Goverment to disable Cellphone use in cars

LeMansX5 · #1 11-29-2010, 11:17 PM

Government Considers Disabling Cell Phones in Cars : Discovery News

SANguru · #2 11-29-2010, 11:42 PM

stupid...

Naz24 · #3 11-30-2010, 12:47 AM

Big brother is at work! This is definitely a safety issue. What if we need to call 911 or the local police?

Greaaat

JCL · #4 11-30-2010, 01:28 AM

Interesting issue for society to wrestle with.

One one hand, it sounds like a reduction in freedom and personal liberty. People have become used to cell phones, so it won't go down well.

On the other hand, having a cell phone in a car, from a safety standpoint, makes about as much sense as having a dash-mounted liquor dispensor. Sure, you can claim it is for your passengers, or that you only get a drink from it when you are parked, or that you are such a good driver that you can drive better drunk than some can drive sober, or even that if you dying of thirst, it would save you. Those are all parallel reasons people give for having cell phones in cars.

I'm not worried about myself, because I won't have a cell phone in reach while driving. But if there is some way to turn back the clock and take cell phones out of the picture for drivers I would be interested. I just don't know how they will put the genie back in the bottle.

AzNMpower32 · #5 12-01-2010, 11:35 AM

Once again, the government has no business in dictating personal choice, when to use a mobile phone. Although it's not safe to talk on the mobile phone when driving, I don't see why the gov't should stick its nose in and make laws about it. If they're going to prohibit distractions while driving, they should also prohibit eating and drinking. It will "make roads safer" and reduce obesity.

(Similarly, I don't understand why certain states make laws prohibiting handheld mobile devices while driving. I don't talk on the phone when driving but I do occasionally have to pick up a brief phone call on the road. I think I know if I should pull over to continue the conversation.)

motordavid · #6 12-01-2010, 12:08 PM

I doubt it will happen, so put the panic button down...
Even in states that require hands free and/or no texting, it is as prevalent as jay walking in NYC, imo.

The hands free and no texting issue is very hard to enforce; only the stupid or obvious or, unlucky ever get pulled over for it.

I talked on a car phone, from way back in '82, then the larger cell phones...
Do I talk much now? About as often as I change the oil, as I don't need to report in that I'm at Walmart, or on the 17th hole.
Do I think there is a "need" or reason to have cell phones in a car? Sure, but most of the talk is blather, including the "biz" stuff, imo.

Does the average idiot driver, (redundant), drive even worse or less responsibly while chatting up their minutes or texting? Absolfookinlutely.

But, the odds of passing tough laws on this, let alone enforcing them, are about the same bet as me being elected Senator.
GL, mD

Michelle · #7 12-01-2010, 01:18 PM

I'd vote for ya, Senator mD!

motordavid · #8 12-01-2010, 01:21 PM

OT...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michelle

I'd vote for ya, Senator mD!

Thank you, Mich!

Actually, I would like to be King for a couple of years...the populace wouldn't like me/or my ideas, but I would make some draconian changes.
Thanks for you vote, M!

BR, OlUncMtr the benevolent dictator

m5james · #9 12-01-2010, 03:49 PM

I'm all for ticketing people for using cellphones for texting, making calls, etc while driving...unless they're using a BT device. I've got a decent amount of snow here, this idiot in a Dodge Neon pulls out in front of me and then still does 15mph under the speed limit. I passed him, only to look over and see this idiot staring at his screen. I'm not sure what it is in Idaho, but in Washington, it's only a secondary offense to be on the phone while driving, which is a waste of time. Make it a driving infraction, period...holding that thing on the side of your head while doing 60mph -ticket. Looking DOWN at your lap while doing 60mph - ticket.

While I'm nowhere near as hardcore as JCL by saying no cellphone use at all and not even keeping a phone in the car, for my sake I don't let it become a distraction from what I'm doing, making it no worse that someone sitting in the car with me. Mine always sits in a dock custom mounted in the ashtray (similar to iPod style custom kits), I won't refuse to hold my phone onto the side of my head for two reasons...I hate holding this big (but still badass phone) brick of a phone on the side of my head, and because I'm using my phone to stream music to my stereo anyways, making it even more inconvenient to have to pull it from the dock just to answer it. Between construction, real estate, and BMW calls, it'd be near impossible to NOT be on the phone all the time, but there are safer ways of doing it as well.

Spend $20-$100 on a good bluetooth (I have two phones, and my BT can pair up to 5 phones simultaneously) and then people can actually keep both hands on the wheel, nothing blocking their peripheral vision, etc and less excuses for their inattentiveness. I'm literally blown away w/ the idiocy I see of people driving in general, let alone to be holding a phone on the side of their head, looking around, arm flopping and all, while attempting to both see WTF they're doing while holding the phone there, etc vs if they just had a bluetooth and kept their hands free for driving. My BT isn't much larger than my thumb, half the time I forget it's even in my ear and sure as hell doesn't get in the way of my line of sight while driving. Sure, I've had friends who told me I look stupid w/ it in my ear, but it's not nearly as bad as they'll look when they're dumb asses end up in a ditch or rear-ending someone. I've never understood why people are so anti-bluetooth, but to each their own.

In the meantime, if people die from their own ignorance of trying to do too many things at once, oh well....natural selection. It's the people they injure along the way that is upsettings. I didn't feel bad when Steve Irwin died, what did he expect to happen playing w/ dangerous animals?! Some of the people driving have the same thing coming, and they've got no one to blame but themselves.

AzNMpower32 · #10 12-01-2010, 03:56 PM

Yeah, I say we vote for mD for senator.

I don't like the idea of police pulling folks over for every little thing. In VA, seat belts (front passengers) and SMS while driving are secondary offences. No law against handheld mobile phones. Then again, I think some jurisdictions are pulling people anyway and use the "driver must give full attention to driving" clause to write them up.