80% percent of all rear end collisions (the most frequent vehicle accident) are caused by driver inattention, following too closely, external distraction (talking on cell phones, shaving, applying makeup, fiddling with the radio or CD player, kids, texting, etc.) and poor judgement. I doubt if you’ll stop the madness so I got one of these superbumper.com
We have a law prohibiting texting while driving. Yesterday on the way down the freeway I was next to a police car, the officer was not watching the road, he was not typing on the vehicle provided’s communication platform, he was not talking on the radio,,,He had his head down at 60+MPH and was texting with both thumbs on a private cell phone in heavy traffic. What good is it to make laws when the people responsible for enforcing the laws will not obey them?
I’ve wondered why the insurance companies haven’t decided to deny cell phone caused claims like they do racing (should apply to DUIs, too imo). Might make people think twice before talking/texting while driving.
Krystal makes a good point– cell phones are but one of many distractions. We should enforce existing careless and reckless driving laws rather than implement new and unenforceable laws (like the ALERT bill proposed by Rep McCarthy). Further highway safety is an issue to be handled by the states, not the federal government.
agreed, but if you look at rear-end accidents, how many of them are actually following too closely? too many, because they don’t keep a safe driving distance. in most cases, if you do, another driver will move his car into that safety spot. THIS will cause even more accidents. herein lies a problem that can’t be resolved, because most police officers will cite the last car as being at-fault. it’s also hard to prove, unless you happened to have a video going at the time of the incident, or computer sensing equipment. someday it might come to that computer being the black box and identifying all surrounding elements that may have caused the incident.
Any distraction could result in an accident. Cell phone dialing and texting take it to a whole new level. Taking a second to push 1 to 5 for a preset channel on your stereo is not the same as texting entire messages for minutes at a time. Dialing that cell require more time. Since there is so little common sense left it seems like laws are needed and they need to be enforced with heavy penalties. There are careless or inattentive driving tickets out there for the changing the radio station or reaching for the dropped “whatever”. Texting and talking on the phone is different. It takes longer, is more distracting and is something easy to not do. Your car did not come with a hand held phone or texting station. You can wait to make that call or write that text. You are purposely putting others at risk because you are knowingly doing something you should not do. You know it is distracting you. You know you are looking down at that phone every few seconds over and over again. It is not just a one second push the radio button it is a minutes long distraction. That is why they need new laws and harsh penalties. It is my opinion that if you don’t agree it is because you text and talk on your hand held phone in the car and don’t want to not be allowed to do it or be help responsible when you hurt someone with your car. Anyone could wait to make a call or text a message. They did not long ago before there were cell phones.
I have one of the worst commutes possible, crossing two State lines with thousands of my fellow single-occupancy vehicles, and it takes 1.5 hours out of my life each way.
Mass transit isn’t an option unless I want to spend even MORE time traveling.
With all that driving, you HAVE to bend a few laws – of nature, of man, of the court system etc. Modern driving is horrid; when traffic opens up, so do the throttles, and down goes the phone and the Sudoku books.
Wudie is right – any open gap doesn’t stay that way for long. The biggest problem I see is that the left lane is frequently jammed up with idiots who don’t understand the premise of a ‘passing lane’.
It isn’t fun (well, maybe its a little fun) to dodge around the fool. It used to be that old men and women were the culprits; nowadays it’s anybody who thinks that they are a reincarnated cork.
Too frequently phones are in play. But users cut across generation and gender. And they cut across lanes too. At least Opie & Anthony are off terrestrial radio, but there are enough extremist radio heads out there who can be just as engaging as a call from the devil.
Manners are just as bad as the implements of torture wielded by The Other Driver. Just remember, if you insist on doing the limit, do it in the right lane.
what the nationwide statistics are for police officer involved accidents related to their typing on their mobile data terminals while driving? I can’t tell you how many times I drive by a cop and see them with their head down looking at the laptop mounted in their center console and typing while they are in motion. Nothing against the cops, just a curiosity.
i have often wondered about that, what is the difference in typing on a keyboard for a computer versus a cellphone texting? afterall, it is the same thing. can we give them a ticket for that?!
Gee, does anyone remember driving without having a phone in the car? I mean I am only 40ish and it was not that long ago that there were no cell phones and people were still able to stay intouch with work,family, friends,etc. It just drives me crazy when I see someone on the phone and driving. Also I can’t understand why people are on them when they go on vacation as you are trying to get away from the very thing your using the cell phone for. I just don’t get it.
funny you should say about vacations. i went on a cruise, kids purchased it for us as a late late honeymoon, since we never had one. when we got to the boat, i told my wife to shut her’s off, matter of fact, i left mine in the car. i told her we don’t need any interuptions. funny, how many folks i seen have their’s with them. what happen to peace and quiet!
I find it interesting that whenever the subject of texting while driving comes up people start pointing fingers at authority like the police and saying look they do it too. Now we know who is texting while driving. The police enforce the laws. The console is attached and built in to their car. I for one only see them doing it while parked or stopped behind you running your plates looking for bad guys. Are you looking for bad guys while you text? Are you enforcing the laws? Before cops had computers they had radios so they have always had some way to communicate and check out criminals. You on the other hand have only had cell phones since around 1985 or so (they cost thousands back then). Anyone can admit they are a big distraction if they are being honest. Don’t try to compare yourselves with the police.
Can’t we just start working from home, finally? Telecommuting, video-conferencing, texting, e-mailing, blogging, twittering…….
Think of the money we’d save on gas, the amount of health breathed back into our environment, the lives saved by the extreme reduction in rush hour fatal accidents not to mention extreme reduction in pollutants!
Think of the massive society filled with social disorder we could breed through an entire race of humans who never leave the house other than that monthly death-defying jaunt out to the local all-in-one store for your laptop and cellphone batteries & food.
Think about the oil & gas industry, airline industry and the auto insurance industry going bust! Even fewer people on the roads! YEAH, more lives saved; don’t worry about that little economic thingy!
How fun that could be!!!
Sorry, feeling ironic today.
The pro’s and con’s exist in virtually every area where Uncle steps in and this one is no different.
The sad fact is, distracted drivers kill thousands every year and that number grows every year. Unfortunately, it’s high-time we stem that growing tide.
One can only hold their breath, hope and pray that the suits in DC do it responsibly and reasonably………think I’m turning blue already!
If you had read my post I told you I wasn’t knocking the cops, I was just curious. I also was not comparing myself to a cop. Yes they are paid to enforce the laws and have to use their equipment to do so but you might be surprised to learn that the #1 cause of death among police officers is not gun violence. More officers are killed in traffic accidents each year than any other cause of death.
I work with cops on a daily basis; they aren’t superhuman, they aren’t above the law and they certainly are not immune to making mistakes in operating a motor vehicle while texting, typing, talking or participating in any other distracting task.
“It is my opinion that if you don’t agree it is because you text and talk on your hand held phone in the car and don’t want to not be allowed to do it or be help responsible when you hurt someone with your car.”
1) This is like saying “if you don’t support invasive new powers for the state it is because you are a terrorist” and is completely devoid of sound logic.
2) Cell phone legislation has absolutely nothing to do with liability for bodily injury following a collision.
3) Nothing prevents state police from enforcing current laws on the books. All that is needed is a departmental change where careless driving resulting from cell phone use is targeted for stricter enforcement.
4) How is a cell phone any more or less of a distraction than reading a book, looking at a map, looking at a GPS, having an animated conversation w/ hand gestures, staring at a pretty woman crossing the street, or reaching for a dropped item on the floor boards? Existing laws address all of these distractions.
5) Pushing a single radio button may not take a lot of focus, but what about scanning radio bands, flipping stations constantly, reaching for/changing CD’s, or using an iPod or other portable music device?
In fact, what if you listen to music on your phone– if you push buttons to do that, is that “texting” and “cell phone use” and illegal, or is it “listening to music” and perfectly OK? Would pushing buttons on an iPod be legal and pushing buttons on a cell phone be illegal? What about built in navigation features in cars– those are buttons on a screen- isn’t that “texting”?
There will always be an incorrigible number of people who are too stupid, careless, irresponsible, and self-indulgent who cause grief for the rest of the population. Laws have no affect on them because there is no SIGNIFICANT CONSEQUENCE. These idiots don’t get it unless you smack them upside the head with a 2×4. Anyone party to an accident involving a cell phone or texting should have their vehicle impounded (at their expense) for 30-days and notification should be send to their insurance company. Pulling a license or issuing a $50 fine has no impact. But this will never happen because nobody has the stones to be the “bad guy” and make people accountable for their bad decisions. Just like DUI’s, this problem is like the weather; everybody talks about it, but nobody can do anything about it. Woe be the moron who hits my car while talking or texting. I don’t call the police.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Although my commute is much shorter than yours, I encounter these same idiots on a daily basis. Just last night, I nearly rearended a woman driving 45mph in a 65mph zone with no headlights on and she was texting the entire time. She swerved into my lane, nearly caused a bad accident, then just went right back to texting as if nothing happened. I looked in my rearview mirror after the fact and the idiot was still in the left lane causing a massive traffic jam…all b/c she had to text or post some mindless babble on that stupid twitter website.
I live in CT by the way. This study is BS. If anything, there are more ppl talking/texting while driving than before the law went into effect. Hell, i see police officers talking on cell phones almost daily.
Couple of things. My thoughts on who is texting and the police was directed at those who say ticket the police too and not those just curious. Second, Matt, you can easily read these posts and see who supports the law and those who text while driving or talk on their hand held phones. The ones who talk on their phones and text start pointing fingers at the police or talk about listening to music or looking at someone crossing the street. Sort of like my kids when pointing out when they do something they know is wrong how other people are doing it to somehow justify it. You point out my comment about if you don’t support it you must be texting. Then you try to say that is like calling someone a terrorist if they don’t support invasive new laws? Really? Quite a stretch there. This is not an invasive law Matt. It is a common sense law designed to help deter accidents and injuries. It does not take much to figure out there are lots of distractions on the road. If you let yourself be distracted and have an accident you were being careless so you get a ticket. Texting is not being careless. It is intentional. We do agree on some things though. I think reading a book or map while driving is the same as texting and should be punished at a higher level too. Pull over and text or read a map. Use common sense. You are driving a vehicle weighing in well over a ton and it can easily kill someone. I am on the side of safety and if people don’t have enough common sense to pay attention and drive then we need laws to penalize them more than just a careless driving ticket which in most states is a minor violation. If nothing else up it to reckless driving if texting. My thoughts were not meant to offend or insist you agree with me they were just my opinion.
80% percent of all rear end collisions (the most frequent vehicle accident) are caused by driver inattention, following too closely, external distraction (talking on cell phones, shaving, applying makeup, fiddling with the radio or CD player, kids, texting, etc.) and poor judgement. I doubt if you’ll stop the madness so I got one of these superbumper.com
We have a law prohibiting texting while driving. Yesterday on the way down the freeway I was next to a police car, the officer was not watching the road, he was not typing on the vehicle provided’s communication platform, he was not talking on the radio,,,He had his head down at 60+MPH and was texting with both thumbs on a private cell phone in heavy traffic. What good is it to make laws when the people responsible for enforcing the laws will not obey them?
WK, my sentiments exactly.
I’ve wondered why the insurance companies haven’t decided to deny cell phone caused claims like they do racing (should apply to DUIs, too imo). Might make people think twice before talking/texting while driving.
Krystal makes a good point– cell phones are but one of many distractions. We should enforce existing careless and reckless driving laws rather than implement new and unenforceable laws (like the ALERT bill proposed by Rep McCarthy). Further highway safety is an issue to be handled by the states, not the federal government.
agreed, but if you look at rear-end accidents, how many of them are actually following too closely? too many, because they don’t keep a safe driving distance. in most cases, if you do, another driver will move his car into that safety spot. THIS will cause even more accidents. herein lies a problem that can’t be resolved, because most police officers will cite the last car as being at-fault. it’s also hard to prove, unless you happened to have a video going at the time of the incident, or computer sensing equipment. someday it might come to that computer being the black box and identifying all surrounding elements that may have caused the incident.
Any distraction could result in an accident. Cell phone dialing and texting take it to a whole new level. Taking a second to push 1 to 5 for a preset channel on your stereo is not the same as texting entire messages for minutes at a time. Dialing that cell require more time. Since there is so little common sense left it seems like laws are needed and they need to be enforced with heavy penalties. There are careless or inattentive driving tickets out there for the changing the radio station or reaching for the dropped “whatever”. Texting and talking on the phone is different. It takes longer, is more distracting and is something easy to not do. Your car did not come with a hand held phone or texting station. You can wait to make that call or write that text. You are purposely putting others at risk because you are knowingly doing something you should not do. You know it is distracting you. You know you are looking down at that phone every few seconds over and over again. It is not just a one second push the radio button it is a minutes long distraction. That is why they need new laws and harsh penalties. It is my opinion that if you don’t agree it is because you text and talk on your hand held phone in the car and don’t want to not be allowed to do it or be help responsible when you hurt someone with your car. Anyone could wait to make a call or text a message. They did not long ago before there were cell phones.
I have one of the worst commutes possible, crossing two State lines with thousands of my fellow single-occupancy vehicles, and it takes 1.5 hours out of my life each way.
Mass transit isn’t an option unless I want to spend even MORE time traveling.
With all that driving, you HAVE to bend a few laws – of nature, of man, of the court system etc. Modern driving is horrid; when traffic opens up, so do the throttles, and down goes the phone and the Sudoku books.
Wudie is right – any open gap doesn’t stay that way for long. The biggest problem I see is that the left lane is frequently jammed up with idiots who don’t understand the premise of a ‘passing lane’.
It isn’t fun (well, maybe its a little fun) to dodge around the fool. It used to be that old men and women were the culprits; nowadays it’s anybody who thinks that they are a reincarnated cork.
Too frequently phones are in play. But users cut across generation and gender. And they cut across lanes too. At least Opie & Anthony are off terrestrial radio, but there are enough extremist radio heads out there who can be just as engaging as a call from the devil.
Manners are just as bad as the implements of torture wielded by The Other Driver. Just remember, if you insist on doing the limit, do it in the right lane.
what the nationwide statistics are for police officer involved accidents related to their typing on their mobile data terminals while driving? I can’t tell you how many times I drive by a cop and see them with their head down looking at the laptop mounted in their center console and typing while they are in motion. Nothing against the cops, just a curiosity.
i have often wondered about that, what is the difference in typing on a keyboard for a computer versus a cellphone texting? afterall, it is the same thing. can we give them a ticket for that?!
Gee, does anyone remember driving without having a phone in the car? I mean I am only 40ish and it was not that long ago that there were no cell phones and people were still able to stay intouch with work,family, friends,etc. It just drives me crazy when I see someone on the phone and driving. Also I can’t understand why people are on them when they go on vacation as you are trying to get away from the very thing your using the cell phone for. I just don’t get it.
funny you should say about vacations. i went on a cruise, kids purchased it for us as a late late honeymoon, since we never had one. when we got to the boat, i told my wife to shut her’s off, matter of fact, i left mine in the car. i told her we don’t need any interuptions. funny, how many folks i seen have their’s with them. what happen to peace and quiet!
I find it interesting that whenever the subject of texting while driving comes up people start pointing fingers at authority like the police and saying look they do it too. Now we know who is texting while driving. The police enforce the laws. The console is attached and built in to their car. I for one only see them doing it while parked or stopped behind you running your plates looking for bad guys. Are you looking for bad guys while you text? Are you enforcing the laws? Before cops had computers they had radios so they have always had some way to communicate and check out criminals. You on the other hand have only had cell phones since around 1985 or so (they cost thousands back then). Anyone can admit they are a big distraction if they are being honest. Don’t try to compare yourselves with the police.
Can’t we just start working from home, finally? Telecommuting, video-conferencing, texting, e-mailing, blogging, twittering…….
Think of the money we’d save on gas, the amount of health breathed back into our environment, the lives saved by the extreme reduction in rush hour fatal accidents not to mention extreme reduction in pollutants!
Think of the massive society filled with social disorder we could breed through an entire race of humans who never leave the house other than that monthly death-defying jaunt out to the local all-in-one store for your laptop and cellphone batteries & food.
Think about the oil & gas industry, airline industry and the auto insurance industry going bust! Even fewer people on the roads! YEAH, more lives saved; don’t worry about that little economic thingy!
How fun that could be!!!
Sorry, feeling ironic today.
The pro’s and con’s exist in virtually every area where Uncle steps in and this one is no different.
The sad fact is, distracted drivers kill thousands every year and that number grows every year. Unfortunately, it’s high-time we stem that growing tide.
One can only hold their breath, hope and pray that the suits in DC do it responsibly and reasonably………think I’m turning blue already!
If you had read my post I told you I wasn’t knocking the cops, I was just curious. I also was not comparing myself to a cop. Yes they are paid to enforce the laws and have to use their equipment to do so but you might be surprised to learn that the #1 cause of death among police officers is not gun violence. More officers are killed in traffic accidents each year than any other cause of death.
I work with cops on a daily basis; they aren’t superhuman, they aren’t above the law and they certainly are not immune to making mistakes in operating a motor vehicle while texting, typing, talking or participating in any other distracting task.
“It is my opinion that if you don’t agree it is because you text and talk on your hand held phone in the car and don’t want to not be allowed to do it or be help responsible when you hurt someone with your car.”
1) This is like saying “if you don’t support invasive new powers for the state it is because you are a terrorist” and is completely devoid of sound logic.
2) Cell phone legislation has absolutely nothing to do with liability for bodily injury following a collision.
3) Nothing prevents state police from enforcing current laws on the books. All that is needed is a departmental change where careless driving resulting from cell phone use is targeted for stricter enforcement.
4) How is a cell phone any more or less of a distraction than reading a book, looking at a map, looking at a GPS, having an animated conversation w/ hand gestures, staring at a pretty woman crossing the street, or reaching for a dropped item on the floor boards? Existing laws address all of these distractions.
5) Pushing a single radio button may not take a lot of focus, but what about scanning radio bands, flipping stations constantly, reaching for/changing CD’s, or using an iPod or other portable music device?
In fact, what if you listen to music on your phone– if you push buttons to do that, is that “texting” and “cell phone use” and illegal, or is it “listening to music” and perfectly OK? Would pushing buttons on an iPod be legal and pushing buttons on a cell phone be illegal? What about built in navigation features in cars– those are buttons on a screen- isn’t that “texting”?
There will always be an incorrigible number of people who are too stupid, careless, irresponsible, and self-indulgent who cause grief for the rest of the population. Laws have no affect on them because there is no SIGNIFICANT CONSEQUENCE. These idiots don’t get it unless you smack them upside the head with a 2×4. Anyone party to an accident involving a cell phone or texting should have their vehicle impounded (at their expense) for 30-days and notification should be send to their insurance company. Pulling a license or issuing a $50 fine has no impact. But this will never happen because nobody has the stones to be the “bad guy” and make people accountable for their bad decisions. Just like DUI’s, this problem is like the weather; everybody talks about it, but nobody can do anything about it. Woe be the moron who hits my car while talking or texting. I don’t call the police.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Although my commute is much shorter than yours, I encounter these same idiots on a daily basis. Just last night, I nearly rearended a woman driving 45mph in a 65mph zone with no headlights on and she was texting the entire time. She swerved into my lane, nearly caused a bad accident, then just went right back to texting as if nothing happened. I looked in my rearview mirror after the fact and the idiot was still in the left lane causing a massive traffic jam…all b/c she had to text or post some mindless babble on that stupid twitter website.
I live in CT by the way. This study is BS. If anything, there are more ppl talking/texting while driving than before the law went into effect. Hell, i see police officers talking on cell phones almost daily.
Couple of things. My thoughts on who is texting and the police was directed at those who say ticket the police too and not those just curious. Second, Matt, you can easily read these posts and see who supports the law and those who text while driving or talk on their hand held phones. The ones who talk on their phones and text start pointing fingers at the police or talk about listening to music or looking at someone crossing the street. Sort of like my kids when pointing out when they do something they know is wrong how other people are doing it to somehow justify it. You point out my comment about if you don’t support it you must be texting. Then you try to say that is like calling someone a terrorist if they don’t support invasive new laws? Really? Quite a stretch there. This is not an invasive law Matt. It is a common sense law designed to help deter accidents and injuries. It does not take much to figure out there are lots of distractions on the road. If you let yourself be distracted and have an accident you were being careless so you get a ticket. Texting is not being careless. It is intentional. We do agree on some things though. I think reading a book or map while driving is the same as texting and should be punished at a higher level too. Pull over and text or read a map. Use common sense. You are driving a vehicle weighing in well over a ton and it can easily kill someone. I am on the side of safety and if people don’t have enough common sense to pay attention and drive then we need laws to penalize them more than just a careless driving ticket which in most states is a minor violation. If nothing else up it to reckless driving if texting. My thoughts were not meant to offend or insist you agree with me they were just my opinion.