# "Sure I text at red lights. \*#@% you if you don't like it!" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 12, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570 "2016-11-12T01:48:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hooleehootoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eada6e/32.png) [@Hooleehootoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hooleehootoo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/1 "2016-11-12T01:48:16Z")
I was under the impression that it was legal in my state. It appears it is not, but that wasn’t my point: Even were it legal it is still stupid. If you can’t see that this foul habit is the gateway drug to texting while driving…then you make me crazy with your obtuseness. If you are the one person in the universe that texts stopped and has never pressed that one extra character when starting to move, is it because you don’t look up until someone honks? Really? You throw your phone down in the footwell on the passenger side at every green and retrieve it at every red? How come I don’t see more heads bobbing up and down? Stop texting while driving! What your typing is trivial compared to an accident. (subtitled “Is Bullitt still Alive?”) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/2 "2016-11-12T02:32:12Z")
Gt lnk? ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/3 "2016-11-12T03:04:11Z")
So, you are the one who sits at a red light which then turns green and you realize you need to go when the light turns yellow again? Thanks. Bob ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/4 "2016-11-12T03:10:26Z")
Bidding on eBay while driving is _really_ dangerous … especially the last few seconds of an auction … ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/5 "2016-11-12T03:26:37Z")
> [@urban1a](#): > > So, you are the one who sits at a red light which then turns green and you realize you need to go when the light turns yellow again? > > Thanks. > > Bob Read the OP. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/6 "2016-11-12T03:36:36Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Bidding on eBay while driving is _really_ dangerous … especially the last few seconds of an auction … What if you really need a new car because your current one is totaled or about to be? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/7 "2016-11-12T04:06:05Z")
That’s not why heads are bobbing up and down, **Hoo**. Just saying’… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/8 "2016-11-12T17:11:44Z")
And if you are texting and run a green light and hit a pedestrian in the crosswalk, it’s her fault for “not watching where she was going.” (This actually happened to a friend of mine, and that was the texter’s excuse). ---
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/9 "2016-11-12T17:15:44Z")
What is this addiction to texting? I saw 2 teens, standing next to each other, texting each other. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/10 "2016-11-12T17:21:40Z")
It is an addiction used to block out the world. I ring up customers who cannot stop texting for the five minutes it takes. And I have to ask them two or three times for payment. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/11 "2016-11-12T17:42:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > It is an addiction used to block out the world. I ring up customers who cannot stop texting for the five minutes it takes. And I have to ask them two or three times for payment. This is so fucking rude. It makes me crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/12 "2016-11-13T09:53:58Z")
I was slammed into by a texting Buddhist monk the other day, we were both pedestrians so it is just a funny story to tell over dinner and on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/13 "2016-11-13T14:06:04Z")
Too bad cell phone blockers are illegal. Places of business, like movies, should be allowed to do so if they properly post that phones won’t work. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/14 "2016-11-13T14:42:07Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > Too bad cell phone blockers are illegal. Places of business, like movies, should be allowed to do so if they properly post that phones won’t work. Photographer friend gave me a fun anecdote. Shooting weddings in Mexico City is difficult because there’s no phone or Wifi signal in the cathedrals. According to a friend of a friend of this friend, a priest confided that they’d bought “jamming units” (using Israeli army technology) and secreted them behind statues of saints. I like that the saints are finally earning their keep… ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/15 "2016-11-13T16:59:10Z")
A car rolled into the back of my car at a red light. Apparently the guy was texting and didn’t notice that his foot pressure had relaxed on the brake pedal. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/16 "2016-11-13T17:56:14Z")
I had a car stop at a threeway at the corner of my street, the streets are never, ever busy and you can be assured you’re never having to wait a few seconds for any straggling traffic to clear. He clearly wasn’t stopping for any reason other than to molest his phone. I honk and he pulls up a few feet and stops again. A few seconds more, it’s abundantly clear he’s the type who expects the world to bend to his whims. I pull up in the opposite lane, and he rolls down his window to mouth some smug “something wrong, brah” comment with the most punchable faux concerned face. Sure enough the intersecting street is clear as a baby’s conscience. I pass by him and a few miles down the road, he’s riding my ass, going several miles over the speed limit to overtake me. I know he lives nearby and I’ve been hoping to catch him in person to see if he feels like a hot shit big man out of his shiny little sports car. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/17 "2016-11-13T18:17:38Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > I had a car stop at a threeway at the corner of my street, I’d probably stop if there was a menage a trois at the corner of my street, too. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/18 "2016-11-14T00:00:47Z")
People who do anything other than just DRIVE while behind the wheel are beneath contempt. One shouldn’t text, use the cell phone, or do anything with other in-vehicle devices. People can get killed when someone isn’t paying attention. As I’ve mentioned before, a guy changing a CD killed my father, who was on his motorcycle. Sandwiched him between his own vehicle and the truck in front of my dad. Maybe his insurance got dinged, he had very little. No jail time, no citation, nothing. Maybe if there were legal consequences people would pay attention to the road. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/19 "2016-11-14T05:42:16Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And if you are texting and run a green light and hit a pedestrian in the crosswalk, it’s her fault for “not watching where she was going.” (This actually happened to a friend of mine, and that was the texter’s excuse). Got yelled at in a parking lot by a guy who was driving his truck with his phone in his hand yesterday. Apparently the person who was walking across the parking lot and almost got run over by a driver who wasn’t paying attention is the one that is at fault. :rolleyes: (I think the driver was yelling the same thing at me, to watch where I was going, but I was too busy yelling at him to put his phone away and drive!) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570/20 "2016-11-14T05:45:11Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > \ > Maybe his insurance got dinged, he had very little. No jail time, no citation, nothing. Maybe if there were legal consequences people would pay attention to the road. I’ve been saying for years now, if you want to kill someone virtually consequence-free, have a few drinks and kill them with your car. You’ll only get a fine if it’s your first offense, probably. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-i-text-at-red-lights-you-if-you-dont-like-it/771570.md?page=2)