Cell Phones and the Law

barry1960

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Feb 14, 2009
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A 20 year old woman was at a stop sign astride a motorcycle one mile from my house four nights ago. A driver manipulating a cell ran the stop sign with no evidence of slow done and in the process ran over the top of her. The young woman was killed. No arrest was made on the driver of the pick up truck.

Two days ago a friend of ours was ticketed for using a cell phone. She had pulled over to the curb and parked her care. The law allows for ticketing a driver in a car even if the car is parked.

This shows two extremes of the cell phone issue. Pulling your car off the road to use your cell phone seems sensible. However killing someone while operating a cell phone should have serious consequences. Personally I feel that using this device while driving is little better than DUI. Sadly, such behavior is common place in my city.
 
There's no common sense anymore. America is seriously broken and doomed. The only way out of this mess is civil war. Split up the nation and start over. A nation for each whateverism.
 
The addiction runs deep.

Texting Kills!

I read one study that said cell phone use while driving is as dangerous as drunk driving; I DO NOT KNOW if all stats back this up. I KNOW I've narrowly avoided fender benders with cell phone freaks.
 
The addiction runs deep.

Texting Kills!

This is a true story. Five years ago, my wife was a Hospice Nurse. She was enroute to one of her patients house at just before midnight. A young 18 year old boy was driving his car at 74 mph and texting. He crossed the center line and ran into my wife's car head on. The boy was instantly killed. My wife was flown by helo to a nearby trauma center. She was in the hospital for 31 days and had 5 major ortho surgeries. Then in a local nursing home for 2 1/2 months for rehab and to learn to walk again. Today, she walks with a limp, has constant pain, and is nowhere near as active as she once was. It was all because of a kid texting on a cell phone and not watching his driving. Yes, texting does kill. It also ruins other peoples lives.
 
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A 20 year old woman was at a stop sign astride a motorcycle one mile from my house four nights ago. A driver manipulating a cell ran the stop sign with no evidence of slow done and in the process ran over the top of her. The young woman was killed. No arrest was made on the driver of the pick up truck.

Two days ago a friend of ours was ticketed for using a cell phone. She had pulled over to the curb and parked her care. The law allows for ticketing a driver in a car even if the car is parked.

This shows two extremes of the cell phone issue. Pulling your car off the road to use your cell phone seems sensible. However killing someone while operating a cell phone should have serious consequences. Personally I feel that using this device while driving is little better than DUI. Sadly, such behavior is common place in my city.

No offense Barry but I think your story is B.S. Whether or not the guy in the pickup was talking on the cell phone or not he is guilty of vehicular homicide if he ran a stop sign and killed somebody and you say they didn't arrest him?
 
The addiction runs deep.

Texting Kills!

This is a true story. Five years ago, my wife was a Hospice Nurse. She was enroute to one of her patients house at just before midnight. A young 18 year old boy was driving his car at 74 mph and texting. He crossed the center line and ran into my wife's car head on. The boy was instantly killed. My wife was flown by helo to a nearby trauma center. She was in the hospital for 31 days and had 5 major ortho surgeries. Then in a local nursing home for 2 1/2 months for rehab and to learn to walk again. Today, she walks with a limp, has constant pain, and is nowhere near as active as she once was. It was all because of a kid texting on a cell phone and not watching his driving. Yes, texting does kill. It also ruins other peoples lives.

Sad, this is tragic. I'm in favor of a law banning them while driving in Florida. I've seen too many close calls, one death in my community wherein the cell using driver didn't see a vehicle on an entrance ramp to the interstate.
 
A 20 year old woman was at a stop sign astride a motorcycle one mile from my house four nights ago. A driver manipulating a cell ran the stop sign with no evidence of slow done and in the process ran over the top of her. The young woman was killed. No arrest was made on the driver of the pick up truck.

Two days ago a friend of ours was ticketed for using a cell phone. She had pulled over to the curb and parked her care. The law allows for ticketing a driver in a car even if the car is parked.

This shows two extremes of the cell phone issue. Pulling your car off the road to use your cell phone seems sensible. However killing someone while operating a cell phone should have serious consequences. Personally I feel that using this device while driving is little better than DUI. Sadly, such behavior is common place in my city.

No offense Barry but I think your story is B.S. Whether or not the guy in the pickup was talking on the cell phone or not he is guilty of vehicular homicide if he ran a stop sign and killed somebody and you say they didn't arrest him?

The story is true. The driver had alcohol, but testing was apparently under the legal limit so no arrest has been made. Their still is an investigation, but it seems to be centered over alcohol rather than running the stop sign or cell phone use. I sure the driver was cited, but i did not read such.

The accident is reported in the Bakersfield Californian and there is an article in today's paper. Bakersfield is a conservative community noted for its high conviction rate.
 
A 20 year old woman was at a stop sign astride a motorcycle one mile from my house four nights ago. A driver manipulating a cell ran the stop sign with no evidence of slow done and in the process ran over the top of her. The young woman was killed. No arrest was made on the driver of the pick up truck.

Two days ago a friend of ours was ticketed for using a cell phone. She had pulled over to the curb and parked her care. The law allows for ticketing a driver in a car even if the car is parked.

This shows two extremes of the cell phone issue. Pulling your car off the road to use your cell phone seems sensible. However killing someone while operating a cell phone should have serious consequences. Personally I feel that using this device while driving is little better than DUI. Sadly, such behavior is common place in my city.

No offense Barry but I think your story is B.S. Whether or not the guy in the pickup was talking on the cell phone or not he is guilty of vehicular homicide if he ran a stop sign and killed somebody and you say they didn't arrest him?

The story is true. The driver had alcohol, but testing was apparently under the legal limit so no arrest has been made. Their still is an investigation, but it seems to be centered over alcohol rather than running the stop sign or cell phone use. I sure the driver was cited, but i did not read such.

The accident is reported in the Bakersfield Californian and there is an article in today's paper. Bakersfield is a conservative community noted for its high conviction rate.

You say he was under the influence and ran a stop sign and killed somebody and you are trying to make a case about cell phone use?
 
No offense Barry but I think your story is B.S. Whether or not the guy in the pickup was talking on the cell phone or not he is guilty of vehicular homicide if he ran a stop sign and killed somebody and you say they didn't arrest him?

The story is true. The driver had alcohol, but testing was apparently under the legal limit so no arrest has been made. Their still is an investigation, but it seems to be centered over alcohol rather than running the stop sign or cell phone use. I sure the driver was cited, but i did not read such.

The accident is reported in the Bakersfield Californian and there is an article in today's paper. Bakersfield is a conservative community noted for its high conviction rate.

You say he was under the influence and ran a stop sign and killed somebody and you are trying to make a case about cell phone use?

No, the driver was under the legal limit and therefore not under the influence of alcohol. The legal limit is California is .08 which is low (I am no expert since I am a non-drinker). The driver was manipulating the cell phone when she ran the stop sign and barreled over the victim (the intersection is a four way stop).
 
Texting is far more dangerous than talking. And with cell phone bans in 38 states, more people are texting because it's easier to hide from the cops.

But how do you guys feel about a federal ban? I am very uncomfortable with this. Since when do the feds have jurisdiction over driving laws? Every state issues its own licenses and the police have power to enforce the particular laws of that state.

"Tough federal legislation". Is this just the beginning?

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called on Thursday for a federal law to ban talking on a cell phone or texting while driving any type of vehicle on any road in the country.

Tough federal legislation is the only way to deal with what he called a "national epidemic," he said at a distracted-driving summit in San Antonio, Texas, that drew doctors, advocates and government officials.

LaHood said it is important for the police to have "the opportunity to write tickets when people are foolishly thinking they can drive safely or use a cell phone and text and drive."

U.S. ban sought on cell phone use while driving | Reuters
 
Texting is far more dangerous than talking. And with cell phone bans in 38 states, more people are texting because it's easier to hide from the cops.

But how do you guys feel about a federal ban? I am very uncomfortable with this. Since when do the feds have jurisdiction over driving laws? Every state issues its own licenses and the police have power to enforce the particular laws of that state.

"Tough federal legislation". Is this just the beginning?

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called on Thursday for a federal law to ban talking on a cell phone or texting while driving any type of vehicle on any road in the country.

Tough federal legislation is the only way to deal with what he called a "national epidemic," he said at a distracted-driving summit in San Antonio, Texas, that drew doctors, advocates and government officials.

LaHood said it is important for the police to have "the opportunity to write tickets when people are foolishly thinking they can drive safely or use a cell phone and text and drive."

U.S. ban sought on cell phone use while driving | Reuters

I fully agree. However this would create a negative economic impact on our economy which is why ti will not happen for some time.
 

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