There is absolutely zero difference between texting while driving, or changing the radio while driving, or looking for the oreos in the grocery bag while driving, or reading billboards while driving…
I would agree that all are forms of distracted driving but changing the radio with the button on your steering wheel is very different than reading & typing a text/email.
I don’t believe that the stats are correct. I feel they are too low. More than half the cars I see, when seated as a passenger, have a driver holding their phone in hand. It is especially noticeable at night. Idiots going 70 mph down a major highway with their phone in front of their face while driving. Very scary.
it’s unreal the amount of people driving and staring at their phones. It’s not even limited to driving…I live in a college town and drive past the university several times a day. The amount of kids walking around staring at their phones or plugged in to their headphones is unbelievable. I love music as much as the next guy, and probably even more so, but PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS!
It seems like everyday I sit in a left turn lane, arrow turns green, and person ahead of me is looking at phone and doesn’t move. Then the rest of us in line miss the light. Very frustrating.
That’s what the horn is for !!! My mechanic says he is amazed at the number of customers that have had him take out the factory “horn” and put in a HORN. Nothing illegal about it.
My plaintiff attorney friends (yes, I have a few) tell me that, the very first thing they do when retained on an accident claim, is get a copy of the other drivers phone records. 90% of the time, the records show phone use at the same time as the accident. Auto policies should have a phone use exclusion. Just for the record, I absolutely refuse to use my phone while driving. There is nothing so important that it requires phone use while driving. How about a phone scrambler when the motor is running?
Correct me if I’m wrong RRM, but cell phone records would only prove that someone was *talking* on the phone at the time of loss, right? If I’m drafting a text and get in an accident before i send it, that’s not going to show up on the cell records, correct? If I’m reading an article on my web browser, that’s not showing up on the cell records, correct?
The only way to stop cell phone use when driving is for the government to force the implementation of currently existing technology that blocks a cell phone signal while a vehicle is running. The result would force drivers to pull over, stop and turn off the vehicle’s ignition in order to receive or place a call.
Can my wife in the passenger seat use the phone in that scenario, though? I’d kind of prefer her to be able to bury her head in her device instead of turning into a back-seat driver :)
Bob I like when people pull over and are half on the road and half on the shoulder! I have seen women with a cigarette in one hand and a phone in the other, yes, while driving! Sorry not trying to be gender bashing but it’s the truth.
Not excusing the behavior, but the reality is that there is no feasible solution to stop distracted driving, period. We need to accept the fact that we cannot control every potential danger and understand that bad things will happen in our lives. The most we can do is hold those who harm others are held to account.
We need to support enforcement of distracted driving laws with stronger penalties to discourage and eliminate distracted driving. Placing phone-related distracted driving offenses equal to DUI and DWI offenses, and considering them the same should do it.
You can do those things. Just don’t expect the behavior to stop. Why are prisons and traffic courts filled with so many people? They all thought they could get away with it.
Confiscate the phone when giving a ticket for usage while driving & make the guilty party appear before a judge to get it back after a waiting period. . . days. . .weeks. . .months.
Good idea, but police cannot steal someone’s phone, especially since they’re not yet proven guilty. Some format, take their license or suspend it until they complete a Distracted Driving seminar that shows all the horror of texting while driving accidents that have occurred.
Correct. More importantly DWI fatalities have also been declining. Yet, over 10,000 people lost their lives in drunk driving accidents in 2017. With the education and severe legal consequences that have been in place for many years, it should be much, much lower.
My point is that making an action illegal does not stop the behavior. I am not saying we should excuse these behaviors, just don’t expect them to stop.
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I would agree that all are forms of distracted driving but changing the radio with the button on your steering wheel is very different than reading & typing a text/email.
I don’t believe that the stats are correct. I feel they are too low. More than half the cars I see, when seated as a passenger, have a driver holding their phone in hand. It is especially noticeable at night. Idiots going 70 mph down a major highway with their phone in front of their face while driving. Very scary.
it’s unreal the amount of people driving and staring at their phones. It’s not even limited to driving…I live in a college town and drive past the university several times a day. The amount of kids walking around staring at their phones or plugged in to their headphones is unbelievable. I love music as much as the next guy, and probably even more so, but PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS!
rob, that has led to a big rise in pedestrian deaths when they walk right out into traffic never looking up from that instrument. Distracted Walking.
It seems like everyday I sit in a left turn lane, arrow turns green, and person ahead of me is looking at phone and doesn’t move. Then the rest of us in line miss the light. Very frustrating.
That’s what the horn is for !!! My mechanic says he is amazed at the number of customers that have had him take out the factory “horn” and put in a HORN. Nothing illegal about it.
My plaintiff attorney friends (yes, I have a few) tell me that, the very first thing they do when retained on an accident claim, is get a copy of the other drivers phone records. 90% of the time, the records show phone use at the same time as the accident. Auto policies should have a phone use exclusion. Just for the record, I absolutely refuse to use my phone while driving. There is nothing so important that it requires phone use while driving. How about a phone scrambler when the motor is running?
Correct me if I’m wrong RRM, but cell phone records would only prove that someone was *talking* on the phone at the time of loss, right? If I’m drafting a text and get in an accident before i send it, that’s not going to show up on the cell records, correct? If I’m reading an article on my web browser, that’s not showing up on the cell records, correct?
You would be as goofy as could be if you are doing anything on a cell phone while driving your car.
Put your phone away. Be a defensive driver and make it home safe.
The only way to stop cell phone use when driving is for the government to force the implementation of currently existing technology that blocks a cell phone signal while a vehicle is running. The result would force drivers to pull over, stop and turn off the vehicle’s ignition in order to receive or place a call.
Can my wife in the passenger seat use the phone in that scenario, though? I’d kind of prefer her to be able to bury her head in her device instead of turning into a back-seat driver :)
Bob I like when people pull over and are half on the road and half on the shoulder! I have seen women with a cigarette in one hand and a phone in the other, yes, while driving! Sorry not trying to be gender bashing but it’s the truth.
Not excusing the behavior, but the reality is that there is no feasible solution to stop distracted driving, period. We need to accept the fact that we cannot control every potential danger and understand that bad things will happen in our lives. The most we can do is hold those who harm others are held to account.
Let me try that last sentence again:
The most we can do is hold those who harm others are to account.
Ron, wanna try again?
Sure.
The most we can do is hold those who harm others to account.
Better?
We need to support enforcement of distracted driving laws with stronger penalties to discourage and eliminate distracted driving. Placing phone-related distracted driving offenses equal to DUI and DWI offenses, and considering them the same should do it.
You can do those things. Just don’t expect the behavior to stop. Why are prisons and traffic courts filled with so many people? They all thought they could get away with it.
It would interest me to know if the survey divided into groups of gender, age and or type of different positions in a company.
Confiscate the phone when giving a ticket for usage while driving & make the guilty party appear before a judge to get it back after a waiting period. . . days. . .weeks. . .months.
Good idea, but police cannot steal someone’s phone, especially since they’re not yet proven guilty. Some format, take their license or suspend it until they complete a Distracted Driving seminar that shows all the horror of texting while driving accidents that have occurred.
Yeah, cause that approach has stopped drunk driving, excessive speeding, vehicular manslaughter, etc.
They just seize it as “eminent domain” and give the offender some piddly form of compensation! :(
Well, Ron, this article, and several others available on the inter web says DUI arrests have been declining for quite some time:
https://www.usdrugtestcenters.com/drug-test-blog/148/dui-rates-are-they-going-down.html
Decline is due to education, enforcement, Uber/Lyft, etc.
Correct. More importantly DWI fatalities have also been declining. Yet, over 10,000 people lost their lives in drunk driving accidents in 2017. With the education and severe legal consequences that have been in place for many years, it should be much, much lower.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving
My point is that making an action illegal does not stop the behavior. I am not saying we should excuse these behaviors, just don’t expect them to stop.
If you want to see what morons are out there – go to the subreddit r/idiotsincars
The videos of outrageous accidents will make you want a dash cam immediately.