Should cell phones be banned while driving?

[4runnerchevy]

Without a doubt ban cells and text, while driving. Those that don't comply, need a shot to the head. Without reading any posts, its an easy one. Die f$ckers, who use them on the road ! In my own opinion, and no further discussion needed.

[Tankota]

Yes - I support the ban on texting and handheld use while driving, but not for head sets. Thats taking it a little too far.

Talking on the phone makes good drivers bad drivers, and makes bad drivers worse drivers.
From your first post Oly.

Cell phones don't make people bad drivers, they were already bad drivers. The cell phone is not what caused the accident, the driver did.

I dont believe anyone thinks that the cell phone caused the accident. It was the driver, (who normally pays attention) who was talking on his phone, got distracted for a second, and merged without looking over his shoulder.
I dont know howmany times its happened to me. 18yo blond girl driving daddy's BMW chattering to her boyfriend and not paying any attention to the road. Sure without the phone she will still be a bad driver, but having the phone in her hand makes things even worse.

I have even scared myself bad a couple times while driving and talking on the phone. Nearly rear ended some idiot merging onto the freeway and doing 35mph. Now even though I was driving properly and they were driving very dangerously, it was my concentration that was compromised by my phone activity.

Needless to say, really try not to use my phone unless I really have to, and even then only for very short times.

I have a little game I play by my self when I'm driving behind someone going really slow and not staying in their lane. I try to guess if they're talking on the phone before I actually see the driver. Most of the time they are on the phone.

You say responsible drivers will know when not to awnser their phones, but what about the majority who pickup every time the stupid thing rings. Having a law for them to follow gives them a good reason not to pickup or call sombody.

This law is removing blame from people. You hit someone on a bike while talking on your cell phone, then you pay the price as you were clearly being reckless. You rear end someone because you were on a cell phone, then you are to blame because you were not paying attention. It's REALLY that simple folks. If people were pulled over for driving like idiots more, due to cell phones or not due to cell phones, then the message would get out that "DON'T DRIVE LIKE AN IDIOT."

exactly!

The law doesnt remove blame from someone that caused and accident while on the phone. They will have the same penalty as someone who caused and accident while not on the phone.

Is it the gun that decides to murder someone? Is it the car that runs the red light? Is it the alcohol that magically goes into someone's stomach? Do I really need to continue?

Are you also apposed to laws that outlaw running red lights. Should we not have DUI laws, because a good responsible driver wont get into his car while drunk? Should we not have cellphone laws because good responsible drivers wont talk while in bad driving conditions. What about all the non-good-responsible people out there.

The cell phone laws are in effect because the vast majority of drivers get distracted and do not react quickly when on the phone.






In know I jumped on some of you arguments Oly, but please dont taken anything personally, these are just my opinyons and observations. just trying to stir some debate here.

[Nuthuts96]

I have a little game I play by my self when I'm driving behind someone going really slow and not staying in their lane. I try to guess if they're talking on the phone before I actually see the driver. Most of the time they are on the phone.

Is that the ONLY game you play by yourself?

Seriously, though, I play that game, too...I also try and guess the perp's description. their sex and age come to mind right now. i'm about 80% on guessing correctly- just ask my wife!

I'm pretty sure the person I rear ended in my bus on I-90 was on a phone and declined to do a simple blind spot check... gave me about 2 seconds to SLAM on my brakes as she changed lanes and it still wasn't enough... let's just say that a phone caused "negligence in the 2nd degree"- oh, and the $350 fine on TOP of the crushed trunk probably did NOTHING in keeping her from doing this again!

the bus= estimated at $2.50 touch up paint
the car= estimated (by trooper on scene) at $4000.

moral of the story, DON'T CUT A BUS OFF!
/rant

stupid people cause laws into existence. if we were all perfect, we wouldn't need "pointers" (laws) to steer us in the right direction.

[fustercluck]

I think thr true measure of personal freedom can only be realized through personal responsibility. If we are to be free men, then we must be equally reponsible. In this case, the individual who is distracted, must endure the consequences himself. If he moves to deflect responsibility or place it on others, then we all lose freedom. This is what we've done. As a society we have conditioned the individual to avoid consequences by placing responsibility on the least capable of objecting. We have removed consequence from behavior so the individual fails to learn and modify behavior of his own free will. Now central power must impose it. Since central power is incapable of distinguishing one individual's responsibility from another's, all must be compelled to conform and limit behavior. All have lost freedom. Do this cycle enough and all will find themselves in bondage and oppression one day.

Let this be a lesson. When we allow central power to consider freedoms as priviledges, then those freedoms can be manipulated and removed; regardless of personal responsibility.

[habanero]

Yeah, I figured that'd be the response but please tell me I didn't just see posts inferring that I should ride my bike on the sidewalk??? Sure, you can't ride on the interstate, but highways and roads, yes you can. I can't go 3 miles in any direction from my home without being on a highway, and in two directions it's a block. I ride on the roads and while I'm not particularly safe there, pedestrians are safe from me. Running a 20 mile an hour average only belongs on the road. It's the law around here and I follow the rules of the road while I'm on the bike. Those in a car should be considerate and do likewise. By the bye, I use the bike for everything including recreation, commuting, getting the kid to school, shopping, going to the library, etc etc. Even if it weren't against the law to ride on the sidewalk there is no continuous sidewalk where I live, no sidewalk on my street at all.
Urgh!!!

Ok, back to your cell phone fest.
The problem with thinking that the cell phone idiot that causes an accident pays it that they aren't the only one who does, just the only one who deserves but doesn't always get the biggest bill, especially when it was someone elses' life.
Hands free, I might would be less inclined to worry about. Haven't given it a ton of thought. I've not got one of those. I've found it takes more attention to hold a conversation on the phone than it does to listen to the radio, but that's just me, or is it? As for bad drivers I'm sure every one of us here is absolutely the best driver on the road. If we were bad drivers even a little bit we'd know it, surely?

[CJM]

Hab, people like you who can share the road with cars are good.

In my area the illegals drive down the middle of the road and WONT move over for you. Thats what I hate, the cops just stopped caring about anything happening to them too, kinda funny in a way.

[oly884]

Tankota, no worries, nothing taken personal here! You make some great points, and I'll site what you said:

I have even scared myself bad a couple times while driving and talking on the phone. Nearly rear ended some idiot merging onto the freeway and doing 35mph. Now even though I was driving properly and they were driving very dangerously, it was my concentration that was compromised by my phone activity.

Needless to say, really try not to use my phone unless I really have to, and even then only for very short times.

You and I are much alike, I do not talk on the cell phone much when I am driving, and when I do, it's short and to the point. But once again, this is addressing a issue of driver distraction and irresponsibility, that's a bigger issue. From what I have heard, it is a 100% ban on cell phones, hands or no hands. So if that's the case, why just target cell phones, there are so many other things in cars that can distract a driver. How many people have you seen toying with their GPS system while driving?

Hab, by no means am I implying that road bikers should not be on the road. I can tell by your personality that you are a good rider and have respect for the road. The term "share the road" goes out a lot, and I'm 100% for that, but "share" goes both ways. Drivers and bicyclists are much the same, there are the ones who respect eachother, and there are ones that don't. I know you're not one of them.

And Hab, you also bring up a great point. The idiot on the cell phone is usually not the only one who pays. We all share the road, and when someone does something stupid, there is usually other people who pay the price. It's very sad, and it irritates me to no end that a person could be so negligent.

What would you folks think about increasing the fine if the driver was found to be negligent/distracted? Increase the penalty for ANY distraction that causes an accident? Run a national campaign ad that states if you are in an accident and you were found to be distracted (cell phone, food, etc) you will get a nice fat $500 ticket on the spot, I bet that would curb some cell phone use.

I'll say this to sum up all my points (I'm a nerd and think about this stuff a lot):

The cell phone ban is addressing a larger issue, driver distraction, if you're going to come down on cell phones then you need to come down on many other distractions including eating, drinking, GPS devices, rocking out to good music, smoking, or reading directions on a map/paper. The other option I see is to increase the penalty if the driver commits a misdemeanor/crime while being distracted by any of these things, slap a $100, $200, or $500 ticket on top of a failure to yield or changing lanes without a blinker. I am for the latter of the two cases from the standpoint that while distractions can be dangerous, a good driver has the proper judgment to know when it's ok to take a sip of soda, eat a sandwich, or place a call.

[Tankota]

And Hab, you also bring up a great point. The idiot on the cell phone is usually not the only one who pays. We all share the road, and when someone does something stupid, there is usually other people who pay the price. It's very sad, and it irritates me to no end that a person could be so negligent.

This is one reason that I support a ban on handheld use while driving. NO fine or imprisonment is going to erase the hurt of a loved one getting killed or hurt by a driver distracted and on the phone. This law has been the only thing so far to reduce cell phone use on the roads.

Since the majority of the driving population has shown complete irresponsibility and lack of judgment, this right is being removed from them. Not so much for their own protection, but for the protection of others around them.

Yes many times I have seen people distracted by GPS units, or screaming kids. But I think cellphones are by far the biggest and most commonplace driver distraction. For me, talking on the phone takes much more concentration than say eating or listening to music. Yes there will be accidents caused by both of those, but never to the extent of cell phones.


I am very opposed to government managing our lives and imposing regulations to control our every move... But for this matter of common public safety, I do support this one.

[Tankota]

I have a little game I play by my self when I'm driving behind someone going really slow and not staying in their lane. I try to guess if they're talking on the phone before I actually see the driver. Most of the time they are on the phone.

Is that the ONLY game you play by yourself?

While driving it is, hehe.

I KNEW someone was going to say something about that, hehe!

[Nuthuts96]

It was a perfect setup! all credit to you, my friend.

This is one reason that I support a ban on handheld use while driving. NO fine or imprisonment is going to erase the hurt of a loved one getting killed or hurt by a driver distracted and on the phone. This law has been the only thing so far to reduce cell phone use on the roads.

Since the majority of the driving population has shown complete irresponsibility and lack of judgment, this right is being removed from them. Not so much for their own protection, but for the protection of others around them.

Yes many times I have seen people distracted by GPS units, or screaming kids. But I think cellphones are by far the biggest and most commonplace driver distraction. For me, talking on the phone takes much more concentration than say eating or listening to music. Yes there will be accidents caused by both of those, but never to the extent of cell phones.


I am very opposed to government managing our lives and imposing regulations to control our every move... But for this matter of common public safety, I do support this one.

100% agree!