US calls for ban on in-car phone use ... even with Bluetooth

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

[Captain Oates 911]

Instead of thinking about whether we should be allowed to do it, we should be asking whether the person driving that car hurtling towards us at Interstate speeds should be allowed to do it

Anyone who is so libertarian that they don't mind their family being killed if it maintains their freedom to text, and sees that as 'give me freedom or give me death", is a RWNJ to the point of being unsaveable and probably objects to drink drive laws too

A certain pooling of our individual sovereignty is unavoidable if we are to have a civilized society.

People who object to clean air regulations or child inoculations etc will not agree, but who cares about those people - they are dying out but not fast enough

We should have special Interstates for people who want to drive drunk and text and smoke cannabis while driving. They could all wipe each other out and make life better for the sensible people

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

A few nights ago on the news they said there were over 3,000 deaths due to people using cell phones while driving. I don't know how they came up with those numbers and as small as that number may seem for all the cars on the road in this country, it seems like a sh*tload to me. I'm betting there's some that slipped through the cracks and didn't make that list which would make that number even higher. Now throw in accidents where there were no fatalities yet there were injuries and or a car getting fcked up in the processes and that raises it even more.

Personally I could give two sh*ts less if I'm not allowed to talk on a phone while I'm driving. If it's that bloody important I can pull over somewhere to talk. Otherwise I don't want to get waxed by some d*mbsh*t yapping on the phone, nor my wife, family, etc...

We have long snowy and icey winters up here and our roads are like pure sh*t so when it comes to hitting the brakes you don't stop on a dime. You tap your breaks and pray. I don't need that extra excitement in my life. I remember only too well using pay phones before cell phones were even a thought and I got by just fine. Again if it's that important, pull over and do your talking.

Edited December 15, 2011 by Why_Me

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

btw that was 3,000 in the year 2010. It was NBC nightly news if that helps.

[Captain Oates 911]

A few nights ago on the news they said there were over 3,000 deaths due to people using cell phones while driving. I don't know how they came up with those numbers and as small as that number may seem for all the cars on the road in this country, it seems like a sh*tload to me. I'm betting there's some that slipped through the cracks and didn't make that list which would make that number even higher. Now throw in accidents where there were no fatalities yet there were injuries and or a car getting fcked up in the processes and that raises it even more.

Personally I could give two sh*ts less if I'm not allowed to talk on a phone while I'm driving. If it's that bloody important I can pull over somewhere to talk. Otherwise I don't want to get waxed by some d*mbsh*t yapping on the phone, nor my wife, family, etc...

We have long snowy and icey winters up here and our roads are like pure sh*t so when it comes to hitting the brakes you don't stop on a dime. You tap your breaks and pray. I don't need that extra excitement in my life. I remember only too well using pay phones before cell phones were even a thought and I got by just fine. Again if it's that important, pull over and do your talking.

People who text while driving are always fat with chewed finger nails

They don't have many accidents - but they see a lot

Remember to shove your gears into neutral when it skids on sheet ice if its auto- otherwise it can still be pulling or giving you engine braking - neither is wanted. That's a professional driver's advice - not mine

I just spend 770 on Blizzaks tires and it hasn't snowed yet - drat !

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

People who text while driving are always fat with chewed finger nails

They don't have many accidents - but they see a lot

Remember to shove your gears into neutral when it skids on sheet ice if its auto- otherwise it can still be pulling or giving you engine braking - neither is wanted. That's a professional driver's advice - not mine

I just spend 770 on Blizzaks tires and it hasn't snowed yet - drat !

We usually aim for a ditch/side of road up here if it looks like we aren't going to stop in time. Stuck in snow > fender bender

[ready4ONE 5,400]

The very people that think they can safely talk on a cell phone while driving are the same ones that think a drink or two won't impair their driving.

In the local courthouse, there is a wall of photos of red light violations caught by the enforcement camera. Almost every driver is talking on a cell phone when they ran the red light.

Not really.

Talking on a cell phone, adjusting the radio, switching from bright to dim, there are many types of multitasking which a driver will either choose to do (adjust the radio or talk on a cell,) or needs to do (dim or brighten the headlights, operate turn signals, adjust wipers.) A good driver is multitasking anyway, looking ahead, behind, left, right, maintaining lane position and proper speed for conditions.

A drink with your dinner won't impair your ability to drive unless you have something physically wrong with you. Raging alcoholics may be an exception to your "one or two" drinks with dinner rule.

Talking, merely talking, on your cell phone vs talking to your passenger, talking to your kids in the back seat, is not something which a decent driver should have trouble doing.

My guess would be they posted the photos of persons running red lights on their cells, it would be very doubtful that talking on cell phones is the primary cause of red light running. Are you suggesting nobody ever ran a red light before cell phones were invented?

Texting on your cell is a whole other animal, and yes I could see where it compares to impaired driving such as under the effect of alcohol in sufficient quantity to cause impairment.

[sly_wolf 199]

Not really.

Talking on a cell phone, adjusting the radio, switching from bright to dim, there are many types of multitasking which a driver will either choose to do (adjust the radio or talk on a cell,) or needs to do (dim or brighten the headlights, operate turn signals, adjust wipers.) A good driver is multitasking anyway, looking ahead, behind, left, right, maintaining lane position and proper speed for conditions.

A drink with your dinner won't impair your ability to drive unless you have something physically wrong with you. Raging alcoholics may be an exception to your "one or two" drinks with dinner rule.

Talking, merely talking, on your cell phone vs talking to your passenger, talking to your kids in the back seat, is not something which a decent driver should have trouble doing.

My guess would be they posted the photos of persons running red lights on their cells, it would be very doubtful that talking on cell phones is the primary cause of red light running. Are you suggesting nobody ever ran a red light before cell phones were invented?

Texting on your cell is a whole other animal, and yes I could see where it compares to impaired driving such as under the effect of alcohol in sufficient quantity to cause impairment.

Yes, many people are just impaired drivers .... period. I wonder how many people get killed just because some folks just cant drive .... where are the stats for that?

[slim 1,525]

Anyone who is so libertarian that they don't mind their family being killed if it maintains their freedom to text, and sees that as 'give me freedom or give me death", is a RWNJ to the point of being unsaveable and probably objects to drink drive laws too

A certain pooling of our individual sovereignty is unavoidable if we are to have a civilized society.

People who object to clean air regulations or child inoculations etc will not agree, but who cares about those people - they are dying out but not fast enough

Whats funny is by "protecting" us, the government is actually making us weaker and, in time, that civilized society is going to have it's azz handed it by the RWNJs and slanty-eyed brown people of the 3rd world.

Our grandparents kicked the worlds azz because they were tough. Nowadays, we can kick the worlds azz until the batteries run out. "Hey, no fair. My batteries don't work anymore. Stop. Stop it. Oww. I said time out! You're not playing fair. MOM!"

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Not really.

Talking on a cell phone, adjusting the radio, switching from bright to dim, there are many types of multitasking which a driver will either choose to do (adjust the radio or talk on a cell,) or needs to do (dim or brighten the headlights, operate turn signals, adjust wipers.) A good driver is multitasking anyway, looking ahead, behind, left, right, maintaining lane position and proper speed for conditions.

A drink with your dinner won't impair your ability to drive unless you have something physically wrong with you. Raging alcoholics may be an exception to your "one or two" drinks with dinner rule.

Talking, merely talking, on your cell phone vs talking to your passenger, talking to your kids in the back seat, is not something which a decent driver should have trouble doing.

My guess would be they posted the photos of persons running red lights on their cells, it would be very doubtful that talking on cell phones is the primary cause of red light running. Are you suggesting nobody ever ran a red light before cell phones were invented?

Texting on your cell is a whole other animal, and yes I could see where it compares to impaired driving such as under the effect of alcohol in sufficient quantity to cause impairment.

You can remain in denial until your inattention causes an accident. Hopefully, just your ego gets a little bruised, and no one is seriously hurt. There is enough anecdotal and empirical evidence to suggest eating, drinking, changing the cd, and talking to children in the back seat provide enough driver distraction to result in an accident. Common sense would tell you that carrying on a conversation with someone not in the vehicle with you, who would not be as aware of driving conditions and external hazards as a passenger in the front seat with you, is a greater distraction. I see it all the time, people talking on a cell phone, and not paying attention to the road, or people around them, and I also see the consequences.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Distracted drivers are quietly causing a staggering amount of serious car accidents. In fact, driver distractions are the leading cause of most auto accidents. As experienced car accident lawyers in San Diego, we have handled plenty of automobile accidents that were caused by driver distractions or driver inattentiveness.

Here are some common driver distractions:

• Talking on a cell phone
  
• Sending text messages
  
• Reaching for a moving object inside the vehicle
  
• Looking at an object or event outside of the vehicle
  
• Reading a book
  
• Eating food
  
• Applying makeup.
  

According to a study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), 80 percent of automobile accidents and 65 percent of near-accidents involve at least some form of driver distraction within three seconds of the crash or near-miss. As a result, police everywhere have begun aggressively ticketing people that engage in distracted driving and endanger other drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

http://seriousaccidents.com/legal-advice/top-causes-of-car-accidents/driver-distractions/

Edited December 15, 2011 by Crusty Old Perv

[Captain Oates 911]

You see people who are talking on cell phones step into the road all the time.

It does disconnect the brain in a way that adjusting a heating control etc does not

Multi tasking things that are happening for real, and in ones field of view, is totally different to concentrating on an abstraction that is somewhere else - as in cell phone talk. In that case the brain disconnects from all the flashing lights and heater controls and traffic lights etc etc that are actually around the driver, and creates a discrete sub set - a division of attention.

Any intake of alcohol affects driving and I know that from drinking and driving since 1964 - sometimes with lots of excess alcohol and sometimes with only one drink. Me and a friend of mine claim that we can take a particular bend easily at 70mph when only 50 is possible with zero alcohol. That's what it does to you. Scientific tests show even a 200 lb male with half a pint of beer in him will have measurable impairment though of course he will be the last one to know or admit it.

I know science is not acknowledged in the USA (global warming etc) but I thought it was worth mentioning

I have never had a DUI but there again I was born lucky. I don't do it nowadays because liberal atheists actually think their way through life and progress. That's why they are called progressives.

Conservatives stick with their rigid ideas and will die with the opinion they have right now - right or wrong

[ready4ONE 5,400]

The OP list contains 7 common 'distractions' but the proposed law covers just the first two, and the second is the clear while driving no no. And we still haven't eliminated the crappy drivers who can't drive well alone, stone cold sober, both hands on the wheel and trying their level best...

Edited December 15, 2011 by ready4ONE

[slim 1,525]

Don't we already have a system in place?

Why not simply add "cell phone usage resulting in an accident" as one of the offenses that gives a driver six or eight points, similar to vehicular assault or OVI. It wouldn't outright ban cell phone usage, however, usage resulting in an accident would be an offense. That way, folks who are good drivers and capable of doing simple tasks without killing people can continue to do so. Those who can't will be stripped of the privilege of driving an automobile.

[Leatherneck 693]

Three times in my life I've been the cause of accidents- rear-ending people. Not one of those times was I talking on the cell phone. Each of those times I was not paying attention to what was in front of me. If you made it illegal to have radios and CD players in cars you would prevent more people from looking down and not paying attention to the road and probably prevent more accidents than this idea which will only encourage people like me to hide my cell phone from view, thus making it more difficult for me to dial, and in the end making me even more dangerous than I was before.

Next it will be illegal to have babies in cars because the crying distracts people, and they are tempted to give them bottles.

Well said!

AAA and others have done studies regading car crashes (long before we had cell phones and after) and the use of cell phones does not rank high on the list of the causes of auto accidents. In order to make driving safer, you'd need to outlaw just about anything other than both hands on the wheel.

So for all of you clamering for more nanny government to outlaw stupidity, lets get serious and make all possible distractions in cars illegal.

Like these;

1. Kids in cars - a major distraction

2. Talking to passengers - now you can legally ignore the wife while driving.

3. Eating while driving - Guess we better close all drive thru windows and make those illegal also, you might be tempted to drive and stuff that chilli dog in your face and not get it on your white shirt.

4. No more factory installed radios or cd players - another major distraction, if its good for cell phones, then surely this will be good also.

5. No pets in cars - holding pets while driving should get your car impounded for 30 days.

6. Applying make-up - Oh surely that won't go over well with women.

7. No more 'road head' - sorry guys.

8. No newspaper or other printed material of any kind forward of the back seats or within reach of the driver - oops, lawyers and bankers won't like that one.

9. Grooming while driving - in fact, lets just make having a comb or a brush in the car illegal.

10. No reclining the drivers seat beyond 90 degrees after 10:00 pm - you might get too relaxed and fall asleep.

11. No drinking of hot beverages - that will surely piss-off the coffee drinkers, talk about serious road-rage.

12. No driving at all if you worked more than 12 hours in one 24 hour period - we need protection from you tired/fatigued people.

13. No more mirrors in the visor on the drivers side - you might be tempted to look at yourself while the vehicle is in motion or try to dig the spinach from between your teeth that you just had for lunch.

14. Raise the legal driving age to 21 years old - we know how many accidents knuckle headed teens cause. If your not responsible enough to buy alcohol before 21, your're not responsible enough to drive before age 21.

Yeap, this should be a good start at protecting us and making all of us safer from each other, since we're too stupid to figure it out ourselves.