Safety council: Ban cell phones while driving

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Onceler said:
A fear is something that is irrational, and not based in reality. The last time they took stats in 2005, cellphones were responsible for 2,600 deaths, and 330,000 injuries, many serious.

You talk a good game about "liberty," but what about my freedom to drive on the road without having to worry about some idiot who is too lazy to get a headpiece or pull over? Gimme a break. You always call it "emotionalism" when someone merely points out that cellphone use on the roads causes death & injury.
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Were those figures per year Onceler?
 
KingCondanomation said:
Then you misunderstood your parents lesson. If you are for a ban, you are against the freedom that that ban took away. You may ease your conscience by pretending that it was justified because SOME people use it irresponsibly, but what about those who do not?
Freedom and responsibility are an individual thing, if you are holding out for some utopian day when all of society acts responsibly with the freedoms they are given and THEN you will grant them those freedoms again then you will wait forever.
There will ALWAYS be some people who misuse the freedoms given to them, but going down a road where you just ban based on those who do, you will end up with very little freedom.

More people cause accidents by adjusting the radio, should we take that away? If not, then why cell phones which cause less accidents?
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That is where you derailed....

ANYONE who is using a cell phone while driving is not being responsible. It is a major distraction as it diverts attention from the road. While handsfree are slightly better, as others have mentioned, the conversation itself is the primary distraction.
 
Superfreak said:
That is where you derailed....

ANYONE who is using a cell phone while driving is not being responsible. It is a major distraction as it diverts attention from the road. While handsfree are slightly better, as others have mentioned, the conversation itself is the primary distraction.
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Well why don't you ban people from talking to passengers? It causes accidents too.

[/Dano]
 
Superfreak said:
That is where you derailed....

ANYONE who is using a cell phone while driving is not being responsible. It is a major distraction as it diverts attention from the road. While handsfree are slightly better, as others have mentioned, the conversation itself is the primary distraction.
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Well, I don't think you are wrong, but I am wondering, you don't use a cell at all in the car?

I have found it nearly impossible not to. Much worse since I started the business. I have to get a blackberry because if you don't answer your emails until you are in your office (in my case my home), people think you are unprofessional.
 
Superfreak said:
That is where you derailed....

ANYONE who is using a cell phone while driving is not being responsible. It is a major distraction as it diverts attention from the road. While handsfree are slightly better, as others have mentioned, the conversation itself is the primary distraction.
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I'll have to apologize for not having the source available right away, but the studies (repeated studies; nobody should trust just one) have determined that cellphone use while driving is even more dangerous than driving while intoxicated. There was no statistically significant difference between handheld and headset use in the fatality stats. I'm not sure about non-fatality accidents. These are probably greatly understated, as well, because the driver's cellphone use may not always be determined, especially at the time the stats are compiled.

You're right about the distraction.
 
Dungheap said:
Well why don't you ban people from talking to passengers? It causes accidents too.

[/Dano]
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well 'dano'.... I do beleive that TOO has also been addressed. Passengers in the same vehicle are typically cognizant of the surrounding traffic, whereas the person on the other end of the phone is usually not.... the exception being when you are of course talking on the phone while driving your car and the person on the other end is in your back seat
 
Superfreak said:
well 'dano'.... I do beleive that TOO has also been addressed. Passengers in the same vehicle are typically cognizant of the surrounding traffic, whereas the person on the other end of the phone is usually not.... the exception being when you are of course talking on the phone while driving your car and the person on the other end is in your back seat
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LOL! Also if the driver spends most of his/her time looking at the passenger beside on the right, instead of at the road and uses one or even both hands for gesticulating instead of steering. I see that far too often.
 
Thorn said:
LOL! Also if the driver spends most of his/her time looking at the passenger beside on the right, instead of at the road and uses one or even both hands for gesticulating instead of steering. I see that far too often.
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Or, if the passenger is rubbing the driver's...leg. I have heard of that.
 
Superfreak said:
well 'dano'.... I do beleive that TOO has also been addressed. Passengers in the same vehicle are typically cognizant of the surrounding traffic, whereas the person on the other end of the phone is usually not.... the exception being when you are of course talking on the phone while driving your car and the person on the other end is in your back seat
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There is nothing more distracting than having two kids in the backseat. My nephew went through this stage where he would undo his carseat straps. I'd freak out and pull over. He thought it was funny as anything.

But I don't believe in the, well if you can't do away with all bad stuff, then you shouldn't do anything, theory. I didn't realize that cell phones caused that many deaths and injuries.
 
Darla said:
There is nothing more distracting than having two kids in the backseat. My nephew went through this stage where he would undo his carseat straps. I'd freak out and pull over. He thought it was funny as anything.

But I don't believe in the, well if you can't do away with all bad stuff, then you shouldn't do anything, theory. I didn't realize that cell phones caused that many deaths and injuries.
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I think the difference is that there are obviously times when kids HAVE to be in the car. There is rarely a time where you HAVE to be talking on the phone while driving. I am not big on the whole legislating out the 'bad' from our lives thing either. But if people abuse the freedom of making their own choice and it continues to put other people's lives in danger, then you should certainly do something. People survived just fine without talking on a phone in their car prior to cell phones. Talking on the phone while in the car is a priveledge... not a right. People abuse that priveledge and it gets taken away.
 
Darla said:
Or, if the passenger is rubbing the driver's...leg. I have heard of that.
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Hmmm ... fortunately, the other drivers generally can't see that.

I think that something of that nature was going on when a car veered off the road into the lake across from our house a couple of years ago. We ran out to help and neither the teenaged driver nor his young female passenger would say anything about how it happened that the car went so far off the road, in the air, on such a straight, level stretch of road. ;)
 
Thorn said:
Hmmm ... fortunately, the other drivers generally can't see that.

I think that something of that nature was going on when a car veered off the road into the lake across from our house a couple of years ago. We ran out to help and neither the teenaged driver nor his young female passenger would say anything about how it happened that the car went so far off the road, in the air, on such a straight, level stretch of road. ;)
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LOL Well, everyone has to try it once.
 
Darla said:
There is nothing more distracting than having two kids in the backseat. My nephew went through this stage where he would undo his carseat straps. I'd freak out and pull over. He thought it was funny as anything.

But I don't believe in the, well if you can't do away with all bad stuff, then you shouldn't do anything, theory. I didn't realize that cell phones caused that many deaths and injuries.
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the best way to teach him a lesson is to slam on the brakes and let him fly forward for a bit. You need to think outside the box a little more.

Good luck
 
Grind said:
the best way to teach him a lesson is to slam on the brakes and let him fly forward for a bit. You need to think outside the box a little more.

Good luck
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LOL Jesus.

I can't even yell at him. He gives me this adorable look and then I start laughing. I'm terrible. But he's 7 now and he doesn't unbuckle in the car anymore, so that is one good thing.
 
Darla said:
LOL Jesus.

I can't even yell at him. He gives me this adorable look and then I start laughing. I'm terrible.
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That is both the joy and the curse of being an auntie and not a parent, I think. My niece used to blow kisses when she was caught doing something wrong. My sister probably wanted to flay me for laughing but I couldn't help it.
 
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