| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/10/2008 10:08:39 AM | I cant believe how lightly you are all taking this subject. Cars kill people, lots of people, people like you and your kids. They do it all the time - 40,000 people per year.
I agree using a mobile is only one case where people's concentration is off the road. The make-up is about the worst one I've seen. And it would be difficult to catch people at it though it will be enforced if they do catch them.
So whats the message here? They can't catch us and other people will do it anyway, so lets carry on doing exactly what suits us. Never mind the dead bodies. | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/10/2008 11:17:06 AM | | Do you know who I see driving with a cellphone stuck to their ear most often? The police. Seems like every time I see a cop they are talking on the phone. How does he drive his car, deal with his computer, radio, radar, AND watch for crime on the street while chatting away on a phone? | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/11/2008 6:48:56 AM | I've done a lot of research on this and done expert consultation.
I do think that such a law could reduce the rate of accidents. So could lots of laws. That doesn't mean I approve of them as laws.
I really despise these laws because they are a knee jerk technophobic reaction.
First, the law itself doesn't really address the problem. The critical differences between the unallowed hand held phones and the allowed hands free phones are physical mobility in the car (head position, hands on wheel), and dialing. All the research shows that people almost always dial while stopped. So that's a non-issue. The law doesn't directly address keeping both hands on the steering wheel or being able to turn your head quickly. People often put themselves in positions of leaning against he B-pillar with one hand on the wheel anyway. And, the reaction time issue is pretty much the same whether hands free or hand held. They don't know why this is for sure but the research seems to show people have similar difficulties regardless of whether the phone is hands free or hand held.
Second, we already have laws that address the problem. You're supposed to signal turns and lane changes. You're supposed to stop correctly at a light or sign, not just roll through. You're supposed to stay in your lane while driving. You're supposed to drive in a way that doesn't impede traffic. You're supposed to do a lot of things that are practically never enforced. You see minor traffic infractions constantly. And, the story is, "so and so cut me off, or did X because they were on a cell phone, those things should be banned." Well, there is already a law banning the behaviour they did on the road. If that were enforced it would solve the problem in a direct and general way that is about driving.
Also, I do think there should be a general law where the police can list a number of minor infractions or observe your behaviour in the car and cite you for inattention while driving. It would be similar to the current reckless driving law where you pass certain thresholds of behaviour.
These would be much better than a cell phone law. Imagine how silly this law is when the cop stops someone who's playing with their iPod Touch on their steering wheel and they get pulled over and they can say, "oh but it's not a cell phone!" and the police can't do anything. The law has no foresight or generality and doesn't directly address the problem. | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/11/2008 8:07:01 PM | I have a similar position on the cell phone banning. The taxpayers would have been much better served in having the government make the police department enforce the laws we already have, instead of spending a ton of money creating a new law that will most likely not be enforced either. If we don't have a large enough police force to enforce our current laws (which would also affect the current lack of attention while driving) how are we going to have officers to enforce a new one??
Governments are very fond of band-aids on jugular vein gashes. Knee-jerk reactions that won't end up solving anything. | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/12/2008 5:52:03 AM | I'm hesitating to decide what's good or bad for us. It would be interesting to live in the world as created by any one of us.
What I wonder is....... what is so important that we need to talk on the phone while driving?
Are we making personal calls to pass the time getting from point A to point B?
Are we calling the boss 'cause we're late?
What about an emergency call from one of the kids? What's an emergency and do you want to hear bad news while competing with traffic on the highway at 120 km and you're in the passing lane and your ramp is approaching?
I know we are all capable of having a conversation on a handheld phone while driving. Can't many of us handle a phone call, a coffee, standard transmission (even a smoke) while driving.
Capable, yes, but I'm personally not the best driver while trying to concentrate on numerous things at a time. Driving is said to require all of our attention. How many times have we made some errors while driving. It didn't cause an accident that time.
OK, here's what I think.
They must have information to prove that driving while talking on a handheld phones may cause accidents.
Of course, we all don't agree that seat belts safe lifes or that drinking and driving causes unnecessary deaths/injuries.
Therefore, I am in favour of the law. More and more drivers on the roads - the law isn't made just for you - it's for new, experienced drivers also. It's for those who can't do both. It's a law for stressed, over worked, hungry, tired, cranky, young, old and other people. We can't all life by different laws because some are more capable than others.
Do our driving records speak for themselves? Do good drivers have clean abstracts? Do bad drivers have clean abstracts? | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/13/2008 7:03:23 PM | I tend to agree with earlier posts that we would be better served by citing people for existing traffic violations which many times seem to be associated with people on cell phones versus creating yet another law, specifically aimed at hand held cell phones.
My observations of driver inattention have been not only of those on a hand held cells but also those using bluetooth or handsfree. They are not singing with a tune on the radio...but rather swivel their head towards that unseen handsfree unit and still speak directly at it or are so engrossed with that special voice whispering/yakking/hollering in their ear.
I asked myself why is this conversation any different from speaking with a passenger in your car? My theory is a passenger is often attuned to the conditions around you, traffic, poor road conditions, activities at the side of the road and as an observer...will halt, quiet their tone or scream at you about the conditions. The person on the end of a phone has no insight to your environment and continues to deliver a message regardless of your ebb and flow in traffic. It really seems like the act of multi-tasking has dulled our senses to the point, we cannot discerne what task deserves our attention most.
Somehow I think thousands of pounds of speeding metal, traffic lights, road conditions, pedestrians and poor driving habits of others deserve a little more of our attention. I don't think the new legislation will be overly effective. | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/17/2008 12:29:45 PM | I kind of liked what "don'tmakecookies" had to say.
I think an inforced law that incompasses inattention rather that any single piece of technology would be of far more use than a law to ban cel-phones. Bluetooths still need your attention to use them and as the poster above stated, the speaker on the other end of the line has no idea what traffic hazards you are facing when they are listing off facts, accounts , problems or reaming you a new one for something that you didn't get done and couldn't wait for you to get back to the office/store/home to do.
As a rule people are honest (well in my little world... I'd like to think so) and would probably follow the law to not use phones in the car. I don't like to use mine when I'm driving and will let it go to voice mail and address issues when I'm stopped. I however do not work out of my car like so many people do. (That need to co-ordinate meetings and information while driving between one appointment and the next.)
If you choose to use your phone while driving.....you MUST accept the consequences of your actions if you are caught.
Perhaps it's just a $150+ fine that you end up paying for....
But a moment's inattention could well cost you a lot more than you think.
Your life? Your kids life? A passing pedestrians life? Your livelyhood? Your cost of insurance?
And CEL PHONES are not the ONLY CULPRETS for inattention when you're behind the wheel.
Just my two cents worth.
Kikit | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/17/2008 1:11:49 PM | I see people driving and talking on their cell phones all the time. They speed by me and have cut in front of me and other drivers to get where they are going,. Thereby almost causing car accidents..When will there be a law, legislation passed to prohibit drivers from using cell phones while driving vehicles? | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/17/2008 9:17:09 PM |
I see people driving and talking on their cell phones all the time. They speed by me and have cut in front of me and other drivers to get where they are going,. Thereby almost causing car accidents..When will there be a law, legislation passed to prohibit drivers from using cell phones while driving vehicles?
You cite a violation of current laws and you want another law to prevent it? That's like saying that I saw a gang of teenagers beat someone up in the park who all had cell phones, when are they going to ban cell phones for under 19? Or, I saw someone breaking into a house while on a cell phone, when are they going to ban cell phones while walking? In the description of behaviour your gave they should have been stopped and ticketed whether there was a cell phone ban or not. It's the kind of logic above that causes increases in the numbers of laws and amount of bureaucracy for no good reason. | |
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MST3K
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Joined: 9/24/2007
Msg: 36 | |
| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/18/2008 5:12:26 AM |
Governments are very fond of band-aids on jugular vein gashes. Knee-jerk reactions that won't end up solving anything.
LOL I love the wording of that, and it is true. My question is what about those who CAN drive when using a cell-phone, or those who only use them while there is no medium to major traffic around, or on a highway alone. Persoanally I've had more trouble with those people who drive 20 to 30km below the posted speedlimit, and who speed up dramatically when there is a passing lane than ever with people on cellphones.
It all comes down to attention, with out with out a cellphone one can be inattentive behind the wheel, one could nb lost in a day dream and not even be on a cellphone.
I also totally agree with Dontmakecookies las post.
Tim
=)x | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 2/19/2008 6:11:09 AM | The new legislation will be effective simply because most people are law abiding citizens... especially if they can be seen. Lol! The number of drivers using cell phones will drop dramatically once the law goes into effect. Someone mentioned the helmit laws. Just look at the number of bike riders that wear them now compared to before the law went into effect.
Also it probably will be enforced, unlike the bicycle helmit laws, because it will save so many lives. It will also save plus earn the government a ton of money. | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 4/7/2008 10:34:50 PM | | Because there are lots of people who are driving for a living who need to stay in touch. The same exact people who are driving like maniacs with cell phones are still going to drive like maniacs. We should be made to have drivers tests every few years, because I'm frankly amazed that most of these idiots ever got their license to begin with. Cell phones are not the cause of most of the accidents that happen. Bad drivers are. Whether its from inattention, alcohol, agressiveness or even slowness. Cell phones are just getting blamed for bad driving that would have been done whether that moron had the phone in their ear or not. If it wasn't that, they'd be picking their nose, playing with the radio or turning around to yell at the kids. Bad drivers are still going to be bad drivers. | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 4/8/2008 4:03:35 PM | This is the new era of "people control" laws that are designed to influence and change peoples behaviors through annoyance and fear instead of through traditional punishment and public shaming. It won't work in the long run because the worse offenders are the type that are not influenced by annoyance (will pay the fine cause they probably have money) or fear (because they will not do jail time).
Until they take the step of seizing cars, seizing phones, or taking driving license away on the spot for 2, 4, or 15 days - then the dangerous reoffenders will just keep on dodging in and out of traffic like the idiots that they are -- until eventually they kill someone and the screams of the public will be raised to a new volume level.
Everyone knows that driving with a cell phone, smoke, sandwich, map, etc in hand is dangerous. Yet sometimes there is justification for it. There actualy are more times where the need outweighs the risks, but who decides that? A judge? Not likely because most folks will not fight it in court. That is the whole point of summary traffic violations and fines. It is easier to make it pay and go away then to stand up to it. They count on that and just play the numbers. The new law will not fix the problem, because at the root it is not designed to do so.-- not really.
These kind of laws are fodder for the masses, and government know it. The politicians are going after an easy vote buyer by acting like they are doing some small thing to deal with a serious problem, so they can garner political credit for it come the next set of elections. Until the laws start to have real teeth then all they are is an annoyance. Expect them to milk it and the tragedies associated with it for a few years yet.
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 4/8/2008 4:52:27 PM | Also I heard on the news a few weeks ago that last year the gave out 38+ thousand tickets and they said they are aiming for 50k+ this year. Which is why they said they don't have quotas when they give out 38k+ tickets in HRm last year. So to me it's a money grab.
Tim
=(x | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 4/8/2008 8:50:50 PM | LOL..... things you find online.
Excuse of the year?
A German lorry driver escaped a rap for driving while using a mobile phone - after claiming he was using it as an ear warmer.
A court in Hamm accepted Walter Klein's claims that he had been using the phone which was warm after being recharged to warm his ears.
It means he had not broken the law which says drivers can only make phone calls with a hands free set.
Klein, 43, told the court: "I had an earache and it was being made worse because the cab had not heated up yet - it takes a while on a big rig.
"So I grabbed the phone that had been on charge and put it to my ear, and that was when I was stopped by police."
The court accepted his claim after he produced an itemised telephone bill proving he had not been using the phone at the time he was stopped.
Tim
=)x | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 4/12/2008 6:28:56 AM | I witnessed a young guy driving a garbage truck taking a sharp turn very fast with one hand on the wheel, while his other hand held a cell phone to his ear.
If someone had of been in that crosswalk there is no way he would have been able to react in time and control that huge rig.
So I think this new legislation is in place for the people who don't have a lick of common sense. | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 4/12/2008 12:45:18 PM | Whether he had a cell in use or not, those rigs are not agile and the mere fact of the speed alone is the cause of the problem. "IF" someone was in the cross walk they would have been hit, not because of the cell being used but the manner inwhich the truck was being driven. You can't honestly say "if" someone was in the cross walk that guy in the truck wouldn't have seen him, it's a hypothetical scenario. Blaming the cellphone is like blaming the car. Neither are responsible, the drivers inattention is only to blame, and that can be caused by many things.
Hell the other week I seen a Charger R/T trying to get into Tim Hortons I glanced at it and nearly got in an accident myself..do I blame the driver and his Dodge Charger R/T for that or myself?, The answer myself. Thank God though I stopped inches from the persons bumber ahead of me. Whats to be banned while driving next, music, passengers, Billboards, signs, other cars that could that could potentially distract a driver for a second or two? But I doubt any of those will be banned while driving.
Tim
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 4/12/2008 12:59:09 PM | | All this is is a money maker for the government and the cell phone companies. I friend of mine working for one of those companies is making money hand over fist on commissions. If a person can't talk and drive while using a handhelld then they certainly can't with hands free. Are they taking out the radios used by emergeny services, taxis buses or truckers? It's the same thing. Now a law against people driving with their cats and dogs on their laps. | |
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| Talking on cell phones while driving .... New Legislation
Posted: 4/12/2008 1:43:08 PM |
Because there are lots of people who are driving for a living who need to stay in touch.
I think tallgirl is onto something here but I don't agree with the above statement. Nevertheless, it reflects somethings that I think is really the only good I can see come of this legislation. There is an expectation now of employers, customers, clients, etc. that one be in contact at all times. The law allows them to say why they were not. It's pathetic people would need an excuse like that. But I think it may help change a prevailing attitude. | |
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