Posted on 12/14/2011 8:21:25 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
Texting on a cell phone and driving might be banned nationwide.
(CNN) -- The National Transportation Safety Board's big, bold stroke encouraging all states to prohibit drivers from using cell phones faces a long, tortuous process in the nation's statehouses, experts said Wednesday.
This political reality stands out: Since states began legislating distracted driving or cell phone use in 2000, none has gone so far as to impose a complete ban on mobile devices behind the wheel, and only one state -- Alaska -- has considered such a blanket prohibition, just this year, said Anne Teigen, senior policy specialist with National Conference of State Legislatures.
Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, said opponents don't like big government intrusions and savor their personal freedoms.
"This is a controversial issue so you can assume it's not going to pass right away," Harsha said. "It's going to take a long time for legislatures to pass laws, and a long time for states to begin to enforce the laws, and then a long time for behavior to start to change.
"The first seat-belt law was passed in the mid-'80s, and we're now at 84 percent of drivers who are buckled up nationwide," even though all states now have laws requiring drivers and passengers to wear seat belts, Harsha said.
"People like to be connected. They like to respond to e-mails and voice mail," Harsha said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Roads are somewhat special because their construction is often impractical without eminent domain, and because many roads are used so far below capacity 99.9% of the time that the marginal cost per vehicle mile is essentially nil, rendering market pricing concepts irrelevant. That having been said, in general the effect of using free markets to allocate resources is that the rich get better stuff but pay a lot more for it. What's wrong with that?
The other is when the lady clipped the bicyclist when rounding a right hand turn. After about five minutes (she had stopped) she got out of her car and said “I'm sorry I was talking to my son”.
Roads, like most utilities, definitely do use the commons. It is not appropriate to let people buy their way out of consequences of misusing the commons.
That does not remove the one at the phone company.
Then the answer is obvious, ban young girls from driving. (Note the absence of a sarc tag.)
I doubt they are going to go there on a road side stop.
Plus a officer that says “give me your phone” will get a NO from me.
Go get your damn warrant.
You’ve just now noticed?
#10, dead.
#9, dying.
#2, crippled.
#4, wounded.
#1, abused.
Just off the top of my head. See tag.
“won’t be long and there will be a kill history app for your phone. Get pulled over, hit the button and BOOM all your call history and txt messages for the past day is gone.”
That won’t even BEGIN to kill the history of your activity.
I have very mixed feelings about the proposed ban. The old “your rights end where my rights begin” effect exists here - I don’t want me or my car to get totaled by an idiot texting. I think there should be a compromise - although even “hands free” dialing has been shown to have some effect on driving ability, that should be permitted. There are kits available that hook up to your phone via Bluetooth and work pretty well retrofitted to a car - a friend has one and it was very cool and only cost $100 or so. If people JUST GOTTA use a phone in the car, they can get one of these or buy a car with this built in.
Anyway - somehow, the vast majority of us managed to do rather well throughout the 20th century without a damn phone glued to our faces 16 hours a day.
Aren’t there already laws on the books for reckless driving?
#5 is being harassed
It will be the insurance thing, a wreck while using a phone will have you starting paying the insurance rates of a drunk. See how long you want to deal with that one. I read that using a hand held phone by a CDL truck driver is now a 2700.00 fine. I bet it will be extended to the blue tooth crap shortly.
I can text while I drive just by speaking. I can listen to text messages.
The phone tells me of an incoming call by saying, "Incoming call, answer or decline." I say, "Answer" and then talk. Call hangs up automatically.
If they are going to ban cell phones while driving then they need to also ban this....
This...
and this...
You are correct. There actually should be no talking whatsoever in the car while it is moving. Not on a cell phone or otherwise. Everyone should have to remain quiet.
I've seen people talking that were not even on a phone that get very distracted. If a police officer sees anyone talking they should be pulled over and given a ticket. To control young children from talking, seat belts should have a mandatory pacifier that straps into place.
For that matter, they should also take radios out of cars. Talk about the dangers of those. If they continue to allow radios it should be mandatory they have hands free controls.
I saw Ray La Hood on TV and he seemed genuinely personally responsible and concerned about the problem - and it IS a problem. I really don’t think he is trying to be a nanny here. He is trying to keep American citizens alive and productive.
Everyone reading this has seen at least one idiot oblivious to their surroundings while texting and (sort of) driving - and I have seen the aftermath of an accident caused by this.
Let’s go to the other extreme - “why do we have DUI laws? The free market should solve the problem.” If you are found guilty of causing an accident due to drinking (or texting), etc, and you don’t have the resources to cover the accident/hospital bills/burial expenses and other damages, society gets to sell your body parts.
I got my (then in his late 60’s) dad an old-style cell phone to use in the mid-1990’s. I told him that I didn’t think he had the reflexes to drive AND use it and that I would give it to him only if he promised never to use it while driving, and he took my advice. Consider that those old phones were just that - phones with 12 buttons and a numeric screen.
I’m not even THAT old and I won’t dial or answer the phone while driving (even stopped). There is NOTHING in my life that is THAT important, and I probably wouldn’t be able to do anything about it immediately anyway. That’s what voice mail is supposed to cover.
I predict that there will be horrific carnage on the road when these kids with “smart phones” get into their 50’s and 60’s unless some rules are put in place.
IMO, if there is something that important to you, you need to re-examine your time management skills, or your employer is being unreasonable; they need to pay for a hands-free installation, or you should find another job. If you are really that “important”, then you or your employer should be able to afford a driver who is not permitted to use his/her phone.
The guy in photo #1 is already breaking a law in many states that existed BEFORE cell phones - no headphones - this law existed so that ambulances and police cars could be heard. I don’t think that this is unreasonable.
You can be as irresponsible and negligent on your own property as you damned well please but when you get onto shared PUBLIC roadways, it is NOT “nannystatism” to impose safety rules except to irresponsible dumb asses who will he happy to get others maimed or killed.
The same crap that permits the Federal government to impose 0.08 blood alcohol content on states (headed downward to 0.03 from 0.15 not even a decade ago) and federal speed limits will make this the law of the land.
“But I haven’t hit anyone” doesn’t matter to a sequence of formality laws that already exist when it comes to driving.
Same way the dopers who laugh at cigarettes and beer think they will be able to buy or toke anywhere, anyplace, anytime will find themselves hoisted on their own petard for saying how evil drinking and tobacco are.
First they came for applies here. And I’ve been hit by cellphone driving idiots. Also anytime it’s daylight and I see someone on the highway weaving in a lane and driving 5 miles under the limit, they have a phone in hand.
They pose a threat even if they haven’t hit anyone yet. Shall we junk all such precautionary laws? Punish those who cause the accidents. My driver didn’t even get charged for running into my stopped car at 40MPH. Cop didn’t want to deal with paperwork so it just went to the state for statistical purposes (aka NOT MY JOB).
I hold a CDL and drive a commercial truck. You don’t have to tell me twice. We are already required to use a hands free.
I wonder how long before the old CB is banned from my truck.
And chances are they never knew you had to do that either. They never know.
What's really scary is when you're on the thruway and they're in the passing lane....not a clue there are others on the road next to them...they pull in way too early...you slow down fast to avoid yet another accident they would have caused....and they haven't any idea that of the accident you prevented.
We’ve had two fatal accidents in just our small community here....both teenage drivers...one girl lost her life...in the other accident a brother, sister and friend lost their life.
Both were on their cellphones.
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