Letters to the Editor
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I get pissed about this.
I can spot someone talking on the phone on the highway from 50 yards away. They can't drive in a straight line - constantly having to correct their course and they look almost exactly like a drunk driver. I am already anticipating getting pissed off at people who will defend driving and yacking on this forum.
Face it. When you talk on the phone and drive, you endanger yourself and others. It is pure arrogance.
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Xanax, go take yourself
Or purchase some asshole-offset credits or something.
Salonistas are far too fond of deciding for everyone else what they should do and when they should do it. Keep your hands to yourself, idiots.
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Welcomerist doesn't get it
I couldn't care less if you want to kill yourself, the problem is your bad-as-drunk-driving yakfest is going to kill me and my kid, so forgive me if I want to stop you first.
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@welcomerain
Hope you only kill yourself and not take anyone else with you, putz.
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Talking and driving is bad, but...
We already have laws against running stoplights, swerving across lanes of traffic, blowing through crosswalks, failing to use a turn signal, etc. If those aren't enforced, why add a new law for drivers (and police, once the excitement dies down) to ignore?
I don't use a cell phone while driving but I don't really see what the big deal is, either. Maybe next they'll discover the shocking news that driving around with two kids in the backseat is distracting and annoying, too. We'll all have to put our kids in muzzles and straitjackets before we get on the road, or install soundproof shields between the front and back seats like a New York City taxi.
Smoking while driving is at least as distracting as talking on the phone, and I see people doing that all the time. And eating hamburgers. And listening to the radio. And having conversations with people who are actually sitting next to them. Are you telling me you can't tune out your significant other on the phone for ten seconds (a skill most folks have perfected long before marriage) but a DVD player blaring SpongeBob from the back of your headrest is no bother at all? Come on.
The problem lies in properly enforcing the laws we already have, not in creating new ones.
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I wonder if this happened with the car stereo?
When they first put stereo's into cars, did they have this debate? I know I'm more distracted when I have to select a new audiobook on my ipod than when I'm on the cell phone. Finding and putting cassettes into the deck used to be really distracting. Not to mention changing from eyeglasses to sunglasses or back at dusk. And when I think about the hazards of driving when I'm tired from an intense workout, or hungry, or thinking about a problem at work... I wonder that I make it anywhere alive. Yet I have a very good driving record since I learned to drive defensively and be careful, especially when I'm tired, hot, or distracted.
We need to stop focusing on how dangerous distractions are and start teaching people how to drive safely even if they are distracted - they will be at some time. I was reading recently about a series of accidents caused by a beehive breaking near a freeway and bees distracting drivers. There are tricks. Focus extra carefully when in parking lots, near pedestrians, and near freeway onramps or high traffic areas. Never tailgate. Drive in the middle lane and don't try to pass unless you are completely focused. Don't rush. Being on time isn't worth killing somebody. If you're tired or otherwise distracted, drive slower and more carefully. Don't ever talk on the cell phone or change a radio station or fight with your boyfriend. Wait until you're on a straightaway and the traffic is light and steady. Then, keep it to a minimum. It's not brain surgery.
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Just watch them.
They swerve. They drive too slow. They endanger others. The evidence is visible on every highway.
No other distraction causes such shitty driving.
Get over yourself. No one is impressed. You are only endangering other people - and its OBVIOUS.
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Xanax is right
Xanax said it well. Get off the phone and drive!
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And...
Is your inane conversation REALLY more important than the safety of the people around you?
Seriously. Its pure arrogance.
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Can we please get a grip on reality?
I am so goddamn sick of hearing these debates progress under the assumption that everyone who talks on the phone while driving is engaging in some vapid or unnecessary chatter. Am I the only one who has ever needed to call someone to, I don't know, GET DIRECTIONS? But no, if I'm driving on a one-way street and not sure where someone's apartment is, or if I've taken a wrong turn and quickly need to find out where to go before I'm forced onto a bridge, or if my friends have changed plans and I need to figure out where the new meeting place is, apparently I need to find a place to pull over (something that's far from always being possible in cities) or I'm breaking the law. Sometimes I wonder if the people joining in the chorus to demonize cell-phone driving have ever actually driven a car.
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The ONLY time I had a problem talking-while-driving...
...was just after this asinine law passed here (CA). I was running late and my friend called to see when I'd be arriving, and, remembering the new law, I proceeded to fumble and swerve while I tried to get my phone into "hands-free" mode... shit, man, if I'd just answered normally, the whole thing would have been over in twenty seconds. Instead, I had to fiddle with the damn phone, almost dropping it...
Sorry, Xanax, I second the "go take yourself" comment. I, like some people, CAN safely answer my phone, have a brief verbal exchange of information, and hang up without putting myself or others in undue jeopardy. The problem is with idiots who can't handle a little bit of multitasking (guess the ADD helps a bit after all).
Kafziel, +1. Enforce the existing laws. That's all.
PS-- remember, the new law does NOT apply to texting! WTFF??!
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Fool yourself all you want...
... but I can tell you are talking on the phone by your crappy driving.
You are not special. You are no better driver while talking on the phone than the drunk who says he drives fine when he's drinking.
I can see you. I see how shitty you are driving. There are no exceptions.