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She survived her first driving-while-texting accident – but not her second

Grand Mal said:
There's talk here of confiscating their phones. A week for the first offense, a month for the second, on top of the fines.
Sounds good to me.
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Take away their driving privilege for at least a month not their phone. How, exactly, would you take away a moron's ability to not pay full time and attention to their driving if they decided to eat, read, shave or apply makeup while driving? The problem is not which particular alternative to safe/sober driving habits was selected but the fact that the driver thought it was optional in the first place.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Take away their driving privilege for at least a month not their phone. How, exactly, would you take away a moron's ability to not pay full time and attention to their driving if they decided to eat, read, shave or apply makeup while driving? The problem is not which particular alternative to safe/sober driving habits was selected but the fact that the driver thought it was optional in the first place.
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I once saw a woman on the freeway brushing her hair in the rear-view mirror. Using both hands to do it. It's mind-boggling.
 
Carjosse said:
Is it true that in the US you do not take drunk driving very seriously? Apparently you can refuse to take a breathalyzer test?
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Sure you can refuse. However, if you do your license is automatically suspended and then the cop gets a warrant and they take your blood to sample.
 
Grand Mal said:
I once saw a woman on the freeway brushing her hair in the rear-view mirror. Using both hands to do it. It's mind-boggling.
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So the judge should take away her hair for a month? ;)
 
Dittohead not! said:
[h=1]She survived her first driving-while-texting accident – but not her second




So, instead of putting the phone away after the first accident, she went on to kill herself by texting while driving a year later. So much for awareness of the danger. What does it take, I wonder, for the texters, the tailgaters, and the Indy driver wannabes to quit doing what they're doing?
A $150 fine certainly doesn't do the job.
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I think tailgaters and fast drivers are a different problem...
 
Dittohead not! said:
[h=1]She survived her first driving-while-texting accident – but not her second




So, instead of putting the phone away after the first accident, she went on to kill herself by texting while driving a year later. So much for awareness of the danger. What does it take, I wonder, for the texters, the tailgaters, and the Indy driver wannabes to quit doing what they're doing?
A $150 fine certainly doesn't do the job.
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Yesterday I had this scenario in my life. A young woman was walking and texting, and was holding a second phone to her ear. She attempted to go around a few people in front of her and encountered me; 6'2" and now well into the 200's as a result of medication and walking with a cane. I bounced off her and his a store window, nothing major, but she recovered from the bump, and paying no attention then slammed in to two other woman who all went scattering.

No one fell, thankfully, but the woman with two phones simply kept walking as though nothing had happened.

Texting, **** even answering a phone while driving is a $225 ticket here. We need something similar. I would like to see shame used.
 
Chomsky said:
Agreed.

A suburb near me made eating while driving illegal.

That would kill us as a family, because whenever I send one of the kids out to pick-up food that has a finger-friendly component (ex: french fries), we commonly have a process occur during the return trip that we jokingly refer to as "evaporation"!
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That will be next here. The law refers to distracted driving, and as it stands now I doubt anyone will pull you over for downing a big mac, but if you have a crash, it will likely be considered a factor in the investigation.

With the kind of drivers we have here I fully support it.
 
Dittohead not! said:
[h=1]She survived her first driving-while-texting accident – but not her second

So, instead of putting the phone away after the first accident, she went on to kill herself by texting while driving a year later. So much for awareness of the danger. What does it take, I wonder, for the texters, the tailgaters, and the Indy driver wannabes to quit doing what they're doing?
A $150 fine certainly doesn't do the job.
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Talking on a cell while driving is actually about as bad as having 3 drinks in you. Texting and driving is worse, because you aren't even looking at the road.



I'd say make talking on a cell while driving = OUI

Make texting and driving while driving = OUI, but at an offense level of N + 1 (meaning that your first offense is treated like an OUI 2nd, your second offense is like OUI 3rd, etc)

Eating while driving shouldn't be OK either.

The ridiculous thing about human beings is that the ultimate penalty (death) would be a huge deterrent if administered as a penalty by the government for texting and driving. But when death is something people are doing to themselves or others, then it perversely becomes a tolerable risk. They'll pay more attention to losing their license for a bit than they will pay to ****ing dying.



(I mean, how hard is it to just pay attention to the road? How often do you really get an emergency call that has to be answered right away? And if you do get it, why can't you just pull over for a bit? Etc.)




I do appeals/post-conviction stuff for a career, so I'm generally against harsh penalties and mandatory minimums. Things like the Drug War need to stop entirely. BUT, I think things that are causing the most carnage - OUI and generally distracted driving - need some more focus.
 
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Lutherf said:
Sure you can refuse. However, if you do your license is automatically suspended and then the cop gets a warrant and they take your blood to sample.
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What he may be referring to is that in the US they don't have roadblocks according to common wisdom. We here have the "Batmobile" a series of ambulance like vehicles that are arrayed in various choke points. And with a few dozen cops, and halos of flashing light every car is stopped and checked. If their palm device gets a hit , they go full bore, and can hold you as long as they need to be tested.

Refuse and go directly to jail, do not pass go, and face time behind bars.

The penalties start with a roadside suspension, they take your car, find your own home and pay the fine and towing charges later. At the top is life time suspension of the driving privilege and just about all the money you have that they can find.

The legal limit is now .5 not .8
 
Fearandloathing said:
What he may be referring to is that in the US they don't have roadblocks according to common wisdom. We here have the "Batmobile" a series of ambulance like vehicles that are arrayed in various choke points. And with a few dozen cops, and halos of flashing light every car is stopped and checked. If their palm device gets a hit , they go full bore, and can hold you as long as they need to be tested.

Refuse and go directly to jail, do not pass go, and face time behind bars.

The penalties start with a roadside suspension, they take your car, find your own home and pay the fine and towing charges later. At the top is life time suspension of the driving privilege and just about all the money you have that they can find.

The legal limit is now .5 not .8
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Mind you, if you aren't impaired, you have nothing to give but a few minutes of your time.
Around here, people get grumpy when they are being stopped. Period. Even a school crossing guard is being frowned upon. Ego.
 
I sincerely believe, but have no proof, that texting and driving is worse than drunk driving.

Just speaking relatively.
 
Lovebug said:
Mind you, if you aren't impaired, you have nothing to give but a few minutes of your time.
Around here, people get grumpy when they are being stopped. Period. Even a school crossing guard is being frowned upon. Ego.
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For the most part people fully support the roadblocks. It's part of the difference in cultures I guess, but few of us take it as an affront to the non-drinker etc. Myself a recovered alcoholic of 25 years I LOVE being stopped. "I have not taken a drink of alcohol since May 21st 1991, sometimes the cop's birthday is more recent. ego.
 
As a result of irresponsible text/talk drivers, here's what's going to eventually happen. All of us will be punished for the actions of the few. It will be mandated, at some point in the future, that mobile devices will be disabled while driving.
 
Grand Mal said:
I once saw a woman on the freeway brushing her hair in the rear-view mirror. Using both hands to do it. It's mind-boggling.
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I've heard stories of women putting on panty hose while driving. :shock:

I changed clothes while driving once. :3oops: On the freeway, not in town.
 
radcen said:
I've heard stories of women putting on panty hose while driving. :shock:

I changed clothes while driving once. :3oops: On the freeway, not in town.
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TMI! :lamo

Although women putting on pantyhose while driving has piqued my interest!
 
Fearandloathing said:
What he may be referring to is that in the US they don't have roadblocks according to common wisdom. We here have the "Batmobile" a series of ambulance like vehicles that are arrayed in various choke points. And with a few dozen cops, and halos of flashing light every car is stopped and checked. If their palm device gets a hit , they go full bore, and can hold you as long as they need to be tested.

Refuse and go directly to jail, do not pass go, and face time behind bars.

The penalties start with a roadside suspension, they take your car, find your own home and pay the fine and towing charges later. At the top is life time suspension of the driving privilege and just about all the money you have that they can find.

The legal limit is now .5 not .8
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Let me make sure I understand this. You go out to dinner and have a couple glasses of wine. You're driving home and run into a roadblock (we do have those from time to time). The cop has you blow into a pocket breathalyzer and you come up 0.6% BAC. At that point you go to jail, your car gets impounded and you lose your license for life? That, frankly, sounds excessive.
 
Lutherf said:
Let me make sure I understand this. You go out to dinner and have a couple glasses of wine. You're driving home and run into a roadblock (we do have those from time to time). The cop has you blow into a pocket breathalyzer and you come up 0.6% BAC. At that point you go to jail, your car gets impounded and you lose your license for life? That, frankly, sounds excessive.
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That can go down in the States too, Lutherf!

Any alcohol use whatsoever, even minimal, is going to prompt a field sobriety test. There's no guarantee you'll pass! It's like the drug sniffing dogs. You don't know.

The legal B.A.C. thresholds in the states are when arrest is mandated, but you can still fail & be charged at well under the limit, all in the officer's discretion.

The safe thing to do is not drink at all when driving, or become a cop,
 
Lutherf said:
Let me make sure I understand this. You go out to dinner and have a couple glasses of wine. You're driving home and run into a roadblock (we do have those from time to time). The cop has you blow into a pocket breathalyzer and you come up 0.6% BAC. At that point you go to jail, your car gets impounded and you lose your license for life? That, frankly, sounds excessive.
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First offense, no. You'd get a roadside suspension, have to find a ride home.

The law impacts harder and harder with each offense.

You might not even get that. As they have to test twice if they get a possitive at least 20 minutes apart. And if the .06 was going down, they'd probably let you go with a warning.

There was a huge push back when the level went from .07 to .05 all sorts of protests and the bar owners feared a loss of business. It hasn't happened. However accidents are down even more, and the government got the reaction it wanted, highway deaths are down dramatically.
 
Fearandloathing said:
Yesterday I had this scenario in my life. A young woman was walking and texting, and was holding a second phone to her ear. She attempted to go around a few people in front of her and encountered me; 6'2" and now well into the 200's as a result of medication and walking with a cane. I bounced off her and his a store window, nothing major, but she recovered from the bump, and paying no attention then slammed in to two other woman who all went scattering.

No one fell, thankfully, but the woman with two phones simply kept walking as though nothing had happened.

Texting, **** even answering a phone while driving is a $225 ticket here. We need something similar. I would like to see shame used.
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I think that all vehicle should come equipped with top-mounted paintball gun. That way we could identify who the dumbasses out there really are. The tailgaters, the texting while driving'ers, the "I've gotta pass you because you were in front of me and then slow down" crowd - tag 'em all with a paintball or 12 and let everyone know just who the real morons are. Get tagged enough and you'll start drawing LOTS of attention from LE.
 
Chomsky said:
TMI! :lamo

Although women putting on pantyhose while driving has piqued my interest!
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Lol !!

I wonder how often scantily clad joggers factor into fender benders...
 
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