Ordinarily I am not for a national US-wide ban of anything, as I do believe that each individual state should make their own laws concerning how they handle things.
But not on this issue.
I’m going to say this flat out: If you text while you drive, you’re an idiot. It is one of the dumbest things you could possibly do behind the wheel of a car.
If you’re caught doing it, my solution would be simple. The officer takes your wireless device, puts it on the ground, smashes it with a crowbar, fines you $500 for being stupid, then tells you to have a nice day and drive safe. And yes, you deserve to have that happen to you if you text while you drive. Better to have your phone smashed and your wallet hurt than kill someone else because while texting you ran a red light and t-boned another car.
If you can believe it, the major wireless carriers more or less oppose a ban of this type. They believe better driver education will solve this problem. Wrong, wrong and wrong again. There is no amount of education that will curb this issue whatsoever. What people will listen to more than anything else are stiff fines.
There is absolutely nobody that could ever convince me that there is ever a "safe" time to text while driving. It should be illegal to do anywhere in the US, period.
Do you see texting while driving where you live?
Don’t you get a really nervous feeling whenever you see anyone doing it, knowing how dumb it is?
What’s your state law(s) concerning wireless device use in a motor vehicle?
Do you think what’s on the books now is fair or not? Does your state even have laws concerning wireless phones in motor vehicles at all?
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Mate… you, David and I all know how bad it is here in Tampa (and Florida in general). If it’s that bad here you can imagine it’s just as bad all over the country.
This article says it all and I couldn’t agree more.
I live in England and it is already against the law to use your phone while driving. I think you can even get fined if your on your phone with the ignition on, even if your not actually moving.
You are only allowed to use hands free while driving.
I winds me up when I see people on their phone while struggling to turn the wheel of their car with the other hand!
I agree that texting while driving is stupid as hell, but I still think it should be a state decision, not national. It is a 10th amendment issue.
I agree. However, I believe the national government will be passing a law to withhold funds from states that don’t meet requirements, just like they did with the drinking age. Drinking age is “state law” mandated by the federal government.
Isn’t it sad that we have to have a law to prohibit such a stupid practice. But there’s no cure for stupidity.
I too agree with David. It is indeed a matter to be handled by each state as it Constitutionally should be. Amendment X – “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
I fear the continual attemts of our federal government to degrade the US Constitution and our civil rights. Heck, a lot of people could care less if the issue doesn’t seem to have anything to do with them personally. Fact, most people will follow than lead. Stupid is as stupid does. We shouldn’t even need to have such laws if people would use their common sense instead of following all the idiots out there who need a law to be made to force them into using their common sense.
This type of shit really gets me going. Sorry, I’ll stop here. Have a great day.
We’re all guilty of it (well, most), crossing that center line just to thumb in that last word. What’s next? No eating while driving? Maybe once you can place timestamps on food and drink… I’m sure in most states it will get banned. I live in MN and expect it will. Which is fine, we’ll just need more speech-to-text apps on our phones for a ‘hands-free’ experience. I guess we’ll see how this all plays out.
Sorry, Rory, I have to strongly disagree with you. Not “all,” or even “most” drivers are guilty of texting while driving. This is a, “Hey everyone else is doing it,” excuse you’ve made to yourself. Comparing it to eating while driving is sadly ridiculous; as grabbing a food item or drink does not take the focus or concentration of trying to manipulate the small buttons or keys of an electronic device. Good drivers know better. Driving texters are prime candidates for the Darwin Award.
More text-to-speech apps? Wouldn’t it make more sense to use a phone to *gasp* call someone? Using some sort of hands-free device, of course.
They can get around the 10th many ways–FCC, commerce regulation, etc.
While driving and you see someone driving oddly, there is always a cell phone to the ear.
Hangup and drive!!
I do agree that it should be handled by states. If all 50 states don’t ban this they should be ashamed. Driving is an act that needs your full attention. Yes I’ve been guilty of talking on the cell but not driving. Texting takes much more of your attention and is dangerous. In the split second your attention is distracted you can rear end a car, hit a pedestrian or t-bone a family of 4 at a stop light. Try explaining to the officer or apologizing to family members of deceased. It’s sad that we have to enact laws to enforce common sense.
Interesting article on CNN.com today about this very subject actually…
“Adults who should know better feel driven to text” -
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/07/31/texting.while.driving/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
Here in Canada, each province also has authority on this. Here in British Columbia there are currently no regs at all, but they are considering bans, which may include mp3 players and GPSs as well.
My perspective is unique because I don’t drive but cycle a lot. You have to be very observant when you are more vulnerable! Drivers using a hand-held phone are a hazard because they tend not to turn their heads, especially to the side where the phone is held. Hands-free users can be spotted because they are usually alone and talking. They are as distracted as hand-held users – they wander, don’t signal and have slow reactions. Then there’s the texting drivers – one hand (maybe) is on the wheel and the eyes are looking down. Even more hazardous because they aren’t looking where they’re going.
However, we have two more hazards as yet unmentioned in this thread – the texting cyclists and pedestrians! I have even seen texting cyclists riding no-hands down hills (and we got some big ones in Vancouver!) in heavy traffic – they gotta be nuts!
And the texting pedestrians … they aren’t aware of anything. On shared pathways, you could ride straight at them (often they have wandered to the center or wrong side of the path) and they don’t even notice that they’re about to be hit!
So when they do get around to legislation, cyclists should be included (they are considered vehicles here so it be trivial to add them). It seems that the bans should cover pedestrians as well, but that might be a little hard to enforce. However, it seems obvious that drivers, cyclists, and peds should all stop moving when using their devices.
It absolutely should be banned, though at the state level. I really don’t understand the holdup. It’s really something that is obvious, yet people still do it. They ban much more trivial things, for crying out load.
Here in NC, it’s only illegal to use a phone while driving if you’re under 18 or driving a school bus.
If bans won’t work, how about the car manufacturers be forced to downgrade cars so that there is no longer power steering or power breaks and manual transmission only….given a car without all these “ease of driving” features, I can bet no one could text or talk at all….hehehe
I’ve been saying this for years (not that anyone ever listens to me) – the automatic transmission has contributed, more than any other development, to traffic congestion. Can you imagine how many current drivers would never drive simply because they couldn’t figure out how to drive a stick? Outlawing the automatic transmission would cut down on congestion, pollution – and as you point out, it would greatly reduce the number of idiots driving around on the phone. One hand on the wheel, one hand on the gearshift – no way to handle the phone.
Here in California there was about 2-3 weeks after the cell phone while driving law was passed that we noticed a bit of a change. Then the cops stopped enforcing it to any degree and it was back to about one in every 4-6 cars (mostly women by the way!). I do not believe in just fines to stop reckless driving (which texting and hands on is!).
Their cars should be impounded for at least a week and if they are caught driving someone else’s car, that car would also be impounded. The vehicles, by the way, should sit in the drive or in front of their home with a Denver Boot on it for the duration! Too many drivers aren’t affected by fines. They just pay them and do it again. Take their car away from them and watch the behavior change!
I’ve talked on the phone while driving, but not often at all, and never any more without an earpiece. I’m all too conscious of my limitations, and realize that I drift back and forth while doing it – especially while dialing. And that’s on a straight stretch of road. I always wait for a traffic light or a straight, relatively empty length of road to do anything that requires my looking at the phone at all.
I can sit at a light and watch the monster SUVs go by, mostly driven by soccer moms (in our yuppie town, at least) talking on the phone with one hand and trying to turn that huge monster with the other. And if I end up behind someone driving erratically, 9 times out of 10 it turns out they’re on the phone. But whenever I talk to someone about how dangerous it is, they usually go on the defensive with claims that they can handle it, it’s not dangerous, they’re always in control – etc. Bull. I see the cars shifting back and forth, driving onto the shoulder or across the center line, and from behind I can clearly see they’re on the phone, dialing the phone, or in the thankfully rare occasion, texting on the phone. If I see them texting, I just pull off the road – I don’t want to be anywhere near someone that dangerous and distracted.
I’ve seen that email that was circulated a year or more ago with the photos of the car (and driver) after ramming into the back of a truck at 70 mph while texting. It was so disturbing I deleted it, but I wish now that I had kept a copy – my son is driving, and my daughter is getting her permit this month. When a person learns to drive is the time when they pick up ost of the driving habits that will stay with them – I want my kids to know from the start that using their phone while driving is a foolish, dangerous thing to do.
I ride a motorcycle daily around the DFW metroplex. Of all the attempts on my life by moronic drivers, 85% – 90% are female, usually less than 35 years of age (or so they appear), including the soccer moms, and have that damn electronic earring stuck to the side of their head. Drivers texting are even worse. I just wish they’d ban all but handsfree use in a vehicle!!!!!!!!
Right…It’s for our own good. The government doesn’t already have enough control over the population…and federalized social control by legislative criminalization has worked so well in the past.
And if the person texting causes an accident in which someone is seriously injured or even killed?
Sorry, bud – it was just a misdemeanor. Guess it sucks to be the guy with a dead family member.
Not all activities in a car require the same level of concentration. I can eat a candy bar while driving while keeping both eyes on the road; I don’t have to look at the candy bar in order to guide it to my mouth and bite off a piece. The same can NOT be said for taking a drink from a soda bottle – tip the bottle up to take a drink, and it is blocking your view of the road. But nobody differentiates between eating and drinking.
Not everything needs to be controlled by legislation – but by the same token, not everything is an equal danger to an innocent bystander. Would you scoff at a law to regulate standards for child safety seats? For measures to detect pollutants and toxins in drinking water? yet you conveniently throw “everything” together into the same boat when it comes to whining about too much government control.
I agree to an extent – there ARE any number of things that should definitely NOT be left to the government to control. Things that spawned the term “nanny state” – things that a typical parent should – and used to – take care of themselves. But things change – not always for the better – and people today enjoy both a greater sense of freedom and a lesser sense of accountability for their actions. Can we have it both ways? Maybe, maybe not. I’m no expert, and I didn’t even sleep in a Holiday Inn last night.
But it doesn’t take an expert to recognize that there are vast differences between things that can, are, and should be controlled by legislation. if I do something stupid that only affects me – no, it shouldn’t be legislated. I should be left to take my lumps and (hopefully) learn from the experience. But if I do something stupid that can realistically affect others negatively? Who am I to infringe on THEIR rights to stay healthy and even alive? yeah, texting on the phone while driving is certainly stupid – but not the same silly, laughable stupid as what you’d see on the show Jackass. For all their recklessness, the things THOSE guys do only affects themselves. You know the disclaimers – closed set, done by experts, don’t try this at home – but in the real world there IS no closed set, things are NOT being done by experts, and things ARE being tried at home. Or on the road. And every single year there are more and more other people on the roads. The same roads where these idiots are driving recklessly while texting.
Make no mistake – texting while driving IS recklessness. I shouldn’t have to point out the difference between Careless driving and Reckless driving – Reckless is being done with intent; Careless is being done unintentionally, yet too often the terminology is academic – you don’t pay attention on the road, it’s not just you that can get hurt or killed.
And anybody who has ever had their car in an accident worse than a mere fender-bender knows, the car is NEVER the same again. the frame may be affected, the alignment may be off permanently – clearly the car was permanently affected by the accident.
It should go without saying that the human body is even more delicate than an automobile.
A person injured in an accident, no matter who caused the accident, is often injured in such a way that the injuries have a permanent affect on their health. Hurt your back? Pay the price for the rest of your life. Just about everybody knows someone with permanent back problems. So it doesn’t even matter if, when a person is injured by a driving texter, the driver’s insurance pays their medical bills. That person will never be the same again. So it’s not just a matter of our “freedoms” being put at risk by a control-hungry government – some things SHOULD be legislated. Because we, as a people, are too stupid to not do what we know we shouldn’t be doing. If we can get away with it, we will do it. And if we don’t see an immediate risk to ourselves, we don’t see any risk at all. But by no means does that mean that the risk isn’t there.
Appropriately enough, this was in the news just a few days ago:
As if people needed another example of why texting while driving is a bad idea, we have yet another example. The Associated Press is reporting about another car accident as a result of texting while driving. What makes this one really bad is the fact that the driver was operating a flat bed truck which already had another car on it. Oh, and I probably didn’t mention that not only was the guy texting on one phone, but he was also talking on another.
As a result of the man’s stupidity he ran into another car resulting in injuries to the 68-year old driver and the 8-year old niece in the car. If that wasn’t enough the truck then sideswiped a house and ended up in an in-ground pool. The 25-year old driver of the truck was charged with reckless driving, talking on a cell phone, and tailgating.
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090731/ap_on_hi_te/us_tow_truck_in_pool (complete story from A.P.)
Is this a reply or a new blog post?
It has 900+ words in it so it must be good.
Well said Don! You very nicely laid out the issue with great clarity.
The University of Utah has done extensive research into this topic and have found using a Cell Phone hands free or otherwise is the singlemost distractive force while driving. http://www.psych.utah.edu/AppliedCognitionLab. I absolutely agree that texting and using any kind of a cell phone while driving should be banned – absolutely. I really like the idea of the police officer being able to smash it and give you the $500 fine. Very nice touch. Two weeks ago I was nearly t-boned by some dummy who couldn’t turn their car with one hand and yak on the cell with the other. Another time I intentionally, while beginning to walk across a very busy street, pretended to jump in front of a person who I could see was on their cell phone. My hands nearly touched the vehicle as I faked a movement in front of the vehicle and the driver – talking on the cell phone never so much as even twitched – I would have been dead. Ban wireless all communication devices from being used by those operating the vehicles – absolutely.
in alaska texting while driving is the same as a dui and it should be.
In Australia it is against the law in every State, to be speaking on a mobile cell phone, unles it is fitted with a hands-free device. Texting is also against the law. However, this does not stop countless people using mobile phones when driving. There have been cases where people have been killed in accidents because somebody was texting while driving. The fines are ridiculously low – around $150 for a first offence and three demerit driving licence points (12 demerit points results in licence cancellation). A hands free kit is inexpensive but few drivers use them. Considering the life threatening potential of using a mobile phone while driving, immediate on the spot total destruction of the phone and SIM card would be appropriate. But, good luck getting that past the legislators. The mobile phone companies would scream blue murder and immediately cease making campaign contributions to the politicalparties on both sides.
Bet you can’t beat this.
A guy on a motor scooter driving in heavy traffic, steering with 1 hand and guess what with the other, hit the nail on the head….texting.
I was driving a 4WD in Perth W.A. and I don’t feel safe, he then reckoned I was the idiot and couldn’t drive when I ‘politely’ told him off.
Its illegal here but it makes no difference..the crowbar is the only solution…education..Ha..you know what they say about pork..you can’t. They wouldn’t even know.
Have a good day all.
Using your phone while driving is wrong period, texting, hands on, hand free.
With the technology today, it seems a relatively simple matter to link GPS to phone movement. If the phone is moving during usage, a warning message is broadcast through the phone during a conversation as a disruption to the conversation or the letters of the text message warning is entered into the persons message. These warning messages repeate at predetermined intervals.
Pull over the phone is not moving and use of the phone can continue with out the annoyance.
It should also be against the law to change radio stations. Or even listen to music in your car. Or have a passenger who is talking to you. All of these things COULD be distractions, but are not for the most of us. Texting while driving? DUMB. Drinking while driving? DUMB. Using a phone with a hands-free device? Dumb for some, and to ban that for all, we should take out the radios, the vanity mirrors, passenger seats (unless you have a mute freind), GPS units (mentioned above), and for that matter, the old-school fold out maps (and we’ve all seen at least one idiot using one while driving). Yes, we have a problem as a society with mobile devices. Yes, something should be done about it. But using a phone without having to hold it with your hand, just talking as the MAJOR distraction? I’ll vote for teenage girls talking with their freinds INSIDE the car as worse.
That list reminded me of another.
Eating a bowl of serial on the steering wheel while on freeway at 100 kph +.
I guess its alright as long as you dont sneeze…which you could add to the list as well.
I suppose you can only hope those doing the right thing outnumber those doing the wrong thing.