DWCC: Driving While Communicating on Celphone

[trof]

(a small rant and a couple of what-ifs?)

Yesterday I was approaching the 4 lane expressway on our two-lane county road.
There's a traffic light at the intersection.
Still several blocks away, I saw a car on the xpwy blow through the intersection.
The speed limit is 55, but most do 60-65 or better.

I thought "Gee, with the sun behind the light it actually looks like it was green on my side. Hunh."
As I got closer I saw the light, in fact, change from green to amber to red.
The car had run a red light.
And my first thought was "Bet they were talking on the phone."
OK, no proof. But I just betcha'.

DWCC should be punishable by stiff fines AND community service in all states.

The "what-ifs?":
How hard would it be to have a gadget that would disable your celphone when the engine was running?

And how long before you could buy a little black box that plugs into the cigarette lighter to disable the disabler?
:-(

[porphyrian]

1. I've been almost killed twice by people...

...running lights while talking on cell phones. I also was witness to an accident where someone ran a light because they were on a cell phone. However, there are a whole lot of people who can drive safely while doing more than one thing, including talking on cell phones. Should we outlaw the practice entirely because some people are unable to do so? Should we make it part of the driving test? I don't know the answer, but I'm not a big fan of punishing everyone because of the actions of a few.

[unblock]

4. one possibility is to make it a retroactive, not an a priori crime

i.e., talking on a cell phone while driving would be legal, BUT it would be a major fine if you were on your cell while involved in an accident. perhaps it could automatically turn a mere unsafe maneuver into a "negligent" or "reckless" violation.

on the other hand, i simply don't recognize talking while driving as such a vital need as to outweigh the increased accident risk i face from other people compromising their own driving ability. so i wouldn't mind an outright ban, though i recognize that that's not a popular position, hence the suggestion of extra fines when it's involved in an accident.

[porphyrian]

9. I agree that it's not vital, but neither is a car stereo.

For some, just having the stereo on compromises their ability to drive. It's just that most people can do it most of the time without incident. I'd be much more supportive of your retroactive suggestion.

[unblock]

2. anyone who looks at other drivers knows this

many (though not all!) people drive IMPAIRED when they are also talking on a cell phone.

i can't tell you how many times i've driven behind someone driving 10-15 mph BELOW the speed limit, or drifting out of the lane and making sharp corrections, etc., and said, "bet they're on their cell!"
then i pass them, and sure enough, yak yak yak yak yak.

HOWEVER, there are SOME people, mrs. unblock among them, who can driving quite well while talking on the phone. personally, refuse to talk on my cell phone, not even with a hands-free system.


this is what complicates the issue. alcohol over a certain bal pretty demonstrably impairs EVERYONE. cell phone use depends on your ability to multitask, which varies greatly from one person to the next.

[RB TexLa]

3. People can carry on conversations while driving

Accidents can be caused by someone being destracted by anything, the radio, billboards, the information signs the state wants us to read over the freeway, kids, ipod, radio, you name it. There is no reason to ban people from using phones in cars.

[unblock]

6. this is simply not true.

part of the reason is that the person on the other end of the call can't know that you're approaching a congested area or poorly light curve, etc., combined with the fact that most people can ignore billboards and radios far more readily than other live human beings.

i'm not saying that the "distraction" factor for cell phones rises to the level of warranting a ban; but, i am saying that it is in a different category than the other distractions you list.

[RB TexLa]

10. Which is it?

HOWEVER, there are SOME people, mrs. unblock among them, who can driving quite well while talking on the phone


Can she or can't she?

[unblock]

13. she can, i can't. the key word is "SOME".

[One_Life_To_Give]

5. Drive like your life depends on it

It does!

[unblock]

7. yes indeed, but my life depends on other people's driving as well...

[trof]

8. Bingo.

[trof]

11. On punishing many for the actions of a few:

We used to feel the same way about drinking alcohol and driving.
Now, in most states you're "impaired" if you blow an arbitrary 0.8.

My daily alcohol intake is fairly high. I'll bet I could have a 0.8 level and still pass any driver's test you can come up with. I still don't drink and drive, because the penalty FOR EVERYONE is too high.

In many states you cannot even have an "open container" in the car, even if it's a passenger drinking and the driver has had nothing.

[Gormy Cuss]

14. Too true.

.08 just doesn't incapacitate everyone. It's the law because they can draw a line and say that most people are impaired at that point. It used to be .10 in most states.
There just is no simple way to measure impairment from talking on the phone, or applying makeup, or trying to keep a lid on the kid's antics in the back seat, or any other multi-tasking. I think the movement to ban handheld cell phones is akin to the alcohol laws -- it's an easily identifiable risk so it can be regulated.

[FlaGranny]

18. It's hard to tell when you're

incapacitated. I used to be a relatively heavy drinker in my youth and I felt absolutely nothing from having one or two drinks. I felt completely normal and sober. So, once when I was working nights, I had two drinks before going to work. I felt perfect. I drove to work and sat down in front of my typewriter, stuck on the earphones to transcribe, and couldn't type at all. The two drinks had completely disrupted my fine finger control and without me even being aware I was impaired. That taught me a lesson I never forgot.

[Gormy Cuss]

19. Yes, it is hard to tell.

I'm not advocating that we dump the BAC tests, but not everyone is incapacitated at .08 or even .10 for that matter. Heavy drinkers tend to do better on impairment tests at that level than occasional drinkers. The BAC limit is set based on most people, not all.

What you described is the other half of the coin which is most people don't have a good sense of the effect of alcohol on their bodies unless they are so drunk that they have trouble talking or walking. There in lies the danger of self-regulation.

[sam sarrha]

12. there are indications that it isnt the phone,.. it is the talking

[FlaGranny]

15. No doubt that it's the talking, but

without the cellphone, in many cases, the person wouldn't have anyone to talk to.

At the return counter at Lowe's recently, I was behind a woman who talked on her cellphone the entire time she was there and had to be interrupted by the clerk numerous times to sort out the woman's return. I felt like smacking her in the chops.

Not only is incessant talking a hazard in driving, it is even a hazard in the supermarket aisle.

I have used my cellphone at times in public, but only for a quick message, not to carry on long and distracting conversations. I could never figure out why some people get so addicted to always being in contact with someone else. Maybe it's a fear of being alone. ???

[Joe Fields]

16. Cell phone usage in a car should only be for emergencies...

when the car is not being operated on the road.

[MadHound]

17. There is only one thing that you should be doing behind the wheel

Driving! Paying attention to the road. Not talking on your phone, not applying makeup, not shaving your face, or checking your e-mail. It is just asking for trouble, and study after study proves this, here's the latest<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060421/ap_on_re_us/distracted_driving_13>

Frankly I would love to have a device that would jam every single cell within a 100 yard radius of me when I'm on the road. But then again, the idiot users would have their attention diverted looking at their cell phone in puzzlement, redialing, banging it, etc. And thus their attention would still be on the damn phone.

Frankly I think that the cell phone is one of the most evil inventions to come along.

[tenshi816]

20. Is it legal in the States to drive while

talking on a cellphone?

Just wondering. It's illegal in the UK (unless using a hands-free version), although I see still see people - driving inattentively - doing it every day. Mobile phones have their uses and I like the convenience, but I'll never understand people who are obsessed with being contactable 24/7, safety be damned. I will never, ever answer the phone if I'm driving.

[trof]

21. In some locales it isn't.

Not sure if an entire state has the law yet.

[trof]

22. Another distraction discovery: audio books

I have noticed, while on a road trip, that I lose all track of what's on the audio book when I get in heavy traffic where I have to give my full attention to driving.
Once I get in the clear, I have to rewind to hear what I missed.

This sure tells me that while on the open road, in little or no traffic, some of my concentration has definitely not been on driving.

[ucmike]

23. cell phones aren't the whole problem. bad drivers are...........

cell phone usage amplifies bad driving habits. most of the people doing stupid stuff while talking on their phones aren't that safe to start with and the phone makes it worse. i see lots of cell phone incidents while driving, but i see many more incidents where the person driving is just not a good driver and phones have nothing to do with it.

good drivers may be somewhat compromised while using a phone, but they aren't the problem. i say the problem is that most of the driving instruction in the u.s. these days focuses on passing the test, not actual driver training. as a nation i'd grade us a C- when it comes to being good drivers.