PFB Forum Topic--The Use Of Cell Phones By Drivers

I haven't read all of the replies but I have a quickie...

I used a Bluetooth headset while driving and am more distracted when
it comes to the conversation than the driving. I just activated XM
Satellite Radio this morning and I must confess to being a dummy
driver today...playing around with that thing, changing channels and
such, distracted me WAAAAAAY more than any cell phone conversation
ever has. I do think that more people should wear headsets though; one
of my pet peeves is when I'm driving home during rush hour and some
idiot cuts me or someone else off because of the jerky movement of
trying to merge over with just one hand on the wheel, the other
holding a cell phone.

Hey Kevin,

Just FYI, NYC did not start the fine for hands free use with cell
phones, it was started in Brooklyn, Ohio, which is right next to where
I live. It's been in effect for at least 6-7 years.

But I agree with you 100% that more should be done to crack down.
While hands free units help considerably, in that the driver is no
longer fumbling with a cell phone in their hand, the truth of the
matter is that talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous
PERIOD!!! There is no way you can properly pay attention to the road
and your car when you are chatting away to someone on the phone. It's
just too much of a distraction.

If the call were a TRUE emergency, that would be one thing, but I see
so many people on their phones laughing and talking away - those can't
POSSIBLY all be important, emergency calls that they HAD to take right
then. Even if its an emergency call, though, you should still pull
off the road.

It is a tough call to make it easy for police forces to ticket drivers
they witness on the cell phone while operating a moving vehicle. Many
good drivers will take care not to drive reclesly in general, whether
using a phone or not. Others can not drive themselves out of a paper
bag on any given day, so put that together with a cell phone and you
get the problems we see. Persons going through intersections,
changing lanes and generally failing to use any good sence whether on
a phone or not.
I say, link any rule with an actual other careless action, like
failing to use a flasher because they do not have a hand free. Or
missing a light, stopsign or other actual infraction caused by general
carelessnes. Otherwise, I find like the insurance companies do, that
having hand-free conversation on a cell phone while driving is ever
bit as distracting as holding one in your hand. Will

I used to live in the Detroit area...one time I was there to visit my
mother and this woman behind me nearly rear-ended me countless times
(rush hour) because she was yapping away on the phone.

I agree--start fining people. I use a an earphone with my cellphone
because I find it extremely hard to hold it to your ear and
concentrate on driving at the same time!

This should be a national law and should be enforced strictly with the
use of red light camera's, at $100 a pop nothing more. We could get
ride of toll boths in 5 years, but don't get me started on toll
booths,lol.
I have two cell phones, on personal and one work. Both ring all the
time, I use speaker phone, head set,or just pull over to avoid turning
myself in yet another crappy driver on a phone. People in my area
(richmond virginia) have a hard enough time driving when it it dry and
sunny out, try adding a cell phone to the mix.
dan

Is right now really the only time you will ever get to talk to that
person!???Because of your cell phone, it was the last time I talked to
my little one year old baby girl

I guess next it will be illegal to drink a cup of coffee while
driving.

Here in NJ it is state law that you can not talk on your phone while
driving unless you are using one of those hand-free devices.... i cant
tell you how many ppl STILL drive around with the phone stuck to their
ear!!... the law is only as good as your local police dept or state
troppers!!.. they are the one;s who should be enforcing the rule!!! ..
unfortunatly i have yet to hear of someone who received a fine due to
talking on their phone while driving!!

Only reason Detroit enacted this law is they have to put some more
lipstick on that pig. It wore off since Super Bowl and they gotta get
that $$$$ some way!

I completely agree with the poster that said its not the cell phones
its the drivers. I find more often then not the really bad drivers
(constantly changing lanes/no signals/blow thru lights) arent even
using cell phones!

Lets face it the only reason you even notice if someone is on thge
phone is because of erratic driving. I would imagine if you really
paid attention there are a lot more people using cell phones that are
driving carefully. Its just another case of the few ruining it for the
many.

At the end of the day I firmly believe the only reason why they are
banning cell phones is because its another way for the government to
make money. Funny thing is if they would just enforce the traffic laws
we already have there would be more then enough money to go around!

Maybe it's just the North Dakotan in me, but I try to be civil about
it. When some yutz cuts me off without signaling because he's too busy
yakking away on his phone, I do the neighborly thing and very calmly
force him to the side of the road with my car, gently remove him from
his car through the driver's side window, and then pleasantly beat him
upside the head with his own cell phone.

If only everyone could be as peaceful as I am.

I don't get the whole banning of the cell phones. I talk and drive all
the time and I've never had any problems. I don't think the cell
phones are the ones to blaim as much as the users.

It's the entire STATE of New York - not just New York City.

There's only one group of people that have any excuse to be on a
cellphone while driving. Doctors who are possibly giving instructions
to personnel at a hospital or the like.

Of course the 2 doctors I know pull off to the side of the road if
possible to make these calls so they can concentrate on what they're
saying.

It can wait until you're off the road.

It's amazing. I think a lot of people under a certain age would have
died 20 years ago. No cellphones or computers.

I have driven while on a cell phone before and I can say that you DO
get distracted. I try to keep it to a minimun or not at all. I was
rear ended twice by a driver a couple of years ago when I was about
6-months pregnant. The driver didn't even have the courtesy to get
off of the phone after it happened, to see if me and my friend was
okay.I have also been run off of the road by another driver who was on
his cell phone and was oblivious to everything around him. I would
like to see a ban nationwide on drivers on cell phones. Also around
here the police cannot stop someone on a cell phone unless that person
has broken a driving law.

Also, I do drive around with my can loose in the car. She learned her
lesson by not getting between the pedals and the floor. She got
squeezed once when I had to brake and she hasn't been there since.
She will sit on my lap or in the back seat. I have been doing this
before I could drive by watching my mother. I do have a pet carrier
and if the need arised, I would use it.

Hee hee hee!

That chick talking on the phone, changing the radio station, adjusting
the fan, yelling at her kids and reaching for the caffeine source in
early morning traffic?? That'd be me. And I like to think I'm rather
clever at it too...course, someday, a bad accident will probably prove
me wrong. But I'm sayin', I haven't had an accident or even a traffic
ticket in years....so I think I'm doing all right.

Besides which, does taking the phone away do so much? Especially if
you can still use it with a speaker or a hands free device. You can
still be fiddling with it to change ringers or answer the other line
or dial a number or whatever. Take away the phone, and you still have
makeup, drinks, seatbelts, radio knobs, dvds, hand signals, road rage,
etc distracting drivers everywhere.

Bottom line is, I don't care if the ban talking on cell phones without
a hands free device. I have speaker phone. I just don't think it's
going to make that big a difference.

Sometimes they're just in *really* bad shape, you know? YOu can't
just stick them in a cage for 8 hours and hope for the best.
Sometimes they need more attention than that. It *sucks*, but it's
gotta be done.

The one rule I will say I NEVER break is having my kids in the back
seat (not the front, thank you airbags!) and buckled in. We don't
even take off until seat belts are fastened. One of my
Kindergarten-age daughter's best friends was just recently
killed...her mom was drinking and driving with Abby in the front seat,
unbuckled, and hit a tree. Abby was thrown through the windshield and
pretty much died on impact. Irealize if Abby's mom hadn't been
drinking it wouldn't have happened at all, but if she'd even have had
a seat belt on it probably would have saved her life.

I've become a bit of an activist about kids being restrained since
then.

If you think you can handle chatting on the cellphone (nevermind
dialing or going through the phone's list of people to call) and
drive, you're wrong. You are the people swerving as if you're drunk,
driving in the right lane of the three-lane freeway oblivious to
merging and exiting traffic, driving in the left lane unaware of the
cars piling up behind you wanting to go faster... and you're the
idiots I see pulling away from your parking spot while on the cell
phone then darting across all the lanes so you can turn at the next
light, causing other cars to stop or slow down to accommodate your
erratic driving.

And how can ANYONE think it's smart to chat on the cell phone while
attempting to make a left turn from a business across four lanes of
traffic???

Just stop it. You're not that important, and neither is whatever
phone call you are on.

You're driving a 2+ ton vehicle and you need to concentrate on other
cars AND PEDESTRIANS.

HANG UP THE PHONE AND DRIVE.

It's not even debatable. Under no circumstances should cell phones be
used while driving. It has caused enough deaths already. Considering
people are selfish enough to eat, drink, primp, and do God knows what
else behind the wheel, why give them the right to add cell phones to
the mix. It takes every bit of a person's concentration to drive
safely. There are enough distractions on the road beyond our control
as it is, does it make sense to add one more? And the worst part is
an innocent person could be the one to perish.

I am a firm believer in adults not being forced to wear seat belts.
If you choose to risk your own life, that's your right. No other life
is involved. Cell phones, on the other hand, put everyone at risk,
and that is precisely why they should be banned while driving.

However, there is another more important part of the issue. I live in
New York, and ever since the law went into effect, I have seen more
people talking on cell phones while driving than I ever did before.
What good is a law that is never enforced? The population of my
village has been growing rapidly, and as a result, we are in need of
several additional police officers. If offenders were fined, the money
would easily pay the salaries of more officers.

So even if you succeed in getting a law passed banning hand-held cell
phones, don't make the mistake of assuming it will be enforced. That's
the bottom line.

By the way, I always choose to wear my seat belt, but I don't think
anyone has the right to force me to do so.