About Time! Government Interference I CAN agree with!

[Big Fitz]

How researchers can shut down your mobile phone while you're driving | Mail Online

Most people here know my hate for gubmint interfering with freedom, but this is actually a very good thing.

As a professional driver I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE cellphone using idiots behind the wheel of their car traveling down the road. This system is a Godsend if it works as planned and is on use of technology aided government interference I do agree with.

When you even SPEAK with a cell, your driving capability is equal to that as being legally drunk. Texting, even worse. I have witnessed two accidents in the space of weeks both easily related to cellphone use over driving.

Since people cannot control themselves and safely operate vehicles by giving them pretty much their entire attention, I'd see this as a good and reasonable use of the technology.

 

[Mad Scientist]

I hate it too Fitz. Nothing worse than an idiot tailgater yapping on her cell phone.

But it's really overstepping the gov'ts authority to shut down your cell phone when they deem it unsafe. In this case the gov't should fuck off.

Ticket for "Cell or Text while Driving"? Sure.
Cops shut down your phone? No.

 

[Big Fitz]

well its become a quality of life issue for me who experiences about 1 close call a week due to work.

 

[Photonic]

How about the many new cars with bluetooth? Or even the old cars with the upgrade?

We should push for better and cheaper access to such things, instead of government regulation.

 

[Big Fitz]

How about the many new cars with bluetooth? Or even the old cars with the upgrade?

We should push for better and cheaper access to such things, instead of government regulation.

all i care about is stopping idiot amateur drivers who think they can text/chat/talk/browse and drive at the same time. Tests show it's the same as driving drunk or worse. You want to do that, pull over.

They've proven to be unable to do it on their own. What sucks is that I was really hoping that the populace WOULD catch on that it is more dangerous than they idly think it isn't so we wouldn't have to consider such things. But if this is the only way possible to stop people from nearly killing me once a week while I work, I'm kinda for it.

 

[California Girl]

Using a mobile phone while driving is illegal in the UK. 3 points on your license. And still, morons use them. These people are idiots.

 

[Big Fitz]

Using a mobile phone while driving is illegal in the UK. 3 points on your license. And still, morons use them. These people are idiots.

yeah like dui drivers. hence, this tech ends the need for enforcement of those laws because it wont work

 

[FA_Q2]

I hate it too Fitz. Nothing worse than an idiot tailgater yapping on her cell phone.

But it's really overstepping the gov'ts authority to shut down your cell phone when they deem it unsafe. In this case the gov't should fuck off.

Ticket for "Cell or Text while Driving"? Sure.
Cops shut down your phone? No.

Ditto, too far. As already mentioned, bluetooth and other such devices are safe. It is as distracting as having a passenger in the car. All people should not be subjected to having their phones shut off because there are idiots who won't buy the 10 dollar bluetooth device.


That is not to mention how easy a system like this would be to bypass...

 

[FA_Q2]

Using a mobile phone while driving is illegal in the UK. 3 points on your license. And still, morons use them. These people are idiots.

yeah like dui drivers. hence, this tech ends the need for enforcement of those laws because it wont work

Should vehicle manufacturers be required to install breathalyzers in all vehicles?

 

[Big Fitz]

Using a mobile phone while driving is illegal in the UK. 3 points on your license. And still, morons use them. These people are idiots.

yeah like dui drivers. hence, this tech ends the need for enforcement of those laws because it wont work

Should vehicle manufacturers be required to install breathalyzers in all vehicles?

You've a point there, but since cell phone usage is so much more common while driving, maybe it should be treated like a car breathalyzer. You get one installed after you get dinged for a ticket. Needless to say, I have run into so many drivers weaving on the road, inattentive, going slow, going too fast, near misses, blah blah blah yacketty schmacketty because I saw them talking or texting behind the wheel, I'm disgusted with the inability of society to hang up and realize that 95% of the calls you receive while driving can wait till you're in Park.

 

[FA_Q2]

yeah like dui drivers. hence, this tech ends the need for enforcement of those laws because it wont work

Should vehicle manufacturers be required to install breathalyzers in all vehicles?

You've a point there, but since cell phone usage is so much more common while driving, maybe it should be treated like a car breathalyzer. You get one installed after you get dinged for a ticket. Needless to say, I have run into so many drivers weaving on the road, inattentive, going slow, going too fast, near misses, blah blah blah yacketty schmacketty because I saw them talking or texting behind the wheel, I'm disgusted with the inability of society to hang up and realize that 95% of the calls you receive while driving can wait till you're in Park.

Now THAT is something that I can agree with. If you get the ticket, having one in a car can defiantly be a punishment/repercussion to breaking the law. Treating me like a criminal is unacceptable. Treating me like a criminal after I have broken the law is a given.

By the way - where is this research that TALKING in the phone is like drunk driving. I find that suspect. Texting and surfing I can agree with but talking, as far as I know, is no more distracting than having a passenger in the vehicle.

 

[JDzBrain]

There was recently a truck driver that dropped a cup of coffee, bent down, picked it up and when he raised back up he was running over a buggy load of Amish at 60 mph. Killed a 4 year old and messed a couple more up.

Do you want your coffee taken away...cause THAT may be the next ox to get gored. Distracted driving can cover a hell of a lot of ground for a government that is so accustom to abusing regulatory authority.

I just posted this on another thread, but it fits here too. "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it." ---Thomas Jefferson

 

[Big Fitz]

Should vehicle manufacturers be required to install breathalyzers in all vehicles?

You've a point there, but since cell phone usage is so much more common while driving, maybe it should be treated like a car breathalyzer. You get one installed after you get dinged for a ticket. Needless to say, I have run into so many drivers weaving on the road, inattentive, going slow, going too fast, near misses, blah blah blah yacketty schmacketty because I saw them talking or texting behind the wheel, I'm disgusted with the inability of society to hang up and realize that 95% of the calls you receive while driving can wait till you're in Park.

Now THAT is something that I can agree with. If you get the ticket, having one in a car can defiantly be a punishment/repercussion to breaking the law. Treating me like a criminal is unacceptable. Treating me like a criminal after I have broken the law is a given.

By the way - where is this research that TALKING in the phone is like drunk driving. I find that suspect. Texting and surfing I can agree with but talking, as far as I know, is no more distracting than having a passenger in the vehicle.

I got it from my former company's training videos they did where they talked about studies that relate to chatting on cell phones being equal to driving drunk. I also recall a piece done on some news magazine show where they showed drivers in a simulator doing not hard stuff and found TERRIBLE decision making and reaction times. Most missed their planned turns, and too many hit something. This is just one link I found showing the comparison.

Drivers on Cell Phones Are as Bad as Drunks - University of Utah News Release: June 29th, 2006

and a cnet news story.

Cell Phones Make Drivers as Bad as Drunks | LiveScience

Just do a search for "cell phone drunk driving study" and you should find plenty of information. My former companies stated flatly that if you were caught talking on a cell phone while your bus was in operation, that was an immediate terminatable offense, and if the cops caught you in my former state of minnesota, it was supposedly the loss of your CDL like you were drunk AND a $2000 fine. So they were in deadly earnest. One company went so far as to say that you could not have a cell phone on your person OR turned on while working. Failure to do so resulted in a 20 day unpaid suspension, and that's for just having it on your person and on. Not even talking. Stored off and off body was the rule and they were SERIOUS.

Then again, when you're operating a 60 foot long 33 ton articulated bus through densely packed city streets going 30 miles an hour.... you want anything less than their full attention on their job?

 

[Article 15]

Sounds great.

Until you are in an emergency situation and can't use your phone....

No thanks.

I'm sure this program will be a big hit in Cuba.

 

[FA_Q2]

Sounds great.

Until you are in an emergency situation and can't use your phone....

No thanks.

I'm sure this program will be a big hit in Cuba.

The whole point is that you could use it in an emergency situation. If the car was off, parked or the phone was anywhere but the driver's seat. As a matter of fact, you *could* put it in the passenger seat on speakerphone and that would work as well....

 

[Article 15]

Sounds great.

Until you are in an emergency situation and can't use your phone....

No thanks.

I'm sure this program will be a big hit in Cuba.

The whole point is that you could use it in an emergency situation. If the car was off, parked or the phone was anywhere but the driver's seat. As a matter of fact, you *could* put it in the passenger seat on speakerphone and that would work as well....

Your speakerphone *could* not work or the phone *could* fall off the seat while you aren't holding it.

You *could* be in a situation where you can't stop the car.

Again. No thanks, Comrade.

 

[Big Fitz]

Driver was texting in Missouri traffic pileup - Yahoo! News

Just food for thought. The bus drivers could not do their job properly and do it, but this idiot was, and still hurt many school kids.

See why this tech may be needed?

 

[FA_Q2]

Driver was texting in Missouri traffic pileup - Yahoo! News

Just food for thought. The bus drivers could not do their job properly and do it, but this idiot was, and still hurt many school kids.

See why this tech may be needed?

But the argument that the tech was not needed has not been put forth. It was that it should not be mandated. As a side note, this is not a bad idea for commercial companies, buses and the like to have installed. I would put it in one of my vehicles if I ran a company with drivers. Still not needed as a mandate though....

 

[Big Fitz]

Driver was texting in Missouri traffic pileup - Yahoo! News

Just food for thought. The bus drivers could not do their job properly and do it, but this idiot was, and still hurt many school kids.

See why this tech may be needed?

But the argument that the tech was not needed has not been put forth. It was that it should not be mandated. As a side note, this is not a bad idea for commercial companies, buses and the like to have installed. I would put it in one of my vehicles if I ran a company with drivers. Still not needed as a mandate though....

it was the teen driver in the pickup, not the 3 commercial drivers who failed in this. I'm all for commercial drivers getting nailed for this too. It's their job to drive. The problem is not them as much as it is the Amateur Drivers out there like this kid, the 40 year old cock sure yuppie, the 25 year old holier than thou community organizer or the 50 year old grandmother carpooling her grandkids and talking to their daughter.

They're all dead certain that nothing will go wrong, ignore what's going on around them and then, like I've seen twice in recent months, go skidding sideways across the freeway because they were not alert to conditions, got surprised and over corrected nearly killing themselves and others.

My personal favorite was the asshole ghetto hooptie that cut off my 33 ton bus by mere inches (no exaggeration) and when I blared the horn at him had the nerve to look back IN surprise, put DOWN his phone just to give me the finger while never watching the rather congested highway in front of him where in he almost clipped 2 other cars.

His bad driving habits probably won't change without a cell, but at least they won't complicate them as much and risk my 'standing load' of 80 passengers as much.