Community poll forum: Talking on the phone while driving

Nice post, very thought-provoking... except even bikers can use their mobiles - with the headsets under the helmets!!

... and what was that about going at twice the national limit...? (Hope its not justification..!!)

i have seen bikers with two way radios and now hands free phone sets on there bikes aswell,as for speeding past,thats just as bad and not an excuss to pass a person becouse you think they a danger to you,commonsence says slow down and wait,i have lost friends who ride bikes and 50% of them was there own fault,wont go in to any details.

I'm thinking strongly of purchasing a jamming device.

Click & soccer mom with her little pony tail in that giant SUV will have to shut up.

How gratifying!

Four years ago. He was driving through an intersection where his killer ignored the red light and t-boned him on the driver's side at 45 mph.

The killer was a young man of 28 who had no previous bad marks against his driving record. He was not drunken. Nor on drugs.

What he was on was simply... his hands-free cell phone.

This continues to amaze me. Driving while using a device which, by it's very nature, diverts one's attention from what is the most important task any of us will likely EVER undertake in our lifetimes. This most certainly should be illegal. Just as activities which also divert or reduce focus and attention are illegal while driving - drinking and drugging.

Oh sure, you are one of many who is confident that you can multitask safely behind the wheel of a vehicle. You're the same person who is fine to drive after drinking only two beers while dining out, aren't you? Two beers will, in many cases, result in your BAC being in the illegal range of over 0.08%. But it matters not to you, because you know your limits, right?

It only takes one mistake to destroy a life, possibly your own. Not to mention the heartache of all family and friends.

Please demand our lawmakers to wake up and help save some lives. Too late to help my family, but perhaps not too late to spare your family the shock and lifelong grief.

The young man who killed my nephew now knows his limits. He was doing nothing illegal, merely driving while engaged in an unsafe activity.

That this practice continues to be legal is in itself a crime against society. Ignorance and stupidity abound.

Nothing will bring back my nephew. Nothing. I hope it never happens to you...

I have worked in Brazil, in So Paulo, and the traffic there is very busy. Cell phones are not allowed for the driver. Neither is eating or drinking while driving.
The passengers can do whatever they like. We used to stop and get a few 6 packs and have a cold one on the way home from work on Fridays. Not a problem as long as you're not driving.

Here in the States it's a very different situation. Just do a Google search for "12V hair". There's hair dryers, curling irons, etc.

There are actually laws on the books in places where you can be ticketed for not getting out of the left lane when there are faster vehicles than you trying to pass or for not using your turn signals when changing lanes.
The problem is that the police sitting on the side of the road can't tell what you're doing while you are in motion and they're stationary, usually talking to each other while waiting on speeders or waiting for the hot doughnut sign to come on.

I've been guilty of using my phone while driving and I almost turned into a one way street going the wrong way. I now have a bluetooth headset and that is the only way I use my phone while driving now.

I say it's time for people to sit up straight, turn the... I SAID TURN THE RADIO DOWN, and get off the phone. There are rules of the road and if you don't want to follow them then take a bus, taxi, or walk.

Another thing... I had a phone that I could monitor calls on any channel and let me tell you that what people are talking about is nothing but garbage.
Most calls fall into the '1 of 3' category. Money, drugs, or sex, or they're just calling to see if the wife needs anyting from the store.
Sure, there's some juicy stuff too but think about what most of YOUR calls are about. Is it THAT important that you can't pay attention to driving instead?
Get a life. Save somone elses. Get off the @$%^&*( phone and drive.

Just today, walking IN A PARKING LOT from my parked auto into a business, someone drove into the parking lot (posted speed 5 MPH) still doing 30 or so and would have run me down had I not jumped out of the way. I noticed the driver had a cell to her ear and clearly was not paying attention to her main task - DRIVING! So I "thumped" her BMW as hard as I could and was quite surprised that she stopped her car. I just kept on walking. One point I want to make -- used of headsets or other hands-free devices is NOT a solution. The problem is the (in)ability of drivers to multi-task.

Car Crash Victims Arm Found, Cellphone Intact

A Lexington, Kentucky woman and her daughter flipped over in their SUV and rolled into the berm. Passers-by stopped to help and found the woman, her arm missing, pinned in the car. A quick-thinking driver placed a tourniquet on the womans stump and they later found her armstill clutching a cellphone. Both victims survived the crash.


Woman's Arm Severed In Car Accident

A Letcher County woman suffered a horrible injury early Thursday when her arm was severed in a car crash on the Mountain Parkway in Clark County.

Jacqueline Dotson and her six-year-old daughter had to be cut out of their vehicle after the accident in which Dotson veered into the median and over-corrected, rolling her truck over the guardrail and landing upside down after flipping several times.

Several people stopped to help, and it turns out, the good samaritans may very well have saved Dotson's life. Sheila Vice, a nurse's aide, and an off-duty EMT from another county stopped to help, and put a tourniquet on Dotson's arm to stop the bleeding. Her arm was found near the accident still clutching a cell phone.

"Basically we stayed there and talked to them until the EMT drivers got there," said Vice.

Rescuers used the jaws of life to get the Dotson and her daughter out of the truck. Both were flown to hospitals, and Dotson is listed in serious condition at UK Hospital. Her daughter is not in the hospital, and sheriff's officials say they believe she's going to be fine.

Both were wearing seat belts.


Stories copied from http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphones/car-crash-victims-arm-found-cellphone-intact-155708.php & http://www.wlextv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4449021

I also live in New York. The law is a joke. Every day on my commute I see plenty of people yaking on cell phones. It hasn't been a deterrent at all as far as I'm concerned. How can you get caught? You have to be a complete moron to keep talking as you pass a police car or one on the side of the road. I've seen people in the car behind me place the cell phone in their lap as they pass by the police and immediately pick it up again when the coast is clear. There is no way to enforce this law unless people are so wrapped up in their conversation they don't see the police. But then they should be picked up on the "Driving While Stupid" law.

Talking on a cell phone, eating a meal, putting on make-up or doing a myriad of things while driving is dangerous; but some people can do it just fine. I do not look for people talking on their cell, but when I see someone driving dangerously, more often than not they are talking on their cell and are clueless to the rest of the traffic.

What I want to see is a LAW that TRIPLES the fine for someone who is talking on their cell phone while committing the offense. So, if running a red light is normally $150; do it while on the phone and it costs $450. Do it too often and lose your driving priveldge altogether. This way those who can drive and talk (or eat or whatever) can continue to do so without penalty. Simply passing laws to prohibit talking & driving is not a good idea.

I think most people are seriously irresponsible and careless. They aren't the multi-tasking individuals they think they are. I was nearly hit by someone who thought they could talk and drive.........he wasn't even aware I was there. That's really sad and scary.

I wish I had more bullets!

I don't know about the States, but here in the U.K., eating, drinking, lighting a cigarette etc is ALREADY an offence; 'Driving Without Due Care and Attention'. It's a catch-all piece of law.

I would be very surprised if there isn't similar legislation in the States.

Using a mobile phone is slightly different in that is is specifically legislated against and carries an on-the-spot fine.

It is illegal to do this without a hands free in all states of Australia. People still do it but there are largish on-the-spot fines and loss of points which could result in the driver losing the driver's licence.

For some people even talking whilst driving should be illegal. My wife mainly.

Roger

was going on with getting a wireless earplug. hah

We also have a law in Washington, DC but I still see many drivers holding their cell phones while talking. I used to drive that way until one morning I realized how poorly I was driving during a conversation in rush hour -- yup, slower than I should be and barely staying in my lane. There's something about holding that phone that draws more concentration away from driving. Bluetooth makes it easy -- and if you have a traffic emergency, you have both hands free.

You're right -- as you drive down the road you can tell the ones who are oblivious to how poorly they are driving -- they're all over the road and driving extra slow and not aware of any other cars on the road.