Cell Phones While Driving

[aaron_ariens]

I don't think it's fair that you are calling teen drivers bad drivers.

I agree, MOST of the teens on the road are really, really bad drivers, but don't say all.
For one, I am 17, and I never speed, never talk or txt, and I follow all the rules of the road.

Because, It's dumb not too, and, When I get a job with Volkswagen, you have to have a totally clean record.

 

[Ozwynn]

I don't think it's fair that you are calling teen drivers bad drivers.

I agree, MOST of the teens on the road are really, really bad drivers, but don't say all.
For one, I am 17, and I never speed, never talk or txt, and I follow all the rules of the road.

Because, It's dumb not too, and, When I get a job with Volkswagen, you have to have a totally clean record.

that may be but you haven't begun to have driven enough miles to be a "good" driver. It takes experience to judge any situation and know how to react to it. Some people the comes naturally and others need to learn this, in everybody it needs to be refined by experience.

my wife doesn't speed, talk on the phone, txt, and follows the rules of the road .......... she has also wrecked every car we have ever had. my wife is not a good driver....... I speed, talk on the phone, drive to fast in the snow, and don't follow all the rules of the road (who needs me to use my turn signal when I an in an exit only lane and I am exiting?), i'll take advantage of a situation in traffic...... i have wrecked my fair share of cares but its always from driving too fast and always when I was younger ........ 15 - 22, and never involving another car, and never with a passenger. I have an impecible safety record ....... over a million miles with out an accident in a big rig and I'll drive 1 handed in 18" of snow with an extrememly light load at 30 mph....... because I have done it before at slower speeds..... and i have wrecked enough to know what it feels like so I learned to avoid crashing ......... no speeding tickets means either

A. you haven't been caught ........... YET. or
B. you have never taken any chances and prolly never will take any chances.

people that have never taken any chances tend not to take chances in life either and lead awful boring lives.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

I agree with BDAB here, I mean I consider myself a great driver, I've driven and texted, and talked, while eating a big mac doing sixty on an inner city road with no power steering in my old 5-speed Ranger, I don't consider that being a good driver, just LUCKY. Though, I do know exactly how each of my vehicles handles at any certain time, that's what makes me a good driver. I know if I have to go around a corner at say 60mph, I can do it in my Camaro, the BII though, I'd be on the side of the road, probably flipped over. I think knowing how your vehicle handles, and brakes, in every situation is what makes a good driver. I'm 21, and I can honestly say I have lots of experience driving, in many different situations, BUT there is still alot I can learn. I've been cited for speeding (43 in a 20), but I've never been in an accident that was my fault, just because I know how to drive defensively... I'm not saying all teens are bad drivers, but just inexperienced...

 

[Tedybear]

Years ago I was getting onto I95 in Connecticut where I used to work out of. Cell phone rang and I just pulled well over to the side of the road just about onto the grass. (nice area too...very wide for the merging traffic, so I had plenty of room to sit for a few min)

Within 30 seconds? LOL. I had a state trooper behind me. He figured I had a break down and needed a hand. I rolled the window down and he asked "Everything alright?" I just replied "Yep, Cell phone rang and I didn't need the distraction while driving, So I pulled off the road to make sure I wasn't being a hazard to other drivers". This guys jaw must have dropped about a foot! He just thanked me for being a considerate driver, and parted with a "Take Care, Have a great day!"

Just felt like mentioning it. In most states it's illegal to talk on the cell phone without a hands free device. My own cell phone has a very good speaker phone built in, so I just clip it to the visor..and use voice commands and such.

Now in regards to young drivers (and heck, some old ones as well) Yeah...they do not need to be on the cell phone or texting while driving. You want a good laugh? Listen to 90% of the bullcrap that a teenager is saying while on a cell phone. (I currently work in a local mall as an arcade manager after being downsized) Some of the conversations they have? And it's not "listening in to a private conversation" when they are just about talking so damn L O U D into the cell phone in the first place. I've heard about a dozen girls moaning about their boyfriends cheating on them...and vice versa......Several about how to make a "Score" for weed...(these idiots get kicked out of my store on the first offense) etc....

Now who's at fault for all this? Parents bending to the demands of the kids. They make a cell phone that only will dial calls the parents program into it, and 911. The same phone will only 'ring' in calls from that list. Anything that is not life or death? Can flippen well wait!!!! Because I used to drive 700 miles a week for the job, and at least once a week I almost got nailed by some snotnosed teenager yapping or texting on their cell phone.

S-

 

[Ozwynn]

I agree on the cell phone thing, I think parents have the right to limit their child's calls only to the numbers the parents want. Verizon has such a phone but it only stores 4 numbers.

 

[TravisBailey1]

I am 16 and when I drive I just text at stoplight that I know hold a long time. I think the idea is a good one but I'm pretty sure most teenagers could figure out a way to disable it, just turn the bluetooth off.

 

[lumpy4000]

in ontario, as of october this year, they are passing a law about cell phone use in cars. you no longer will be able to text or talk while operating a motor vehicle. since they (the government) decide to put this through earlier this year, police have slowly started to pull over motorist using there phones and issue them a warning.

you still see a lot of people talking and driving and texting though. i find it funny that people assume that just slowing down a bit while using their phones is safer is a wise decision... instead they hold up traffic, or putter along on the highway oblivious to the circumstances around them continuing their conversations.

about time. we have other provinces in canada that have already put a ban on cell phone use and they report that traffic accidents and fatalities have gone down because of this. we also have strict laws about street racing and driving while impaired. also one about smoking with your children in the car if they are under 10.

i agree that some of these laws seem ridiculous. but anything that makes the roads safer, and in ontario we have a lot of idiots, is good in my books. im 30yrs old. i have received three speeding tickets in my entire 13yrs of driving, two for speeding to an emergency while at work, one personal. i have taken high performance driving courses. all this and i consider myself an okay driver. every accident i have had (3 in total) resulted in the other drivers lack of judgement (i.e. their fault). but dont tell me that your 16 - 25 and your an excellent driver. like someone said, it comes from many years of experience. if you feel the need to speed, maybe you should have left 10 min. earlier.
and to the guy who said, "you live a boring life if you dont speed.."
just because i dont speed or take stupid chances in my vehicle does not mean i live a dull and boring life... i take more then enough chances and do plenty of stupid things outside my car to more then make up for it. got the hospital records to go with the scars and steel hardware.

really, is it that hard to just not talk/text while driving?

 

[dirtsquirt]

In alberta they have started to bring in laws about cells phones and driving about time!!!!!

I have ripped a new A$$ for more then a couple truck drivers, including my boss about backing up to the excavator to get loaded while talking on the cell phone.

 

[mattpresley]

Don't give them cell phones, and make them drive those new $8,000 electric cars that go 30MPH and have swappable batteries.

8 grand is kinda pricey for a golfcart........

 

[Shoeboy]

Talking/texting on a cell phone when driving is dangerious, end of discussion.

I nearly get hit by these idiots daily. My girlfriend lives across the city, so I do a lot of driving. I got run into the shoulder coming home tonight because some idiot wouldn't put thier phone down and didn't give a proper look while changing lanes. Lucky for me I had a shoulder to ditch my car safely, I couldn't hit the brakes because i had another idiot on my ass (couldn't see their hood in my rear view) talking on their cell phone, what would have happened if I was in the middle lane and couldn't put my car on the shoulder?

I'm 22, and no where near a good driver. I try to be the best I can be, but sometimes that just not good enough. I still get scared driving, after 5 years of driving, Just because you know what you're doing doesn't mean everyone else does, or that child/animal isn't going to run out in front of your car. Talking on a cell phone or putting the conversation on hold for you to either pull over, or call when you get to your destination is the difference between avoiding hitting the child/animal and a possible criminal record.

The reason why you can carry on a conversation with a passenger and not on a cell phone is because with the passenger you can see them in your field of vision and their body language helps with the conversation on a sub conchas level. While talking on a cell phone you do not have body language to help you in the conversation, its also like talking to a passenger in the back seat, you are more distracted by that then talking to a passenger in the front seat, again, no view of body language.

 

[AllanD]

That's just like saying you're capable of holding your truck under control while you're DRUNK. You are not an exception to the rule.

This study is retarded. Teens are stupid drivers, they were stupid before cell phones were even main stream (and this is from experience).

Pete

Frankly, I wonder if Cellphones are actually the cause of accidents
STUPIDITY is a far more likely culprit but people like blaming "things"
instead of other humans (or themselves)

There are people who I've ridden with that scare the crap out of me
People who just talking while driving need to constantly look at me while driving... instead of watching the god-damned road!

I am also capable of holding a conversation while driving,
I've been doing so for more decades (plural) than many here
have been alive... LONG before Cellphones there were CB radios
and since then I've had Amateur (HAM) radios.

Though I have a neat little gadget for my amateur rig...
It's a gooseneck microphone and there a dual action PTT
switch mounted to my console.
"Dual action" because it's momentary in one direction,
but latches in the other so I can take my hand off it to
do important things like shift, adjust the blower speed
or pick my nose!

Cellphones are "full duplex" meaning you can both listen
and hear at the same time, radios you must release that
button to listen.

Yet cellphones are "evil"

No, people are STUPID/Incompetent/inattentive
and cellphones didn't make them that way.

Not being sexist here but every time I hear about an accident
caused by a texting it was a teenage girl who also had other
persons in the car with her.

There was one locally here last night, the driver and her
male passenger survived, the female passenger didn't.

Probably giggling and talking a blue streak...
she got one wheel over the right shoulder, over-corrected
crossed the center line and rolled the car inverted into a tree.

The saddest part is that someone else collected her darwin award.

as for my own cell phone use?

I have a powered docking cradle (sorta old school) for my phone and it has a speaker phone mode, so I don't need to do anything so crude as to HOLD the phone while talking.

And all the laws they've passed here are about "handheld" phones.

If I hear about a law involving NON-handheld phones I'll ignore it.


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[robertc1024]

My daughter just got her learner's permit. One of the statistics in the study materials for the permit was that having multiple teenagers in a car was at least or more statistically dangerous than driving drunk. I agree with Allan on that one.

But to me, it's not only on the teenagers to know not to talk on a cell phone or text, it's also on the parents to teach them it's a stupid thing - and drill it into their heads. Ultimately, the kids the ones going to make good or bad choices regardless of the technolgies available - devices that turn your car off, breathalyzers, condoms . . .

 

[AllanD]

Rant mode ON.

The one that drives me buggy And the one likely to land me in jail
for vehicular homicide (INTENTIONAL) is the very next ______ (explitive deleted)
that unexpectedly changes lanes in front of me going INTO
the left lane and SLOWING DOWN IN THAT LANE so they can
make/take a goddamned cellphone conversaion.

I REALLY wanna put one of those ________ (explitive deleted) people
into a bridge abutment.

The other people who seem to do the same damned thing is Prius drivers that run in the left lane so they can maintain a steady speed.... 15mph slower than I was going when they pulled out in front of me.

Frankly I wanna see bullet holes in every Prius.

Rant mode OFF

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[colinrmitchell]

...
A. you haven't been caught ........... YET. or
B. you have never taken any chances and prolly never will take any chances.

people that have never taken any chances tend not to take chances in life either and lead awful boring lives.

I don't believe that breaking a law and leading a "boring life" are analogous.

 

[Colin]

Frankly I wanna see bullet holes in every Prius.

Yes!