Cell phone ban

I believe we should start legislation against knee jerking

 

Actually drunk driving accidents have drastically decreased in my area since LEO started doing something about drunk driving. It used to be a joke but now it has gotten to the point were hardly anyone goes tot he bars anymore for fear they will get stopped.

My best freind and his wife own a steak house and lounge. They are about ready to close the doors due to lack of customers. They are pissed off because the cops are so hard on drinking and driving and it is causing a drastic loss in their business.

http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2007/03/30/how-the-brain-limits-our-ability-to-multitask/

Here is a link to just one study done on the brains ability to multitask.

It is no great secret that accident rates have gone up since the use of cell phones became so popular. Personally, I have seen people litterally drive right off the road while talking on a cell phone and this was during a nice day without a cloud in the sky.

There are getting to be way too many distrations by electronic devises. GPSs are another one. People spend more time looking at it then looking at the road. MY god, I got by for years without a gps in a truck and I still get by just fine without a gps in the truck. I still do it the old school way, plan my route and put it to paper etc, when I get closer to my destination were I am going to need to get into finer detail of my route then I stop and look over my directions to get the fine details down in my brain. But for the most part, I just have to remember certain highways until I get closer to my destination. NOT that freaking hard.

I tried a GPS in the truck, found I was ignoring it 99% of the time that and the glow bugged me at night since it took away from ability to see at night since the glow would close up my pupils. I finally took it down and it bounced around in the truck for awhile. Finally during one of my truck cleaning days, I packed it up and brought it home and it sits in my garage not being used and hasn't been used for more then 2 years.

Like when I took the fam to Columbus Ohio a coupel years ago. Before we left I got mr Rand mcnally out and planed my route. Did not have to refer back to it even once the whole trip. When we got to Columbus I got out the local map I had and looked at it while the fam took a bathroom break. I then proceeded to our destination without the need for one single electronic devise.

Heck, I don't even listen to the radio anymore. I enjoy the quiet actually. I also don't miss much out there either. It is weird all the stuff you see when you don't have a ton of noise in the back ground.

 

Good for you.....

The problem arises when we get legislation shoved down our throats because of people that don't seem to get the fact that everyones not the same.
So you don't like to listen to the radio....I do.
So the glow from your GPS bothers you...Mine doesn't
So some people can't drive and talk at the same time...I can and have for years!
If the ban everything crowd get their way, We'll probably start seeing a rash of driver got so bored he fell asleep accidents.
I listen to audio books a lot because it's a non distracting way of keeping my mind active when I'm going down the road as are some of the phone calls that I make to friends when I start getting a little bored.

There are already laws against distracted driving in many states and they have been enacted primarily because of the texting and driving problem....But of course as always happens, Idiots get ahold of it and it becomes a stupid game of "I can make you do as I want!"
Hands free devices are an excellent way of keeping a driver that's having a conversation more focused on his driving.

As I have stated before...Texting while driving ought to be treated exactly like DUI and in a commercial vehicle I would not be against the loss of your CDL for a year on the first offence!

But even that will not stop some people from doing it.

There is a realistic compromise here as to the use of phones in CMV and I believe that hands free is the best solution to the problem.

You can legislate everything out of existence...But somehow somebody's gonna die somwhere because the guy next to them does something stupid!

 

My sentiments also. A hands free kit is no different than talking to a passenger in the vehicle. The distraction either way is the same.

 

in New Zealand we banned from using cell phones when driving but allowed to talk on cb and other radios wtf ,so tint side windows and all cool, ring who you want no problems

 

I believe California has banned cigs in YOUR truck, a.k.a. office space.

 

Whine, whine, whine. You people are too caught up in your cell phones to see the problems. Handsfree (bluetooth) or not, they are still a problem. I see drivers swearving all over the road all the time. The majority of them have one of them things stuck in their ear or a "trucker" headset on and you can see their jaw moving.

For every 1 person that can actually hold their line and talk on the phone, their are probly a thousand that can't.

Here is an intersting article. http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cell-phone/statistics.html

 

No...They didn't.

But do you see those same drivers when they are not on a cell phone?
They might just be lousy drivers...We have plenty of them out here.
There are so many people that will complain about "governmenet intrusion" into our lives and yet those same people will jump on the band wagon with the government at the drop of a hat when the new intrusion doesn't bother them personally.
You said earliear that the government has no business telling you that you have to wear a helmet on a bike...Why not?
Seat belts...Why not?

Oh yeah....Because they affect you!

The hipocracy in your position here is not unique and is one of the primary the reasons that our country is in the shape it's in!

 

If someone is trying to back their truck into a parking spot while on the phone they need their rear end kicked, not a law. Matter of fact, a law banning cell phones while driving would probably cause more of this as there are no cell phone police in the truck stop.

It probably sounds like I am on the phone 24/7 based on NOT wanting nanny type legislation. However, my phone gets used very little, is about a half step away from a rotary dial, do not text, cannot/will not browse the web. If it rings while I am in town or near heavy traffic it gets ignored nor does it get dialed out.

You cannot legislate stupidity no matter how insane the rules get. For those it just doesn't matter when common sense eludes them redundantly.

 

Ok....you don't like talking on a cell phone while driving. Don't do it. Do you need the government to give you laws in order for you not to do it? Its ppl like you that are just begging for our government to take away all our liberties.