Should hand-held cell phone use be banned while driving?

Washington, DC, has a law against talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving. You can talk on a hands-free cell phone, though. What do you all think? In one year, they ticketed over 6,000 people.

I fully support this. I cannot drive my car without seeing someone within 10 minutes on a cell phone and not paying attention. I can't stand people's obsessions with cell phones. May its use never be allowed during a plane ride!

aps said:

Washington, DC, has a law against talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving. You can talk on a hands-free cell phone, though. What do you all think? In one year, they ticketed over 6,000 people.

I fully support this. I cannot drive my car without seeing someone within 10 minutes on a cell phone and not paying attention. I can't stand people's obsessions with cell phones. May its use never be allowed during a plane ride!

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Funny you should say that. One of the stories on this morning's new radio was of a pilot who crashed his plane-talking on a cell phone.
I voted yes-it's just as much or more of a distraction as reading, eating or applying make-up while driving. Every single day just in my immediate area, people on cell phones ignore traffic lights, cut other drivers off, and basically are a nuisance. I have tried it. I can't drive well with the phone going. I'm smart enough to know this and avoid it whenever possible.
New Jersey is in the process of making cell phone use while driving a primary offense, meaning one can be cited for driving while on the cell. Previously it had been a secondary, in which they could only be cited for another offense and ticketed if seen to be on the phone as well. New York state has it as a primary offense, but from what I've seen, it bears little weight-drivers there chat away on the roads....

Yes, along with any other distractions. You are piloting a huge mass of metal, plastic, and flammable liquids in public. Your primary and only responsibility is to do that in such a manner as to protect any and all human life and personal property.

I say this sorta tongue in cheek, but with a lot of truth mixed in. I think the drivers compartment in a vehicle should be separated from the rest of the passenger area and free of any distractions that would divert the driver's attention from the task of operating said motor vehicle.


Let me add my little anecdote here.

The other day, I saw a young man and woman in a two-seater convertable, both with a cell phone stuck to their ear and my first thought was...'are they talking to each other?' LOL :lol:

BWG said:

Let me add my little anecdote here.

The other day, I saw a young man and woman in a two-seater convertable, both with a cell phone stuck to their ear and my first thought was...'are they talking to each other?' LOL :lol:

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ROFLMAO!!!!!

I voted yes 'cause 7 times out of 10 when I see a car do something stupid the driver is holding a cell phone up to their ear. The worst part is they're usually completely oblivious to the fact that they did just do something stupid!

Yes. Driving while using a cell phone has been shown to be as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.

Wouldn't something like this be a State or even City issue?

I voted yes, and I work for a cell phone company!! Cells are great for emergencies and staying in touch, but the cost of a hands free head set are cheap, and should be used. Leave both hands free to drive, and quit worrying about the phone!!

SixStringHero said:

Wouldn't something like this be a State or even City issue?

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Of course.

I currently reside In New Mexico and the last time I checked, In Santa Fe you cannot use a cell phone while driving.

And I must say, that city may have the worst drivers I have ever seen.

Hmmm...most cars today have those nifty automatic transmissions. Having spent twenty years driving cars and trucks with manual transmissions, I'm well practised in steering with one hand. In general, if my right hand wasn't on the stick, it was on my girl friend's knee. Now, I'm not gifted with exceptional coordination, so what this means is that the "hands" issue isn't relevant to cell phone use while driving.

A woman in Los Angeles county swerved arcoss a county road, colliding with another car and killing herself and a person in the other car. Cell phones where not involved, but only one of her eyes had mascarra applied, and there was a mascara kit open in her car.

I saw a woman hit a parked car because she was reading some document while in motion.

I've seen men shaving, eating, reading the paper, turning their heads all the way around to track some nice female buttocks, blowing their noses, picking their noses, eating their buggers, combing their hair, polishing their bald spot, fondling their passengers, smooching, monkeying with their sound system,talking to passengers, yelling at kids, and smoking. (and talking on cell phones)

The issue isn't cell phones, it's distraction in general. The cell phone issue is popular because it's got emotional heritage from a few years back when cell phones were pricier and only the show off yuppy clowns in their expensive cars had them, and the politicians are now using that fossilized resentment as an excuse to increase revenue via tickets and providing the police with yet one more unnecessary reason to stop and possibly search a vehicle.

Scarecrow Akhbar said:

I've seen men shaving, eating, reading the paper, turning their heads all the way around to track some nice female buttocks, blowing their noses, picking their noses, eating their buggers, combing their hair, polishing their bald spot, fondling their passengers, smooching, monkeying with their sound system,talking to passengers, yelling at kids, and smoking. (and talking on cell phones)

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This paragraph was hilarious! We have a column in this area called Dr. Gridlock. Every year he solicits people to tell him what they have seen people doing while driving in their cars (because people complain about this all the time). You have listed many of them. LOL

I hate cell phones period!

What kind of pretentious asshole thinks he is so important that he/she needs to have this damn thing bolted to their hip? I have one, but I leave it at home, I just can't stand this new technology, don't even get me started on the BlackBerries, what a crock........

I guess my answer would be a resounding yes, if I hadn't made that quite clear!:3oops:

Deegan said:

I hate cell phones period!

What kind of pretentious asshole thinks he is so important that he/she needs to have this damn thing bolted to their hip? I have one, but I leave it at home, I just can't stand this new technology, don't even get me started on the BlackBerries, what a crock........

I guess my answer would be a resounding yes, if I hadn't made that quite clear!:3oops:

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Deegan, I hear you, my friend. People want to talk on their cell phones no matter where they are. I walked into the ladies room a couple of weeks ago and a woman was in one of the stalls talking on the phone. I had to look at her feet to see if maybe she was standing in the stall. NOPE. She was sitting, and it must have been on the toilet. WTF? I take the subway to and from work. People want to yell into their cell phones. I walk to get my haircut after work, everyone is on a cell phone. My mother will answer her cell phone no matter where she is. It annoys the crap out of me.

Ahhh, I feel better now. I hardly use my cell phone.

aps said:

Deegan, I hear you, my friend. People want to talk on their cell phones no matter where they are. I walked into the ladies room a couple of weeks ago and a woman was in one of the stalls talking on the phone. I had to look at her feet to see if maybe she was standing in the stall. NOPE. She was sitting, and it must have been on the toilet. WTF? I take the subway to and from work. People want to yell into their cell phones. I walk to get my haircut after work, everyone is on a cell phone. My mother will answer her cell phone no matter where she is. It annoys the crap out of me.

Ahhh, I feel better now. I hardly use my cell phone.

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I'm glad I'm not alone, and how about these assheads with the ear piece, "are you talking to me, or are you just nuts, oh.....it's one of those damn things":roll:

Deegan said:

I'm glad I'm not alone, and how about these assheads with the ear piece, "are you talking to me, or are you just nuts, oh.....it's one of those damn things":roll:

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Why can't everyone have class and good manners like us, Deegan?

aps said:

Why can't everyone have class and good manners like us, Deegan?

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I swear, I just want to beat them about the head and body with that damn thing sometimes, but I guess I do have too much manners to do that.:3oops:

Food for thought:


A study from AAA:

Conclusions

From the results of the study that has been described in this report, the following conclusions may be offered.

1. All forms of cellular phone usage lead to significant increases in the establishment of non-response to highway-traffic situations and increase in time to respond.
2. Complex, intense conversation leads to the greatest increases in likelihood of overlooking significant highway traffic conditions, and the time to respond to them. The distracting effect is similar to that of tuning a radio. The effect of placing calls or engaging in casual conversation is less of a problem, although, calling tends to retard responses.

3. The distracting effect of cellular phone use among drivers over age 50 is two- to three-times as great as that of younger drivers and encompasses all three aspects of cellular phone use - placing calls and carrying on simple and complex conversations. The effect is to increase non-response by 33-38%.

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University of Utah:

If you have been stuck in traffic behind a motorist yakking on a cellular phone, a new University of Utah study will sound familiar: When young motorists talk on cell phones, they drive like elderly people, moving and reacting more slowly and increasing their risk of accidents.

“If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, their reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver who is not using a cell phone. It’s like instantly aging a large number of drivers,” says David Strayer, a University of Utah psychology professor and principal author of the study.

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From Insurance Information Institute:

Many studies have shown that using hand-held cell phones while driving can constitute a hazardous distraction. However, the theory that hands-free sets are safer has been challenged by the findings of several studies. A September 2004 study from the NHTSA found that drivers using hand-free cell phones had to redial calls 40 percent of the time, compared with 18 percent for drivers using hand held sets, suggesting that hands free sets may provide drivers with a false sense of ease.

A study published in the March 2003 issue of The Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, found that the distraction risk is as high for drivers who use hands-free cell phones, as for drivers who use hand-held devices.

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from StraightDope:

Accumulating evidence suggests gabbing on the phone while driving is definitely dangerous, probably more so than other distractions. What's more, hands-free phones don't solve the problem. What gets you into trouble, it seems, isn't so much fumbling with the phone (though that doesn't help) as the apparent fact that driving and conducting a conversation at the same time consumes more mental processing power than most people can spare. A few data points:

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Absolutely, 9 times out of 10 I'm driving in the fast lane and there's an idiot up front who's driving slow but then they are right next to another car so passing on thier right is impossible. They don't speed up or slow down just blocked there, then you see them moving left and right. When you pass them, some idiot is there yapping away on thier cell.
Absolutely, keep your hands in driving mode if your behind the wheel, not on the freaking cell phone.

I think there's lots to be learnt from the German system of two months of driving school, busting tailgaters, and people that do not move to the right lanes.
Plus no speed limit is a nice idea

Cell phone use while driving should be banned.They also need to ban movie players in the driver's view.

I remember I was driving to work and there was this ****ing moron with her head tilted to lean on her cell phone,her retarded *** was swirving all over the road.I wish a I could have had a bullhorn mounted on my car that day.I would be yelling obscenities at her.Idiots driving on the road **** me the **** off.I remeber picking my nephew up from school a few weeks ago and this one **** stopped her car in the middle of the drive lane and her child was not even out of class yet.I waited a few minutes even after my nephew already got into my car.So I started honking my car horn and cursing her out and everyone else started honkng their horn too,that sure felt good.

aps said:

I walked into the ladies room a couple of weeks ago and a woman was in one of the stalls talking on the phone. I had to look at her feet to see if maybe she was standing in the stall. NOPE. She was sitting, and it must have been on the toilet. WTF?

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I hope she didn't forget and wipe with the wrong hand!?

Alot of cell phone damage happens because they are dropped in water. Gee...I wonder where that happens?

Cell phone use should be banned while driving. I do have a cell phone, but I rarely use it...I consider it a piece of emergency equipment.

The use of cell phones whilst driving should NOT be banned. Imagine how difficult the enforcement would be !

BTW, I do not have one of these deceitfully marketed, expensive toys; but they can be ,at times, an absolute necessity..

And I do many so-called distracting things during driving myself - if done correctly, there is no problem.

The real problem on our highways is anger !
This anger problem is followed with drivers simply not paying attention; not using courtesy; tailgating; being disrespectful...

Using a hand-held cell phone while driving is against the law in Chicago. I fully support this measure.

Hoot said:

I hope she didn't forget and wipe with the wrong hand!?

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:rofl I hope she did forget..:lol:

The use of cell phones whilst driving should NOT be banned. Imagine how difficult the enforcement would be !

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they manage to enforce it in lots of countries/states/cities