Proposed Banning of Cell Phone Use in Vehicles Regardless of Hands Free

If gps users are next then they better ban all use of maps, particularly the folded paper ones too. I would much rather have other drivers on the road with a small device that knows where it is and gives simple audio directions than a driver trying to figure out where he is and where he wants to go on a large paper map that refuses to fold right, held in front of the steering wheel.

Remembering some of the days before GPS units came down significantly in price, many "black car" drivers used to go through pads of post-it notes. Look up the address and write down route info on a post-it and stick it to the dash. Now they are allowed to use GPS as long as it is on mute.

Just in the past week or two, I heard it on the news while listening to the radio while driving.

I missed most of what they were saying though, because just at that moment, the woman driver that swerved into my lane while putting on her makeup made me drop my razor into my hot coffee, which made me drop the cell phone out of my other hand and knock over my GPS which hit the book I was reading and made me lose my place and the playlist I was creating on my iPod got messed up.

Yeah - Just a joke. I know, it's dangerous, but I've seen all of this and more happen while driving - people reading a book or newspaper while driving down the interstate, shaving or putting on makeup in traffic, playing handheld video games, watching DVDs from the drivers seat. There's always that bumper sticker - "HANG UP AND DRIVE!"

Sometimes, it's scary to be on the road. As I've seen and heard from may sources - do people really *need* to be on the phone that much? I've been behind someone in the checkout at the store who was so busy with the phone glued to her ear that it took several minutes to pay the couple of dollars she owed. I was at a light most of the way throught the green just last week because the person in the front was so busy on his cell phone and apparently looking at papers that he was oblivious to the light and the horns starting to honk behind him. I didn't have to honk, plenty of others joining the fun...

I'm all for a nationwide ban on cell phone use while driving. Sorry to have to tell people this, but no one is that important that they absolutely have to talk on the phone while driving. Pull over if you have to make/receive a call. Its really that simple.

And yes, I realize there are a lots of other possible distractions while driving (adjusting radio, putting on makeup, etc.) But we have to draw the line somewhere.

P.S. - talking on the cell phone while driving isn't a constitutional right. So for those who were going to make that argument, please don't!

B.S. quit restricting my first amendment right to free speech.

Some people are capable of chewing gum and walking at the same time and some are just not!

My cell phone has always cost me monthly fees. There ain't anything free about it.

It wasn't that long ago when you couldn't make a call from your car and we all survived. Of course it wasn't that long ago we didn't have gpsr's either... I wonder how they will know if I am talking to myself or someone via bluetooth and my nuvi 770?

if you can not talk through hand-free phone, you can not talk to any passengers inside the vehicle.

If they stop people from talking on the phone when they are driving, what will they do? Perhaps, they will now be able to concentrate on putting on thier makeup, shaving, text messaging, watching dvd's, listening to music, rearranging thier song collection on thier MP3 player or any number of other dangerous and distracting activities. There truly is not any way to legislate responsibility. Even a driver who sits in total silence and concentrates on driving can be lulled to sleep by the gentle noise of the tires humming on the road.

Next, they will want to legislate me using my handheld GPS while walking through the woods. After all, I could, in a momemnt of Geocaching frenzy, walk right off the edge of a cliff. - lol

I wonder what the cost of enforcing something like this would be? I presume manufacturer GPS updates would cripple the built in blue-tooth in GPSr's with that feature. If law enforcement sees your lips moving, would that be probable cause to pull you over and cite you?
It sounds like an over reaction to some bad apples out there that misuse their cell phones, making us all pay for their irresponsibility. Here's a novel idea... ban those that are using them irresponsibly and have caused accidents while using cell phones.

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In Ontario, Canada - they were planning on banning all electronics including handsfree devices as well. However, later they changed it to any handheld device. Which means GPS is allowed as long as you are not touching it. Cell phone can be used as long as you have handsfree headset with it.

BUT, the Libertarian part of me says that we should punish people for results not on speculation. Maybe the thing to do is make it a severe add on penalty like using a gun to commit a crime. I believe most gun laws are stupid; I have no problem though with the notion that anyone using a gun to commit a crime needs to go to jail for a long long time AFTER serving the sentence for the crime itself. Thus, rather than punishing all cellphone users we should just say that if you have an accident while using the cellphone that results in injuries you go to jail for 5 years; death buys you 15 years.

The statistic quoted seem compelling but I am sure there are counter stats just as compelling. It will be an interesting debate for sure.

Regards, Ted

I do. Hands-free, insurance, education. Now leave me alone and I'll do the same.

How do they propose to enforce the hands free part of it? What is the difference between talking on a hands free cellphone and talking to one of your passengers? Are they going to ban talking to your passengers next?

That's the trouble with politicians, they pass unenforceable laws and expect the police to enforce them.

Here is a good example. They passed a law in our neighboring state of Illinois that says you can't run in the left lane of a four lane highway for more then a half mile at a time. Not long after they passed the law I was talking to a state patrol officer and I asked him if he was sitting in the median and I came over a nearby hill in the left lane, how would he know if I had been running the left lane for a half mile or ten miles. He answered I don't really care, if the politicians want to pass stupid unenforceable laws, let them enforce them.

I really don't care that much if they ban cell use in cars. What I do disagree with is the trend of government trying to protect us from our own stupidity and telling us what we can and can't do, and charging fines to make money in the process.

I would hope that before they ban cell use in vehicles, that more studies would take place. As we've seen time and time again, just because one study shows something, it's not necessarily correct. Driving in a simulator is not the same thing a driving an actual automobile. Also there is a big difference between driving on rural highways here in Upper Michigan and say where I used to live in Eastern Montana than driving in a congested urban area.

politicians have common sense and are accountable for their actions.

Hehe...a_user.

You got that right!

Since most vehicular accidents occur while the vehicles are actually being driven, perhaps a politician will propose a law that will ban driving while we are in our cars. No doubt we will be better protected from ourselves and those folks who get distracted by the act of driving itself!

(Tongue in cheek- sort of...)

They don't, they're not...how quaint :)

Ted

They'll write the laws so they won't apply to political activities...remember the "do not call" law? Political activities will include anything they do, like calling home to find out what's for dinner.

Those idiot politicians just need to stay out of our lives. This is beginning to become a police state.

How do they propose to enforce the hands free part of it? What is the difference between talking on a hands free cellphone and talking to one of your passengers? Are they going to ban talking to your passengers next?

According to this NY Times article

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/13well.html?ref=hea...

several studies show that there is a fundamental neurological difference between talking on the phone while driving (whether hands-free or not) and talking to a passenger. The latter does not increase the risk of accident, whereas the former poses a risk equivalent to driving while legally drunk.

I think that a total ban on cell phones while driving is in the interest of public safety. It does not infringe on my freedom anymore than wearing a seat belt or not being allowed to drive when I had a glass too many.

I say you throw the book at someone if the at fault driver was on the phone. I don't have a problem with the cops inspecting the phone if there is credible proof that it was a contributing factor. (eg. witnesses)

Couldn't have said it better, Ban the Car phone while in the car, then the Restaurants next!

Don't let the door hit you in the Ars on the way out!

That will never happen. I hope>

With a nod to Airburshed...

At least most cars in the US are automatic transmissions In the older days, it was a challenge drinking coffee, smoking a cigarette, and changing gears.

Fortunately, I don't smoke, but I do miss the days without traffic jams in a fun little car w/ a stick and a clutch.

_____________________

On a related note, California had signs advising a new law going into affect sometime in January outlawing texting while driving.

I can't believe they had to make this a law.

As much as I like gadgets, I detest talking on cell phone while driving. Too many times, I stopped at the red light, someone yepping on the cell phone was heading towards me while menuvering a right/left turn. I was wondering I was going to be hit head on.

and I still wonder why no one banned putting on mascara while driving.

Or reading a newspaper in a morning rush hour.

Or brushing the teeth.

Or pulling over three lanes in a busy urban freeway to make/receive a call.

I have a bluetooth integrated in my car stereo. I found it to be the easiest (read, safest) to use than any cell phone device. No more fishing out the ringing phone from my pocket, no more looking for an ear piece. Just glance at the stereo for the caller ID, and push the button on the steering wheel.

I suppose those will be outlawed, too.

They (politicians / lobbyists) aren't trying to protect you from your own stupidity. They really don't care how stupid you are. They're more interested in trying to protect me and my kids from your inattentiveness...

Studies keep showing people pay less attention when they're talking on the phone. That's why the trip seems so much faster.

By that argument, drinking and driving should be legal too unless you are involved in a crash. Right??

It actually is legal. The difference is that someone determined an amount of blood alcohol that impairs human ability to drive, and came up with a way to measure it. It's debatable how fair that is, but I take no position on that as well as it being only slightly relevant to the point.

Drinking anything less than what results in a blood alcohol level above a particular jurisdictions limit is.. like it or not, legal.

It's somewhat fair & quantifiable.

You can still be impaired while under the limit for impaired (.08), it's "under the influence." If you are deemed to be under the influence you can be held.... so to get back on track, talking on the cell phone while driving can also be considered an impairment to Judgement, reaction time and perception of where you are on the road or within a lane (don't tell me you never drift in the lane while you're talking on the phone)

Talking on the phone isn't what's dangerous. It's thinking you can talk and drive as if you were focused on driving alone that's dangerous.

I wonder if there is any correlation between the explosion of cellphone use (even down to pre-teens) and the obvious dumbing down underway in our society. My favorite bumpersticker is "The gene pool needs more chlorine". Makes you wonder how anyone survived without a cellphone going off in their ear every waking minute. If the driving/talking isn't bad enough, texting while driving now seems to be the new American sport. I'd expect to see teenagers and tech-nerds fingering away like mad, but now it's moms and grandmothers...

It is getting to the point that taking the motorcycle out for a ride is like entering a game of Frogger. I may not necessarily like the continuous regulation of everything by government, but I'd like being run over by a air-head teenage girl talking on her cellphone even less. Handsfree yes, for now, ban the rest, and see if it makes a difference.

Agreed!!

Laboratory experiments! Get into the real world. That's like the studies that say a certain ingredient in a drink is bad for you, and later it comes out you would have to drink 30 gallons of it a day before it would harm you.

With a hands free device you don't have to look at anyone. Drivers have a tendency to look at who they're speaking to which means taking their eyes off the road. I have seen drivers actually turn and keep glancing at a person in the back seat while they're speaking to them.

Maybe we should also ban a mother from having their child in a car seat unless they have a baby setter in the back with them so there's no danger in them getting distracted. Or maybe we should ban having paper maps in the car so there's no chance you would look at one while driving.

I guess a person could write a book on driving distractions.

I talk when I drive. Whether it’s with someone else in my car, someone on the phone (using my Nuvi as a hands-free kit), or the other drivers on the road, I’m ALWAYS talking. How can a law enforcement officer tell with whom I’m speaking? Will it become illegal for me to sing along with the radio?

Let’s get real! We already have more than enough laws on the books to regulate almost every aspect of our lives. Rather than creating new (unnecessary) laws, how about enforcing those already in place?

When I first saw a report on the news about the potential banning of cell phone usage in motor vehicles, I was struck by the irony of the news piece that immediately followed:
The Amber Alert System in California is about to receive an upgrade, a hotline number will be added to the LED sign to expedite calling in and increasing the chances the victims will be rescued. Did you know 75 percent of children abducted are killed within the first three hours of the abduction?
http://www.760kfmb.com/Global/story.asp?S=9661844

I wonder how many unforseen consequences this proposed banning will create? This is another case of planning a blanket "remedy" to a problem/cancer that can be handled effectively with a scalpel (quoting a fairly famous politician here).

The basis may have been simulator driving, but also noted that similar tests had been conducted in actual "real world" scenarios. Or maybe you are right... simulators may be good enough to train law enforcement on driving techniques, pilots on aircraft or likewise, but they got nothin' on Joe Schmoe driver. Somehow I doubt that's the case though.

The studies are there. Read the research. Don't read just one article then get irritated because you have to realize you might not be able to handle as much as you think you can. We aren't computers where you can upgrade processors and memory to process the information we want in the time we want. Until we can, maybe we have to admit that driving requires a lot of processing by the mind. The input from within the car will change with driving conditions. That from the phone will not.

How much input can be handled by human drivers? I guess it does vary, but people push the limits every day. I don't want it to be at my expense...

Before they pass any new laws, they should enforce teh ones that they have. I see people talkin on hand-held cell phones while driving all of the time, which is illegal in NY. Also, common sense should prevail. There are times when even talking on a hands free cell phone is not safe while driving (i.e., traffic maneuvers, turns, traffic, etc.). In that case, get off the phone and concentrate on driving.

somewhat fair & quantifiable

That WAS my "track" (point).

Personal opinions & vagueness have no business in public law, except to the extent that it's absolutely unavoidable to a well considered balance of liberties vs. overwhelming public good (which is also quantifiable with sufficient effort).

imo.

Before jumping on the all or nothing bandwagon, I wish the politicians would ban the handheld devices for now. We can revisit whether to ban all cellphones at a later date.

Slightly off-topic, but I remember schools had strict ban on cell phone for students. I hear a lot of schools are reconsidering the ban after the smuggled phones helped the SWAT team during the Columbine.

And then, there's the Amber alert thing, accident report thing, erratic driver (suspected drunk driver) thing....

According to a CHP officer I was talking to, cops are the worst offenders on the road. He said that he, and the other officers he knows, are constantly texting each other while driving. They aren't required to use hands free when talking on the phone and driving which is bad enough but texting while driving is crazy. I know this guy really well and believe what he told me. They text each other all the time while driving.

Here in California it's legal to use a cell phone while driving ONLY if you use it hands-free. That works fine for me. I don't have a problem with it at all. Of course it doesn't protect me from stupid people - no law can do that - but I don't have any issues talking and driving at the same time as long as it's hands-free. When not hands-free I don't think it's safe at all - even for me to do.

Sadly, I still see LOTS of idiots driving around holding their phone and talking while driving and I've yet to see anybody get pulled over for it.

You still haven't answered my original question, how are they going to enforce it? I agree, the use of a hand held cellphone should be banned, but I still believe the hands free part is not enforceable. And I still stand by my original statement about drivers looking at their passengers while they are speaking to them is just as dangerous, and you know they aren't going to pass a law against that. Anything you do in a car besides drive is a distraction. Ask some of your local law enforcement people what they think about enforcing such a law.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I am attentive on the road. I have not had as much as a parking ticket in over 20 years.

Studies aren't complete and they need further results.

As far as the politicians go they seem to specialize in coming out with more and more restrictive legislation to keep themselves in business and make money from special interest groups.

So everything in this country is hunky-dory and if someone doesn't like one thing about it, they should move out?

Just because someone has an issue with a law or politician doesn't mean they aren't patriotic.

You make more negative political type comments than anyone on this forum.

Sorry the Republican good ole' boys aren't staying in for you another 8 years.

next they're going to ban reading and applying makeup. just ban driving altogether and let us fly spaceships.