harsh punishment, then gimmie a car... I got some killin' to do and phone calls to make!

Seriously, though... I think you miss the point. There are laws for a lot of things, but people will break them anyway if they know they can get away with it. But knowing a law is out there and deliberately breaking it, leading to the death of a person should have some type of consequences. Yes, it _is_ illegal to kill someone with your car, but for some reason, when someone kills another person with their car and alcohol, cell phones, and other type of "minor" offenses leading to the hit and run are involved, the perp tends to get off with a slap on the wrist. Bad behavior is often explained away, and the perp gets off. I think this is where you tend to miss the point, gramps.

Koffee

Having been a cell phone user for a long long time, (I am in the industry) the primary problem I find is that people have not developed an etiquette for the darn things... unlike farting in public or picking one's nose... folks just go on and yack any time and any place about anything.

Maybe It's just me, but a lot of the "etiquette" is pretty much simple consideration and common sense. I think that the cell phone, like the automobile engenders an "its all about me" mindset. All they have to ask themselves is "Would I mind someone else doing this to me?" But they don't.

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I'll never forget an accident that I was first upon about 6 years ago. On a rural road, a lady in a BMW had lost control of her car, crossed to the other direction, went on to shoulder on the other side, scraped a barbed wire fence, did a U turn and got back to the highway just in time to hit a mini van almost head on. She was ejected from the car(no seat belt), but fortunately landed in the sand. The minivan had popped its airbags and the driver was okay.

I heard the BMW driver give her explanation. "I was dialing my cell phone and it just "WENT OUT OF CONTROL!" As if the car had suddenly developed a will of its own...

Well, from the tire tracks, it was obvious that the right wheel had drifted off the edge of the pavement into the sand which was three inches below the road way. She tried to jerk it back onto the road, and when she came back up on the pavement, the car over corrected went across the highway and she over corrected again and then hit the minivan. It's obvious that this woman's inattention and inability to react were nearly a leathal combination for her.

Well thanks there ...... uh, young lady, I think you just made my point for me. If we can't find a way to enforce the literally hundreds of laws we've already got, one more just isn't going to help.

When we can convince people that these things really can happen to them, THEN we will be getting somewhere. First they have to learn to place some value in the life of another human being.

It's obvious that this woman's inattention and inability to react were nearly a leathal combination for her.
Do you find that it's more often teen girls & women who are having trouble driving and using a cell phone than us men? In my personal observations, it's been the fairer sex that always seems distracted when on a cell phone. Maybe it's an emotional thing where women get more passionately involved in their conversations. I know that when I'm on my cell while driving, it's usually, "uh-huh. yeah. okay," while I'm scanning the road ahead. I've even gotten lost in conversations since I wasn't paying too much attention to the other person only to catch up at the next stop light.

Why? We already have laws regarding the safe operation of a motor vehicle. If the driver is impaired while operating the vehicle, he is breaking the law. We do not need yet more laws governing us. Why stop there? Why not ban radios, conversations with passengers, eating, and drinking? I use my cell phone while driving and others need to as well for their jobs. I will not give up my cell phone nor will the millions of other motorists.

Then hopefully you'll pay some fines in the future. You shout as though someone had taxed your tea but cellphones are a recent technology. Somehow we got all the way to the 21st century without them and had cars for the last 80 years before them. To cry about your dependence on this technology demonstrates a lack of imagination and selfish laziness. Equip your phone to operate in the same manner as a 2-way radio with a steering wheel key-up and I'm sure you'll be fine.

Maybe you are competent, if you are you won't have a problem. To deny the existence of millions of dangerous drivers who pay more attention to useless calls about which fast foods to stop for on the way home is selfish.

I'd bet the proposed law is far more about education than enforcement. It can be enforced when something goes wrong to drive home the point that paying attention to the road is paramount. You don't often get tickets for failure to signal or failure to yield right-of-way or even reckless driving...until you cause an accident. A specific law will help distinguish the difference between an unavoidable misfortune (it isn't illegal to talk on the phone, how can you say I was impaired?) and a preventable, avoidable accident (You were on the phone turning right, how did you intend to signal and observe oncoming trafffic, gauging their speed on approach while yielding into a turn and paying attention to the details of your conversation?)

Do you find that it's more often teen girls & women who are having trouble driving and using a cell phone than us men? In my personal observations, it's been the fairer sex that always seems distracted when on a cell phone. Maybe it's an emotional thing where women get more passionately involved in their conversations. I know that when I'm on my cell while driving, it's usually, "uh-huh. yeah. okay," while I'm scanning the road ahead. I've even gotten lost in conversations since I wasn't paying too much attention to the other person only to catch up at the next stop light.


No, I can't generalize. The worst cell phone driver I ever knew was a boss of mine in 1990. He was a real loose cannon and a real cell phone abuser long before most people had heard of cell phones.

Personally, trying to fumble with one of those tiny things while driving gives me the creeps. I will agree that cell phones were designed for women's smaller hands.

a ban was placed in victoria australia , just last year, and, it seems to be working, then again, how the hell could somebody gauge that?

a ban was placed in victoria australia , just last year, and, it seems to be working, then again, how the hell could somebody gauge that?
Sit by the roadside, and watch how many scofflaws go by with phones stuck to their heads.
There's quite a few here in Texas I'm sure break the law by getting bogus liability insurance papers.
As long as a law isn't being strongly enforced, nothing changes.

I was thinking about sydney again yesterday- some idiot on a cell phone was dialling as he drove up to an intersection for the bike path... he didn't even stop, even though he saw me approaching- I looked directly at him. Then he drove through the stop sign as he switched hands with his cell phone and began talking. He just missed me, and it's only because I could assess the situation and slow down enough for him to drive through the stop sign. Then I screamed something like hey a-hole- you coulda killed me! You know, that idiot didn't even miss a beat.

All that for a phone call that probably meant nothing. :rolleyes:

Koffee

For convenience, there should be a special easily accessible button on the cell phone (call it a "pull over" button or something like that) where a driver receiving an incoming call can alert the caller that he or she is on the road and is finding a suitable place to pull over. That way the driver doesn't miss the call but would not be actually talking on the cell phone until the driver is stopped.

I'm not sure how that would work but it would be better than nothing and it might actually help save lives. Just an idea. Would something like that work?

What happened to those headsets for those drivers who yak alot? I think I've seen a driver use those only once ever since cell phones have been invented.