I know what stops most people from using a mobile whilst driving is stricter sentences; Death crash mobile phone driver jailed | Mail Online Championship racing driver jailed after crashing and killing cyclist while on the phone to his girlfriend | Mail Online BBC News - A19 death crash texting driver jailed Crash truck driver on mobile receives jail term | TISPOL Organisation Leach, 29, of Kinnerton Way, Exeter, Devon, was convicted at Exeter Crown Court of causing the death of 67-year-old Jean Evans by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for 10 years by Judge Francis Gilbert QC. Only a fool would use their phone in their car without a handsfree kit here. Do I want to go to jail and lose my licence for 10 years? Not a chance. Did I use to answer my phone in the car in the past? You bet. Do I use it now? Nope, as I don't want to end in jail. Maybe read some of the accident descriptions above and then consider them next time you reach for your mobile whilst driving. The ad is quite effective though.
What stops people from staring at the LCD screen in the dash? Now THAT is a distraction. I never swerve off the road when I'm using my iPhone Map, but do it alot whenever I try to use the LCD to change a radio station
Use your up/down arrow buttons on your steering wheel to change radio stations, or skip tracks while listening to usb music. SCH-I535
It's going to happen here with text-drivers soon. We used to have an even worse problem with drink driving (we call it drunk driving) until enough kids were getting killed that M.A.D.D. effectively changed it from a semi-enforced misdemeanor to what it is today. Even in the US, you'll see second and third time DUI offenses, but they're getting rarer and rarer. Usually? You're thumbing rides for years after two. The same thing will happen with jerks that think it's no big deal here. Unfortunately it will take much more time and a lot more blood in the streets for people to get pissed off enough to do something about it (our kind of pissed, yours means something else!)
That's fine but what if I need to dive deeper into the LCD to access climate controls, or navigation, or fuel economy figures. It amazes me that people opposed to using phone maps are "just fine and okay" with people distracted by the computers in their center dashes. Those should be ticketed too.
Here in Ireland we have a €1,000 fine for using a phone! That has helped reduce usage whist driving here
If it's going to affect your driving that much, wait till you are at a stop light, wait, or pull over. You're not supposed to be fiddling with the navigation while driving anyway, and how important is it to adjust climate controls while driving? SCH-I535
Even if I act responsibly, the other drivers do not. Messing with the touchscreen while driving should receive the same fine/ticket as messing with a phone. IMHO
We have fines here too... but they're not enforced. Heck, I see the local cops riding in their cruisers- constantly on their own personal mobile phones! We can keep increasing fines, penalties, etc... but until the laws are actually enforced 24/7/365 for everyone... including the cops.. nothing will change!
