Driving drunk is illegal, shouldn't driving with cell phones also be?

Hands free has nothing to do with it. If it did, then cars with a stick shift would be on the "ban" list...

 

The difference between talking on a cell phone (hands free included) and a conversation with a passenger in the car is the natural flow of the conversation. With the passenger in the car, you can pause as needed to concentrate on driving, and the passenger sees and understands - it's nonverbal communication. On the phone, if you stop talking suddenly, the caller doesn't know what's going on, can't communicate nonverbally, and may wonder if the connection was dropped (Hello? Hello!?)

Note the above passenger in car does NOT apply to children. If kids choose to they ignore any cue, verbal or otherswise, and can be as distracting (or more so) than the cell phone!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NuShrike @ Jun 30 2006, 01:16 PM) [snapback]279287[/snapback]</div>

BAN HUMANS!!!

After all, they are killing the planet! let's all kill ourselves to save Earth!!!!



You first B)

 

We've got another pointless gun control argument. "It's not cell phones that commit vehicular homicide, it's PEOPLE..."

I'd agree with Daniel about this being primarily a state/traffic matter, but that doesn't work, either, in terms of heavy interstate traveling patterns.

We'll hear about it periodically, such as when a semi wipes out 13 cars and the driver was on the phone. But it simply cannot be controlled. Even if it could, the communications oligopoly wouldn't permit it, a la the NRA.

Take the longer view. Technology has given us one more good way to selfishly indulge our whims, abuse common sense and endanger one another. We've proven we don't mind the carnage/cost. As someone pointed out, there will be occasional outcries, a la MADD, when some pitiful parent (probably of an attractive, white girl, since that plays best) tries to launch a movement. And so it goes.

It's not the gadgets that will do us in. It's the breakdown of a sense of community (as Howard Dean reminded us, which is why I loved him), and our headlong retreat into isolationist self-gratification. An economy propelled largely by individual consumer spending will continue to capitalize on our base hedonism, and the surviving gluttons will continue to defend America's fabled Rugged Individualism.

Anyone disagree with the notion that, starting with television almost 60 years ago and continuing with the subsequent development of various forms of electronic entertainment and communications, family and other "interpersonal" (sounds quaint) bonds have been progressively damaged, if not destroyed?

I've never had a credit card or a cell phone. windstrings, I know Beelzebub when I see him.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ghostofjk @ Jul 4 2006, 05:39 PM) [snapback]281113[/snapback]</div>

Well said...I agree with the sentiment.

 

TALKING ON HANDHELD PHONE in NJ is illegal.

People still do it..... guess they will continue until they get slapped with a big fine......and even then, many will not learn the lesson

 

um...its a function of multitasking...i continually multitask going about 200mph...talk to ATC, Talk to passengers, adjust throttle, keep an eye on instruments, keep an eye on the outside...look up ,down ,sideways, and having multiple functions in my ear, and continually monitoring the wx...so if i want to just multitask one thing in my prius...i will do such...if the FAA deems im safe in the air with reaction times in miiliseconds at those speeds and higher...i hereby declare im safe doing one thing on the ground and driving, albeit im dealing with people who for the most part have no medical to drive, and are clueless on which direction there are going...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Jun 30 2006, 10:51 AM) [snapback]279108[/snapback]</div>

It's been illegal in the UK for some time but many can still be seen using a phone. If you're seen by the police they usually issue you with a warning letter the first time.

The other day I was driving behind a police car and noticed that a woman driving the car in front of the police car was using a cellphone. This went on for a mile or two and then the police stopped her and made her get out. I don't know what happened after that as I had to continue but the incident showed she was driving so badly that she hadn't even noticed a police car behind her (or maybe she didn't know the law).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mikepaul @ Jun 30 2006, 12:33 PM) [snapback]279153[/snapback]</div>

All of the studies I've seen say that it's the conversation that's the problem, not holding the phone. The studies have found that cell-phone use causes accidents at a rate only equaled by DWI--eating, drinking coffee, changing radions, or conversations with passenegers do not come close.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Jun 30 2006, 11:51 AM) [snapback]279108[/snapback]</div>

It is illegal to use your cell phone when driving in NY State. LOL You wouldn't know it. All you see are drivers with the phone to the ear. I have seen more near misses with these people. My daughter was almost t-boned by one using a cell phone. So much for laws or at least enforcing them!!!

 

What about driving around with an open flame in the car? Otherwise known as smoking!!! The same folks would never throw their hamburger wrapper out of the window, but think nothing of tossing cigarette butts out everywhere.

 

talking on a cellphone is bad, but i frequently see people texting. i have done it on a minor basis a few times, but didnt take me long to realize that that was a practice that had to stop.

i have a BT headset and it works well enough for me. i use voice activated dialing and have had very little issues with its functionality. only issues i have is that in the summer, i usually have to roll up the windows while on the voice command part, but conversations are usuallly managable

 

NO.

No more laws, thanks anyway.

 

This is a tough question. I personally don't like to talk on the phone when I am driving. It certainly distracts me. If it is hands-free, then that is fine, it is probably equivelent to talking to a passenger. If you are on a phone, that means you only have one arm to steer, so in an emergency situation, you may want to use both... but you cannot. If you are using both arms and having the phone resting near your ear, that surely blocks your ability to move your head freely.. that's not good either.

I don't know if it should be illegal... but perhaps they can impose a higher penalty if you cause an accident while using a phone.

 

Look, the real propblem are that cars are driven by people, and people will always want to drive cars, so all we have to do is kill all the people then cars won't be dangerous.

 

Ever wondered why so many have a problem with cell phone drivers?

Too many can't handle it! (some probably can't walk and chew gum at the same time....)

Yes, people can get distracted by eating, shaving, putting on makeup, jamming the radio, etc., but the accidents are being caused by the drivers that are phoning (and drinking).

In a workplace or classroom, it the problem that gets addressed.

 

I think this sums up the liberal attitude quite nicely, the question is whether this is the type of world you want to live in, because they'll come for what you love next:
-You, get me a Marlboro.
-Yes, of course.
What's a Marlboro?
It's a cigarette. Any cigarette.
Smoking is not good for you.
Anything not good for you is bad.
Hence, illegal. Alcohol, caffeine,
contact sports, meat--
Are you shitting me?
You are fined one credit for violation
of the verbal-morality statute.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Feb 21 2007, 02:30 PM) [snapback]394110[/snapback]</div>

On the other side of the pendulum, how comfortable are you with intoxicated airline pilots? Remember the captain of the Exxon Valdez had a well-documented drinking problem.

If someone smokes at home, they are probably just shortening their own life. If someone is driving distracted, they are endangering the lifes of others - a significant difference.

Point noted that stupidity and unhealthy choices can't be banned wholesale. Letting people being a public hazard is not good either.

 

Your right to drive while talking on a cell phone ends where my fender begins.

 

There are too many laws already.

Back off liberals, with all your freaking laws.. :blink: