Driving and Cell Phones/PDA's

[lonewolf]

What are everyones thoughts on legislative action with regards to use of cell phones/texting/hands-free, etc, while operating a motor vehicle?

There have been studies done, laws passed, and opinions expressed all over the place. Kind of like concealed carry, there are many different and often divergent viewpoints.

Personally, I have used my cell phone (talking while driving) on rare occasion, and had no problem. I have never used the text function while driving and don't intend to. I have operated all kinds of machinery over the years, all of which can be harmful if one is not paying strict attention. I do not take the operation of a motor vehicle lightly. It is a very large object, moving with great inertia, requiring attention, preparation, and forethought, not something to be done absent mindedly while chatting/texting. 99 times out of 100 should the phone ring while I am driving I will not even check to see who it was until I have safely stopped somewhere. A crisis on someone else's part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

Should using such a device be prohibited during operation of a motor vehicle by legislation and enforced by LEOs everywhere, or should we be satisfied with the current laws regarding use in school zones, or should the government just butt out? I'll be interested to see how this topic progresses.......

Do you want your children driving and texting? Do you want the person next to you driving with the phone stuck between their ear and shoulder? Is hands-free OK?

[PRO]

I'm for hands free only. All it takes to slow down traffic is to helplessly watch the driver in front of you receive or place a call and then 10 mph will be lost. They won't move out of the passing lane nor will they resume speed until the call is over. If it's that distracting then it should not be allowed.

PS. I'm guilty of celling and driving too.

[karl]

Ideally I'd like penalties levied on drivers who caused an accident because of their use of a cell phone or PDA. Realistically that would be difficult since it would be nearly impossible to prove after the fact.

I often talk/text and drive but only if I feel I can reasonably do both with no issues. Not all people are capable of multi-tasking to this degree and I hang up if I need to focus more attention on driving. I focus on driving first and my conversation second. I do like the ban in school zones.

[Charles L. Cotton]

I'm against any legislation on the issue. There are many potential distractions for a driver (reading a map/GPS, changing radio stations, looking at street signs, dealing with kids in the back seat, etc.) and talking on a phone is not the problem many would have you believe.

Chas.

[mr surveyor]

it's all very similar to the CB radio craze of the mid-70's. Back then you would have to reach for the channel selector occassionally, adjust the squelch and volume, get tangled up with the mic cord. Lots of folks would get so engrosed in their silly chatter they would almost forget their driving responsibilities. Cell phones are todays equivalent to the 70's CB's.... 10% actual necessary use, 95% pure jibberish (yes, I can add )

surv

[Beiruty]

Yesterday, sorry to say it an irresponsible witch was doing her make up while commuting. I watched with amazement for like 10-15 mins and she did not stop with her make up thing. I am sure the make up will never make her beautiful nor attractive. I wished if I had a cam and had the chance to report her.

[terryg]

Against legislation - generally speaking. Very much against legislation that would not allow even hands-free kits.

[The Annoyed Man]

I will answer a call while driving, but I seldom ever initiate one. And when using the phone while driving, I typically either put it on speaker, or I use a blue tooth ear bud. I don't find talking on a phone, as long as it is hands free, to be any more distracting than talking to a passenger in the car. The issue isn't really whether you're talking on the phone, it's whether or not you are using your hands to drive the car or use the phone. I don't really care how good anyone is at multi-tasking, it is a very rare individual who is good enough behind the wheel of a car to multi-task while driving. In fact, I've only ever met one.

When my wife and I first met, she had just gotten her information packet from the Jim Russel School of British Motorsport Racing to spend a weekend learning how to drive a Formula Ford open-wheel racecar around (no longer existant) Riverside International Raceway in California. I was already familiar with the track from having raced bikes on it for a couple of years. During that weekend, I had the opportunity to ride with the head instructor in a little Mazda coupe as we went to various points around the track where we would pull off the pavement, and he would take notes as the students went zipping by in the little Formula cars. At one point, we went through turns 7 and 7A on the two outside wheels with the inside tires up in the air. I looked over (I was riding shotgun), and he was steering with his right hand, with his left elbow hanging out the window, and scribbling notes on the clipboard with his left hand. I think my hair stood on end, but the whole thing happened so fast, I didn't really have time to start panicking before it was over. I stammered out that I was blanking impressed, and he just chuckled and kept going. This guy was a paid factory driver for Honda.

Most people, including most active club racers, just aren't that good. I would rather they not send text messages while they're driving.

[jester]

Most people, including most active club racers, just aren't that good. I would rather they not send text messages while they're driving.

Especially if they kill kids and get paid for it.

[anygunanywhere]

The company I work for will and has terminated employees for talking on the cell phone while driving. My phone is company issued. Ear buds and hands free is not an option. Safety is paramount.

I do not answer my cell phone while driving. I like eating three squares and sleeping under a roof.

If I have to make a call I pull over to a safe location.

Society managed for how many thousands of years without cell phones?

Now some people can't breathe without it.

Cell phones have amplified rude, inconsiderate, obnoxious behavior by those whose addictive mentality now have another excuse to be all about themselves.

I think cell phone use while driving should be a moving violation and if you cause an accident you should be arrested and go to jail. If you kill someone you should go to prison.

I have been hit from behind by at least three individuals talking on cell phones.

The absolute worst offenders are LEO who talk on the cell phone while driving. They should turn in their badges. IMHO it is the same thing as drinking on the job from a safety standpoint.

Anygun

[Right2Carry]

I'm against any legislation on the issue. There are many potential distractions for a driver (reading a map/GPS, changing radio stations, looking at street signs, dealing with kids in the back seat, etc.) and talking on a phone is not the problem many would have you believe.

Chas.

I agree. You can also add eating a fast food meal to your list of distractions that drivers do on a daily basis.

[E.Marquez]

I disagree with legislation on the topic.

For those that advocate legislation of the cell phone from the automobile. I’d ask that you be intellectually honest, and also lobby for the removal of other, more common and problematic distractions.
Radios, CD players., Kids, Wives, Husbands, Brothers, Sisters, Girlfriends, Cigarettes, Dogs, etc etc…

Personally, I use hands free only, and I do not text while driving.

[sjfcontrol]

The absolute most distracting thing possible that can be in a car is a couple of squabbling kids in the back seat. I think that children in cars should be banned in school zones! After all, if it saves the life of just one child...

[C-dub]

Yesterday, sorry to say it an irresponsible witch was doing her make up while commuting. I watched with amazement for like 10-15 mins and she did not stop with her make up thing. I am sure the make up will never make her beautiful nor attractive. I wished if I had a cam and had the chance to report her.

So, for 10-15 minutes you were distracted watching this other woman? I just wanted to point out that there are distractions all around us that are seemingly harmless. Some are and some are not.

I, too, am also against legislating what we can and cannot do while driving. Will talking to another passenger be the next thing deemed illegal?

One of the local cities here in DFW has not placed any of the no cell phone use signs up in the school zones notifying people of the law, so they are unable to enforce the law. I think they are two votes shy in the city council of being able to pay for them. One of the councilmen was on the news a couple of nights ago and he made an interesting point. He said that he could not find any incidents where an accident had occurred in a school as a result of the use of a cell phone. Could this be true?

[Charles L. Cotton]

Most people, including most active club racers, just aren't that good. I would rather they not send text messages while they're driving.

Especially if they kill kids and get paid for it.

But therein lies the problem; did texting cause the accident? I agree that the combination of driving 126 MPH and texting certainly raises the suspicion level, but any legislation that might pass won't be limited to cases with these aggravated facts. It will apply to everyone everywhere regardless of the driving conditions.

Correlation is not causation. Was the driver wearing white sneakers at the time of the accident? If so, we need to ban them for drivers too. How about a wrist watch? If he was wearing one the wreck may have happened because he checked the time. Let's ban wrist watches for drivers also, even though there is no proof that the watch caused this fatal crash. As sjjfcontrol mentioned, there's nothing more distracting than children in the back seat, especially when they are fighting or startle the driver with a sudden screech. Are we to outlaw children in cars?

As I've mentioned before, while I would have no problem making texting while driving illegal, it wouldn't stop there; I can guarantee that. Those who would like to control every aspect of our daily lives have wanted to outlaw talking on cell phones while driving and a texting ban is just the first step toward that goal. We are already starting to hear the occasional call to ban GPS units in cars like we do TV screens visible to the driver. This position ignores the fact that it much safer for a driver to glance at a GPS screen and/or get audible directions, than it is for them to try to read a map or handwritten directions while driving.

Chas.