<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(avi1 @ Sep 6 2007, 11:03 AM) [snapback]507974[/snapback]</div> I can believe that. I was broadsided in my minivan by a lady who ran a stop sign while talking on her cell phone. She was talking to her Vet to get directions to the office where her cat was. She never even slowed down for the stop, sent me spinning in circles down the street with a rear tire bouncing up and down on the windshield. Car was totaled but they fixed it anyway, long story. She admitted to the police she was on her cell phone... probably because of the huge bruise on her face from the airbag pushing the cell phone into it!!!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(avi1 @ Sep 6 2007, 10:03 AM) [snapback]507974[/snapback]</div> Handheld phone ban for drivers Linda Gledhill, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau Friday, September 15, 2006</span> "Californians are going to have to put down their cell phone and use a hands-free device starting in 2008 if they want to talk and drive at the same time under a bill Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to sign into law today."Public safety is the governor's No. 1 priority, and this bill make the streets and highways of California safer by making sure drivers have both hands available for driving," said Margita Thompson, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger." "<span style="font-family:Georgia">The new law will impose a fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses. The infraction, however, would not result in adding a point to motorists' driving records." I think the fines are rather low. I live near a BART station with a large parking garage. It seems that some people think they can't start their car unless they're talking on their cell phone. A friend saw someone on the eastern approach to the Bay Bridge slam into the back of a car that was about to be towed because the driver of the car was so distracted by his phone conversation.
There's a law in effect in New York, banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. I see more people on cell phones now than before the law took effect. 95 percent or more of police do not enforce the law. It's a bad joke. Harry
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Earthling @ Sep 6 2007, 01:31 PM) [snapback]508070[/snapback]</div> It's a bad joke in Abq too. Right after the law was passed everybody you saw would have a Borg Implant on their ear. Then everybody realized that everybody including the police were ignoring the law. Now its just a joke.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Earthling @ Sep 6 2007, 03:31 PM) [snapback]508070[/snapback]</div> The same law is in effect in NJ as well. It's rarely enforced. I'm thinking if the fines were steeper and enforced, drivers may reconsider using the hand held phone.
One bad aspect is that a whole generation of kids will first learn to drop everything to answer the phone....and then learn to drive with this habit wired in hard. I was behind a convertable of four teenage girls on a four lane highway when all of the sudden the driver completely let go of the steering wheel to plunge into her purse on the floor to get the phone. The car promptly swerved into the oncoming traffic. Only by pure luck did a horrible event not happen. The girls were badly shaken but unhurt.
The law in England mentioned a ways back makes a WHOLE lot more sense from an energy-conservation standpoint. How often have you had to abort a nice glide because some yutz with a dually-stroller asserts their "right" to head across a road in the middle of traffic? Enough to make ya see a luminous video-game "50 points" floating above them. . _H*
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Sep 6 2007, 07:14 PM) [snapback]508207[/snapback]</div> Huh? What does that mean?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Sep 6 2007, 06:27 PM) [snapback]508178[/snapback]</div> Hey when I was a pedestrian in Boston I always tried to walk even with a stroller hoping that a crazy Boston driver might be less likely to hit a stroller than an adult. Back to the subject, I had a close call 2 weeks ago but fortunately I noticed the maintenance worker behind the tree before he stepped onto the road without looking. But a simple change of circumstances could take away the "almost" in this story. It's pretty scary. I'm glad to hear everyone was okay in the OP's scenario.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RobertG @ Sep 7 2007, 05:07 AM) [snapback]508056[/snapback]</div> With fines like that, and cops not bothering to actually do anything about it, no wonder everyone ignores the law. I just did a check on the local law on mobiles (or at least the fine - the law against use has been around for a while. The fine - $238 and 3 demerit points, and $318 and 4 demerit points in a school zone. Our licence system is get 12 demerit points over 3 years, and bye-bye licence for at least 3 months. We still have the problem with the cops not pulling enough over for being on the phone - you see them all the time. Going back to the OP's original point, so far I have not had any near misses, but that is more due to the fact that I do lean forward when I am near intersections so that I can see around the A pillar. I got in that habit from our old car, which seemed to have the rear view mirror almost in the middle of the windscreen, plus when my kids put the passenger side visor down, I could hardly see anything on the passenger side of the car.
You cannot rack up points hitting pedestrians if your ICE is not running... .... that puts you at an unfair advantage. [seriously, I'm kidding. Really. I am truly obsessive about triple-checking all intersections and crosswalks]
