I’d like to see a law banning drivers from playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey while driving. Seriously, there is no need for another law, it’s called reckless driving. This is a slippery slope we go down when we cede yet more power to our representatives in the name of our own safety (because we can’t be trusted to our own devices).
Interesting that 80% would support such a law, yet it seems like about 80% of drivers use a cell phone while driving. It must be the “this doesn’t apply to me” metality. If you have ever watched the drivers passing by you, you will notice that just about every car that passes by, has a driver talking on a cell phone.
NHTSA surveyed 4,010 drivers in spring 2002 and asked about a variety of potentially distracting behaviors (Royal, 2003, p. 1). The vast majority reported these behaviors on some trips, often on many or most trips. The most common were:
81 percent talked to other passengers on some trips;
66 percent changed radio stations or looked for CDs or tapes;
49 percent ate or drank;
26 percent took incoming calls on a cell phone and 25 percent made outgoing calls;
24 percent dealt with children in the back seat;
12 percent read a map or directions.
About one-quarter of the drivers reported that they had been involved in a crash in the previous five years in which some vehicle was damaged. About 14 percent attributed their crash to distracted driving (Royal, 2003, p. 28). Similarly, about 10 percent of the drivers in a sample of crashes involving at least one towed vehicle in 1995-1999 were classified by NHTSA investigators as having been distracted (Stutts et al., 2001, p. 3). The true role of distraction in crashes probably is higher because pre-crash distractions often leave no evidence for law enforcement officers or crash investigators to observe. A recent study that monitored 100 drivers for a year, using specialized instrumentation, reported that nearly 80 percent of the 72 recorded crashes and 65 percent of the 761 near-crashes involved driver inattention just prior to the incident (VTTI, 2005).
In crashes where distractions were reported, the most common distractions were similar in NHTSA’s driver survey and crash investigations.
37 percent in survey, 29 percent in crashes: something outside the car – street sign, another driver;
19 percent in survey, 11 percent in crashes: other passengers, including children;
16 percent in survey, 21 percent in crashes: object or controls inside the car;
2 percent in survey, 2 percent in crashes: dialing or using a cell phone.
None of the leading distractions is easily addressed.
All I can say is that once a week I have a close call or see a close call from some moron texting someone.
We just need to enforce the laws on the books and not waste anymore time and money makign new ones to clarify our intent which is to drive responsibly.
I do a lot of texting while driving and support the ban . . . that blinking red light on my BB is a siren’s song . . . the text block technology is a good idea. The states should take care of it though, a nationwide ban would be just another federal intrusion on state authority.
We don’t need a ban…. I need a turret on top of my entry level compact sedan (obviously I must be on the company side!) Ha, ha.
Cell phones aren’t the problem… morons that don’t know how to drive are!
Although I will admit way too many of the morons are ALSO on the cell phone… important life-altering conversations I am sure… (“like, we were like in line at like Ghost Bar, you know, and like these other girls totally cut in line, and like it was soooo terrrrible”) or (“oh my gooddd, girl… this like dirty poor person like totally touched the side of my BMW!!! grooosssss!”) or maybe (“hey, honey………….good……….driving home…….oh no, it’s not too bad………so what do you want to do for dinner?……….again?……….ugh, I am so tired……where did you go?……….ok……….uh-huh………yeah……….uh-huh……….love you, bye”)
Thank you, Thank you, I’m here every Tuesday afternoon
Some ridiculous comments here…as always when this appears. Banning pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey? Well, no-one does that, do they? So it doesn’t need to be banned. No matter what other statistics you try and spout, the fact is that so many people do this, it needs to be banned.
I find it astounding that people (preumably) in the insurance industry would try and argue that this isn’t a good idea, when we know it causes accidents, and we know (from the survey results reported here) that the majority of people would stop doing it if it became illegal.
And as for quoting 2002 and 2005 surveys as evidence of cellphones not being an issue – that was 4 and 7 yrs ago. Of course they weren’t a big problem back then! Also, I wouldn’t expect drivers who knew they were being monitored for a study to use their cellphones while driving, but I would expect them to still talk to passengers, look at things outside the car, etc.
How about a bit of realism? Too many people use their cellphones while driving. The majority say they would stop if it was illegal. So let’s make it illegal and stop all the complaining about the nanny state and concentrate on some real issues.
I agree that there should NOT be a ban put in place…one more thing that the police do not enforce. Most states have laws against distracted driving and don’t enforce them. Maybe if the slant was towards law enforcement doing their job, some of this behavior could be stopped and the states/cities/counties would increase their revenue at the same time.
Stop bashing the cops for “not doing their jobs”. There aren’t enough cops to pull over every idiot who’s on the phone. It’s time people focused on the root cause of the problem: stupidity, lack of discipline,and disregard for the safety of others. The only way to get the attention of these morons is to have a consequence that “ups the anty”. How about this? You get caught driving and using the phone you get a $1,000 fine and license suspension for 90-days. That will get people’s attention. They just may think twice before engaging in a non-critical call.
Just another right being taken away from me!!! Add it to the ever increasing list which includes my right to not wear a seatbelt and my right to not wear a helmet. It’s my health, gosh darnit (nevermind the health of those unfortunate enough to be on the roads with me that day) and if I want to risk it, it’s my darn right to do so!!!
First time commenter here. Here goes. No matter what laws are made, people are going to break them. People will continue to use their phone while driving regardless. There is no reason for the government to bubblewrap us. Survival of the fittest ladies and gentlemen. If you are dumb enough to use your phone and drive AND get into an accident that is your fate and the world would be a better place with out you! I do/would feel bad for a third party injury, but as I stated earlier- no law is going to prevent it! Sorry for any offense, none intended.
Did you read the whole article? Let me quote a bit of it for you:
“In the new survey, four out of five respondents (82 percent) who admit to using their cell phones while driving say their behavior would change if cell phone usage were restricted by law”
So yes, while some people will break the laws, I reckon that 82% of people saying they would no longer use a cell while driving if it was illegal is a pretty good reason to bring in a law.
I’d like to see a law banning drivers from playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey while driving. Seriously, there is no need for another law, it’s called reckless driving. This is a slippery slope we go down when we cede yet more power to our representatives in the name of our own safety (because we can’t be trusted to our own devices).
Interesting that 80% would support such a law, yet it seems like about 80% of drivers use a cell phone while driving. It must be the “this doesn’t apply to me” metality. If you have ever watched the drivers passing by you, you will notice that just about every car that passes by, has a driver talking on a cell phone.
NHTSA surveyed 4,010 drivers in spring 2002 and asked about a variety of potentially distracting behaviors (Royal, 2003, p. 1). The vast majority reported these behaviors on some trips, often on many or most trips. The most common were:
81 percent talked to other passengers on some trips;
66 percent changed radio stations or looked for CDs or tapes;
49 percent ate or drank;
26 percent took incoming calls on a cell phone and 25 percent made outgoing calls;
24 percent dealt with children in the back seat;
12 percent read a map or directions.
About one-quarter of the drivers reported that they had been involved in a crash in the previous five years in which some vehicle was damaged. About 14 percent attributed their crash to distracted driving (Royal, 2003, p. 28). Similarly, about 10 percent of the drivers in a sample of crashes involving at least one towed vehicle in 1995-1999 were classified by NHTSA investigators as having been distracted (Stutts et al., 2001, p. 3). The true role of distraction in crashes probably is higher because pre-crash distractions often leave no evidence for law enforcement officers or crash investigators to observe. A recent study that monitored 100 drivers for a year, using specialized instrumentation, reported that nearly 80 percent of the 72 recorded crashes and 65 percent of the 761 near-crashes involved driver inattention just prior to the incident (VTTI, 2005).
In crashes where distractions were reported, the most common distractions were similar in NHTSA’s driver survey and crash investigations.
37 percent in survey, 29 percent in crashes: something outside the car – street sign, another driver;
19 percent in survey, 11 percent in crashes: other passengers, including children;
16 percent in survey, 21 percent in crashes: object or controls inside the car;
2 percent in survey, 2 percent in crashes: dialing or using a cell phone.
None of the leading distractions is easily addressed.
Cell phone use falls well down this list.
All I can say is that once a week I have a close call or see a close call from some moron texting someone.
We just need to enforce the laws on the books and not waste anymore time and money makign new ones to clarify our intent which is to drive responsibly.
I do a lot of texting while driving and support the ban . . . that blinking red light on my BB is a siren’s song . . . the text block technology is a good idea. The states should take care of it though, a nationwide ban would be just another federal intrusion on state authority.
We don’t need a ban…. I need a turret on top of my entry level compact sedan (obviously I must be on the company side!) Ha, ha.
Cell phones aren’t the problem… morons that don’t know how to drive are!
Although I will admit way too many of the morons are ALSO on the cell phone… important life-altering conversations I am sure… (“like, we were like in line at like Ghost Bar, you know, and like these other girls totally cut in line, and like it was soooo terrrrible”) or (“oh my gooddd, girl… this like dirty poor person like totally touched the side of my BMW!!! grooosssss!”) or maybe (“hey, honey………….good……….driving home…….oh no, it’s not too bad………so what do you want to do for dinner?……….again?……….ugh, I am so tired……where did you go?……….ok……….uh-huh………yeah……….uh-huh……….love you, bye”)
Thank you, Thank you, I’m here every Tuesday afternoon
Some ridiculous comments here…as always when this appears. Banning pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey? Well, no-one does that, do they? So it doesn’t need to be banned. No matter what other statistics you try and spout, the fact is that so many people do this, it needs to be banned.
I find it astounding that people (preumably) in the insurance industry would try and argue that this isn’t a good idea, when we know it causes accidents, and we know (from the survey results reported here) that the majority of people would stop doing it if it became illegal.
And as for quoting 2002 and 2005 surveys as evidence of cellphones not being an issue – that was 4 and 7 yrs ago. Of course they weren’t a big problem back then! Also, I wouldn’t expect drivers who knew they were being monitored for a study to use their cellphones while driving, but I would expect them to still talk to passengers, look at things outside the car, etc.
How about a bit of realism? Too many people use their cellphones while driving. The majority say they would stop if it was illegal. So let’s make it illegal and stop all the complaining about the nanny state and concentrate on some real issues.
Phew…time to take a breath…
I agree that there should NOT be a ban put in place…one more thing that the police do not enforce. Most states have laws against distracted driving and don’t enforce them. Maybe if the slant was towards law enforcement doing their job, some of this behavior could be stopped and the states/cities/counties would increase their revenue at the same time.
Stop bashing the cops for “not doing their jobs”. There aren’t enough cops to pull over every idiot who’s on the phone. It’s time people focused on the root cause of the problem: stupidity, lack of discipline,and disregard for the safety of others. The only way to get the attention of these morons is to have a consequence that “ups the anty”. How about this? You get caught driving and using the phone you get a $1,000 fine and license suspension for 90-days. That will get people’s attention. They just may think twice before engaging in a non-critical call.
Just another right being taken away from me!!! Add it to the ever increasing list which includes my right to not wear a seatbelt and my right to not wear a helmet. It’s my health, gosh darnit (nevermind the health of those unfortunate enough to be on the roads with me that day) and if I want to risk it, it’s my darn right to do so!!!
First time commenter here. Here goes. No matter what laws are made, people are going to break them. People will continue to use their phone while driving regardless. There is no reason for the government to bubblewrap us. Survival of the fittest ladies and gentlemen. If you are dumb enough to use your phone and drive AND get into an accident that is your fate and the world would be a better place with out you! I do/would feel bad for a third party injury, but as I stated earlier- no law is going to prevent it! Sorry for any offense, none intended.
Did you read the whole article? Let me quote a bit of it for you:
“In the new survey, four out of five respondents (82 percent) who admit to using their cell phones while driving say their behavior would change if cell phone usage were restricted by law”
So yes, while some people will break the laws, I reckon that 82% of people saying they would no longer use a cell while driving if it was illegal is a pretty good reason to bring in a law.