A proposed ‘textalyzer’ bill might give cops the right to access your cellphone

I hope that day never come.

....I was following a vehicle whereby the driver was weaving all over the road. She crossed the yellow line and the white shoulder line. If I had been in a patrol car, I would have stopped her within a half mile of first observing her. She continued with this behavior for approximately 3 miles when she came up to a traffic light that had changed to red approximately 300 feet before she hit the intersection. She continued through the intersection causing an accident when the gentleman who had the green started into the intersection. He struck her in the right rear tire. As she got out of her vehicle, she had her cellphone in her hand. She had been texting the entire time that I had been following her. When the police arrived, I advised the officer that she had been texting. The officer stated OK and after investigating the accident issued a citation for distracted driving. No one was hurt in the accident, but if the gentleman had pulled out into the intersection just a half second earlier, she would have t-boned him and it could have been a fatality. In this case the police would be correct in accessing her cellphone.

Where I live the use of a cellphone while driving is illegal unless it can be used via bluetooth and hands free.
Distracted driving has a higher fatality rate than drunk driving now !!

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In Ontario, it's against the law to:

operate hand-held communication and electronic entertainment devices while you're driving
view display screens unrelated to your driving

Examples of hand-held devices include:

iPods and MP3 players
GPS
cell phones
smart phones
laptops
DVD players

Drivers who endanger others because of any distraction, including hand-held and hands-free devices, may still be charged with Careless Driving under the Highway Traffic Act or even Dangerous Driving under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Both charges carry heavy fines and penalties, if convicted, including 6 demerit points, fines of up to $2,000 and /or a jail term of six months, and up to two-year licence suspension in the case of Careless Driving. Dangerous Driving is a criminal offence and includes jail terms of up to five years.

A GPS screen

Yes, can be used - provided the GPS is mounted on the dashboard or windshield.
You must input the required information before you start driving.

Since cell phones have GPS built-in it should be easy to set up a phone so it detects motion. Car starts moving: texting is disabled. Simple solution to a big problem. Getting caught texting leading to an accident should be a huge fine: maybe all the way up to equal the dollar amount of damage you caused. It's getting bad and I think it may be the cause of a lot of road rage: behind someone that is weaving slows down, speeds up, blows through red lights... we've all seen it.

So all passengers in your car would have their phones disabled.
Riding in a taxi/bus would disable the phone.
Riding in a train/subway would disable the phone.

etc.

What nonsense !
Are you driving the taxi, bus, train or subway ?????

What KenSny stated was true, if it was via sensor. It wouldn't be able to differentiate between drivers, and passengers.

As others have said, one big problem with this is that the system would have no way to differentiate between a driver and passengers.
One hypothetical example of how this would CREATE issues would be if a passenger in a moving vehicle saw an accident and attempted to call 911 to report it.

- Tom -

back to the point that people need to be more responsible for their actions and to be responsible adults

If you are involved in an accident while texting you should be held accountable. Driving is a privilege conveyed by license, not a right. People who engage in such behavior put themselves and others in serious jeopardy. I have no problem with a "textalyzer."

I read somewhere teenagers can not go over 4 minuets without looking at there phone to check if they have a message even when they know they don't.

Just a few days ago a vehicle was next to me at a red light the driver was looking down and to his right when his car started to creep forward. I was sure he was going to go into the intersection so I blew my horn as a warning. He looked up at me with a cell phone in his hand and gave me the finger never realized he had moved forward.

Driving is becoming more and more dangerous due to texting you see it every day.

I have no problem being without my cell when driving I just wish there was some way to block the phone when driving.

On my phone it's called "Airplane mode".

Similar to conversations about red light cameras, where the people on each side of the fence won't agree with the other side, this topic also will have those with opposing opinions that won't agree with the other point of view.

Personally, I keep my phones (work and personal) in my bag and the bag is in the trunk. Both are paired with Bluetooth in the car. I never initiate a text, but if I receive one, it does allow me to reply via speech-to-text. Usually I say the magic phrase, "Ignore it" as it's rarely anything that can't wait until I get to my destination (please don't tell my wife I said that). I may answer a phone call or in a rare case even place a call, but those are hands free. The thought is out there though that even talking hands free is a distraction if you're not fully paying attention to driving. I've been told that I'm old school - I guess because I typically average about 25 minutes on my cell phone per month - not sure if that's a lot though.

In Illinois, we also have the laws about distracted driving, and all personal electronics must be hands free (NO operation of devices in any construction or school zone) but I've not gone a day on the road without seeing people "breaking" this law. Citizen's are not the only ones though - as I've seen officers in marked police cars going down the road on their personal cell phones up to the ear (excuse me officer, but that's not hands free).

no longer an issue in the GTA (Toronto). imho the wheel needs not be reinvented, although we seem to do it for generating revenue, and I suppose we all gotta eat...

I go for walks quite often and in about 2-3 miles I see at least 2 people in cars with their cellphone stuck to their ear. This is out in the burbs, betcha the ratio would be much higher in the city core.

When I see someone type in GTA, I think of the Game Grand Theft Auto (GTA).

I think this is a bad bill and hope it does not get passed and signed into law.

from texting and driving...just like we have never been able to stop drunk driving. However, if you make the penalties for texting/googling, etc. co-equal with DUI penalties you'll stop a lot of it. Make texting a primary offense, meaning no other violation need exist before stopping someone, and enforce the crap out of it.

After people learn they will pay huge fines and lose their licenses for significant periods of time a great deal of the problem will resolve. I find it amazing that people have such an inflated self-image that they believe the world cannot survive without them being hooked in 24/7.

On a separate note, technology being what it is, I don't doubt in the next couple years some smart 13 year old will devise a way to disable a driver's cell phone (while in motion) without affecting others in the vehicle.

So.. just because I'm considering a new phone... n' other stuff.. what kinda phone do you use that's paired to whatever is in your type of car...

Is the device in your car factory installed or after market...

It's an interesting solution...

Most newer cars have Bluetooth connectivity and if yours doesn't you can buy a bluetooth head set for hands free usage.

... since an awful lot of folks don't understand that concept big brother feels the need to help in the matter.

With my 2013 Jeep Wrangler bluetooth was part of an option package that I had planned on getting anyway, not a standard item, at least in 2013. I use it in concert with my Galaxy S6 smartphone.

What nonsense !
Are you driving the taxi, bus, train or subway ?????

So I've an older car..(2000) I was trying to find out if an OEM audio system had been put in or quite what...

Yeah, I've a StupidPhone that's got bluetooth capability....

but the processor on the StupidPhone is 1.14Ghz...

pretty bloody slow and frequently looses connection between the phone and the BT headset when on the phone talking and either email or sms or other things come into it.. or it's busy trying to do something with the GPS...

So yeah, I know my crap's down level in many respects... so I was trying to figure out what was being used / paired together so it worked fairly well.. The Qualcomm SnapDragon 835 is only 2.35Ghz... nothing like my PC which is just a wee bit faster... when pushed I can get it up to about 4.5Ghz.. n' it has enough horse power to keep up... but my existing StupidPhone... I'm not sure it's good as a paperweight...

I was just trying to gain insight from someone the experience of of someone else

in Washington state and it has made very little difference. Everyday on my route I see at least a hundred people texting away and completely unaware of what's going on around them while moving.
It will come to something like this and probably should. I'm sure there will be apps made that erase of hide what you were doing as well. Reality is there just aren't enough cops out there enforcing the law and most feel they won't get caught. Kinda like the 25% to 50% that drive in carpool lanes with 1 person when at least 2 are required.

Where I live we still have street cars, yes those unwieldy things on tracks.
Every once in a while the police have an officer riding the streetcar trying to catch those who use their cellphone in the car. Of course since the streetcar is in the middle of the road it's easy to see a driver either yacking away or texting.

There are the consequences when caught and in my opinion should be more severe still. Distracted driving now has surpassed the death rate over DUI.

If convicted of distracted driving, a fully licenced driver (holder of Class A, B, C, D, E, F, G) or a hybrid driver (holder of a full-class licence and a novice licence such as Class G and M1) will receive:

a fine of $400, plus a victim surcharge and court fee, for a total of $490 if settled out of court
a fine of up to $1,000 if you receive a summons or fight your ticket
three demerit points applied to your driver’s record

If convicted of distracted driving, a novice driver (subject to the Graduated Licensing program) will be subject to escalating sanctions:

first occurrence will result in a 30-day licence suspension
second occurrence will result in 90-day licence suspension
licence cancellation and removal from the Graduated Licensing System for a third occurrence

Just wait and see how many will chime in and yell "MONEYGRAB"
Probably the same ones using their cellphone while driving.

texting while driving is the worst offense, but talking is also a significant hazard.

This morning I was almost hit while pulling out onto a four-lane street. A driver on that street, who was chatting on his cell phone, pulled a U-turn without signaling. He was visibly startled by the sound of me hitting my brakes to avoid being hit by him, and jerked the cell phone away from his ear.

- Tom -

Bob, you clearly aren't familiar with Toronto's place in the Canadian psyche.

Toronto is often referred to as "The Big Smoke" or "Toronto the Good", but Canadians from outside of Toronto have less complimentary nicknames. When someone refers to themselves as being from the GTA, those who are not so blessed think "God, Those A*******"

A typically Westerner's expression, I hear that from BC'ers too.
It's just jealousy ! It's actually called "Hog-town" to be correct.

"jealousy" is not how I would describe the attitude of non-GTA residents towards Toronto.

But you have to head to Calgary to really see people with a distorted sense of self-importance! You'd think everyone in Calgary has a pumpjack in their backyard, drives a 4-wheeler (that never leaves the pavement), and once a year dresses up like a cowboy.

Obviously, I don't live in Calgary