Posted on 02/09/2007 8:21:46 AM PST by Graybeard58
BARRE, Vt. -- Put down the flute and keep your eyes on the road.
And forget about sipping that cup of coffee on the way to work, or smoking a cigarette on the way home. In some states, it could soon be illegal -- if it isn't already.
Emboldened by the passage of cell phone bans for drivers in some communities, states are turning their attention to other things that drive motorists to distraction.
Vermont lawmakers are considering a measure that would ban eating, drinking, smoking, reading, writing, personal grooming, playing an instrument, "interacting with pets or cargo," talking on a cell phone or using any other personal communication device while driving. The punishment: a fine of up to $600.
Similar bills are under consideration in Maryland and Texas.
Connecticut has passed one that generically bans any activity that could interfere with the safe operation of a motor vehicle.
"Cell phones attracted people to this issue," said Matt Sundeen, a transportation analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures. "Now that people are more focused on distracted driving issues, they're beginning to talk about the broader range of distractions."
For the sponsor of the Vermont bill, the motivation came from his own observations.
"What finally pushed me over the edge was when I was at a stop sign and somebody opposite me was trying to navigate around the corner with a cell phone to the ear in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and she wasn't doing very well," said Republican state Rep. Thomas F. Koch.
He said his wife recently saw a driver playing the flute, which led him to include the instrument ban in his bill.
"There are a lot of bad habits out on the road. This isn't just for drivers' own good. This is to protect the other people on the road," he said.
Often, they need protection:
In Illinois, a bicyclist was killed by a driver who had been downloading cell phone ring tones while behind the wheel last September.
In Westminster, Calif., a 7-year-old boy was struck and killed by an SUV whose driver lost control as he was trying to reach a cell phone and plowed into a family at a bus stop Nov. 29, authorities said.
In Spokane, Wash., a trucker who was allegedly using a cell phone crossed a highway median and struck another truck head-on, killing five children, in 2005.
In Athens, Ala., a woman lost control of her car while reaching for a ringing cell phone and crashed into a church last month.
Distracted drivers were involved in nearly eight out of 10 collisions or near-crashes in a study released last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Young drivers are some of the worst offenders.
A study of more than 5,600 students released last month by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance Co. reported that nearly 90 percent had seen friends drive while talking on cell phones and that half saw drivers playing hand-held games, using listening devices or sending text messages.
Jeff Rogers, 44, of Barre, filling up his pickup at a gas station Thursday, said the Vermont bill is "going a little too far."
"I can understand the cell phone thing," he said. "But the rest of it, how are they going to enforce that?"
Cars that drive themselves. That's the only answer.
I always make sure to use my cell phone at all times when I'm in Connecticut just to spite them.
Cars that drive themselves. That's the only answer.
They didn't ban playing the Tuba while driving.
indecent exposure maybe?
Playing a flute??????? A FLUTE?
...or using any other personal communication device while driving.
> Constantly assessing multiple conditions and multiple
> streams of information and properly prioritizing and re-
> prioritizing from moment to moment should be a part of
> any driver's basic ability.
True, but for some reason the requirements for getting a driver's license in most states seem to be:
1) Do you have a pulse?
2) Do you have $15?
Maybe that's where the correction needs to begin.
Who wants to take bets on how long it will be before it's illegal to talk to your wife, kids, or friends in the car? Or tune the radio? Or scratch your b*lls?
Yep, people are sheeple. That's all there is to it. And it's happening in every single state too.
I once had a friend squeal in fright because I sneezed while driving. I looked at her like she was a moron. What did she expect me to do? You can't STOP an involuntary sneeze while driving. There are much bigger fears to worry about.
Read the article....there definitely going to ban playing the skin flute.
A lousy 30 to 40 million people do something stupid and right away some jerk wants new laws!
Is that a box of Kleenex in the back seat sir? We're going to have to take you in for intent to sneeze. We'll also have to get the RMV to put a restriction on your license during Allergy Season. You are a menace to society.
Interesting. When a car is involved, it is the driver who kills, when an SUV is invloved, it does the killing.
Good catch.
I don't know if this is about freedom so much as it is about trying to legislate common sense (or out outlawing stupidity)-- and good luck on doing both. There are some things that are clearly hazardous while driving -- like reading the newspaper. But every once in a while I see some driver going down the road with a newspaper propped up on the steering wheel. Those guys drive so well that they don't even have to watch where they are going, I guess. And once in a while I'll encounter what appears to be a driverless vehicle. But then a head does pop up behind the wheel because the driver has finished digging for something under the passenger seat. And lately, I've played a little game to amuse myself on my commute. Whenever I see a driver going too slowly, or weaving in a lane, or having trouble negotiating a turn, or coming close to colliding with the car in front of them, I'll hazard a guess that that person was on a cellphone. I'm batting close to a thousand on that one.
Some people can do smoke, eat, etc. at the wheel and others can't. I have eaten, drunk coffee, taken pills, loaded a pipe with tobacco, played the kazoo, combed my hair, sung along with the radio, talked on a cellphone with a hands-free device (that should be required), had deep conversations and rollicking arguments with passengers, warned my kids "not to make me stop this car" and driven nearly a million miles without incident. Others can't do that. Drivers have to have a level of self-awareness so they know what distracts them -- and then decide not do those things while driving. I think it's foolish for a legislature to come up with a list of prohibited practices. But think about the most knuckleheaded, scatterbrained person you know. That person most likely has a driver's license. Add a distraction or two and that's probably what accounts for a person driving off into a ditch on a straight, dry road during the daytime.
Hehe...what a goof..it takes two hands to play the flute..that driver should switch to playing his organ, only need 1 hand then....
I followed a babe like that doing 20 MPH. Ciggie on the left and cell on the right. Weaving around in the center lane of a 45MPH street without a care in the world. Blah, blah, blah for 2 miles. I passed her on the right and made loud noises while doing so. These are the people cops need to send to traffic school.
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