What cell phone/driving laws should be enacted?

[007]

If you are the least bit observant and have been driving long enough to remember a world without ....
.... How spoiled have we become?:coffee3:

EXCELENT rant.... ... and oh so true...

 

[misterblu]

Ouch!

A Letcher County woman suffered a horrible injury early Thursday when her arm was severed in a car crash on the Mountain Parkway in Clark County.

Jacqueline Dotson and her six-year-old daughter had to be cut out of their vehicle after the accident in which Dotson veered into the median and over-corrected, rolling her truck over the guardrail and landing upside down after flipping several times.

Several people stopped to help, and it turns out, the good samaritans may very well have saved Dotson's life. Sheila Vice, a nurse's aide, and an off-duty EMT from another county stopped to help, and put a tourniquet on Dotson's arm to stop the bleeding. Her arm was found near the accident still clutching a cell phone.

"Basically we stayed there and talked to them until the EMT drivers got there," said Vice.

Rescuers used the jaws of life to get the Dotson and her daughter out of the truck. Both were flown to hospitals, and Dotson is listed in serious condition at UK Hospital. Her daughter is not in the hospital, and sheriff's officials say they believe she's going to be fine.

Both were wearing seat belts.

 

[Nienna]

While I've seen my share of asshole drivers chatting away on their cellphones instead of paying attention to the road...I'm hesitant to tell people what they can and can not do. Again, I'm going to have to tie this to personal freedoms.

If they ban cellphones they should ban drinking, eating, fiddling with the radio, changing cd's, arguing with your spouse, singing along with your favorite song, having to itch that spot on your ankle that is just driving you crazy, etc. etc. etc....all of which can be distracting enough to make you take your eyes off the road for long enough to cause an accident.

If someone causes an accident because of reckless driving like not paying attention while making a call...then perhaps we should consider increased fines, increased liability, more points on your license, as others have described.

You and Clay have this one nailed.

 

[GotZoom]

I'm right there too.

If you have an accident, they will determine who is at fault and why. Then ticket accordingly. Speeding? Running a stop sigh? All traffic offenses.

There are already laws on the books in some states about "driving with due care and attention." Cellphones, eating, drinking, changing the radio station, talking to someone else in the car, etc.

Seems like these states already have it covered.

 

[sitarro]

You and Clay have this one nailed.

Gee, I guess Gem is right, I think I'll go to a theater and yell "bomb!" just for the fun of watching the stampede, if anyone gets hurt they can just sue me. If anyone gets trampled to death their relatives can sue me.

And don't tell me I can't watch "The Young and The Restless" while talking on the phone with one hand and eating a burrito with the other while driving with my knees. . . it is a free country after all. Oh and why should I stop just because someone else decided to put a stop sign up, who do they think they are? Who says I can't drive 120, they do it in Germany all of the time.

And who the hell came up with the stupid idea that I can't pick up a whore on the street and have sex with her while snorting crystal meth while driving, what kind of oppressive society do we live in, I'm just trying to have some fun and multitask . . . . Geez!

 

[-Cp]

Making people use 'hands free' devices isn't going to save anybody.

dmp's right - studies <a href="http://www.bsnl.in/Telecomguide.asp?intNewsId=52032&strNewsMore=more" target=_blank">have shown</a> that hands-free isnt' any safer when it comes to preventing accidents because it's the act of folks getting caught up into the converstation that's a distraction...

 

[Nienna]

Gee, I guess Gem is right, I think I'll go to a theater and yell "bomb!" just for the fun of watching the stampede, if anyone gets hurt they can just sue me. If anyone gets trampled to death their relatives can sue me.

And don't tell me I can't watch "The Young and The Restless" while talking on the phone with one hand and eating a burrito with the other while driving with my knees. . . it is a free country after all. Oh and why should I stop just because someone else decided to put a stop sign up, who do they think they are? Who says I can't drive 120, they do it in Germany all of the time.

And who the hell came up with the stupid idea that I can't pick up a whore on the street and have sex with her while snorting crystal meth while driving, what kind of oppressive society do we live in, I'm just trying to have some fun and multitask . . . . Geez!

And you have no idea how to use hyperbolic sarcasm, either, do you?
I (and Clay and Gem, too, I'm sure) am no advocate of anarchy. But you can't legislate EVERYTHING, either. No matter how many laws you make, people will still do stupid, irrational, selfish, and irresponsible things. Fuzzykitten showed an instance where cell phone use while driving may be necessary-- those whose "office" is the car/truck. Restricting cell phone use in the car crosses the line, IMO.

 

[Abbey Normal]

dmp's right - studies <a href="http://www.bsnl.in/Telecomguide.asp?intNewsId=52032&strNewsMore=more" target=_blank">have shown</a> that hands-free isnt' any safer when it comes to preventing accidents because it's the act of folks getting caught up into the converstation that's a distraction...

Common sense would indicate that the act of talking is the same whether you talk into a phone you are holding, or into a hands-free speaker. But I would argue from experience that the act of looking down at your phone for to dial a 7 or 10 digit number forces you to take your eyes at least partially off the road for too long a time. Voice commands for dialing should be safer, and are the only aspect of hands-free driving laws that make sense to me.

 

[GotZoom]

Gee, I guess Gem is right, I think I'll go to a theater and yell "bomb!" just for the fun of watching the stampede, if anyone gets hurt they can just sue me. If anyone gets trampled to death their relatives can sue me.

And don't tell me I can't watch "The Young and The Restless" while talking on the phone with one hand and eating a burrito with the other while driving with my knees. . . it is a free country after all. Oh and why should I stop just because someone else decided to put a stop sign up, who do they think they are? Who says I can't drive 120, they do it in Germany all of the time.

And who the hell came up with the stupid idea that I can't pick up a whore on the street and have sex with her while snorting crystal meth while driving, what kind of oppressive society do we live in, I'm just trying to have some fun and multitask . . . . Geez!

You can in Tennessee.

Ummm...well...that is..uh.....what I heard.

 

[5stringJeff]

You can in Tennessee.

Ummm...well...that is..uh.....what I heard.

How is that possible?

I mean, really, how is that possible, physically?

 

[Abbey Normal]

How is that possible?

I mean, really, how is that possible, physically?

Uh Oh. The kids better leave the board now.

 

[dmp]

How is that possible?

I mean, really, how is that possible, physically?

One has to apply oneself.

 

[GotZoom]

Um...I don't know...I ..um..read something in the paper..yeah..about a guy who was arrested doing that....

 

[sitarro]

You can in Tennessee.

Ummm...well...that is..uh.....what I heard.

Now I knew that it was ok while guzzling "Jack Black" but I didn't think you had passed the crystal meth amendment.

 

[sitarro]

How is that possible?

I mean, really, how is that possible, physically?

First you need bucket seats. . . real buckets for seats....allows more leg room. The snorting does present a problem, especially in a convertible. . . ah memories .

 

[GotZoom]

First you need bucket seats. . . real buckets for seats....allows more leg room. The snorting does present a problem, especially in a convertible. . . ah memories .

YOU are the guy I read about in the paper!!!!!!!

 

[sitarro]

YOU are the guy I read about in the paper!!!!!!!

Yea well the media exagerated a bit, the car was actually parked at a rest stop. And it wasn't meth it was powdered sugar. . . nothing like an intense sugar high while having open air sex on a bucket seat. :baby:

 

[Working Man]

NO CELL PHONE USE BY THE DRIVER OF ANY VEHICLE.. HEADSET OR NOT.

IF I WERE ONLY THE ASSISTANT KING: :funnyface
YOU COULD USE A HEADSET/HANDSFREE TO BIP... BUT, IF YOU GOT CAUGHT WITHOUT IT,, $500 FINE, FIRST OFFENSE.. SECOND TIME,, YOU LOSE YOUR PHONE.. EVEN IF YOU GET NAILED WITH AN EARLY TERM FINE,, YOU STILL LOSE THE PHONE.


IF, you think you are that important that you need a phone to communicate to the world,, like me,, then stay home, stay in your office,, your cell, or park your car and bip.

Otherwise, SHUT THE F'''' UP AND DRIVE! :finger:

 

[BaronVonBigmeat]

The correct answer is: pass no law concerning cell phones, or any other traffic laws for that matter. Auction off the roadways, let private road companies set their own rules. If nothing else, traffic jams would be a thing of the past.