quote:

Originally posted by Krazeehorse:
What about good buddies with microphones in their hands?

It is not distracting for the truckers to key a mic. Their CB is a very important tool when it comes to operating a 18 safely.

We have the texting law in Georgia, but nothing about people making calls or fondling their precious little toy.

They are a PITA. I dont know how many more times I will blow my horn as the light changed, all traffic has gone but the one right in front of me playing with a phone.

Here is a aspect of this which I noticed years back. On the highway, many drivers will key off the back of your vehicle to maintain their road speed and direction while talking on the phone. I let off my fuel once going 60 and we rolled to a slow down of 30 MPH before the talker caught on he was slowing down. Keying off the back of my vehicle.

{meh}
I don't really care one way or another, doesn't affect me.
I really don't use mine while driving.

quote:

We have laws against murder, but people still murder, so what's the point of these laws?

Seems to me that the law should read that outlaw crashing, accident, etc "while on a phone". Stiffen the penalty.

This is mostly emotionally driven the same way some people feel about guns > outlaw them to reduce crime.

Next will be outlawing sammiches while driving.
Then outlawing manual shift cars.
Then ....

You can only outlaw so much behavior.
Don't get me wrong I think doing all of those things could lead to a dangerous situation but not necessarily those will happen.

Mostly this is just an emotion response to influence behavior.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
This is mostly emotionally driven the same way some people feel about guns > outlaw them to reduce crime.

Next will be outlawing sammiches while driving.
Then outlawing manual shift cars.
Then ....

Oh, horse shit. Read the last post on the previous page of this thread.

This is a genuine problem and it's getting worse all the time. I hope you don't get slammed into at a red light by one of these "emotion-driven" things. Jesus.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

Then outlawing manual shift cars.

You think manuals cause more distractions? Bull. Manuals force you to put more concentration on your driving. Heck, there oughta be a law mandating manuals for all but the disabled and elderly (I'm not serious of course).

I drive a heavily traveled 20 mile corridor (almost interstate quality highway) between Crestview and Ft. Walton (Florida Panhandle) twice a day and several times every trip, I see some 'tard with their phone in their face.

Traffic can be nearly "NASCAR Pack" style driving, and the typical yahoos jockeying for lead. That is bad enough without the added danger of phone junkies.

Some are easy to spot from several hundred yards away as they drift, weave and "jerk correct".

This morning I was behind on such idiot in a small car, who was in the left lane and a 20 yard dump truck in the right lane. Straight flat stretch of road, and we are all moving about 70-ish, when the idiot drifts left tires off the road, and then jerks to correct.

He almost lost it and would have gone under the dump truck (compact car), but managed to get straightened out as he slowed considerably, I moved behind the dump tuck and passed by him, and he had the spare donut on the right front.

So, he was very lucky not to have lost it, but he came pretty close.

And I agree, I hate more laws, but in this case, I do understand the "want" of them.

Since most states have laws on "distracted" or "unsafe operation", perhaps this could be the laws used for such violations and be up to the discretion of LE to charge as needed rather then new laws.

quote:

Originally posted by jehzsa:
As always, it will only work if it is strictly enforced. Sort of a full-time Cellphone Usage Patrol (CUP).

But it seems to fall short for that campaign. First time offender = $150.00 fine. Second time = $300.00 fine. Third time = $450.00 fine. And as things go, fourth time and fifth time and sixth time, etc., increase proportionally.

The Cellphone Usage Patrol (CUP) should pay for itself in the time it takes to make instant coffee.

Para, making it illegal is a good first step but the fines and how it's enforced will determine the effectiveness or lack there of. Want to get serious on stopping it?.... make the same penalty as DUI (it's equally as dangerous), big fine, loss of license, expensive classes to get it back, and stupid expensive insurance for five years.

WV law allows only "hands free" phone use while driving but they choose not to be serious about it with a fine of only $100 first, $200 second, and $300 for third and subsequent offenders, on top of that they don't enforce it. Reading the daily report you'll see DUI, speeding, and other violations listed every day but I can't ever recall seeing a "distracted driving" ticket issued. In fact I see police laughing and chatting on their cell phones while driving all the time so they're not serious about it. Of course I see them tossing cigarette buts out their windows too.

This is an example of police taking a serious approach to this problem, unfortunately it's not in the U.S.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N1iw5Vdim8

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
This is a genuine problem and it's getting worse all the time. I hope you don't get slammed into at a red light by one of these "emotion-driven" things. Jesus.

From an article I read recently (took an online traffic school for a speeding ticket), "distracted driving" is the number one cause of accidents, followed by speeding and drunk driving. And the number one factor in distracted driving is cell phone usage. So if we have laws against speeding and drunk driving, logic would lead to the conclusion that cell phone usage needs to be regulated.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
We have laws against murder, but people still murder, so what's the point of these laws?

No point as they have not rid us of 'all' murder, so we should just get rid of them.

From the video, I think the Council lady has the right idea. The state legislature needs to be pushed to pass a law for the entire state rather than local municipalities creating their own patchwork of laws, but I can certainly understand the motivation to do something to change the current mess.

Oh, and as usual, the kid in the video was ridiculous. Leave your damn cellphone in your pocket, purse, or center console, use a hands free option if you simply must talk on the phone while driving, and its a non-issue you bozo. For today's youth, a cellphone is nothing more than a digital pacifier they simply cannot break themselves from.

One my GF BFF got a ticket in Oro Valley (North of Tucson) for using a cellphone (texting) while driving. Motor cop was watching her in next lane and had her on camera.

$550 ticket I'm told.

Good, I'm all for a law banning cellphone use while driving.

Rather than self driving cars and the myriad of other "solutions" to inattentive driving, that will cost billions, a simple deactivation of the distraction.

No I don't think the comfort of passengers should have any sway. Screens go black at 5mph all voice operations are still available, music apps, podcasting voice prompts for GPS, all good but no screen no way no time while moving.

Developers are smart they will overcome current voice shortcomings, this would simply incentivize the process.

That would be the logical solution, a technical one that disabled the text, email and other phone features that require you to use a keyboard.

Hell just shut down facebook, instagram and snapthatshitchat when the phone GPS detects motion over x mph. That would cut a lot of it out.

Phone calls don't bother me as much for people talking on the phone, with auto transmissions there is no reason someone can't have a phone in a hand, I don't like the hands free ear sets and my truck doesn't have it built in.

Using siri to dial phone numbers or respond to people via voice text is easy to do now, it works for the most part.

Pretty soon we'll have the "i'm able to text, walk, chew gum, sew a sweater, build a rocket and drive" at the same time guys chime in about how it affects passengers, yeah, it will and you'll have to talk to your kids for a while. LOL

Otherwise we have to go back to the DUI method of massive fines, jail time for accidents caused while on the phone which basically just makes lawyers richer.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Hell just shut down facebook, instagram and snapthatshitchat when the phone GPS detects motion over x mph. That would cut a lot of it out.

Oh my god, we can't do that! The line at ER's and health centers would be out the doors with millennials reporting massive mental anguish and insatiable withdrawal pain.

Frankly, I think the hands free stuff is a crock. The problem isn’t what your hand is doing, it is what your brain is doing. In the mid-eighties the UK had a law that forbade any mobile phone is when driving. We got along just fine without the damned things before, it should be the same now. If you are going to drive, drive. If you can’t go another minute without talking to someone, then pull over and make the call. You can get back on the road when you’re done.

Yes, we are all smarter, above average, and fully capable of walking and chewing gum, but there are one heck of a lot of flaming morons out there...

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/loca...le-driving/675431393

It's a start. For those of you who don't know, Smyrna is part of Atlanta, northwest of the city. Home of Glock in the US, among other things.
So, this law affects some Atlanta drivers. I am hoping that the state takes the hint and does what needs to be done. Rarely am I in favor of more laws, but for God's sake, people are just plain stupid. I am so sick of seeing drivers looking at their stupid phones.

As I recall, here in VA the legislature approved a bill that would make it illegal to use a cell phone while driving. And that idiot, crooked, hitlary stooge, McAwful, vetoed it.

Around here, probably half the drivers have their faces stuck in one of those smart phones.

I was in a minor accident a few weeks ago. Asshole had his face stuck in his smart phone, crossed the yellow line (without signaling) and hit my truck. Minor damage but really, really irritating. Was in town yesterday and on Rte 234 north I encountered as many as 20 driving with their smart phones in front of their faces.

One girl spent more time crossing the center line than in her lane.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
The article states that drivers will not be permitted to hold a phone and talk. So hands free is ok.

I like it.

I don't have a problem with that, especially. Maryland handled that years ago. Cross the border into MD and you will see a sign warning about phones while driving.

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
Unfortunately, this is just an attempt to regulate behavior. Driving while drunk has been illegal forever, yet how many deaths per year are due to drunk driving?

California has some of the strictest laws against cell phone usage in vehicles, but when I'm in the Lost Colony, I can't count the number of people I see on their phones, talking or texting.

Lawmakers think that by applying a consequence to an action they are going to change behavior. It might, among a very small percentage of people, but by and large, these are useless paper-pushing, ego-driving ("Hey look, Ma. I passed a law!") fly swatter measures.

Make the penalty harsh enough, expensive enough and the idiots who violate them will stop violating them.

Prime example: Years ago Germany decided to put a stop to drunk driving. If caught, no bargains and no deals. First offense was lose your license for a year! Second offense was lose it for life.

And, part of the first offense was to go completely through the qualifications necessary to get a license. Back then it was several 1000 DM. An acquaintance of ours had a habit of imbibing on the way home from work. He had a very minor accident that required police presence. Ended his driving for a year with all the attendant costs. Drunk driving accidents in Germany came to a virtual standstill!

Edited to add: Our daughter was hit head on by a drunk driver. She spent 3 1/2 weeks in intensive care, and still suffers from those injuries. She needs a hip replacement but does not do it for her own reasons.

There'd be no complaint from me on it.

Prior to my current vehicle, it was a rare instance that I'd do anything more than make a call on my phone, a Galaxy Note5. It's borederline on being too big for single hand operation. And even then, it would be a quick message sent while stopped at a light.

My F150 can make & receive calls via bluetooth & with AndroidAuto, has the ability to dictate a text message, all while the phone is in my pocket.