But what will you do with the mutes and mimes?
We just had a little girl around here killed by a man talking on his phone while driving. Pretty good argument for me.
I also agree as said in another post here, (sorry I’m new and haven’t played with pulling quotes yet) that it isn’t that you can’t do other things as in turn on your radio while you drive it’s that for a lot of people weather they want to admit it or not the world around them ceases to exist.
That also shows you how much that kind of law is enforced since IIRC it is the law in Iowa, or ILL. Sometimes it is hard for me to remember what gets passed on what side of the river since the Quad Cities links both side all the time when it comes to the news reports.
Mistress Kricket
Well, I know what weather I want. But of course, individuals don’t matter. I guess it’s whatever weather society wants.
“In disorders of the bowels and vomitings, occurring spontaneously, if the matters purged be such as ought to be purged, they do good, and are well borne; but if not, the contrary.” — Hippocrates
This is not meant to trivialize the tragedy, but I don’t find anecdotes like that compelling. Many people have been killed by drivers in all sorts of situations. IMO, the answer is not to outlaw every conceivable distraction until people are so bored driving that they fall asleep at the wheel. Rather we should impose stiff penalties for anyone caught driving carelessly so that people who cannot talk and drive at the same time will think twice before doing so.
In other words, if a cop catches me swerving or having a near accident or some such thing because I’m talking on my cell phone and not watching the road, he should pull me over and give me a $300 ticket. After I tell all my friends about this, all of us will be much less likely to let cell phones distract us from driving.
Also, to reiterate, if I need to make a business call, I pull over to the side. When I do talk and drive, it’s to people who understand that I’m behind the wheel and will drop the phone in an instant if I need to change lanes, pay a toll, etc.
What I hate is asking the government to have to babysit us! You know? Have a problem, let’s make a law!
I was nearly hit by a man on his cellphone earlier this week, I could see him coming up in my rear view mirror (he STILL had on his grille a red bow, for Christmas!) I could see his right hand waving around as if he were angry. The light was turning yellow, and I moved to my left (there was no one there) and sure enough, the light turns red, and he is OBLIVIOUS, and speeds right through.
He probably would have been that way if he were yelling at someone in the car, or if he were shaving, but when you’re on the phone, you aren’t paying attention.
But, making another law isn’t going to help, it’s just another thing to slow the police. Here in Atlanta, the speeds get unbelievably fast and I’ve seen everything from reading the newspaper to one woman looking like she was typing, looking to the side and a quick glance to the windshield. All of it is nutty, and dangerous. But how do you stop these people?? They won’t care about the law TILL they are caught.
“Consider it a challenge…”
I understand that some people only use them for two minutes at a time. I have a friend that will only let you talk to him for a minute, otherwise he has to pay for it. Short, simple and to the point, or you don’t talk to him.
I have been in a car accident before because the guy in back of us lost a lit cigerette in his car. Anything can happen in a moment of distraction, point well taken.
People can feel that they are the safest drivers on the road, but who’s to say they guy next to you is, or the person not stopping at the next corner is.
Kind of taking a different turn here, bear with me on this.
If this law gets passed all over the place, how often do you think it would be enforced? In Ill. and Iowa they have laws that if you are delinquent in child support they can suspend your driving priviledges. Six months later in the paper was a statement about how they don’t have the man power or money to enforce it, but it is still the law.
Under-age smoking. They are trying to re-enforce that law. $100 for every cig. you are caught with. You know they get them, even if they can’t buy them, but does anybody do anything afterward when they are caught with them? Not usually because they are probably in trouble for something much bigger.
This too will also probably end up another usless law.
My mother and father in law both carry cell phone for emergencies. A lot of other people do also. Some people just space out on the phone.
Who knows where this will all end up? Maybe they could come up with a way to make it so cell phones won’t work if you are going over a certain speed or something.
That’s enuff from me tonite, I am fairly new here, and don’t want to get in over my head and step on too many toes yet. Of course this is all IMHO any way, and everybody has an oppinion of something. Just trying to do my part and be a great debater.
Mistress Kricket
ps please excuse any wrong spelling, I am still trying to figure out how to do a lot of things from here, and I know spelling is important on these boards. Gosh, I hope I’m not just asking for a flame here. Be gentle.
Ok, some rationality here, please. 
The basis for the laws regarding portable phone use in cars is a series of studies showing that accident rates are significantly increased for those who use them while driving. As I recall, at least one study showed that the accident rate was higher than for those driving under the influence of alchohol.
Researchers postulate that the reason for the accident rate increase using such phones is that they decrease your attention on the task of driving. Thus, your response time to critical driving tasks becomes greater, even assuming you notice the need. This mimics the trouble that those driving under the influence have: lack of attention and reduced response.
Now, any idiot can understand the danger in dialing a phone while driving, but then again we do all sorts of things that take our attention from the road momentarily while driving, such as turning on a radio, changing the CD, checking to see what Johnny is doing to Susie in the back seat, etc. Frankly, those momentary distractions aren’t the issue; they don’t take up enough of your time if you are driving correctly to make much difference (you should, of course, minimize them). Driving while applying make-up is stupid, but it would also be ticketed under existing laws.
The trouble with the laws really comes from mis-interpreting the data. It isn’t the fact a hand is on the phone that matters (hell, most of us drive one-handed all the time anyway). It is the attention to the phone call that causes the trouble. This would be true even with ‘hands-free’ phones. So banning use of portable phones that are held in the hand doesn’t fully address the issue. Of course, it would be very difficult to ban use of speaker phones, because how the hell would an officer know that the violation was occurring?
When I was young and dumb, I used to dictate into a portable dictaphone while driving back to the office after an appearance. I stopped the practice after listening to a tape made by the managing partner in the office while driving, a tape that ended with the sound of squealing brakes and the exclamation: “Oh SHIT!!!” I don’t drive and yak on a phone for the same reason.
Mistress Kricket (THAT is SO cute!)
Don’t worry about people’s toes, you express yourself well, and that is what is most important.
I’m with your wise friend, say what it is you need to, and then hang up. I don’t have one, my pager has been fine. I think that people just seriously underestimate whatever they are doing as being ‘no big deal’ UNTIL something happens. Driving should be the only thing you’re doing, but hey, with the commutes most people have, they eat, drink, and work in their cars. Common sense is what is needed, and I think we’re losing that ability not to have to be TOLD every tiny thing…AND have police enforce it too…or try to anyway. But, maybe when the stats on accidents add up, it may end up almost an inevitability for them to be banned.
“It took something like this to make the Miss America Pageant look good to me.” Patricia Ireland on the TV show 'Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire?"
I can’t even believe you people are against this! It’s against the law to drive while talking on a hand-held cell phone in Israel, and that makes absolutely perfect sense to me. Of course, a way bigger percentage of the population there uses cell phones than here in the US (it’s somewhere around 60% of the nation, but MUCH higher in the cities - I would guess about 85-90%), so that could be a bigger problem in the long run. But still! Driving requires concentration. The more things you do at once, the harder it is to concentrate on any one of them. I don’t even think a law should be necessary - it’s common sense.
~Harborina
“Don’t Do It.”