Originally Posted By DAR <a href="http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/09/28/5193951-texting-while-driving-bans-dont-reduce-crashes-institute-says" target="_blank">http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com...ute-says</a> Turns out they're not really effective.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper In my area no one is hiding what they are doing. I watched a young woman text her way down a street. I was going to honk at her to get her attention when she started swerving into my lane...but I just backed off. I watched her drive right into a tree. Good thing she was going less than 25 mph in a 40 mph zone.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster It's scary but it shouldn't be illegal. We have too many laws in this country, too many ways for private citizens to be fined, cited, and locked up. The government should be advocating common sense rather that legislating it.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper What country do you live in Churro? Common sense is fading fast in America. Common sense should have told people not to drink and drive but so many people were dying as a result of drunk driving that it had to be made illegal and stiff penalties put in place. Statistics are starting to show that texting and driving is akin to drinking and driving. I have no problem with similar penalties.
Originally Posted By mele This happened in WA today: <a href="http://www.king5.com/news/Pedestrian-accident-involving--104113094.html" target="_blank">http://www.king5.com/news/Pede...094.html</a> What the story doesn't include was the latest news of the teen driver's arrest. She admits to being distracted while driving. They're going to see if they can prove whether or not she was using her cell phone. I have absolutely no problems with laws regarding phone use.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox Hands-free speakerphones are the safest way to go. This is the one I use, and I love it: <a href="http://www.blueantwireless.com/shop/us/products/st3.php" target="_blank">http://www.blueantwireless.com.../st3.php</a> It utilizes the address book in my iPhone, for voice-activated dialing. It will announce incoming callers, and I can reject the call or answer, again with voice-activation. This is BlueAnt's latest product which is totally handsfree: <a href="http://www.myblueant.com/products/speakerphones/s4/index.php?siteversion=en-us" target="_blank">http://www.myblueant.com/produ...on=en-us</a> Mama wants an upgrade!
Originally Posted By DyGDisney >>>It could be that drivers who continue to text while driving are doing it more surreptitiously, hiding their phones from view of other drivers and law enforcement, increasing the risk of an accident even more, the institute says.<<< This is what came to my mind while reading this. The law against texting while driving should not only be enforced, but the penalties should be MUCH more severe. ChurroMonster -- If someone were to cause an accident that killed or injured someone you cared about because they were texting, would it change your opinion? It's extremely dangerous and selfish. The first step to stopping this behavior is in the hand of parents. My daughter is 12 but she is not allowed to text in the car because I want her in the habit of NOT checking her texts or responding to them once she starts driving. They can survive without their phones in the car....we did when we were kids.
Originally Posted By debtee Our country has had in place penalties with heavy fines and loss of points, about mobile phones for a few years now but I can't see it's had any impact? I still see people talking and texting while driving all the time. It's not only texting that's the problem, it's also GPS's. People are so busy looking at them they they forget to drive. My friends car ( that I was a passenger in ) was just revered into while someone was reading their GPS, instead of pulling over to read it.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster DyGDisney: "ChurroMonster -- If someone were to cause an accident that killed or injured someone you cared about because they were texting, would it change your opinion?" Of course not. Why would it give me more comfort to know someone texting illegally or legally got one of my loved ones killed? I expect people to do what's safe without the government telling them they have to. "It's extremely dangerous and selfish. The first step to stopping this behavior is in the hand of parents. My daughter is 12 but she is not allowed to text in the car because I want her in the habit of NOT checking her texts or responding to them once she starts driving. They can survive without their phones in the car....we did when we were kids." And that's my point. You want your kids to be safe first and foremost. You're not telling them to not do it in case they get caught by the law. There's a fine line between laws that protect freedom and laws that restrict freedom. I just don't believe many of these laws make driving any safer.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney My fear though is not my dd texting, it's her getting hit by someone else who is. I agree these laws aren't making a difference, but I truely think that if there were much worse penalties to pay, for instance loss of license or arrest like a DUI, there would be a decrease in texting while driving.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster Then why don't we impose similar penalties on women who do makeup in the car and people who fiddle with their GPS's and people who drive without having had adequate sleep? Where do we draw the line?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>There's a fine line between laws that protect freedom and laws that restrict freedom. << Some people don't speed simply to avoid a ticket. If there were no speed limits, and we relied on people to just be save on their own while driving, it would be carnage. I think heavy fines for texting (or any kind of distracted driving) act as a deterrent for some. Some is better than none. And as often is said, driving is not a right, it's a privilege. By having laws that restrict "freedom" in the form of risking other people's lives by texting and other dumb behaviors, it does make a difference. Look at drunk driving. Of course, it still happens. But between public awareness campaigns and much tougher laws against DUIs, countless lives have been saved.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster Think of how many lives would be saved if we made guns illegal. And cigarettes.
Originally Posted By Mr X That sounds pretty cool, actually. Though I think they have the right idea with the smokes, just tax the crap out of them and most people will quit anyway. As for guns, plenty of countries do just fine outlawing them (or practically so, anyway). Doesn't sound like a bad idea at all!
Originally Posted By mele <<Then why don't we impose similar penalties on women who do makeup in the car and people who fiddle with their GPS's and people who drive without having had adequate sleep? >> People get tickets for "distracted driving" all of the time.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "People get tickets for "distracted driving" all of the time." Exaclty. There ARE laws on the books in many places for doing make up, etc., all under the guise of distracted driving. Driving is a privilege, not a right, so states can regulate it to their hearts' content. Making it safer for everyone is a priority. No one complains that drunk driving should be regulated and punished. Texting while driving is just as ludicrous a practice as drunk driving, and I have no problem with it being regulated and punished accordingly.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Texting while driving is just as ludicrous a practice as drunk driving, and I have no problem with it being regulated and punished accordingly.<< This has nothing to do with restricting freedoms. If someone wants to go on some backroad in the middle of nowhere and drive by themselves and text, be my guest. If they drive off a cliff or crash into a tree, I could care less. But when there's other people involved that could get hurt or killed - including my children - then texting while driving ought to be treated no differently than driving drunk. It's just as dangerous as drunk driving, it just doesn't have the stigma of alcohol.
