Driving and texting

[haythem1992]

I still don't believe that some states should consider teanager only no texting laws. My state, georgia, did consider the teenager only law but made it an all ages applicable law, to me teenegers are less experienced and may be worse drivers, but at texting they are miles away from many adults at experience and skill, not even looking at the phone. To me the danger is in both age groups, but i have had more experience swerving away from business people emailing/texting away at their blackberrys while looking at the keys more than teenagers texting in their lap while not looking at what they are typing. Just my experience. Btw texting while driving with my droid is near impossible for me, so I don't do it to protect myself, others, and my lovely dancedroid.

 

[DC4MVP]

I still don't believe that some states should consider teanager only no texting laws. My state, georgia, did consider the teenager only law but made it an all ages applicable law, to me teenegers are less experienced and may be worse drivers, but at texting they are miles away from many adults at experience and skill, not even looking at the phone. To me the danger is in both age groups, but i have had more experience swerving away from business people emailing/texting away at their blackberrys while looking at the keys more than teenagers texting in their lap while not looking at what they are typing. Just my experience. Btw texting while driving with my droid is near impossible for me, so I don't do it to protect myself, others, and my lovely dancedroid.

It shouldn't be just teens. When you're texting, whether your 16, 21, 26, 36, 46, 56, 66 is a major distraction. Doesn't matter how long you've been driving.

And you hear some of these teens saying that they can text without looking at the phone...#1 You still have one hand away from the wheel...not just away but occupied....#2 You're still more focused on hitting the right buttons than the road.

My local televisions station did a study. They had teens drive through a course of cones while focusing on the road and again while texting. Some girl hit 85% of the cones including 3 cardboard figures that pop out at random spots to simulate a person or animal.

Argh I can't stand texting/driving.

 

[bassjason]

I think it's crazy to have a law against texting. Isn't inattentive driving already against the law? It is still perfectly legal to plot your route on your GPS unit while changing lanes at 65 mpg...

 

[DC4MVP]

I think it's crazy to have a law against texting. Isn't inattentive driving already against the law? It is still perfectly legal to plot your route on your GPS unit while changing lanes at 65 mpg...

No, it is not legal to fiddle with your GPS.

MnDOTs definition of inattentive driving:

Inattentive driving is generally the failure to pay proper attention to the road while driving. It includes, among others, talking, eating, putting on make up and attending to children. Using cell phones and other wireless or electronic units are also considered distractions.

 

[jasonppp]

I think it's crazy to have a law against texting. Isn't inattentive driving already against the law? It is still perfectly legal to plot your route on your GPS unit while changing lanes at 65 mpg...

No, it is not legal to fiddle with your GPS.

MnDOTs definition of inattentive driving:

Inattentive driving is generally the failure to pay proper attention to the road while driving. It includes, among others, talking, eating, putting on make up and attending to children. Using cell phones and other wireless or electronic units are also considered distractions.

it is illegal to mess with anything other then the steering wheel and gas and brake in chicago $75.00 fine if you get caught. phones,gps,computer and so on.

but i am a firm believer in what is good for the goose is good for the gander. so laptops and phones need to be removed from cops also they are not above the law. they are just as dangerous as everyone else.

 

[hoosiermama]

I was hit by a driver texting while driving a few weeks ago. All 3 lanes of traffic completely stopped. I was in the middle lane. I saw her coming, and could do nothing...SLAM. She had no clue that all 3 lanes of traffic were stopped.

In 1995, my mother suffered a brain aneurysm. She survived, but was severely compromised. After two months in a coma, and months of therapy, she regained some speech, but suffered from terrible aphasia. Sit in front of her and try to talk to her and it was gibberish. However, if she got on the phone with someone, she could have a fairly normal conversation.

I asked her neurologist (the same doctor who operated on James Brady when Reagan was shot) about it, and he said that when on the phone, the brain blocks out external stimuli. Think about it...how often are you on the phone, but watching a TV show. After the conversation, you usually have no clue what happened on the show. He said that as cell phones became more popular, there would be increased accidents, because people simply blocked out what was around them.

I always remember that conversation, and try not to talk on the phone while driving.

 

[jasonppp]

cellphones was a landmark for technology trumping out the pager. i do use my phone but i have bluetooth and speakerphone and when it comes to texting you can set it to read text to you and i use slideit keyboard i tell it what to type so it is no different then talking on the phone for me. still shouldnt do it but it happens. i am not gonna stop every 5 minutes to text someone

 

[Vulcan1600]

but i am a firm believer in what is good for the goose is good for the gander. so laptops and phones need to be removed from cops also they are not above the law. they are just as dangerous as everyone else.

You are kidding me aren't you? I guess I find this statement outrageous when my son in law is a cop and know how important communications is in his line of work.

 

[jasonppp]

no i am not kidding they have a two way radio cops dont go thru a special driving course ie. drive and play on laptop at same time. the most schooling for drivers and most restrictions is on the semi driver.. and i dont think they need the toys either.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/bizarre/2009/03/cop-tries-to-re.html

http://www.unionleader.com/article....e+Police+cruisers+in+128+crashes+over+2+years

http://news.hjnews.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/article_dcf2d3e2-5962-11df-8fdd-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/04/police_officer_found_at_fault.html

here is just four links about what i am talking about but hey maybe i am the only one that lives outside the box and can see the full picture

your son might be a good cop and good driver but 128 wrecks in two years because of the laptop is statistics to back my point

 

[Abadus]

but i am a firm believer in what is good for the goose is good for the gander. so laptops and phones need to be removed from cops also they are not above the law. they are just as dangerous as everyone else.

You are kidding me aren't you? I guess I find this statement outrageous when my son in law is a cop and know how important communications is in his line of work.

Agreed cops need communication. But if I cannot text while driving a cop should not be on a laptop looking up my license plate while driving. Makes sense.

Texting while driving is stupid. But I agree I am more distracted talking to someone in the car than when I am talking on the phone because when they are in the car there is more of a need to interact, when they are on the phone I sometimes even take the phone down from my ear when I need to pay more attention to what is going on.

What is next? No changing the raido while driving? Hands free only head units.... People can take things too far that is for sure.

[EDIT] and as far as the cell phone causing you to block things out... I call total BS. It depends what you WANT to focus on. My mom calls me I am watching my son I pay more attention to my son than the phone call. My wife calls and I am just watching TV I pay more attention to my wife than the TV. Anyone play MMO's? What happens when you are raiding and someone calls on your cell? It is very hard to talk but I can run a 40 man raid for 4 hours with a headset hands free and have 0 issues. Cell phones are as dangerous as you make them.

 

[jasonppp]

here is my search
police wreck caused from looking at laptop - Google Search

comunication yes but laptop no i have a police scanner i hear all the time they email info. how many cops do you think actually stop to read that email????

public information act all their converstions need to be public what gives them the right to talk on email? anything that needs to be said can be said on the fm radio

the us in general spends billions of dollars a year in comunication ie police radios recievers and repeaters and transmitters take the laptops away

 

[KevinJ]

Gee, I can't even come on here to get away from people talking about texting while driving. Being here in Michigan, that's all we've heard about for days.

The state even has a stupid slogan "Thumbs on the Wheel" and a local TV station is trying to get people to take a pledge to not talk while driving.

But the point has been brought up: the regular citizen can't text, but the cops will still be able to fiddle with their computers and such. Doers any law apply to the police? I'm beginning to doubt it.

In fact, the law is so new (just passed this spring, enacted Thursday) that the police don't even know it yet. How are they supposed to enforce it? A local TV station had an interview with officials/officers from a couple of local jurisdictions (along with State Police) and the answers didn't match from one agency to another.

Case in point: A few people on here said they only text at stop lights. Well, according to some of the officers interviewed, it's okay to do that. But other officers said that it's illegal. A couple of them even said that "if your car is running, even if you are parked in a lot, it's illegal to text." That's the problem. If these officers actually read the wording in the law, they would see that it's okay to text while stopped (parking lot, etc). This is going to be abused like you can't believe - by both drivers and police.

Don't get me wrong - I think it's not cool to text and drive. But the prevailing attitude that we need laws for every little thing bugs me. I guess technology has actually made people stupid. Common sense has been bred out of people for decades.

User nooter99 posted the fines here in Michigan. $100 first offense, $200 for second (no points on your record though). But what he didn't mention is the court costs vary by location. Some places it a little bit extra, but places like Grand Rapids have tacked on heavy costs. Sure, it's $100 for the first offense, but the court costs just for the ticket - even if you just pay it - are an extra $150. Your first offense if caught in the city of Grand Rapids is $250.

 

[KevinJ]

One more thing about Michigan's new law. It's to cut down on "distracted driving."

It has been brought up by many people that it's not just texting that distracts people. Any time your attention is taken from the road you are being distracted. That means the obvious things like fiddling with the radio, kids in the car, eating, shaving (yeah, seen that), etc. But in reality even when you look down at your dashboard gauges you are "distracted." Checking your mirrors is a distraction. Reading road signs is a distraction (in this case it's the authorities causing the driver to be distracted).

The only way to drive without distractions is to not drive. At least here in Michigan.

 

[jasonppp]

Case in point: A few people on here said they only text at stop lights. Well, according to some of the officers interviewed, it's okay to do that. But other officers said that it's illegal. A couple of them even said that "if your car is running, even if you are parked in a lot, it's illegal to text." That's the problem. If these officers actually read the wording in the law, they would see that it's okay to text while stopped (parking lot, etc). This is going to be abused like you can't believe - by both drivers and police.

.

you can get a dui with the keys in ignition with the car not running why not right? or dwi depending on where you are

 

[hookbill]

There should be a law preventing women from wearing tight clothing or short dresses as this is distracting too. A law to prevent cameras on top of traffic signals because now we got to look out for those too, even when we check our speed limit. Mater of fact, that speedometer thing is a distractions as well. I'd like to see a law that prevents giant signs dedicated to LeBron James.

So here's what I surmise some of you guys think:

1. Do not talk to passengers.

2. Do not touch the radio/stereo/bluetooth.

3. Don't look at the GPS

4. Eyes on the front and only briefly on mirrors.

5. No phone calls, hands free or otherwise.

You know a whole generation of us grew up without even seatbelt laws. Heck I use to stand on the front seat of the car, rode in the back of pick up trucks. Child seat? Never even heard of.

We survived. Does it occur to anyone that many of these laws are really made up not in the best interest of public safety but in the interest of the almighty dollar.

When I ride a motorcycle I wear a helmet but I do so by choice, not because my state forces me to.

There are too many driving laws on the books these days. Laws that say it's OK to have a drink but don't go over .08. Well, one drink does that. Why not just make it plain illegal to drive while drinking?

I think this is probably going to get political here so I'll stop now. I know my state will never take away my right to use a phone with a hands free device and that's the way it should be.