California drivers may not send, write or read messages

[mattbiernat]

California drivers may not send, write or read messages on electronic devices.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me ... 2911.story

my question is how are they going to enforce it? i see two possible answers.
1. not enforce it
2. give everyone a ticket who is holding a cell phone.
option two will be taken by abusive cops. for example i will be typing a number on my cell phone and i will get a ticket for texting by a cop who just wants to meet his ticket quota.

What else are they going to do? Ban using GPS/map quest directions while driving? Ban eating hamburger while driving? Ban scratching my head while driving?

[jdhurst]

Whatever we may think, this issue *is* a problem. Cell phones, Blackberries, text messaging devices et al are on the way to being outlawed when driving in Ontario. It may have already happened - I don't precisely know.

I am reasonably in favour of this. I see people careening around 4 lanes of traffic at 120Km/hour gabbing on a phone and *not* watching what they are doing. Dangerous!

Then, there are other times (rush hour) when we are all stopped or going exceedingly slowly. Is it not reasonable then to use a phone?

Natty problem. ... JDH

[GomJabbar]

I guess that soon there will be "Dragon Naturally Speaking" for cell phones

[Purcy]

Whatever we may think, this issue *is* a problem. Cell phones, Blackberries, text messaging devices et al are on the way to being outlawed when driving in Ontario. It may have already happened - I don't precisely know.

I am reasonably in favour of this. I see people careening around 4 lanes of traffic at 120Km/hour gabbing on a phone and *not* watching what they are doing. Dangerous!

Then, there are other times (rush hour) when we are all stopped or going exceedingly slowly. Is it not reasonable then to use a phone?

I'm not in favor of people doing too much of anything while driving except looking forward with both hands on the wheel. I've seen over the years women putting on full makeup, people with an open newspaper across the steering wheel - looking down reading it, etc. But I agree that the cell phone usage while driving is the most pervasive, and it seems everybody has a cell phone. I personally will answer mine if it rings while driving but immediately put it on speakerphone.

It scares me that a lot of people don't realize the full danger of talking, texting, reading messages - while driving; they are like the drunk person, who feels he/she is still in total control.

[no_man]

Whew! Still driving and shaving, each morning... this multi-task
saves me 21 hours per year.

I know, dangers exist, as I was recently rear-ended by a lady tending to her 3 children.

[Purcy]

Whew! Still driving and shaving, each morning... this multi-task
saves me 21 hours per year.

I know, dangers exist, as I was recently rear-ended by a lady tending to her 3 children.

I think shaving is pretty safe, as long as you don't need to look in the mirror to do it.

[qviri]

1. not enforce it
2. give everyone a ticket who is holding a cell phone.

3. Ticket those who are driving dangerously while their phone is in their hands.

for example i will be typing a number on my cell phone and i will get a ticket for texting by a cop who just wants to meet his ticket quota.

Voice dial. If you're actually driving (as opposed to crawling during a rush hour), you shouldn't be typing anything on your phone. I came entirely too close to rear-ending people while not paying attention for a moment in the past, and that was without an electronic device to distract me.

[Ralf Hutter]

California drivers may not.....



What else are they going to do? Ban using GPS/map quest directions while driving? Ban eating hamburger while driving? Ban scratching my head while driving?

Welcome to the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia, the most shining example of the "Nanny State". For the privilege of the great climate and scenery, this sort of "feel-good" PC BS is what we have to put up with.

[bill bolton]

this sort of "feel-good" PC BS is what we have to put up with.

Basic public safety is "PC BS"?

A motor vehicle is a lethal weapon if not given the operators full attention.

[KristianJ]

Basic public safety is "PC BS"?

A motor vehicle is a lethal weapon if not given the operators full attention.

Exactly right - if one feels the urgency to respond to their text message tone or send one, pull over and do it. Simple, really...

[rkawakami]

Mr. Roadshow at the San Jose Mercury (aka, Murky) News deals with transportation issues, mostly around the South Bay. I'm an occasional contributor to the column but this one wasn't one of mine:

http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_10530986

Read the fourth "Q" and "A"; it's pretty funny but it illustrates how some people think about cell phones and driving.

[jdhurst]

<snip>
Exactly right - if one feels the urgency to respond to their text message tone or send one, pull over and do it. Simple, really...

I keep my Blackberry in its holster, so it has a really nifty feature: I cannot hear it at any speed faster than about 20Km per hour. If I am crawling or stopped, I may (or may not) answer. I am drifting toward never answering while driving. Nothing is that important.
... JDH

[beGi]

California drivers may not send, write or read messages on electronic devices

This is old news for most countries in Europe. I'm surprised that he didn't ban it sooner....

I wouldn't be surprised that in near future ALL comm devices in any form would be banned. Why? Lack of attention. I've read one research that concluded that it is not the problem when one-hand-on-the-wheel-is-missing, but the process of talking itself (via phone) is more than enough to cause accident. They concluded that there is no diference (in terms of attention and consequences) between talking&texting on cellphone (when one hand is on wheel) or when you talk via BT or speaker....

[t20user]

I was driving next to a guy yesterday who had his palms on the top of the steering wheel and his thumbs on the Blackberry. I guess its better than looking down, but he still looked like a mope seconds away from a wreck.

[no_man]

yep, thats right, WIFI built into your vehicle: "Mopar's uconnect web is changing the way American families stay connected while on the road," said Sunil Lahoti, senior manager, Mopar marketing and brand strategy Chrysler, LLC.
laws to contain us? try again.

[Toine]

Here in The Netherlands every use of the mobile phone while driving is prohibited. For a couple of years actually

[ajkula66]

Toine wrote:

Here in The Netherlands every use of the mobile phone while driving is prohibited. For a couple of years actually

As it should be everywhere in my opinion...people drive carelessly and are stressed out and dangerous enough behind the wheel without additional distractions...

[Purcy]

This thread has really brought me to vow never to answer my phone in the car. My DH actually pulls over or into a parking lot if one is near, to answer or make a call.

[Toine]

Since the law changed over here i have an Becker navigation systemen with handsfree builed into it in my car. Works really nice.
(talking to yourself in the car does look weird though),

[mattbiernat]

Voice dial.

can't voice dial all phone numbers. in some circumstances you need to use touchphone. my cell phone might be so cheap that it does not support voice dialing.

[mattbiernat]

en the operators full attention.

Exactly right - if one feels the urgency to respond to their text message tone or send one, pull over and do it. Simple, really...[/quote]
not that easy in california where you have a zillion of cars parked on the road or driving. pulling over can me extra 20 minutes.

[ajkula66]

mattbiernat wrote:

not that easy in california where you have a zillion of cars parked on the road or driving. pulling over can me extra 20 minutes.

If the person calling/texting you has an issue that can't wait for 20 minutes, they shouldn't be calling you, but 911. Seriously.

[mattbiernat]

If the person calling/texting you has an issue that can't wait for 20 minutes, they shouldn't be calling you, but 911. Seriously.

its more like 90 minutes in L.A. traffic, and I love to use those minutes talking on the phone - now i have no choice but to text. last time i checked i was safer driver while talking on the phone and looking ahead of me. now i am not only distracted but also ain't looking at the street. i see now everybody in L.A. is texting. streets are not safer but more dangerous. oh and I got rear ended last month by a person who was texting. i wonder if she was actually talking on the phone and looking at my brake lights whether she would stop or not.

[BeeJayEmm]

its more like 90 minutes in L.A. traffic...

Better 90 minutes on the side of the road than all eternity in a pine box. Not to mention the other poor slob whose only mistake was to drive next to someone who thought that their time was more important than anyone else's life.

[leoblob]

Not sure I see the controversy here. It's dangerous to be on a cell phone when you're driving. I feel it's common sense, but I do believe there's been studies on driver concentration while on a cell phone, and it's not good.

In Chicago it's illegal. If the police see you with a cell phone to your ear you will get a ticket.

I say "good."

I can't tell you how many times I've had another driver blow thru a stop sign or make a turn right in front of me - narrowly missing me - and they're talking on their %&*^$# cell phone. Most of the time, they don't even realize they almost just hit someone.

Your call is not as important as my life.

If your time is so incredibly valuable that you truly really need to talk with someone RIGHT NOW, then pull over, stop your car, and make the call. How did the super-important people of the world possibly survive before the cell phone was invented?

EDIT: And if you're in heavy traffic and can't pull over... tough luck! Your call will have to wait until you can.

[mattbiernat]

Better 90 minutes on the side of the road than all eternity in a pine box.

and

Your call is not as important as my life.

i understand where you guys are coming from... i've seen really ugly and nasty driving from people who talked on their phone (didn't we all?). however i cannot understand how does driving 5 mph on a freeway/street is going to endanger anybody's life?

[ajkula66]

mattbiernat wrote:

however i cannot understand how does driving 5 mph on a freeway/street is going to endanger anybody's life?

I assume that you've never been hit at that speed as a cyclist, biker or pedestrian. Under bad set of circumstances someone can get hurt/killed. And many people unfortunately share your misconception that nothing serious can happen at these speeds.

[beGi]

mattbiernat wrote:

however i cannot understand how does driving 5 mph on a freeway/street is going to endanger anybody's life?

I assume that you've never been hit at that speed as a cyclist, biker or pedestrian. Under bad set of circumstances someone can get hurt/killed. And many people unfortunately share your misconception that nothing serious can happen at these speeds.

This is, unfortunately, true...

[leoblob]

I see the points above regarding the dangers of 5 MPH accidents. Never thought about that...

But even in a car-to-car crash at 5 MPH where there's no injuries of any kind, you can still end up with thousands of dollars of damage to your car.

[bonestonne]

using a phone while driving is like being 80+ years old or having 4 beers in you.

i dunno about all of you, but people at my house drive manual trans, i wouldn't even dream of having my phone on while the car is running.