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* You’ve probably seen this already…
A federal safety board called Tuesday for a nationwide ban on the use of cell phones and text messaging devices while driving.
The recommendation is the most far-reaching yet by the National Transportation Safety Board, which in the past 10 years has increasingly sought to limit the use of portable electronic devices — recommending bans for novice drivers, school bus drivers and commercial truckers. Tuesday’s recommendation, if adopted by states, would outlaw non-emergency phone calls and texting by operators of every vehicle on the road.
It would apply to hands-free as well as hand-held devices, but devices installed in the vehicle by the manufacturer would be allowed, the NTSB said. […]
At any given daylight moment, some 13.5 million drivers are on hand-held phones, according to a study released last week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Some 3,092 roadway fatalities last year involved distracted drivers, although the actual number may be far higher, NHTSA said.
* Part of the rationale…
The announcement of the recommended ban followed an NTSB board meeting about the 2010 multi-vehicle highway accident in Gray Summit, Mo., that killed two people and injured 38 after a pickup truck ran into the back of a truck-tractor that had slowed because of a construction zone, officials said.
“The NTSB sees that incident and others as an example of how using cell phones and other personal electronic devices can have deadly consequences,” a spokesman said.
A recent NTSB investigation of the 2010 crash showed that the pickup driver sent and received 11 text messages in the 11 minutes before the accident, including one text received moments before his vehicle struck the truck-tractor.
Illinois already bans mobile phone use in construction zones and school zones. Illinois also bans texting while driving.
* State Farm’s new survey…
In a new survey of nearly 900 motorists, the company found that use of mobile web services has increased dramatically over the last two years.
For drivers 18-29:
* Accessing the internet while on a cell phone while driving increased from 29 percent in 2009 to 43 percent in 2011.
* Reading social media networks while driving increased from 21 percent in 2009 to 37 percent in 2011.
* Updating social networks while driving increased from 20 percent in 2009 to 33 percent in 2011.
* So far, though, banning all mobile phone use while driving appears to be a no-go with the states…
“States aren’t ready to support a total ban yet, but this may start the discussion,” said Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association.
NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman acknowledged the recommendation would be unpopular with many people and that complying would involve changing what has become ingrained behavior for many Americans.
* Some Illinois legislative react…
“I don’t think we need the federal government telling us what we should or shouldn’t do for cellphones,” said state Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria. “It’s not like no one’s been acting on cellphone policy (in Illinois). They have. I think we’re capable of figuring this out ourselves.”
Leitch noted that state lawmakers already have acted to make illegal the practice of text messaging while driving and have separately also banned the use of cellphones by drivers passing through construction zones.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Jehan Gordon said she wanted more time to review the proposal and the detail behind it before deciding whether or not she favored it and pledged to “keep an open mind.”
However, the Peoria Democrat argued that “we’ve become a generation of people who try to multitask at all times . . . sometimes we’re forgetting the basic notion of safety.”
Thoughts?
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:24 pm
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
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Majestic overreach by the NTSB.
Will have to read the report to see what their rationale is.
Comment by Plutocrat03 Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:30 pm
This isn’t much more of an overreach than requiring seat belts and motorcycle helmuts. States can opt out of those if they wish to give up federal funds. I think this is appropriate.
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:33 pm
I don’t think it is overreach by the NTSB, it’s what they do make safety suggestions. It is up to the regulators to do something about it.
At the end of the day does anyone think that most people who drive while talking on a cell phone are just as safe as folks who are not?
It’s worth talking about, no pun intended
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:33 pm
Even while the number of miles driven on the nation’s highways have increased, the raw number of deaths, and the deaths per mile have taken a nosedive and are currently 20% below ten years ago.
Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:35 pm
The research shows it’s up there with drunk driving…I seem to remember getting along fine without chatting on the phone while driving down the road in the car. Just because it’s common and convenient doesn’t mean its a good idea.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:35 pm
That should be helmet, not helmut. Es tut mir leid.
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:35 pm
If I’m a police commander, I’d be upset over the possibility of having to devote my already sparse resources to pull over and ticket cell phone offenders. It’s not like there’s a brown bag for cell phones.
Comment by Dirty Red Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:36 pm
It’s a recommendation, so I don’t think it’s an overreach.
It’s not what laws are put in place, it’s how they’re enforced. If Illinois got tougher with enforcing existing laws and insurance companies charged more for these infractions, you’d see a decline in abuse. Just like you did with DUI enforcement.
Comment by Wensicia Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:41 pm
These phones were originally called car phones and were installed directly in the car. They were made to use while driving. Now, just because every teen and irresponsible driver can buy one, we need a new law? I would rather ban drive throughs like McDonalds, eating is a bigger distraction than talking. Heck, CB radios have been around forever. Over and out, good buddy.
Comment by PPHS Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:42 pm
Folk need to take a step back and consider the marginal differences between a ban on texting while driving and a ban on talking on a cell phone while driving.
The texting ban flew through the legislature because it primarily affected the 16-35 demographic. Now that the 50+ crowd in the legislature is having their habits scrutinized, it’s time for careful consideration of their rights. Typical.
Comment by JN Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:43 pm
Oh why don’t they just ban all driving already and get it over with.
Comment by The Captain Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:43 pm
awesome. I would love to get back to listening to the radio instead of attempting to answer calls as I wander from banned zone to legal zone to banned zone.
Comment by amalia Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:45 pm
Enforcement question. If you get pulled over for violating such a law could they check your recent calls or other logs to see if you had just hung up or when you were on the phone? Where you have been?
Comment by Madame Defarge Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:48 pm
I saw a guy driving the other day, operating the steering wheel with his left hand and holding a newspaper he was reading with his right hand. I’ve witnessed women putting make-up on while they drive. People eat when they drive, light cigarettes, change the radio station or CD. Why are these things not banned?
Comment by Lil' Enchilada Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:50 pm
Enough.
Please stop with the “safety” rhetoric. I beg our legislators, and one powerful Senate Democrat in particular, to please knock it off with bills designed to keep us “safe” on the road. I know State Farm and the rest of the insurance industry shells out a ton of money, but really, enough is enough.
I’m fine with a little bit of risk on the road, whether it be from the changing the radio station, eating a snack or even occasionally talking on the phone. Most of us on the road can handle it, a small minority can’t. We don’t need government to swoop in and save us all from the evil scourge of cell phones on the road.
In the past decade we’ve went from a seatbelt violation being a secondary offense to a primary offense to now, where every single person in the car has to be buckled up. We’ve went from red light cameras, to now school speed zone cameras and probably coming soon to Cook County and Chicago…just plain speed cameras.
Like I said, enough.
Comment by Jimmy87 Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:52 pm
Lots of distracted driving out there. Remember seeing a report a while back where dropped items (CDs, food, drinks) are one of the bigger causes of crashes.
Personally, I’ve seen drivers on the Interstate with a book on their steering wheel. I’ve also seen a clipboard on the steering wheel so the driver could fill out paper reports while blasting along at 70, then toss them over his shoulder into the back seat for filing later.
I’ll admit you need to pay more attention when doing something else at the same time as driving, but very few people concentrate 100% on just driving. Talking on a cell phone doesn’t seem any worse than talking to a passenger in the car. Are we going to ban talking by passengers as a distraction?
One final thought … I haven’t gone and read the report but did they allow for a passenger in the vehicle being the one using the cell? Often when I get a phone call while driving, rather than answer it myself, I’ll hand my phone to my wife to deal with it.
Comment by Retired Non-Union Guy Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:54 pm
If we really want to increase safety, we ought to ban drinking coffee while driving.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:55 pm
Actually, the biggest problem I have with people talking on their cell phones while driving is that they tend to drive too slow. While that drives me crazy, and I would be at fault for rear-ending them, it actually might make them safer since they are going slower. But if they can’t even notice they are putzzing along they are also obviously not driving defensively as we were all taught.
On the other hand, I am typing this while driving and
Comment by Been There Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:56 pm
This morning, I came up to a 4 way stop sign at a crossway I go through everyday. Just happened to notice that 5 of the 8 drivers who turned into the opposite lane next to me were all on cell phones. Two of those were eating something at the same time. No accidents. This ban going to include looking at GPS, talking with passengers, breakfast to go, telling the kids in the back seat to shut up?
Comment by zatoichi Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:56 pm
“The NTSB sees that incident and others as an example of how using cell phones and other personal electronic devices can have deadly consequences,” a spokesman said.
The operative word there is “can”. Using personal electronics while driving can have deadly consequences, but then again, so can many daily activities. There are many other causes of driver distraction as well. Children in the back seat demanding attention, an accident on the side of the road, an animal, ball, child, tree branch in/on the road, pretty Christmas lights, something coming off the vehicle in front, a wasp or bee in the vehicle… pretty much anything. Should we ban all these as well? Maybe we should just ban driving altogether.
Accidents such as the one in Missouri are tragic, but this law (and others like it) would not have prevented it.
Comment by kimsch Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 1:56 pm
Agreed that texting on all roads needs to be banned. I am unsure / indifferent about use of hand held cellphones looking at the plusses (safety, attentiveness) and minuses (causing grief for folks trying to do their job). Provisions MUST be made for bluetooth or voice dialing speakerphones.
Comment by Stones Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:05 pm
~Most of us on the road can handle it, a small minority can’t.~
That’s the same excuse people use for driving intoxicated. They’re fine, it’s the rest of the drunks that give them a bad name.
I walked out in front of a car which had a green light once because I was talking on my phone while crossing a busy intersection. Guess what? I don’t walk and talk on the phone at the same time. It’s dangerous.
Comment by Cheryl44 Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:06 pm
47 — the federal mandate on helmet laws was repealed in 1995, there is no federal penalty for Illinois not having one.
Comment by Todd Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:07 pm
Thanks Todd.
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:07 pm
A nationwide ban would have to be federal law. Would the FBI be enforcing it?
An NTSB recommendation that all states ban it, with enforcement by the states seems like it would be enforceable. I would just hate to see this turn into some sort of silliness where the feds threaten to withold money from states that don’t do what the feds tell them to do
Comment by titan Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:07 pm
Having narrowly missed being creamed by people chatting away on their phone on too many occasions to count, I’m all in favor of entirely banning cell phone use while driving. If your argument is that it shouldn’t be banned because of all the other stupid things people do while driving that would remain legal, fine. How about a general Driving While Distracted offense? I’d be in favor of that too. Maybe instead of outright banning these distractions, causing damage or injury because you hit someone while distracted could be an aggravating circumstance, resulting in much stiffer penalties? I’d be ok with that too.
Comment by TwoFeetThick Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:10 pm
I’m writing this on my smartphone while driving on a state highway. Kidding this time, but it’s been done.
This is not an over-reach. The research data is not even debateable, talking on the phone is a scientifically proven distraction from driving.
Several municipalities in NE IL have followed Chicago’s lead and banned hand-held phone use while driving, if the State wanted make it uniform on all highways that should be the first step the state should take. Despite the evidence, it will be hard to ban cell use while driving completely but I think that the hand-held ban is a good first step.
Comment by siriusly Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:12 pm
A total ban would be easier to enforce than the patchwork quilt of regulations we have now. NTSB clearly is going after Bluetooth and speakerphones as well with this proposal, which is understandable in view of the medically proven fact that people devote a greater share of their attention to whoever they’re on the phone with than to those around them. That leaves too little attention to other road users among many other things, and whatever else you can say about it, NTSB’s recommendation has a strong scientific basis.
Besides, my view is that this ban would be focused on a segment of drivers that’s more irresponsible to start with, and therefore in need of tougher regulation. If you lack the common sense and manners to focus on your driving when at the wheel, that’s a bad sign.
Comment by Angry Chicagoan Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:18 pm
Cincy has made the point, I believe. We can always trot out the specific incidents of horrific vehicle crashes with people injured and killed. However, statistics show that fatal/serious injury vehicle accidents have been steadily going down in the last several years. There was a recent report I saw, didn’t save, that indicated that cell phone use during driving is not as distractive as had been suggested.
The NTSB cannot regulate/force the states to adopt the rules. Can’t be an over-reach. They are opining and we may not agree but states should review and respond as they decide best.
Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:20 pm
Well, I am probably one of the very few people that has actually gotten a ticket for talking on a cell phone while driving. I paid the fine.
One issue is that my smartphone, and almost everyone I know anymore, doubles as a GPS device giving turn-by-turn directions, maps, closest gas station and all that sort of similar information. I use Google Navigation/Maps even when driving to familiar destinations in and around the city b/c of the real-time traffic information that updates constantly and is uncannily accurate in a way the traffic updates and traffic copters on the radio/TV can never duplicate. Ok, enough of a plug for GPS.
Point being, smartphones double as music-players through car hook-ups, as maps, as indications of where gas prices are cheapest, etc.
Is NTSB essentially saying “ban any touching of a smartphone in the car while driving”?
I just see myself saying “Officer, I was not texting, I was looking for the fastest route to XYZ”.
Comment by Peter Snarker Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:22 pm
… sorry for the double-post…
…or saying “Officer, I was just looking for some different road-trip music to listen to. I have 10,000 songs on my phone.”
Comment by Peter Snarker Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:24 pm
I live in a college town. You would not believe how many kids I see texting and driving around town. Would love to see them ticketed (or smacked upside the head) enough times to make them stop.
The “but other things are dangerous, too” argument doesn’t make sense. It’s the same stuff I heard when open-container laws were introduced. It is other people’s safety we worry about, and it’s more important than your convenience.
Comment by Ray del Camino Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:26 pm
I can understand not using a hand held device while driving, if for no other reason than it requires you to take one hand off the wheel. But if talking on a hands-free device is considered a dangerous distraction that should be banned, then logically wouldn’t talking to ANYONE in your car, or listening to or singing along with the radio, be just as dangerous?
Comment by Secret Square Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:28 pm
===then logically wouldn’t talking to ANYONE in your car===
It’s different and anyone who has ever talked on a mobile phone while driving knows it.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:30 pm
Most people who drive while intoxicated don’t crash. They get where they’re going just fine. Of those that do crash, more often than not they don’t kill or seriously injure anyone. Some people are better at driving while impaired than others. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous and stupid.
Comment by TwoFeetThick Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:31 pm
My point is the “phone” is really misnamed at this point. Mobile devices is more accurate - my children dont even think of them as “phones” or even “text messaging” devices.
It’s a newspaper. It’s a bank statement. It’s a phone. It’s email. It’s a map. It’s a recording studio. It’s video games. It’s scrabble… etc. etc. Why are we focused (or are we) on text and phone calls? That’s so 2006.
On the other end of the spectrum, my parents are forever annoyed by “people these days are always on their phones”. Well, sorta kinda Mom and Dad…
… but not really. It just appears that way. People are still reading the news - but just not with a big newspaper. People still do sudoku, people still look at maps, people still listen to music… it just all comes through a device that my parents will forever think of as a “phone”. Ok, I’m done.
Comment by Peter Snarker Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:32 pm
Put a chip in all vehichles that would render a cell phone useless when the car is in motion. Problem solved.
Comment by Dan Shields, Springfield, IL Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:42 pm
Well, if mobile devices are banned from being touched in a moving vehicle, Rand McNally maps and the makers of CD’s and the radio, among others, will be thrilled.
I guess you all are still radio-listeners (satellite or otherwise)? Or you guys still have CD’s? Maybe this is a generational thing.
Comment by Peter Snarker Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:47 pm
Texting while driving is unbelievably reckless.
Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel! The future’s uncertain and the end is always near.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:48 pm
Wordslinger -
I’m probably as deft choosing my music on my portable device as the older generation is at switching between 720AM and 890AM on the ol’ AM dial. Switching music on a device is reckless while switching music on a different device is just standard everyday life? I guess arguing for the younger generation how bout we ban changing radio stations? Keep both hands on the wheel please!
Comment by Peter Snarker Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:52 pm
PS, texting, dude. That’s more than a one-button punch on a fixed dashboard. Most of you crazy kids text with both thumbs, staring at your screen. How do you do that and drive, while watching the road?
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:55 pm
A couple of years ago, the NSTB recommended that states ban driver under 19 from using their cell phones. The General Assembly followed that advice.
A passenger in the car — unlike the person on the other end of the cell phone — can see when traffic issues arise and may even alert the driver to them. That’s why talking to a passenger is not as distracting. IN addition, most Americans frequently drive without passengers but never without cell phones.
Comment by reformer Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:58 pm
Designate one lane that is texting ’safe’ - no hitting the brakes, but all variable speeds allowed - so the rest of the lanes just deal with regular cell-phone use and are therefore safer. Immunity from suit if your accident takes place in the texting lane - everybody in that lane consented to the risk - but punitives allowed if it takes place in the other lanes.
Comment by Alexander Cut The Knot Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 2:59 pm
Researchers at the University of Utah studied talking on a cell phone vs passengers while driving. And its worth noting the cell phone talkers were using hands free devices.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/chatty-driving-phones-vs-passengers/
Comment by Curious Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:00 pm
The research describes the inattention blindness that afflicts drivers while yakking on their phones. The driver’s reaction time is slower than a drunk driver’s at 0.08% BAC.
Comment by reformer Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:00 pm
WS -
Agreed on texting - but if it isnt a complete outright ban on any touching of the device it’s an enforcement nightmare. Let’s say I was texting, I delete the history before officer gets me pulled over.
“I wasnt texting officer, I was listening to Pretty Lights”.
or
“I wasnt texting officer, I was getting directions to the police officer’s fraternal donation site”
I dont see how a partial ban on some device functions and not others works in real life. And once you are banning all functions there are a lot of non-frivolous functionality that disappears that actually adds value and not just banal “whr u at” type communications.
Most devices now are voice-to-text anyway and will only be more so in the future.
Dont take my Siri away!!!!
Comment by Peter Snarker Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:05 pm
Distracted driving is already an offense in most states. We don’t need more laws and the exaggeration of the supposed problems (eg speed cameras) to get more fine money out of the public is very frustrating. Fatalities and injuries are at the losest levels since 1949!!! From the NYTimes this month:
“America’s traffic safety numbers are in for 2010, and they are, with some qualifications, good. Last year, the rates of roadway fatalities and injuries fell to their lowest recorded levels and to their lowest numbers since 1949.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that the updated 2010 fatality and injury data showed that highway deaths fell to 32,885 for the year, the lowest level of annual traffic fatalities in more than six decades.”
Comment by Wait a minute... Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:06 pm
===“I wasnt texting officer, I was getting directions to the police officer’s fraternal donation site”===
If you decide you cannot make a new law because people will lie about breaking said laws, you’d have to get rid of every law on the books. See, for instance: Rod R. Blagojevich.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:07 pm
=Designate one lane that is texting ’safe’ - no hitting the brakes, but all variable speeds allowed - so the rest of the lanes just deal with regular cell-phone use and are therefore safer. Immunity from suit if your accident takes place in the texting lane - everybody in that lane consented to the risk - but punitives allowed if it takes place in the other lanes.=
You would actually choose to drive in that lane? You are one brave dude. And that would be mighty expensive, what with all the concrete barriers that would need to be installed to keep all those idiots from swerving into the non-texting lanes.
Comment by TwoFeetThick Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:09 pm
Rich - Good point, I definitely agree with that.
I’m just being selfish in that I want my music collection available to me when I drive and my GPS. I fear a total ban on all electronic device touching b/c of enforcement problems for LE and courts.
Comment by Peter Snarker Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:15 pm
Imagine, sitting at a red light and waiting and waiting and not having to honk at the car ahead of you for not moving because the driver is on a cellphone. I like the ban idea.
Comment by OBSERVER NO. 12 Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:29 pm
At least I admit to being distracted by the shiny little box, Jimmy.
Comment by Cheryl44 Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:39 pm
Driving is a priviledge, not a right. Instead of seeing this as an infringement on your individual rights, see it as the mother who started MADD did. How would you feel if a loved one were killed by someone using a cell phone? Government has a duty to protect citizens. Thousands are dying due to distracted driving. NTSB is trying to do something about the carnage.
Comment by Sir Reel Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:48 pm
One thing you’d have to admit, many people are so addicted to these devices they can hardly stand to put them down for even five minutes. It’s not just young people, I have co-workers who look at their phones every other minute and we work in a public school.
This is a real problem, I don’t want to get hit by drivers distracted by their devices; I’ve managed some dexterous driving moves to avoid cell phone users. Stand on a busy street sometime and watch traffic go by. What’s the percentage of drivers with phones pressed to their ears or drawing eyesight away from the street?
Comment by Wensicia Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 3:59 pm
Cincy & Dupage Dan-
You both cite the reduction in fatalities/serious injuries over time as a reason why this ban is an overreach. Could it be that that reduction is due to better safety devices in cars? Have actual collisions decreased?
Comment by Montrose Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 4:11 pm
Montrose,
I did not make an editorial comment, only cited the statistics. But since you asked, driving a one ton vehicle at 60 miles an hour is an inherently dangerous activity and can never be made completely safe. We then can ask at what cost any incremental increase in safety is there for any change. That cost must include a number of attributes more than monetary, there are also other costs, some as abstract as freedom.
I would contend that well intentioned suggestions, like this one from the NTSB provide marginal benefits for their cost. Sufficient laws exist already to cover distracted driving, and suggestions have been made by others above about insurance and law enforcement that cover the situation without additional laws.
You cannot regulate stupid.
Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 4:23 pm
===You cannot regulate stupid.===
No, but you can penalize it.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 4:34 pm
Trust me on that one.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 4:34 pm
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 4:34 pm:
“Trust me on that one.”
In my mind, I heard a “Bite Me.”
Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 4:54 pm
The NTSB recommendation seems to me to be overkill. I understand the rationale for a ban on texting while driving, but not so much on other uses of a device. If NTSB is reacting to that big wreck, it was caused by a driver who was texting, not talking on the phone. I’m with Cincinnatus on this one, the marginal benefits don’t outweigh the cost of a ban, IMHO.
And although you can penalize stupid, you can’t really regulate it, stupid is as stupid does. Most people can walk and chew gum at the same time, and the few who can’t need to recognize their limitations. I think this principle needs to apply to phone users (not texters) as well.
Comment by cover Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 4:58 pm
A little annoyed with all the phone defenders here. First off, expletive deleted, distracted driving is already an offense in Illinois, it’s just not enforced, so please, put your silly food/makeup/newspaper arguments away.
Second, I got rear-ended by a woman on a cell phone. Before she wised up to her own idiocy, she said to me, quote, “I was talking on my phone, looking straight out the windshield, and didn’t even see you.” Huh? I was in a freaking truck. I’ve also had many near-miss instances with people on phones. Frankly, whenever I see someone driving like an idiot, there’s about an 80% chance they’re on one.
Research, tested and replicated, shows that driving while talking on the phone, whether hands free or not, is the same as driving with a .08 BAC. It’s high time they be banned. I (barely) remember a time when you didn’t have the ability to talk on the phone while driving, but seems to me people did just fine anyway.
Oh, and the “only some people can’t do it” argument? That’s the same retread DUI argument. Problem is, it’s never the offenders killed, is it? It’s always the perps. The guy drinking or texting ends up with a few broken bones while other families are shattered. Now that’s maintaining a good social fabric.
I say ban ‘em. I got no problem with that. If you’re too freaking important to stop, I suggest hiring a driver an
[end rant]
Comment by Thoughts... Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 5:02 pm
I love this idea. Too many distracted drivers, and I am for any law that makes our roads safer.
Remember kids: a red stoplight is not a green light for Facebooking.
Comment by Neva Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 5:05 pm
I agree that this is overkill, but I also agree with those who believe texting and driving don’t mix. There has been at least one real, not statistically probable, fatality, right here in Central IL where a young lady was texting while driving and mowed down a UI grad student riding a bike.
I won’t use a cell in the car without Bluetooth because I’m old school, two hands on the wheel kinda guy.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Dec 14, 11 @ 5:11 pm
Digression alert: in the 1980’s I saw a guy in Springfield driving a pink cab (no passenger at the time) while playing the clarinet. He had sheet music spread out on the steering wheel and was driving with his elbows. At least he wasn’t on the phone.
Comment by Excessively Rabid Thursday, Dec 15, 11 @ 7:20 am