# Banning hand held cellphone use while driving... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 19, 2000, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523 "2000-02-19T06:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/1 "2000-02-19T06:46:00Z")
Like many other states, New York is proposing a law prohibiting the use of hand held cellphones while driving. I have several issues with this: [ul][li]How is manipulating a cellphone while driving different than drinking coffee or smoking a cigarette or changing a tape or switching the radio station or fixing your hair while driving?[/li][li]Why is talking to someone on a cellphone significantly more distracting than talking to someone sitting in the car? You don’t even have to turn and look at them.[/li][li]Anyone with a standard transmission knows it is perfectly safe to constantly use your other hand for something other than steering.[/ul][/li] Yes, it is certainly not a great idea to primp in the rearview mirror while driving 90mph and passing a propane tanker on the right. But we don’t need a law banning touching your hair while driving, do we? Won’t common sense suffice? I believe that the majority of people who favor a ban on driving & cellphone use simply have a prejudice against cellphones in general. It’s not that they think they’re exceptionally cumbersome or distracting, but that they are pretentious & unnecessary toys. If you went back 40 or so years, these people would feel the same way about wanting to have prerecorded music (i.e. tape decks) in cars. They would say, “Oh, do you really need that?”. I think that, rather than being banned, driving & using a cellphone should be made part of the road test! If you can’t do both you’re not coordinated enough to even drive! * * * _I for one welcome our new insect overlords…_ - K. Brockman ---
**Author:** ![PTVroman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@PTVroman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PTVroman)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/2 "2000-02-19T06:55:00Z")
The difference between using a phone and drinking coffee is that I can drink coffee while keeping both eyes on the rode. It is much harder to dial a phone without looking. * * * _“The large print givith, and the small print taketh away.”_ Tom Waites, “Step Right Up” ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/3 "2000-02-19T07:09:00Z")
I am not one to ban cell phone use, but I do advocate education and responsibility. I, on occasion use my cell phone while driving, with a standard transmission and find it difficult to keep all my faculties together, so yeah I agree that people are less likely to be paying attention. I have been driving around with cell phones for 6 years now and yes it is a problem. One of my solutions was the microphone and speakerphone type thing, but it was difficult for those on the other end to hear me well. Since I don’t use the phone that much, or if it’s not an emergency issue, then I ask the caller if I can call them back as I am on the road. My next purchase is one of those ear piece/microphone doohickeys. I do believe that if you have both hands free at most times while driving you are better off. But I don’t think that banning the use of phones in a car is good. I just wish more people would look at a less involved communications system if they must be on a phone all the time. My father has one that is wireless and touchless. He prompts the phone to call with his voice. He can tell it to call certain people he has recorded or call a specific phone number. It’s pretty cool even if it does freak out once in a while not provoked 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/4 "2000-02-19T07:51:00Z")
PTVroman: > [@](#): > > It is much harder to dial a phone without looking. Oh come on! You’ve never messed with your stereo or re-fastened your seatbelt while driving? Both of these requiring more looking than dialing a phone. * * * _I for one welcome our new insect overlords…_ - K. Brockman ---
**Author:** ![Jorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Jorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/5 "2000-02-19T09:43:00Z")
1. Alot of people shouldn’t be driving, whether they’re using the phone or not, but politicians [read Detroit lobbyists] wouldn’t ever let tougher exams for licensing fly; 2. Another good reason to pull cars over {for police looking to search a vehicle). ---
**Author:** ![spankboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@spankboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spankboy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/6 "2000-02-19T11:16:00Z")
Canada already did a study-they found that a driver using a cell phone drives as poorly as one who’s drunk. Worse, even, because drunks are at least cautious…_g_. I swear to Gawd, Seattle must be the self-absorbed-SUV-driving-while-cell-phone-using-and-latte-drinking capital of the world. If I had any aptitude for electronics, I’d devote my life to creating a hand-held device that would jam cell phone communications within 30 feet of my car. Unfortunately, it would probably make it worse, with all the imbeciles staring at their phone, wondering why it stopped working, crushing Geo Metros in front of them… What I want to know, is what are these people talking about? Today, I used mine for a grand total of 30 seconds to tell a friend I was stuck in traffic and was going to be late for lunch. I see folks carrying on lengthy, animated conversations on their phone in traffic. What the hell are they talking about? Considering what you pay for air time, can’t it wait??? -sb * * * They say the Lord loves drunks, fools and little children. Two out of three ain’t bad. ---
**Author:** ![jaydabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c89c15/32.png) [@jaydabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaydabee)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/7 "2000-02-19T13:24:00Z")
I generally don’t like making the idea of making new laws to dictate common sense but I do think something needs to be done about cell phones. I got one, think cell phones are great, but have found that with my hand held one I tend to pay more attention to the phone and who I’m talking to, instead of the road. I hadn’t been in an accident in twenty years until last fall when I got rear ended by a guy talking on his cell phone (seen it in my rear view mirror!) and have almost been run off the road by people changing lanes while talking on them. I am not sure why this is, people talk to passengers all the time. It could be that people subconciously try to make eye contact with whom they are speaking to, if the other person is a passenger all you have to do is glance over occasionally, but on a phone all you do is end up staring at the reciever and not the road. * * * watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical, a liberal,fanatical a criminal… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/8 "2000-02-19T14:21:00Z")
If there is a **need** to talk on the phone that bad, people should either be at home or at the office. Also, it is not like the technology for voice activated dailing doesn’t exist. I got that for my father about 7 years ago, and some of the newer handhelds have it as an integrated feature. ---
**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/9 "2000-02-19T14:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > How is manipulating a cellphone while driving different than drinking coffee or smoking a cigarette or changing a tape or switching the radio station or fixing your hair while driving?\*\* For one thing, you don’t have to take your eyes off the road while drinking coffee / changing a tape / selecting a radio station - you do have to do so while dialing a cellphone (at least I would). For another, none of those other functions take up a significant portion of your time and/or attention. IMNSHO, fixing your hair or applying makeup while driving should also be illegal, for the same reason as using your cellphone - it takes up too much of your concentration. I’ve seen far too many folks (men _and_ women) driving down the road while fluffing their hair and staring at their face in their rear-view mirror. I’me afraid that I’ve seen too many near-accidents (and read of too many actual accidents - one such incident is in the local paper this morning because the lady involved is trying to get her sentence reduced) caused by inattentive drivers who were using their cellphones at the time to have a whole lot of sympathy with this one. We have a cell phone in each of our family cars, in the glove compartment for emergency use. They’re normally powered off, so we don’t get any incoming calls, and we pull off the road first if the driver needs to make an outgoing call. I wear a pager for work-related reasons, and when my pager goes off I also pull off the road first. I have to confess that I have one of those non-spill coffee mugs that I fill with coffee and sip out of on my way to work each morning. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/10 "2000-02-19T15:14:00Z")
If they pass a law about using cellphones should they also ban computers and radar in cop cars?Anybody seen the parrafenalia those guys got. smoetimes it spills over into the passenger seat. I think it has a lot to do with the human brain. How many people can do two things at once. Also things like anger and yes love probably affect how well you concentrate on what you are doing. face it. anytime you climb behind the wheel without your complete concentration you are a hazard. Dad was a truckdriver and his boss would not let his drivers have radios Common sence would be great but when is the last time you saw anyone use it ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/11 "2000-02-19T15:26:00Z")
I think a large part of the problem goes beyond just taking your eyes off the road for a moment. Sure, picking up the phone and dialing may require no more of a glance than changing the radio station or negotiating your bean burrito from Taco Bell. Instead, it is the _mental_ distraction associated with speaking on the phone that is not nearly so evident with other mundane actions. I believe this is where the real danger lies. Even seen a teenage girl on the phone? It seems like the outside world ceases to exist. How about the businessman caught up in the heat of the sale? This is okay in the relative safety of home or office, but not at 65 mph in trafic! Many times I’ve had a phone conversation at home while trying to keep an eye on a ballgame or something equally as mindless (I’m not talking about trying to follow plotlines here). After hanging up I realize that I have _no clue_ what happened on that big TV right in front of me. Sure, my _eyes_ received the stimili, but my brain just shuts off that part while giving my attention to the person on the phone. Maybe the brain has to focus harder because there is no visual image of the person to whom one is speaking. Anyone who is honest with himself will have to admit there are plenty of times when, after getting off the phone with someone, the realization sets in that he has been quite oblivious to ambient conditions. ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/12 "2000-02-19T15:57:00Z")
It’s all a matter of how well you drive. I happen to be an excellent driver. I can drive drunk twice as better as normal people drive sober. I used to drive a cab. There were many moments where I would simultaneously: try to put on my seatbelt in a newly unaccustomed vehicle, talk (or argue) with my passengers, talk to radio dispatch (taking in loads of information, sometimes writing things down, sometimes arguing), all the while my cellphone ringing, and all this while weaving through heavy unforgiving rush hour traffic. I never once got into even a fender bender during the 500k+ miles I drove in my brief stint as a cabbie. (Well, except for that one three car pile-up at the airport that was half my fault. I was rushing because I really had to use the bathroom, which cost me my judgement.) The most dangerous time for me is when I’m driving while sleepy. Sometimes, during long trips, the road puts me in a trance. The point is, if you’re a bad driver, you’re a bad driver. Distractions only make you worse. There should be a special license for us damn good drivers, like the kind they give to police officers, so we can drive drunk, speed, make illegal u-turns, disregard stop signs and signal lights, {use a cell-phone}, park anywhere, and every other thing that cops are permitted to do. * * * There’s always another beer. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/13 "2000-02-19T16:17:00Z")
[ Worse, even, because drunks are at least cautious…_g_.] Sorry just a little practice ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/14 "2000-02-19T16:33:00Z")
Hey, I’ve got an idea! Let’s put the responsibility where it belongs. Why don’t we require cell phone manufactures to make **safe** cell phones! Let’s make them invest in research for reliable voice activation using standards fixed by a committee appointed by Congress. Then, let’s make car manufacturers offer these safe cell phones as standard equipment. There is precedence for this, isn’t there? I mean we already require seatbelts and airbags for safety. There’s no reason not to go ahead and take the next step, is there? Let’s have national registration of all cell phones. This can all be coordinated by the FBI, I mean FCC. ---
**Author:** ![meara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@meara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meara)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/15 "2000-02-19T16:46:00Z")
I can’t live without my cell phone. I’ve had to commute as much as 1.5 hours each way and that kind of time expenditure is unbearable without some way of communicating to the outside world. 95% of my airtime is spent while I’m: - on a controlled highway - in the right lane - going about 60mph - in light or no traffic If I have to do something complicated, I drop the phone and do it. I’m not chatting as I swerve in and out of traffic or anything. Frankly, I am capable of summoning the mental prowess necessary to talk on the phone and drive well at the same time. We have laws to deal with careless driving, just like the laws to deal with DWI. If I am driving too fast, too slow, swerving, etc, a cop can pull me over and cite me for it. If, however, I choose to drive safely in the right lane, talking to my parents to pass the time (and to avoid falling asleep due to commuting boredom), don’t get on my case just because YOU can’t talk and drive at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/16 "2000-02-19T17:36:00Z")
If wearing stereo headphones is illegal, why not phones too? If a person is going 70mph on the freeway, I’d sure want both of their hands in control of the car. Would you want a cop with a gun pointed at you on a cell phone? ---
**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/17 "2000-02-19T17:36:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Beeruser: > \*\*I can drive drunk twice as better as normal people drive sober… I used to drive a cab. There were many moments where I would simultaneously: try to put on my seatbelt in a newly unaccustomed vehicle, talk (or argue) with my passengers, talk to radio dispatch (taking in loads of information, sometimes writing things down, sometimes arguing), all the while my cellphone ringing, and all this while weaving through heavy unforgiving rush hour traffic… There should be a special license for us damn good drivers Uh, huh. :rolleyes: Forgive me, but I think we need to make a distinction between “good” and “lucky” here. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2000, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/18 "2000-02-20T06:32:00Z")
We have gone over this (as so many other topics) before: [http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/000489.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/000489.html) One of my points at that time was > [@](#): > > The problem with phones is that phone users have two sets of distractions, not just the immediate distraction of playing with a toy in traffic. There is also the problem that a phone conversation has a second participant that has only verbal clues, so the car-phone operator feels compelled to engage at all times. > > If I am having an intense conversation with a passenger in my car when a semi decides to share my lane, the passenger is immediately aware that I am not going to keep up my end of the conversation and I have no compulsion about breaking off while I try to keep the car in reasonably good condition, structurally. If the person on the other end of the phone is the driver’s boss (or a customer who accepted a call from the driver), they are not aware of the traffic situation and they are less tolerant of strange lapses in the conversation. For that reason, the driver feels compelled to carry on the conversation even while they are taking evasive action. Their attention is divided, and they are liable to choose to share my lane. I am not sure that I am willing to outlaw all cell-phones-while-driving. I am not at all opposed to outlawing it within city limits or recognizable metropolitan regions. (Failing that, I would settle for my own roof-mounted Stinger missile arrangement.) * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/19 "2000-02-19T19:14:00Z")
[quote] don’t know where from [everybody thinks they are a better driver than they are.] I was following a fat guy in an s10 once. he was one of the salesmen that worked where I did.He was talking on his cellphone when he came to a stopsign where he had to turn. He just sat there because he couldn’t turn without using both hands to turn.Never said anything to him but the guys at the shop sure got a good laugh. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523/20 "2000-02-19T21:49:00Z")
Perhaps they should be legal only on secondary roads.Should we send people convicted of OMVUC to talking driving school? 🙂 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banning-hand-held-cellphone-use-while-driving/17523.md?page=2)