Talking & Driving - Should it be illegal?

... and one of the advantages I found in leaving my old 5-spd Wrangler behind & replacing with a Prius, was that I could use the phone without worry about shifting gears.

Thanks for the heads-up !

 

FWIW, of the two accidents i've been in (i wasn't driving in either, and it wasn't even my car, but i was a passenger), one of them was caused by some lady who was talking on her cell phone and not paying attention, right before she rear ended us and caused a nice $15k repair bill for her insurance company (my dad owns a Lexus).

Of course, the other was one of my fraternity brothers who was driving way to fast in the winter, spun out, and hit a parked car.

All that being said, I'm not entirely sure i agree with the bill. It's a great idea to attempt to reduce the distractions that many times lead to car accidents. However, i wonder how much of the distraction is talking on the phone versus dialing. Yeah, when you're talking it uses one of your hands, but how many of us keep both hands at 10 and 2 every time we drive? Dialing, on the other hand, takes a hand and your eyes, which is the bigger problem.

If they're targeting cell phones, why not also target other forms of distraction? Should it be illegal to change radio stations or CD's while driving? Does that change if you have wheel controls, or if you can only do it from the unit in the dash? What about the voice activated systems i've seen on TV?

In the end, it's all of the distractions we have in a car that are the problem, not just the cell phones. While I'm all for making our streets safer, i think a bill has to be designed that creates a safety net against all of these distractions, not just a few hand picked ones. Further, i don't think it should be entirely illegal to use some of these distractions while in the car. Instead, if you get into an accident and were doing something that qualifies (based off phone records or automobile black box records), there should be a hefty fine, loss of license for a specified time period, and a requirement to have hands-free capability installed in the car before you can get your license back. For example, if you were talking on the phone, a hands free phone system. If it was the radio, steering wheel controls or a voice activated radio. That way those who are a danger while talking on their cell phones will end up fined and off the streets, with a careful reintroduction later with additional safety features.

I feel much the same way about the "seat belt" laws. The only person you hurt by not wearing your seat belt is yourself...

 

I live on my phone. I always use a hands free system and am able to keep both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road. I will say though, there are times I miss a turn because I am heavy into a conversation . I guess this would suggest my driving didn't have my full attention. What I do think should be illegal is holding the phone up to your head (probably not good for the brain anyway), and texting. With the phone up to your head you can block some of your vision and your ability to check out cars in your blind spots. Texting is well, self explanatory. I am in a college town and I see people texting and driving all the time. We also have a huge number of fender benders.

 

It should be illegal unless hands-free.

I drive the beltway around DC and just about every time a car is going slower than traffic and causing a jam up...guess what??? The driver has one hand holding a phone to the ear or is actively texting.

I'm ghuessing they don't realize how obvious their behaviour is or how dangerous it is.

Sometimes I wish a cell phone jammer was legal in the states....of course it would only cause these people to spend even more time heads-down trying to get thier phone to work....which would be worse.

 

Unless you get thrown into someone else. An unbuckled passenger sitting behind you has a decent chance of clonking your head in an accident.

Instead of banning a behavior, increase the penalties of an offense, if a risky behavior was undertaken at the time. I like the idea. We, as individuals, should be aware of our limitations, and shouldn't have limitations imposed because others didn't. Research shows it is the phone conversation that is distraction, regardless of being hands free or not. I don't think people will go along with banning all phone calls while driving.

Now, far would you go with the 'only outlaw/punish driving actions, but have qualifiers for increased punishment with certain behaviors?' DUI can fall within that.

 

I hate driving around people who are on their cell phones.

How many times do you hear someone say "oh, well I'm fine when driving and talking - I'm a good driver!" And yet so often the only reason they haven't been in an accident is that the drivers around them have picked up the slack and watched out for them?

I'll admit it - when I talk and drive, my attention is divided. I have had very few conversations where the topic was more important than the safety of those in my car and sharing the road with me. So I figure the phone can wait.

 

Actually, driving and talking at the same time, whether holding the phone or using hands free has been studied by the university of utah (and others) and proven to be equally dangerous.

So it's really irrelevant until they start banning using the phone in the car, period.

Cell Phone Users Drive 'Blind'; Study Explains Why Hands-Free Phones Just As Bad As Hand-held

Steve

 

Are they then going to ban talking to passengers in your car? Or, why not go further and just ban passengers(especially front seat), radios/mp3's or other forms of music, heating/AC controls and such?

 

Yes, and the type of conversation makes a big difference. If you are just chatting to pass the time on a trip, then it's not very distracting. If you have a serious conversation, like trying to talk someone through restarting their file server, then it's as bad as driving after a few beers. It's not the cell phone, but the amount of attention required. If you had the same conversation with a passenger in the back seat, it would be just as bad.

As for the legislation, it's not completely fair, but I'm for anything that gets people off the phone and mentally back behind the wheel.

Tom

 

I want to make it clear about my earlier statement that I'm very concerned about safety and I have seen people do some pretty dumb stuff while on the phone but I don't know that it's as simple as just banning or mandating things. Mandating seatbelts without teaching people how to drive properly could turn out to be a problem if they get overconfident from the feeling of safety that the belt gives them. Just my $.02 worth.

 

My point was that it's a waste of time banning holding a cell phone and conversing while permitting hands free phone conversing.

 

Just a bunch of touchy feely bureaucrats trying to appease the crisis dejour without understanding the crisis. (Well it’s not really a crisis, but that's what they want you to think it is)

Studies have shown that it is the act of conversation that distracts people, now there is just a focus, the cell phone. The cell phone isn't the problem, the problem is that it is just too damn easy to get a license and when people get a license they don't treat driving seriously.

Now, I'm as guilty as the next guy when it comes to multi-tasking in the car, but the road and the environment surrounding me comes first.

Pretty soon they'll require mandatory bathroom stops because people who have to "go" drive erratically, fast or otherwise dangerously. (Maybe, maybe not!)

 

I apologize for not being clearer. I agree with you but was trying to make a point about how silly it would be to ban one thing while continuing to allow something else which is potentially just as dangerous.

 

I just got back in from taking my stereo and passenger seats out No apology necessary, we agree with each other.

 

A law mandating use of hands free devices goes into effect this summer in California. Texting while driving is already or will also be banned. I support both bans wholeheartedly.

Using bluetooth while driving has never felt much different than chatting with a passenger to me; but that could be because I've also been known to pull off the road and stop so I could focus on chats that were more intense than average.

 

Well, this is progress... now when are they going to start going
after the tailgaters?
.
One of the things they emphasized strongly in the advanced-driver
training course up here is that most phone conversations, handsfree
or otherwise, *are* very distracting and use a lot of the same
mental bandwidth you should be dedicating to vehicle control
and parsing traffic situations. Those of you who insist on
"living on your phone" should be aware that you've made a poor
lifestyle choice because however invulnerable or cocky you feel,
you ARE endangering others. Sorry, you're just not that
important that you NEED to be on the damn thing all the time.
Tell them you'll call back later.
.
_H*

 

I find this very, very hard to believe. Let me see if I have this straight: you have driver training courses in Boston?!? I've never seen any indication of it on the occasions that I have driven in Boston.
:bounce:

Tom

 

IMO these laws are redundant as the offending driver could just be ticketed for careless driving. It is good to know our legislature is on top of this vitally import issue instead of tackling trivial stuff like property tax reform, trust fund funding...