Feds try to ban ALL cell use while driving

I'll just say im skitzo and having an argument with myself, after hiding the bluetooth...

 

Times 10 it's an addiction.

 

I don't have a problem with banning the handheld use, but blutooth is just stupid. If you're going to ban that, you need to ban having talking passengers in your car, riding with children in the car(how many moms are constantly turning around to tend to their screaming kids), ban eating in the car, ban having drinks in the car, etc etc. Distracted driving in general is a problem, and personally I think talking to someone via blutooth is very low on the list of things that distract drivers. I think holding a conversation with someone actually in the car with you is infinitely more distracting. It's more of a facade than anything, to make them look like they're being very serious on the issue when it's only really dealing with a small part of it.

How many accidents are caused by idiots who just can't drive? People who are afraid to merge and cause less patient drivers to cut out across lanes. The people who park themselves in the fast lane doing 50 provoking other drivers to do stupid things. Why aren't we having more stringent requirements for getting a license. When I took my test, it was a 5 min drive through a residential 25mph neighborhood and then I had to parallel park. That was it. Parking aside, a 12 year old with no driving experience could probably get through that without incident.

I mean this is like taking a gun away from a criminal and just giving him a knife, rather then taking him off the streets altogether. It's just making them slightly less dangerous without addressing the actual problem.

 

I grew up with a phone that had a rotary dial and weighed 5 pounds nothing is so damn important that it can't wait until you are stopped that's why they have voice mail and a text you can read latter. I lived through not being able to reach out a touch some one every 15 seconds. Maine has a distracted driver law covers every thing from putting on makeup to reading the news paper but cell phones top the list of citations wonder why.

 

Short and to the point!

I didn't even get my own cell phone till I was 20 years old. I did just fine with just a house phone, and now-a-days people get their panties in a twist when you don't anwer your cell phone, or get mad when they realize you turned it off so people will stop bugging you.

 

I didn't read the whole thread but I agree with many on here, why bluetooth? I agree that holding the phone does seem to make a difference and with most bluetooth, you just speak who you're calling rather than picking up the phone to dial, which imo is the same thing as texting.

Part of the reason I bought my truck is the fact that I wanted a factory hands free system, since I've heard many times that the aftermarkets weren't very good. Also my wife's car has a 1k option for the navi/bluetooth. Can't remember what the cost difference was on my truck, but that is a lot of $ we put into being safer with phone use while driving. Not to mention we just bought a GPS w/bluetooth for my step-daughter for Christmas to help keep her safe.

Maybe they need to work on stricter driving courses with so many new distractions?

Of course IDK how anyone would know if were using hands free anyway.

 

I wonder what will be next?

 

When I was a kid, I had to walk uphill both ways to school and back, always in the snow too. I did it just fine. Whats all the fuss about?

 

We'll all be driving the same vehicle's? No mods allowed?

 

My state is thinking about a change

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45675680/ns/local_news-boston_ma/#.TulSsnqW04k

 

So what's the bad part? Being immersed in a conversation while driving, or the physical act of dialing a phone number and not looking at the road? Hands free wouldn't solve the former, and if it's the latter should we ban searching for radio stations too?

 

I think they should allow hands-free only. Cause most idiots cant hold the phone and drive at the same time.

 

^^This

I still see people driving holding a phone. It's illegal here, has been for a couple years now. It's not going to stop people. But having it on the books will make them think twice and provide a way to prosecute when someone takes a life.

Not every phone call made on the road results in danger. Some people are more distracted by it than others. Some people are better drivers than others. Some people can change a radio station without creating danger. Others can't.

My grandparents got T-boned by "Buffy" in her fancy new Mercedes. Buffy ran a red light cuz she was on her phone. No one was seriously hurt. But one foot difference in where she hit might have killed my grandpa. If that had happened and the new laws were in effect, Buffy might have gotten a stiffer punishment. Maybe she would have thought twice and not made the phone call in the first place.

I tend to think that leaving someone to rot in prison won't bring back anyone who's died and that each one of us can make a mistake that will drastically change our lives. But we can't ignore the problem. We have to do something. If drunk driving was legal, more people would do it and more people would die.

As far as a "right" being taken away....driving is a privilege that is granted to responsible, competent people. You can't be responsible and safe, you should lose the privilege. Some people need to have what's "responsible" defined for them. Hence the DUI laws, handsfree laws, texting, etc.

 

For me, it's the conversation. It takes my concentration away from the road. I can drive just fine with one hand on the wheel, it's that moment when I hang up and realize that I don't remember anything about the last two miles I just drove that scares me. Too many people are not bothered by that feeling. It's just a big video game to them.

A radio station change does not do the same thing to me. However, picking up an Ipod to search for a song would be worse than a phone call. Too much detail and concentration needed.

I am sure there have been accidents due to searching for radio stations, but phones are more dangerous. People know their attention is off the road while playing with the radio or Ipod because their eyes leave the road. You can watch the road and talk on the phone at the same time and it's hard to realize that your attention is somewhere else until there is a problem.

I think talking to a passenger is different. Unless it's a child, the passenger can see what's happening outside the car and realizes when a pause in conversation would be appropriate. A person on the other end of the phone can't relate to what you are doing while talking, so there is a sense of urgency to the driver/talker to keep talking and avoid that pause. That's when your concentration can become missplaced.

 

As a person that rides his motorcycle almost everyday...(way more than my Tacoma)...I'm all for it. I get "shoved" around all the time on the road by cars. Almost every person that cuts me off, turns out in front of me, or merges into my lane on me...IS ON A F'kn cell phone at the time. I understand people making a driving mistake...but I'm not so forgiving of people just plain not paying attention.

 

It's illegal to brandish and threaten with a firearm and it should be. It's also illegal to shoot bullets past people inches away from hitting them.

I think making it illegal to drive a motorized two ton weapon past other living human beings in a manner which could endanger their lives is reasonable. Banning phones while driving would just help to define what is dangerous and what is not. Some folks can't do that for themselves and need to have help.

I don't think banning hands free phone use is extreme any more than banning target shooting within certain distances of an occupied building.

 

Yeah, I still remember the congressman from one of the New England states that proposed seat belts for motorcycles.

Whit

 

I am for banning the hand-held aspect of it. Truly though, hands free is no more distracting than fumbling with the radio, climate controls, windshield wiper controls, window and lock controls, or changing gears if you drive a manual tranny.

 

Add the phone to this equation and thus it begins......