Depending on where you live, operating a motor vehicle while texting (or using any hand-held device) may be illegal, frowned upon, or fair-game.
What are your thoughts on this?
Would you support a law that would make texting and using a hand-held cellphone/iPod/GPS while driving (or stopped at a traffic light) illegal?
Currently in Utah, if you are found texting and driving and hit someone, you face up to 15 years in prison because it is considered "reckless driving" instead of an "accident". If you cause a fatality, you would receive the same penalties as those who are driving drunk.
Should we consider 'talking on the phone' and 'texting' the same as drunk driving in terms of creating potential hazards on the road, or do you think a ban is taking it too far and infringing on our rights?
Using a handheld mobile phone (either texting or talking) while driving is illegal here and carries a $150 fine when caught. I'm in agreement with this. Some of the things people do while driving are ridiculous. I saw a woman just a couple of days ago travelling down the highway, eating a hamburger and texting at the same time. It shows disrespect for the lives of others on the road.
It is illegal here to text and drive. But I am guilty of it! I would own up to the consequences though, because it would of been my fault. As far as talking and driving, if your under a certain age then it is illegal. Again, I am guilty of that also. I do know that in both Oregon and Michigan it is illegal to talk on a cell and drive. I feel if you did it, you need to own up to it. And I would.
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I think driving and texting should definately be illegal. I have a friend that has been in two accidents in the last few months while doing just that. I think 15 years in prison is a bit much though.
Now cell phones seem innocent enough, but I can honestly say that every time I'm stuck behind some idiot on the road, who seems to be driving eratically (stopping or suddenly, taking forever to go when the light turns green etc) its always a person on a cell phone. Or when I go to walk across a cross walk, and a car turning right almost hits me...again, always on a cell phone. And in this city, talking on a cell while driving is illegal ($167 fine), but everyone still does it.
Its illegal in the UK and i definatly agree it should be!!
In the paper the other day they said that listening to a sports commentary while driving reduces your reaction speed to the same that you would if you had been drinking
I remember watching some discover channel show where they conducted an experiment on texting and driving versus drunk driving. I remember they had one driver drink like five shots of vodka and then try to navigate a course made up of orange cones. They counted how many cones the hit versus another driver that was given a couple of sentences to text. The texter did way worse and even ran all the way over some cones. They tried it with several people and the texter was almost always the worst driver.
I'm in favor of steep fines for texting and driving. I don't think talking on the phone is as bad since you don't have to take your eyes off the road. I think if I lost a family member because a texter ran them over I would be more upset than if a drunk driver hit them just because of the stupidity of not being able to just wait until you stop to send your friend some dumb text.
As a Paramedic I have seen the worst side of what can happen when texting/talking on cell phone. One of my worst days was telling a mother (also a close friend of mine) that her 17 year old daughter was dead and that talking on her phone was the cause of it. This happened 5 days before Christmas.
As far as 15 years in prison, I believe that may be a little over the top. I do agree with more severe penalties.
There's a law here that people shouldn't text and drive because of the safety risk that's involved in it. I agree that doing both at the same time should be outlawed. There were so many times I was in a vehicle where a near-collision almost happened because the moron driving was texting behind the wheel.
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I am completely against driving and texting, and agree with the current laws re banning/fines/charges.
I do have a few thoughts on the whole topic though. On one hand, the law bans the use of hand-held devices like cell phones, however wireless or blue-tooth "hands-free" options are allowed, so you can still talk on the phone and drive... you just can't be holding it in your hand. This makes me wonder if the issue is that one hand is off the wheel or the fact that talking while driving is distracting and therefore that is what is leading to potential accidents. If it's assumed that the latter is correct, then the current laws don't really address it.
In the case of texting and driving (or cell phone use and driving) having caused an accident, I think it's extremely hard to prove this. In many cases, when an accident happens, you aren't looking at the driver that hit you. With drunk drivers, there are tests that can be performed at the scene to verify that the person is drunk. How can one verify that someone was texting 'after the fact'? There are phone records that can be reviewed, but is it the job of the police officer to question this? If the penalty carries up to 15 years, then you would think the state or the crown could proactively go after drivers involved in accidents to check phone records to see if such an offence occurred... but in reality, how often will this really occur? Certainly nobody who was texting and got into an accident would admit to it.
Or will this be something for the insurance companies to be more interested in?
I think it's safe to say that most of us are more distracted when talking on the phone, or listening to a news program, or doing anything other than driving in complete silence. Texting is certainly on one end of the extreme, but it can be a slippery slope when you look at the continuum.
The interference with driving can be physical (holding phone, typing keys) or mentally (occupying your mind with keeping situation awareness while driving and having the conversation).
Both affect the driver's ability to react to possible danger situations. But the former is easier to have a law against than the latter. How would you determine how much cognitive capacity any driver is investing in keeping a good amount of situation awareness and act accordingly to traffic when needed? That's pretty much impossible to determine.
This also explains why hands free is allowed.
I'm not too familiar with recent studies about how much each interference affects driving. But I'm convinced both do interfere.
Insert typical super smart ass comment courtesy of thepainter here.
Looks like it's time for technology to come to the rescue. We need voice recognition and actuated texting commands, and some kind of retarted software to garble normal speech into text speak.
The problem is diver distaction, and a driver that allows themselves to be distacted may have a serious consequence. I don't think it's appropriate to make a law about evey stupid thing people can dream up to do, giving people the illusion that they are completely safe and can carry on in a mindless fasion assuming that nothing will happen to them.
People need to be responsible for their actions and accountible for the consequences.
Don't make it illegal, make it an instant at fault any time a driver on the phone or texting is involved in an accident. and allow special punitave damages awardable for those circumstances. That way the victim gets the benefit, since they were wronged, instead of Johnny law getting more money for the secret policeman's ball.
Imagine some idiot in a really nice car is texting and hits your car and as a punishment the court awards you not only for you to get your car fixed, but you get the other drivers car after it is fixed too!
"Sorry about the accident. Here's the offender's pink slip. Have a nice day!"
Better than you and I paying to put them up in jail.
As an aside, I do find it somewhat amusing that someone who has fallen asleep at the wheel and hits and kills someone has the incident legally viewed as an "accident", whereas someone texting and killing someone would now be viewed as "reckless driving" because it's considered a 'willful act'.
It's easy to condemn these people from where we sit today, but I'll bet there will be a lot of young kids facing 15 yr prison terms for text-related vehicular manslaughter over the next decade. Teens make mistakes all the time (as do adults) and I'm sure people will have very strong opinions if it happens to be their 16 year old daughter going to jail until she's 31 years old, all for making the untimely mistake of reaching to check an incoming text from her boyfriend at precisely the wrong moment.
Of course, education and prevention are key, here... but teens aren't often all that concerned about rules to begin with. It would be a sad situation on both sides.
I'm against it as well. I have a Droid that's not easy to text while driving with that phone so I just wait until I arrive where ever I'm going before reading the text.
Where I live, the fine is $750.
If you are behind the wheel, you should be driving. Driving takes focus. If your vehicle is moving, you should be using all your attention to controling your actions. I'm terrified when I'm out bike riding and I see people driving and using the phone. They never see you. I also see plenty of bikers talking on the phone while riding which is just as stupid. Pedestrians are just as guilty of not being aware of their surroundings due to their phone or ipod. It's everyone's responsibility to do all they can to ensure their safety and the safety of others out there in the real world. Your damn call or text can wait.
I'm trying to understand how "owning up to its consequences" would do anything to mitigate another person's death. Texting while driving is considerably more dangerous than DUI.
I drive a school bus for a living and there are many times when I have seen a person's driving change from perfectly normal, to suddenly
erratic and unpredicatable. I know as soon as I see it that they have started a phone conversation. Driving one-handed is best left to those
with a specially modified vehicle and the training to do it. Texting is even worse IMO, you simply cannot watch the road and a tiny phone
screen at the same time with 100% safety.
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Everyday going to work I pass vehicles where the driver has a mobile phone stuck to his/her ear. Driving in excess of 100km/hr and overtaking other vehicles, very scarey to see.
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Severe penalties, and I should not be penalized for opening the car door of the person who is doing so, take the phone and chuck it as far as I can throw it.
"But what if it's an emergency?" Then they should pull the car over and tend to thier business, and not make it part of mine.
its illegal here in england. and so it should be , i have seen people involved in accidents all because they were texting or phoneing someone. cars should be made with a device that blocks any signals being sent or recived while the cars engine is running.
I think there's a big difference between texting while driving and talking on the phone while driving. It is impossible to see the road while texting, so imo that is extremely dangerous and should only be done at red lights. But there are lots of people who can talk on a cell phone and drive safely at the same time. When I use my cell phone, I keep the speaker on, that way my head isn't tilted at all and I can focus on the road. We don't need rules to tell us what's safe and what's not; we need common sense.
I have someone whom I Love very much who was just in a car accident due to texting and driving. it scared the shit out of me, the thought of if something really bad had happened to her. I don't even want to think about that to be honest. I will admit that I do talk on my cell phone while I am driving *I have a bluetooth* but that is because I get really nervous about driving by myself, since my car accdient, last year.... I don't really text and drive, although when I am stuck @ at a red light, I do check my phone, and sent out an occasional text message. *The lights in florida are a good ten minutes long a piece*
I also feel that 15 years for hitting someone while doing something that is illegal is a great idea wheather it be text/talking or drinking/drugs. there is a little saying "Honk if you love God, text if you want to meet him."
