Xena, I feel as you do on these matters. If we were to apply such rules, then they should be applied evenly---and we all know that will not be done. Regarding drinking and driving, this issue is not the same. Alcohol can clearly effect a person's driving as can "legal" drug use. I find listening to someone in the car or if they are driving---they're looking at me, is something that should be outlawed.
Should Hand Held Cell Phones be Outlawed While Driving??
by minimus 140 Replies latest jw friends
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jwbot
What about MY freedom to not get my car dented, or my life ruined, or me KILLED by a dumb person on a cell phone (or applying makep, or shaving, or eating a full meal) while driving??!?
What freedom is more important, the freedom to be stupid? Or the freedom to not get killed?
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jwbot
Driving is not a right as far as I am (and the law) is concerned.
So what freedoms are being given up by paying a fine for being a dumb ass? I do not agree that it should be a criminal offence, but a civil one for sure.
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boa
I agree with minimus and xena here.
I use a cell phone constantly while at work. I decide when and if I need to pull over to talk on it. Sometimes I talk while still driving.
I wear my seatbelt because its a good safety device especially important if you have air bags.
AS USUAL, just like in dubbiedom, the issue or question at hand becomes black and white instead of the way the real world is immhfo - black, white, and a shyteload of greys....
I think there are way too many people who do not have the skills/abibilites/apptitude to DRIVE on a dry lake bed much less in any traffic!
A new law will not change one single person who already has a disregard for safe driving habits and the current driving laws. These people will still use the cell phone, recklessly speed, drive without due care and attention, have animals loose in the vehicle, read maps, drink alcohol, talk to other people in the car and just HAVE to look at them while they talk, do the 'nasty', smoke, or whatever other thing some of you would like banned/outlawed.....
I had to take a driving course for extreme driving related to my work, and I tell you, EVERYONE should have to meet at least the minimus standards of it! Many would not pass because they are unable/incapable of knowing the dimensions, dynamics, and physics of an automobile and how to drive it safely and defensively. These are the people who most often get into or cause accidents imo. Accidents often have several factors to their cause NOT just a 'baaaaad cell phone user' driver. Often multiple accidents would be prevented if all drivers were far more aware of their surroundings and were better prepared to do the correct emergency maneuver.
whew....boa is done venting now.....
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Fleur
let me try this out another way for the folks who resist the idea.
I'm in my early 30's. i've never had a ticket. i had a safe driving record for 12 years. one fender bender due to someone deciding at the last minute they really didn't want to merge as we were going onto the highway.
but there i was, in my late twenties. standing in the doctors office discussing my lack of balance, my vision issues, and inability to walk a straight line (sobriety test type) due to neurological illness. did my doctor have to take my license away by force? no. i had decided months before, after the ms attack that led to my diagnosis. i have not driven in more than four years now, because I KNOW i'd be a danger to others.
now, they didn't tell me that i could NEVER drive again. i know a lot of people with this disease that do drive. they also cause accidents, injuries, and all because of exercising their 'adult right' to drive. by the time their license is taken, its too late. same with seniors. sometimes, their 'adult' right at age 85 to kill ten people by mowing them down on the sidewalk should have been suspended whether they liked it or not.
would any of you want to get in the car with me behind the wheel? you shouldn't! i wouldn't ride with me! nor would i put any child, parent, or spouse of anyone out there at risk by being damned foolish enough to believe that my right to be able to go to the grocery store in the middle of the day instead of waiting for someone to give me a lift is more important than other people's lives.
unless you're being abducted at gunpoint there is no justifiable reason to use a cell phone in a moving vehicle. it's just not worth someone dying over, or worse, killing someone else, is it really? i know there are those would gladly argue this to the ground all day, i don't have the strength. i'm just trying to get people to think as are so many others in this thread.
i like the point someone made earlier (sorry i forget who) about drunk driving laws having to be put in place. still, people exercise their so-called right to drive drunk and kill or nearly kill people every stinking day.
maybe the people who feel so strongly about the cell phone issue have never been in a bad accident, or seen someone they love in one? curious to know if you have. i think maybe that might alter your perspective a little.
here's a couple links i hope ya'll will look at;
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-12-25-cellphone-usat_x.htm
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0005/31/nsst.00.html
there's a ton more but i think these make good points.
i'm not against people's right to make adult decisions. the thing is, when it is a definite risk to others, where does your right to order a pizza for dinner during rush hour traffic or trade a stock while getting lunch become as important as my family's right to live? sorry, to me, its not.
amazing how many other countries have made it law.and this is from four years ago:
International Action
Twenty countries now restrict or prohibit cell phones and other wireless technology in motor vehicles. These include Australia, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, England, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, the Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey. Delhi, India, and Hong Kong also impose restrictions on car phones.unreal. i hope the us catches up on this. new laws are not the Devil. as technology changes, god they're gonna have to come up with a lot more of them or people will die because others are text messaging or emailing their friends to meet them at the bar while driving.
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JH
Yes it should be outlawed while driving. You can't drive and be attentive, if you're on the phone. Also 1 hand is holding the phone, 1 hand on the stick shift, and nothing holding the steering wheel...
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Special K
I guess for me, I have to decide whether being able to drive is a responsiblity or a right.
I've taught my oldest son to drive this year and I keep telling him it is a responsiblity to drive and that he is responsible for those within the car and those outside the car to drive defensively and to be focused.
I have also told him, as far as his right to drive, it can be revoked by the laws of the land if he is caught disregarding his responsiblity, or his right to drive can be also taken away by me.
He has my cell phone a lot of the time and My #1 Rule for him is don't answer the phone if you are driving. and #2 rule is make sure you pull off into a safe area to do call backs or make calls.
I see too many cell phone users stopping to use their cell phones in the most dangerous areas of the road and think Sheesh.. it would have been better if they would not have stopped at all because here they are pulled half off the road on this blind crest or in the middle of this huge turn. I can't see past them...What's with clarity of thinking on that one?
I haven't found cell phone users a problem on the open big highways..lots of passing lanes and long stretches of road.
Where I seem to have all the near misses are with those who use cell phones in high traffic areas, in towns and in the cities .. and most of the time they are oblivious to what accidents they just almost caused.
Special K
p.s I have a new kitten that needed to go to the vet last week. I had it in a box to take it there but the clever little guy got out. It was a horror story of a drive. With this cat screaming and jumping up on the dash and climbing on my head crying out in protest. Digging its claws into me out of fright. What a nightmare that was. I definitely am investing in a pet carrier. I should have gave the cat my cell phone so he could have did his meow screaming in that.
Kittys in cars.. wow what a reciepe for disaster.
SK
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AlanF
For minimus, Xena and boa:
You're consistently failing to address the fact that a large fraction of the population doesn't have enough common sense to properly decide that they're incapable of simultaneously using a cell phone and driving safely. Maybe each of you is capable, but that doesn't affect the dummies who aren't. Maybe each of you is capable of driving while drunk better than most people can drive while sober, but that doesn't mean that drunk driving laws are bad. Laws have to apply to everyone, and as I said, are necessary to protect everyone from the dumbest of the population since they don't have the common sense or ability to decide proper courses of action for themselves. There can be no shades of gray in laws against drunk driving or using cell phones in cars. That should be obvious.
Minimus said:
: Regarding drinking and driving, this issue is not the same. Alcohol can clearly effect a person's driving as can "legal" drug use.
Of course it's the same. Using a cell phone while driving distracts one's attention and renders most drivers incapable of handling normal driving situations properly, much less emergencies, just as alcohol and drugs do. Subjectively, I tell myself that can drive drunk better than most people can drive while sober. Objectively, most likely I'm as bad as anyone else while driving drunk. Are you confusing your subjectively judged ability to drive well while using a cell phone with an objective judgment?
Boa, I completely agree with you that a lot of people are completely incompetent on the road. I think that every driver ought to pass a rigorous competency test that measures ability to handle all sorts of emergency situations, much like the extreme driving course you mentioned. Most likely, the people who are lousy drivers to begin with are also those most likely to drive especially badly when drinking or using a cell phone.
AlanF
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Markfromcali
Its outlawed here, but I still talk while driving sometimes, sometimes with a cop nearby. (of course this is when they don't notice, I am paying more attention in that I notice him) I don't usually talk that much on the phone though, and usually it is a quick call to confirm or something. I can also multitask pretty well, and if the situation calls for me to focus on the road more I tell the person to hold on or just stop talking and listening on the phone at that moment until I can free up the attention to talk again.
The problem is a lot of people don't actually know how much they can handle or pay attention to at the same time. This is basically the same problem with people who don't get enough sleep and think man can drive by drinking coffee alone. I don't care how slow or carefully you think you're driving, if you're not in the right state of mind with enough energy to stay focused you shouldn't be driving in the first place, it doesn't matter what you do or don't do while driving. Laws are not going to make people wake up and stop being idiots.
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bigboi
Cell phones really do impair your abilities while driving. I've been guilty of doing it a few times and I;ve found that often they take away that split second you need to avoid a collision. I know because I've had to dodge a few people who turned out to be on their cellies. I can imagine how many people have had to avoid me when I used mine.