Cell Phones and Driving

I dont believe you can text and drive without it being a distraction. Thats just rediculous. but I do believe you can talk and drive and its no different than talking to someone in your car. my car is set up that I dont have to even touch my phone to talk on it. Its through the speakers and the dialing is by voice command.

I do.
Talk to Text is handy, but not perfect. I don't use a hands free device because those require one to have the ability to hear.
I will pull over if I can, but that isn't always practical.
Figure my text driving ability is about as lousy as the average drivers; considering the requirements to get a drivers licence in this country are about as stringent as the requirements to walk down a sidewalk.

Odd, but it seems ok for law enforcement to have and use dash board cameras, lap tops, cell phones, two way radios, and automatic rifles.... all of which I'm not allowed to have in my car?

I learned a long time ago that laws do not apply to law enforcement officials.

In any event, I think the point here is that yes, texting while driving is dangerous but for people to use this as the ONLY culprit or the MAJOR culprit for accidents is a little narrow minded.

I know there are innocent victims that shouldn't fall to the "natural selection" idiots, but you know what? Accidents can happen even when no one does anything wrong. If you're injured by someone breaking the law, sue them and their insurance for their maximum limits....and then have that other person go to jail for breaking that particular driving law. Here in NY they're using street cameras to look into people's cars and if they see a phone they will mail you a ticket. Fine, you don't know if I'm turning the phone off at a red light, whatever. I don't particularly like the idea of Big Brother looking into my car if I'm not doing anything wrong.

What it boils down to is not so much safety, but the police and municipalities coming up with inventive ways to get more money by seeing what else they can ticket you for.

Again, folks just need to use common sense.

Of course it adds to the problem. Any time that a driver is not 100% focused on what is happening around him or her (which, I would contend, is never), there is the propensity for an accident. But guess what? Even if a driver was 100% focused, an accident could happen. That's why they call them accidents.*

I think that it is a slippery slope and something that cannot be fairly and accurately managed. Many phones can send a text message with a voice command, and a lot of texters do not even need to look at his or her phone while texting. Is that so different than switching discs in a CD player? Peeling a banana?

My point is two-fold. First, people should make empirical arguments based on both facts and logos rather than appealing to emotions. Secondly, a law against using cell phones or texting while driving would do very little to deter people from using cell phones texting while driving. Those laws can be good as they raise state revenue; however, in most cases, the ticket is given out after an accident anyways (per Maryland Department of Transportation).

With that said, I do believe that I can juggle talking on the cell phone, texting, surfing the internet, listening to music, eating, talking, and whatever else I do while driving. The last thing in the world I want while driving is to be in an accident; When I decide to compromise a little safety to do other things, I will take all precautions.

And to answer your private message, it is very easy to play Devil's advocate when someone says, "100% of people who text while drive will kill or maim someone" and "I hope you are prepared to look a family in the eye and tell them why your text was more important than their child's life."
-wtk


*I would have italicized that if the boards recognized HTML coding.

Your unapologetic, selfish demeanor is quite frightening. You think you're so smart and "logically correct" that the odds of having an accident are in your favor, and because of some statistics and percentages that you've googled, you're going to be okay.

Nobody on this board can convince you otherwise. Unfortunately, it takes a hard wake-up call for people like yourself to shrink that ego and remind you that you are imperfect. You can sit here and throw out arguments about the risks of people doing other things that are dangerous while they drive, but one thing I don't understand is why you are willing to take the risks that you do. You seem to see yourself as above imperfection, above the risk, above the dangers, smarter than the average person who texts and gets into an accident as a result of doing so. In other words, you think you have it all figured out and "it won't happen to you."

Keep laughing and turning your nose up at us drama queens. Keep telling us that we are using "woeful" reasoning and that we are being ridiculous. Intellectuals like yourself tend to lack common sense/street smarts. I almost feel sorry for you.

Good luck continuing to be perfect.

I never thought I would have a problem drinking and driving...that was until March 31st 2005 when I got stopped and was arrested for DWI.
That was after years of tempting fate and was lucky at some point I didn`t hurt or kill someone.
Luckily I got to learn my lesson with no harm to anyone else.

I never thought I would have a problem drinking and driving...that was until March 31st 2005 when I got stopped and was arrested for DWI.
That was after years of tempting fate and was lucky at some point I didn`t hurt or kill someone.
Luckily I got to learn my lesson with no harm to anyone else.

Yep.
Thank you.
Finally a reality post instead of a bunch of mean-spirited defensiveness.

Illegal in NJ. And I did get a ticket shortly after the law was passed.
I had gone to a gym to work out before I started my shift at Cub Scout camp. Then I realized I missed a 7:30am fasting blood work appointment.

As I was attempting to call the house without my bluetooth on to say - "hey - head to camp w/o me, I'll meet you there. I'm going to see if I can still do my missed appointment." The state police stopped me. I estimate it was a $130 ticket.

Now, I have a different cell phone w/better speaker phone. So, I leave the phone on my lap and talk.
Texting, if neccessary, I attempt to do while at stop lights or ask one of my kids to text for me.

I have heard drunk drivers use the same reasoning....I have never had and accident drunk.....i drive on back roads...the only accidants ive had i was sober,untill they kill someone and then I guess they cant use those anymore.
When I was living in canyon tx (small small country town) some guy hit a jogger while he was texting killing her.he gave the exact same statement.I was on a country road no ones ever on

I've heard it as well--in a courtroom! The drunk driver who killed my father and nearly killed my brother (who did survive but has life-long impairments) said that he never thought he'd hurt anyone as all of his OTHER drunk driving arrests had not involved other vehicles. And then he hit the lottery when he ran into my family. :mad: :sad: He got 7 years in federal prison for that sort of logic and I can only wish the same to several posters in this thread who advocate that they are somehow better than all the other drivers out there while taking many, many risks. Frankly, we got lucky that this was tried in federal court--otherwise the sentence would have been for 1-2 years and he'd have been out of jail in a matter of months. I couldn't tell you if he carries any guilt about his actions or not, but I sure hope he does.

These addicts and/or people who refuse to drive safely (and yes, I am looking at one person who has flamed this thread to NO END) never contemplate that it's not only their own lives they put at risk.

And whoever the freaking TOOL was that said this is natural selection, go *kitten* yourself. You killing half my family is most certainly NOT 'natural selection'.

I suppose I'm the tool you're referring to, and I'm sorry for what happened to you and your family. I find that drunk driving laws are too lax to begin with but in any event...

The POINT that has been missed is that government can only regulate so many things. There have been accidents that have taken innocent lives since the first guy racing his horse somewhere that ran someone down. My question and problem is when does it stop? When is it enough to say there is personal responsibility? I was run down by an elderly driver who SHOULDN'T have been driving when I was a child. He got a citation. It took me months to recover. There was a law. It didn't protect me. He didn't make the right choice. He should've been punished for it and wasn't. So does this mean I should crusade against all drivers over 55?

Is it wrong to drive while distracted? Absolutely. I'm not saying it isn't. But who defines distraction? Should eating, drinking coffee, changing the radio, having passengers, putting on make up, sneezing...should all those things be regulated as well?

What I'm trying to accomplish is to get people to THINK about the rules that are out there and the necessity to regulate what should be common sense. What I was trying to get people to see is that if you are safely STOPPED and you need to send something fast, there shouldn't be a ticket issued (which has happened plenty here). Of course it's different if you're doing it while you're DRIVING the vehicle!! But people need to also see that there are LOADS AND LOADS of other situations that cause accidents that take lives everyday, but that the government can't and shouldn't regulate every single function and aspect of our lives to the point that we live in a police state.

I apologize that found my choice of words insensitive. I am far from a "tool".

I get nervous when riding a motorcycle and distracted drivers. I have a few close calls of drivers on cell phones drifting into my lane on the highway.

Sadly it takes an accident for some drivers to realize the problem.

Had a few close calls myself. A small distraction between two cars may only result in a fender bender. A small distraction between a car and a bike is more likely to be a little more serious.

I am not prepared to harm another person because I can't wait a few minutes to pull over and call someone or take a call. Honestly, what is so important that a person has to be available 24 hours a day?

Yep, I agree.