I need help. I am doing a speech debate on whether talking on cell phones should be ban while driving. I would like to know if you agree or disagree. I may be using your response in my speech as research.
As long as you’re taking a poll, my vote goes to banning them. I ride a motorcycle and people in cars on the phone scare the hell out me. People dialing phones aren’t driving, they’re simply in a big metal thing moving without control.
Sassie, welcome to the SDMB. This is the General Questions, the forum where people ask questions with factual answers. This question doesn’t have one. It should be in the In My Humble Opinion forum, which is the place for polls. E-mail a moderator and ask them to move this there for you. They are listed at the top of the page here. Don’t just start another thread, there, as that is frowned upon, too.
Good luck with your debate.
Off to IMHO.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
Banning cellphone use is silly, since the whole distracted driver issue comes up when people are being stupid while using them. Stupid behavior can’t be “banned”, but banning the object it centers around won’t fix the problem.
With a handsfree kit, carrying on a cellphone conversation should be no more distracting than talking to a person in the passenger seat, and much less distracting than looking for your favorite CD or tape while driving (which a LOT of people do). Only once in the last 15 years have I had to take evasive action because of a cellphone user.
If we want to discuss banning any activity while driving, what about morons who drive down the highway while reading a book, reading a newspaper, eating a hamburger, putting on makeup, yelling at their kids in the back seat, trying to find their location on a map(!)or any number of stupid indefensible things that I see much more commonly than cellphone conversations.
I say ban cell phone use in cars, it’s more of a hazard than anything else
I’m all for banning them while driving. I am seeing more and more erratic and unattentive driving lately, and 9 times out of 10 the driver is talking into a cell phone. Just the other day some d!p$h!t was plodding along about 15-20 mph as he approached the intersection (light was red) but long before he really had to slow down. He didn’t seem to know which lane he wanted to get into. As he finally got into a marked lane-- my blood pressure having doubled by then-- I raced past him and gave him my customary rude glare that all moronic drivers will get from me (sometimes with the one-finger salute if it’s a really serious offense). Sure enough, he had a damn cell phone pressed to his ear! Arrgh!!!
Looks like there have been studies, as in http://www.aaafoundation.org/resources/index.cfm?button=cellphone
One of my friends was almost killed by a motorist using a cell phone. I keep my phone off while driving.
I hate those cell drivers.
Used to be when you saw someone wandering all over the road and lagging way behind traffic, and switching into the exit lane a bit too late, that it was someone who’s 90. Now it’s the cell phone user.
What good can come so many people driving like they’re 90?
And WHAT will happen cell phone users turn 90 :eek:
I think that they should not be banned but bad driving while distracted should be fined.
Eating, drinking, smoking, using the tape/cd player can be just as distracting - How about banning drive-thru’s.
Also the hands free adapter is sometimes worse as you must fumble to get it together while the phone is ringing while driving if you forgot to assemble it ahead of time (or if you are not expecting a call.
Despite being guilty of the “crime” I do think that using cell phones while driving should be outlawed. Receiving calls on a handsfree set is OK, but having often dialed while driving I can say that it’s a serious distraction and opens the potential for some serious accidents. And how many people will honestly only use the phone to receive calls while driving?
Also, discussions of cell phones reminds me of the one time when I was driving in LA, running about 70 MPH. A BMW passes by me, two lanes over. The driver had one window partially open, and is holding an antennae. In the other hand he had a cell phone (older model). So I just know that he was driving with his knees. I’m definitely not comfortable with that…
I would disagree with any person who suggests that the use of cell phones while driving be banned as it targets a specific group of persons in an indiscriminate manner.
There is a whole plethora of acticities that drivers partake in that can negatively affect their driving, cell phone use is only one of those activities. Many persons smoke, drink beverages, and consume food while driving. Any activiy that a person participates in while driving could be considered a dangerous distraction.
I occasionally use my cell phone while I am in my car, if I have failed to plug my phone into the hands free set I rarely engage in conversation unless I am stopped. This may have something to do with the fact I drive a vehicle with a manual transmission and it is difficult to hold a phone, the steering wheel, and shift gears at one time.
Any persons I might need to call are set on speed dial and I can do this without taking my eyes off the road.
People who use their cell phones and cause accidents should be charged with driving with undue attention as would anyone who caused a similar accident because what they were doing interfered with their ability to drive.
All of these have places where the offending object can rest so the driver does not hold onto it all the time. A mobile not on a handsfree has to be held in the hand beside the head whilst in use. A cigarrete can go in the ashtray, a drink in the cup holder and food in many places (for example my father is always asking me to hold food for him when he drives and I am in the passenger seat).
Ban 'em. Is it soooo hard to pull over and make a call?
In the UK, driving whilst using a mobile 'phone is prohibited in the Highway Code. The code is not a legal document, but is used as a guide in court cases.
For instance, a driver who causes an accident whilst using a 'phone is likely to be treated less leniently by a judge or magistrate due to the Highway Code being ignored.
A driver can also be charged with dangerous driving if they do not follow the Highway Code, so, in effect, a driver could be given a ticket for using a 'phone whilst on the road.
I remember that the argument presented was that talking on a 'phone is not the same as talking to a passenger. When you are on a 'phone, you do not pay as much attention to the road, as your mind is “elsewhere”. Whether or not this is a load of hot air, I don’t know; I am not a psychologist.
Europe has more of a history using mobile phones. Currently, 70% of all Europeans own at least one phone.
Most European countries have outlawed or are in the process of outlawing non-handsfree calling while driving. Cited reasons are that more accidents are occuring due to phone use while driving.
While this may be true, there is some debate as to whether these accidents are caused by phone use, or whether this is a coincidence (perhaps there are more phones around than 3 years ago?).
Some studies have been preformed, and results are ‘inconclusive’.
I would like to provide links, but most are in Dutch. Here is a US study, though.
http://www.wow-com.com/articles.cfm?ID=579
sirjamesp: I heard this argument a few times, and it seems to work two ways. On the one hand, it is argued that while talking someone in a car, the other person also participates in driving. For example, when a potentially dangerous situation arrises, the other person stops talking, only to resume when it is safe again. Obviously this isn’t possible when talking on the phone.
On the other hand, a recent study by a psychologist at the university of Groningen F. Cnossen, (sorry, dutch link only) shows that people are cabaple of dividing their attention and can ‘block out’ certain inputs when tense situations arrise while driving.