Personal Freedoms vs. Texting While Driving

navynuke

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I watched a CHP motorcycle cop splitting through traffic two days ago looking at every driver until he found the lady next to me texting. He then dropped in behind her, watched for another 30 seconds and flipped the lights on to pull her over.

I was riding passenger in a work truck at the time and thought it was hilarious to see the lady trying so hard to look innocent after getting busted ::014::

Still sad that even here where the laws are pretty severe and have been enforced so long people are continuing to do this sort of deadly behavior.
 

Doug44

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Here in the great state of Illinois where we have more Governers in jail than any other state ............. Wops I got off topic here, anyway IMHO most states that have cell phone laws are finding them impossible to enforce. ::010:: ::007::
 

Philistine

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It is illegal in Australia to text or use a hand held mobile phone while driving in all states and the fines are high as well as demerit points, But I see it going on nearly every day. There are a lot of things you can do on the road unintentionally and get booked for, But using a mobile phone is not one of those things, you have to make a conscious decision to use it, so that’s why I think the fine should be huge for doing it. I agree with other comments that have been made that people don’t see driving as a skill to be continually honed anymore, its just something they have to do to get where they want to go, I think it comes down to no understanding of just what can happen in a split second while driving. When I was a first year apprentice we were made to sit through a 1 hour slide show of colour industrial accidents, they were very gory and showed all with just a very small black bar across the victims eyes, I never forgot what I saw that day, maybe something like that should be shown to some of these people that don’t take driving seriously
 

AVGeek

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Philistine said:
It is illegal in Australia to text or use a hand held mobile phone while driving in all states and the fines are high as well as demerit points, But I see it going on nearly every day. There are a lot of things you can do on the road unintentionally and get booked for, But using a mobile phone is not one of those things, you have to make a conscious decision to use it, so that’s why I think the fine should be huge for doing it. I agree with other comments that have been made that people don’t see driving as a skill to be continually honed anymore, its just something they have to do to get where they want to go, I think it comes down to no understanding of just what can happen in a split second while driving. When I was a first year apprentice we were made to sit through a 1 hour slide show of colour industrial accidents, they were very gory and showed all with just a very small black bar across the victims eyes, I never forgot what I saw that day, maybe something like that should be shown to some of these people that don’t take driving seriously
Here in the US, there are two well known films: Red Asphalt and Blood on the Highway. I don't quite remember if these were shown in my driver education class in high school (I seem to recall at least one was), but also having a firefighter father who emphasized safety made a lasting impression...

Did a youtube search for the 2 movies: Red Asphalt is a series of films: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=red+asphalt and what I was able to find for Blood on the Highway had nothing to do with Driver's Education...
 

Mtbjay

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Re: Personal Freedoms vs. Texting While Driving - A cyclist's perspective

As a cyclist, I had to read this thread all the way through…. You guys don't know fear until you're out there mixing it up (in your skivvies and 23mm wide tires, mind you) with the teens and soccer moms!

I have been enjoying riding my bicycle on roads for over 40 years. I live in Portland, OR, rated one of the best cities to ride a bike in the world. Still, I feel I must ride defensively, boldly, and in high-contrast clothing at all times, red-light blinking even during the day - just to HOPE to survive in today's auto culture! Friggin' Facebook icons on center displays in cars now? ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME?!

Anyway, lot's of thoughtful comments here…

I'm in the camp for enforcement (obviously, as my life depends on it), but with a twist. I say, embrace the high-tech: all cell phones (I think) are being tracked/triangulated at all times. I propose this, IF you are involved in an vehicular accident, it should be standard procedure to pull up your cell phone data an determine if you were talking/texting/surfing while driving. If, so, you go directly to jail! Perhaps then, as the word spread, people would elect to wait till they were not driving to use their phones.

There is no good excuse for using a phone in a moving vehicle, ever, in my opinion. We lived perfectly fine without it until 20 years ago.

Personally, all I had to do was unknowingly drive through a perfectly red light while TALKING on the phone, to realize what a potentially lethal distraction that device is. (Luckily, no one was around the downtown intersection at the time.) Our minds get caught up in the imagery of the conversation, while our brains temporarily filter out the complex visual information from the eye, pausing to give thought to a conversation. It is during these brief (and repeated) seconds of distraction that accidents can (and do) occur.

With car safety tech getting so advanced, serious injuries in vehicle-to-vehicle crashes are declining. I think it's partially due to this sense of security that people use their phones so freely while driving. That, and the entitlement complex Americans seem to have…

BAN ALL PHONE USE BY DRIVERS WHILE IN MOTION, I SAY. THAT GOES FOR "BUSINESS" RELATED CALLS TOO. Again, we lived perfectly fine without it until 20 years ago.

::009::
 

snakebitten

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It's so prevalent today that I can GUARANTEE that on my commute I will make evasive decisions based on my confirmation that someone in front, beside, or behind me is doing it.

34,000 Americans died in vehicles last year. That is deaths. Does not include injured or uninjured in vehicular accidents.

It's a staggering number that we are simply numb to.

Consider we have lost 5281 soldiers in combat since 2001. 13 years of WAR!

That is equivalent to 56 DAYS of vehicular death.

And folks and politics think guns are dangerous. The real threat is the person with a steering wheel in their hand. Be safe out there folks!
 

Philistine

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snakebitten said:
34,000 Americans died in vehicles last year. That is deaths. Does not include injured or uninjured in vehicular accidents.
that is a staggering number, I think our annual death rate on the road is about 1200 Australia wide, if these deaths were caused by any other way, the government would be all over it and changing laws. its funny how they will change a law and say "if this saves one life it will be worth it" maybe car drivers should be made to wear a crash helmet? that would be interesting
 

kmac

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Car drivers wearing a helmet would not prevent some of them from still talking/texting and running over bicycles and motorcyclist....

I still say cars need a signal blocker like casinos have so NO electronic devices work. You want to talk/text/email you have to pull over and shut it off. If you want to run some sort of business while you commute....take PUBLIC transportation and type away.

People often seem to forget that driving is NOT a right !!! It is a privilege. It is NOT an infringement of our right to put limits on that privilege. If they {the government} want to put restrictions on use of devices in a car, including total blocking, that is THEIR RIGHT to do so. I support that. Seems simple to me.
 

Checkswrecks

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kmac said:
Car drivers wearing a helmet would not prevent some of them from still talking/texting and running over bicycles and motorcyclist....

I still say cars need a signal blocker like casinos have so NO electronic devices work. You want to talk/text/email you have to pull over and shut it off. If you want to run some sort of business while you commute....take PUBLIC transportation and type away.

People often seem to forget that driving is NOT a right !!! It is a privilege. It is NOT an infringement of our right to put limits on that privilege. If they {the government} want to put restrictions on use of devices in a car, including total blocking, that is THEIR RIGHT to do so. I support that. Seems simple to me.

::026::


BUT


I actually tried lobbying to make it happen and you will be floored by the response. I was told that restrictions may be placed on drivers, but blocking signals would affect the rights of the PASSENGERS. Give me a break!


And remember that this could be done with a software change. All it would take is for the cell towers to not talk to phones moving at more than a pre-set speed, unless on a list of phones not to block (fire/EMS/police/etc).
 

BAILEY

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OldRider said:
Bailey, I've got a couple of friends that are LEO and they say the problem they have writing tickets for texting is proving that the driver was texting. Have you had any problems with that?
Most of the people I have gotten are honest and admit to the charge. For the offenders who want to play games then I have a back up plan. I will write them under the careless operation of a motor vehicle statue. Which basically states if you fail to operate your vehicle in a safe and prudent manner then you are operating carelessly. I would say looking down at a phone for a city block or two would fall under that. I haven't lost one yet.
 

creggur

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Being on the bike provides an interesting perspective down into cars, and it's downright scary how many people are texting/surfing etc. while driving....Downright SCARY!
 

Philistine

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kmac said:
Anyone see this, not a phone (or so he says} but distracted

https://screen.yahoo.com/popular/distracted-semi-drivers-crash-caught-003037392.html
Good point, we focus on cell phones, but the truth is there is too many things in a car to distract us these days, touch screen controls is a good example
 

Maxified

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EricV said:
Laws are passed because people are unwilling to follow common sense. I.E. they are stupid.

Problem is, stupid people are... well, stupid.
::008:: You are correct, sir!

Trouble is, once in a while I find myself in that group. I try to employ the super power of common sense but once in a while I do not. Fortunately, I have a little woman I've been with for a few decades who is not hesitant to let me know when I have meandered to the bozo zone.

A few elks back I was in the lane next to a woman in an Excursion who was yammering on her mobile phone which is bad enough as we were zipping down a multi-lane urban highway at 65+. She was also looking in the rear view mirror putting on her face repair material. Guess she uses her knees while multi-tasking. Oh, yeah, she was the only person in the gas guzzler.
 

Philistine

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Having spent a bit of time on a GSXR 1100 I understand why these blokes think the tenere is slow, it is compared to a big sports bike. But why cant they understand what this bike has been made for, the ST has more than enough power for any adventure bike. I think it just shows that they are reporting on a product they have no understanding of, its a bit like sending a F1 driver to do a report on a the new 4X4 diesel Toyota ::)
 

BarkSlayer

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I don't do it under any circumstances. Unless you're on the interstate, it only takes a second to find a safe place to pull over and deal with an urgent text. It's just not worth the risk.
 

Dogdaze

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I picked up a newer version of our car yesterday, and it has the same old BT as before and it can read any incoming messages via text so that I don't have to view the screen, but now it allows me to respond to a text with a text via voice control. Now all I need is someone to text me so I can text back ::010::
Why oh why cant I have friends too mummy???
 

Checkswrecks

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Hands-free devices have been mandated by many States and cities, which the car makers are so proud to use in marketing.
Unfortunately, the hands-free devices are making no difference to the amount of distracted driving in the accident and fatality rates. People can't multi-task as well as they give themselves credit for and focus on either the technology or the person on the other end of the call/text.


http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/accident-rate-the-same-withwithout-hands-free-phones/1592
http://unews.utah.edu/news_releases/talking-to-your-car-is-often-distracting/


There's also now a very well-documented relation between addictions and compulsions to answering cell phones or otherwise using devices to constantly connect with others.
 

Timmeh

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I see people texting all the time on my rides. Typically I used to honk my horn to see if I could get them to pay attention/stop txting.

This typically earns me a finger (I'm number one!!) or in two cases road rage issues (one older guy in a Mercedes followed me to my office and wanted to fight, I shit you not).

I tend to just avoid the douche waffles that I see txting or dicking around with their phones.

And the saying "Your right to swing your fist ends at the tip of my nose" certainly applies in this situation. I'd love to see the no txting laws get enforced in Georgia.

FWIW I'm a conservative leaning Libertarian.
 

2112

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Sadly, there are too many muppets on the road and not enough police to catch them. I see some dreadful, inattentive driving and it's usually someone doing anything but actually drive. I've seen people shaving (electric not wet, but there's time...), make up and hair, breakfast (looked like Coco pops), map and newspaper reading, playing card games on a laptop (Polish registered HGV) and even a kid on a 50cc scooter texting. Add in the odd drink/drug driver and it keeps you on yer toes ! Ride safe out there ::008::
 
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