Lawmakers to Propose Ban on Driving While Texting

[Whosdaman]

I'm so thankful they are finally bringing this to Florida....it is the worse place for accidents with cell phones involved

I do it as well, but no where near as much as my friends....they scare me when i ride with them :'(

And for the people who think this is stupid....your stupid because when you or a loved one gets killed by a person texting, NOT A DRUNK DRIVER, youll see the good in this....hopefully

Because the rates of getting in an accident while texting is much worse than a drunk driver doing it....and drinking a can of soda or smoking cant compare, you can pay attention to the road and do those easily, try looking down at your phone and text then trying drinking a can of soda. Amazing you can see the road when drinking the soda, unless you made some new way to drink a can of soda looking down?

[Whosdaman]

Originally Posted by boggsie

This is the point I was trying to make with my post earlier in the thread. Targeting only texting is easy, because most boomers and older folks really aren't much into the texting thing, but they do talk on the phone.

My thought is to give the LEO a wider range of distracting behaviors to target ... eating a sandwich, drinking a starbucks, reading a book ... these are all activities that we know we have observed and they should be addressed as well.

Best regards,
-boggsie

California's law is for all cel phone use except bluetooth....that will most likely be the law, not just texting....cause how will an officer beable to tell if your dialing a number or texting? Exactly, the law will be for all use of a cell phone except hands free operations

[psycho_maniac]

on my flip phones i could txt and drive and not look at the phone. when i was done i would glance at it to proof read the message and hit send. now i have the touch pro and its not that hard to txt and drive. i use the slide out keyboard and use one hand. i tried to use the SIP while driving but i was looking it so much and slowing down. i try to get it so it doesnt effect my drivign habits. if i have to txt somebody and my habits will change i wont txt them.

[Atomic2Mod]

I do not text and drive. I do however want my family to know, that I'm not just ignoring them when they try to reach me. I don't even read my texts when I'm driving - like to see who they're from.

So I installed this neat little program some time ago:
SMS Minder http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?p=3138123

I turn it on before I get in the car. Each time I get a text message, it sends out an automatic reply for me.

Mine reads: Auto-reply: I'm driving and will check my SMS later. If urgent, please call me instead.

Then I can use my handsfree and people know right away to call me instead of wondering and waiting, why I'm not answereing their sms.

[shaggylive]

Originally Posted by boggsie

I think that targeting texting as a specific offense is really bad law; just give the LEO the discression to pull over and cite anyone who is driving while seemingly distracted. That seems to make sense and would even help in those cases where intervention is probably a welcome thing - a parent reaching over the seat to get at an out of control child. How many parents would welcome a traffic stop so that the LEO could correct the little one?

I completely agree. we really need to start putting more focus on ENforcing existing laws. what good does banning driving while txting do? at best it's a crackdown for a few years, and besides more cars and phones ect are FINALLY starting to come out with speech recognition. so basically the law would let them look @ your records and say oh, you sent sms @ 12:00 and you got in a crash @ 12:01; Bam more charges, regardless of actual proof that you were not paying attention to the road.

it's kinda like how everything is now the leading cause of preventable death. (smoking) even though cars kill more.
or how pot is bad, and not necessary for medicinal reasons because there are other drugs on the market for stuff? Never mind the fact that thousands of ppl die every year from prescription meds. Heck they recently made Tylenol change thier dosage due to ppl ODing. ever seen anyone OD on pot? I bet they were just napping..

[boggsie]

Originally Posted by Whosdaman

California's law is for all cel phone use except bluetooth....that will most likely be the law, not just texting....cause how will an officer beable to tell if your dialing a number or texting? Exactly, the law will be for all use of a cell phone except hands free operations

That seems to be a step in the right direction, but I still think it is bad law.

Innocent until proven guilty; take the minute statement and texting records to court for the day in question and prove that I was not texting nor was I talking on my cell phone. I don't know what the LEO thinks s/he observed, but I wasn't texting or talking on my cell phone. Based on the evidence presented, the judge wouldn't have much choice but to dismiss the charges.

However, if the legislation writes law that is based on observed behavior as opposed to a particular device, then it's a little more difficult to get a case thrown out in the scenario described above.

Originally Posted by Whosdaman

I'm so thankful they are finally bringing this to Florida....it is the worse place for accidents with cell phones involved

I do it as well, but no where near as much as my friends....they scare me when i ride with them :'(

And for the people who think this is stupid....your stupid because when you or a loved one gets killed by a person texting, NOT A DRUNK DRIVER, youll see the good in this....hopefully

Because the rates of getting in an accident while texting is much worse than a drunk driver doing it....and drinking a can of soda or smoking cant compare, you can pay attention to the road and do those easily, try looking down at your phone and text then trying drinking a can of soda. Amazing you can see the road when drinking the soda, unless you made some new way to drink a can of soda looking down?

According to statistics from the National Insurance Institute, the accident rate does not differ appreciably between drivers engaging in the use of bluetooth hands-free devices and those holding the handset to their ear. I don't necessarily believe the statistics, but it is purportedly recognized as a scientific study.

In the hopes of stating my goal clearly; I believe that any (clearly observable) activity, which could serve to distract a driver, should be something that LEO is permitted to pull over and investigate. I don't want them put in a box that only covers cell phone use, texting, ect.

The point being that I have acquaintances who can tx9 on their cell phone without looking at the keyboard or screen of their phone. They need to see the messages they receive, but they can compose and send without looking at their phones. I can quite easily drink a McDonald's Sweet Tea with a straw and not in any way be distracted by the road. Making either of those activities explicitly illegal is bad law. However, giving the LEO a discretionary ability to stop any driver that appears to be distracted by whatever they are doing behind the wheel is a step in the right direction.

IMHO ...

Best regards,
-boggsie

[boredandtattooed]

i agree with everyone on this its stupid... if you take the overall car fatalities a yr and ban txting nationwide even, i bet it goes down like 1%...

we have laws against drunk driving, not like that stopped the DD fatality rate any...

and whos to say i was txting and i wasnt muting a phone call?? or turning on my BT for my car stereo? or dialing a phone number??

this is so stupid, what about chicks puttin on makeup, people eating, discipling kids....or my personal fav, people who drive with their dogs on their laps-i freakin hate that one..

state are going broke quicker and quicker... just another way to bring in money to the state... look cali is getting so broke, their about to completely legalize pot in order to tax it.... the states just want that money...

headbanging in a car isnt illegal, whos more likely to crash, someone txting, or someone slammin their head around...

this is like the stupid nothing hanging from your rear view mirror stuff, yes in alot of states/counties/cities you can get a ticket for something hanging form your rear view... but yet that gps thats suctioned cupped to your windsheild just below it is A O K lol..

[gTen]

I propose we ban people in cars...999/1000 fatalities are caused by people being inside cars.

But there was an incidence where one person was driving a car while texting I think her boyfriend and ran over him cause nether she or he were looking ahead and were busy texting >.>

[horndoctor]

I think it's a good idea!

[Link9228]

I think this is a great idea. You don't need to text while driving. Just today I saw a teenager around my age nearly rear-end someone who was turning. I looked at him and noticed that he had one hand on the wheel, and his face and other arm were directed at his phone, clearly inputting things on a keypad (i'm guessing he was texting)