LaHood: We’re looking into technology to disable cell phones in vehicles

[Quantum Windbag]

set it to disable with the deployment of airbags or whenever sensors detect an impact. Or, have it disable only when the car is in "Park". that'd be better.

Because we all know that electronics always work in a crash.

You're right. It's not a perfect world. And people follow kidnappers so often we should make sure the law takes that into account. Come on... if we cater to the extreme minority, the problem continues or gets worse.

The kidnapping thing is stretching it, but it has happened, and is an example of wanting a phone while the engine is running. I just oppose this because it is the government trying to solve a problem that is not its business.

 

[Big Fitz]

Because we all know that electronics always work in a crash.

You're right. It's not a perfect world. And people follow kidnappers so often we should make sure the law takes that into account. Come on... if we cater to the extreme minority, the problem continues or gets worse.

The kidnapping thing is stretching it, but it has happened, and is an example of wanting a phone while the engine is running. I just oppose this because it is the government trying to solve a problem that is not its business.

I'm against it on a federal level, as it is unconstitutional for them to do so as it's not an enumerated powers.

That said, it IS a danger. I see it every day. Not everyone, not all the time, but you see it.

The business guy pissed off in some sort of deal on his phone. The harried housewife trying to juggle all the errands and the kids.

The lost couple talking to their grandkids trying to find the right exit or turn.

The ghetto-faboolous hooptie driver 'profilin' for who knows who.

The young boy/girl with mental/verbal diarrhea who can't bear the thought of NOT talking to her OMGBFFSTFUIMHOYMMV till the battery runs dry.

These people occupy the road too. They're the ones I see driving people into ditches, cutting off semis, making radical lane changes, rear ending people...

In MN and WI, did you know that if you're in an accident, the officer has the right to 'interrogate' your phone, and if it shows you were in a call at the time of the accident, the whole thing is your fault automatically? Yeppers. And well deservedly too, because you were a 'distracted driver' which is a traffic violation.

So it's a state issue, and a real problem. Overall things may be getting better, but in this area, it's getting worse and picking up the slack.

 

[Missourian]

Hands free, no problem. Phone to ear, illegal.

Hands free is no different than talking to a passenger in the car. Is Ray Lahood going to outlaw passengers?

If Ray feels he has to do something to save lives, disable the keyboard of cellphones...voice command only...put breathalyzers in every car wired into the starter...and make wireless car to speed-limit sign radio transponders required in all makes and models, so the vehicles computer won't allow the car to accelerate past the maximum speed of that roadway.

When the mob of angry motorists shows up with torches and pitchforks, he can tell them he was just trying to save lives.

 

[JScott]

Wow, they just won't quit, will they. The older I get the less I recognize this nation. More justification of a police state to keep us "safe." Are the American people going to stand back and let this happen?

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said using a cell phone while driving is so dangerous that devices may soon be installed in cars to forcibly stop drivers — and potentially anyone else in the vehicle — from using them.

“There’s a lot of technology out there now that can disable phones and we’re looking at that,” said LaHood on MSNBC. LaHood said the cellphone scramblers were one way, and also stressed the importance of “personal responsibility.”

The hosts of Morning Joe pushed the secretary about the possibility of requiring scrambling technology installed in vehicles.

“I think it will be done,” said LaHood. “I think the technology is there and I think you’re going to see the technology become adaptable in automobiles to disable these cell phones. We need to do a lot more if were going to save lives.”

Secretary of Transportation LaHood: We’re looking into technology to disable cell phones in vehicles | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

Driving and using a cell phone is almost as bad as being DWI in my honest opinion.

 

[JScott]

Why do you think so many studies are suddenly showing that it is dangerous to use a cell phone while driving?

Umm because it is true?
Naah could not be that simple,

Color me skeptical. Traffic fatalities are going down, and have been for years. Cell phones have been becoming more common over that same period of time. The only way those studies could be true is if other factors that contribute to accidents suddenly decreased significantly. The numbers do not add up.

Car Accident Cell Phone Statistics

Data regarding car accidents involving cell phone use and/or texting while driving has been limited in the past, but it's slowly becoming available to the public. The information on this page reflects the most current 2007 and 2008 statistics regarding cell phone usage and text messaging during car accidents.

While the popularity of mobile phones has grown enormously in the past two decades, it's still unclear how greatly cell phone calls and texting contribute to car crashes. What is clear is that talking on the phone and texting behind the wheel both lead to distraction, and driver inattention is the leading cause of car accidents.
Car Accident Cell Phone Statistics & Driver Text Message Facts

Drive Now Chat Later - Cell Phone Research and Studies

National Safety Council Estimates that At Least 1.6 Million Crashes are Caused Each Year by Drivers Using Cell Phones and Texting
NSC estimates 1.6 million crashes caused by cell phone use and texting

Cell phone accidents due to distraction while talking, walking and especially driving are increasing.

There’s increasing evidence that walking while using your phone to talk, text, tweet and surf is dangerous.
Mobile Phone Accidents Caused by Distraction and Texting Rising | MobileBeyond

Theres plenty of other sites you can peruse. The facts are the facts.

 

[Queen]

I am getting really sick of being scared to death by the asshole behind me texting or whatever on the phone, looking down at it while driving behind me, in traffic. I have to change lanes to get away from these idiots. They almost crash into me like once a week.

Such stupid drivers. I WISH there was technology to shut them down.

 

[Political Junky]

If Libertarians had their way we'd have a lot more people dying younger. Pollute all you want, no restrictions whatsoever.

 

[mdn2000]

I am getting really sick of being scared to death by the asshole behind me texting or whatever on the phone, looking down at it while driving behind me, in traffic. I have to change lanes to get away from these idiots. They almost crash into me like once a week.

Such stupid drivers. I WISH there was technology to shut them down.

There is, its called full sized trucks with brakes.

 

[shintao]

Wow, they just won't quit, will they. The older I get the less I recognize this nation. More justification of a police state to keep us "safe." Are the American people going to stand back and let this happen?

Ahh, reminds me when Reagan formed a commission to rid the nation of the 1st Amendment. Then it was a commission to keep us safe from Drugs. Then it was a commission to keep us safe from guns. Then it was a commission to keep us safe from terrorists.

So to answer your question, no,....they will not quit. More importantly, "THEY" are not being identified by Americans and allowed to slip calmly out in the night. They are not being shunned, instead "THEY" are being called heros and paraded by the media, hung on the fireplace mantel.

And interesting search is spend a few days reviewing Supreme court cases, starting with Nixon. You will see where your rights went.

 

[shintao]

I see the gov. creating a situation to get you killed. The world is full of crime, yet those charged with preventing and protecting you are never around when you need them. In fact 911 just provides a recording of you getting offed by some criminal. I guess someone likes those tapes. When you are in your car you are in the criminals world, out there away from the secured home, and having a cell phone inside your car is essential to that protection, your life line to any major help that maybe available. To help you out, this device requires the motor be shut off, which means you have to be stopped while the criminal is shooting you are breaking out your windows to subdue you. You might be anywhere when this occurs, a dark freeway, middle of town, etc.

Further, you are cut off from family and friends if they are calling you in an emergency of their own, and need your help. So this phone idea really sucks, and I am speaking as someone who was rammed in the ass end in traffic, by a women talking on her cell phone, and destroyed my car. This is just the wrong approach. How about the police doing their job, or making a radar type device they can aim at a car and see if a cell phone is active.

 

[editec]

Why not disable the cars when cellphones are in use, instead?

You're in heavy traffic on the L.I.E. doing 75.

You're deperately trying to drift right so you can catch your exit.

Your cell rings and so the safety equipment shuts your engine down, and you cause a massive ten car pile up.

OTOH...

About four years ago, My X had a coworker ( a new mother, she was about 26 or so and about to enter law school) who went though a stop sign while phoning her hubby to let him know she and the baby would be home soon.

She had that accident, BUT... she got say goodbye to her husband before she died.

Her 4 month old baby was unhurt, BTW.

How'd you like to have been that husband, listening to the accident and then hearing your dying wife and mother of your child say goodbye?

Disabling phones is a bad idea I think. It's just another intrusive invasion into our lives

But driving while talking on the cell (or texting!) is just nuts.

It doesn't seem so dangerous, though, does it?

That's the weird thing about it.

It doesn't actually seem unsafe.

 

[Missourian]

People are stupid...unless Ray Lahood invents a common sense pill, he's wasting his time.

Government can't save us. If you're not smart enough to figure out when it's safe to use the phone or text and when it's not, you're not smart enough to know when it's appropriate to read the paper, or eat a bowl of cereal, or work on your laptop, or apply make-up, or change clothes, or eat lunch, or watch a movie, or read a book...all things I witness motorists doing everyday.

 

[mudwhistle]

using a cell phone while driving is reckless endangerment.

Would you rather it be treated exactly like a DUI?

I would rather cops pull people over for reckless driving if their cell phone conversation is causing them to drive recklessly. Boy, what an idea.

Tell me something, genius. If they disable cell phone use in everyone's vehicle and you go sliding off the road night, smash into a tree, and are trapped in your car, how are you going to call anyone for help?

use your onboard onstar. toss a distress beacon from your car. honk your horn.

What did people do before they had cell phones? Do you think that the cell phone is a right now?

I think it would be great if all public spaces disabled them! Restaurants, theaters, buses, airplanes etc.

Well we do have them now and Liberals want to take em away. And you want to take them away even when it's not a safety issue.

Police State. Cut and dried.

 

[Bullfighter]

Wow, they just won't quit, will they. The older I get the less I recognize this nation. More justification of a police state to keep us "safe." Are the American people going to stand back and let this happen?

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said using a cell phone while driving is so dangerous that devices may soon be installed in cars to forcibly stop drivers — and potentially anyone else in the vehicle — from using them.

“There’s a lot of technology out there now that can disable phones and we’re looking at that,” said LaHood on MSNBC. LaHood said the cellphone scramblers were one way, and also stressed the importance of “personal responsibility.”

The hosts of Morning Joe pushed the secretary about the possibility of requiring scrambling technology installed in vehicles.

“I think it will be done,” said LaHood. “I think the technology is there and I think you’re going to see the technology become adaptable in automobiles to disable these cell phones. We need to do a lot more if were going to save lives.”

Secretary of Transportation LaHood: We’re looking into technology to disable cell phones in vehicles | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

A gang banger trying to drive, talk on his cellphone, and shoot at rival gangs always seem to hit pre school children.

 

[Intense]

Unless you think it is logical to apply the same reasoning to Radio and GPS Navigation Devises,

The proof coming out in many studies recently that Radios and GPS devices, although hazardous are far less distracting than the cell phone. Scientists are still baffled by why this is. Talking on the cell phone is equal to having a BAC of .08. Texting? Shit... you're 3 sheets to the wind.

Nobody should be texting while driving. Talking on a speaker phone versus singing along with the radio, or having a conversation with a passenger? Can you multi-task?

 

[uscitizen]

I am getting really sick of being scared to death by the asshole behind me texting or whatever on the phone, looking down at it while driving behind me, in traffic. I have to change lanes to get away from these idiots. They almost crash into me like once a week.

Such stupid drivers. I WISH there was technology to shut them down.

There is, its called full sized trucks with brakes.

so people with full sized trucks with brakes do not cell/text while driving?

 

[Big Fitz]

Hands free, no problem. Phone to ear, illegal.

Not according to the study information the safety director at our company is getting. Hands free or no hands free. Still the same as a BAC of .08.

That's the info I'm getting and companies are making policy to.

If Libertarians had their way we'd have a lot more people dying younger. Pollute all you want, no restrictions whatsoever.

This is true. You or children could play with blasting caps. This is why the decision of what kind of society we wish to live in has to be agreed upon. For example. Why are there no 24 hour bars anymore? There used to be in the early 20th century before the Temperance movement scored the big success/failure of Prohibition. Men were dying very young of cirrhosis and drinking related violence. But then again, they could get Chloral Hydrate and Benzene as intoxicants over the counter then and counter it's effects with cocaine. The Temperance League, although they went too far, addressed a serious problem of the day. Jack Casement, builder of the Union Pacific end of the Transcontinental Railroad called the shanty/tent towns that followed the railhead Hells on Wheels" because he lost hundreds of men to violence in those rolling dens of inequity.

We decide the safety and society we want to live in. And sometimes, it's not quite so libertarian, because to leave it open is to invite chaos and hellish conditions. The key is to find the best balance between the two. Everyone's gauges on this optimum, unfortunately, varies greatly.

Can you multi-task?

Yes, I can. I can change the radio, eat, talk to someone in the car, read a map all while driving, and do it with relative safety. But I am just as guilty of almost running someone off the road while on my phone once (In my own car). After that, I stopped using it except in the lightest traffic. I can attest first hand by personal experience, that my reaction times and focus, even on hands free, for some reason was drastically reduced and unsafe.

BTW, I just watched a car this morning almost slam into the front of a turning Semi as it blew the light at an intersection doing 40. Yes, I saw a cellphone at their ear and a shocked expression as the semi blasted it's horn at him. THe light had changed 5-7 seconds before.

Ahh, reminds me when Reagan formed a commission to rid the nation of the 1st Amendment. Then it was a commission to keep us safe from Drugs. Then it was a commission to keep us safe from guns. Then it was a commission to keep us safe from terrorists.

Wrong presidents and era. Try Woodrow Wilson when they banned intoxicants including many drugs. Then the FDR supreme court started nibbling at the 2nd amendment. It started then, not under Reagan. Learn your history before you try to rewrite it to fit your desires, comrade.

 

[uscitizen]

Reagan did have the first Czar I recall hearing of. A drug Czar.

 

[Big Fitz]

Reagan did have the first Czar I recall hearing of. A drug Czar.

IIRC, LBJ had them too. The term Czar may have been made popular during Reagan though.

"New title, Cultural Attache." Gregor (the KGB spy) from the movie "Sneakers".

 

[LibocalypseNow]

Aren't Socialists/Progressives great? It's always for your own good huh? Hitler and the Nazis often told the German People this as well. It's always "For your own Good." How sad.