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IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

1 edit

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Texting and driving

I personally think texting and driving or using any electronic device not permanently attached to the vehicle should be treated the same as drunk driving with jail time and license suspension.

The reason I say this is I lost a perfectly good car to a combination of alcohol and a cell phone (of course I was not the one at fault).

I say ban the use of all electronics not permanently attached to the car including hands free cell phones. What I mean by permanently attached is stuff like the car radio and climate controls. But I think cell phones, iPods, tablets, etc should be off limits while driving.

Being involved in an accident is no fun at all, especially when you're not at fault and you now have to take the bus because your car was totaled.

When you are driving, you should give 100 percent of your attention to the task of driving and zero attention to other things. If the phone rings, just let it go to voicemail, if you get a text just ignore it until you get to your destination.

Edit: And I forgot to mention that one of the passengers in the at fault vehicle was killed.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

"I personally think texting and driving or using any electronic device not permanently attached to the vehicle should be treated the same as drunk driving with jail time and license suspension."

Agreed... The anti texting laws are not doing shit here. I am still stuck behind assholes who are doing 55 in the fast lane weaving back and fourth because they are focused on their phone and not the road.

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA
Asus RT-AX89

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said by IowaCowboy:

I personally think texting and driving or using any electronic device not permanently attached to the vehicle should be treated the same as drunk driving with jail time and license suspension.

The reason I say this is I lost a perfectly good car to a combination of alcohol and a cell phone (of course I was not the one at fault).

I say ban the use of all electronics not permanently attached to the car including hands free cell phones. What I mean by permanently attached is stuff like the car radio and climate controls. But I think cell phones, iPods, tablets, etc should be off limits while driving.

Being involved in an accident is no fun at all, especially when you're not at fault and you now have to take the bus because your car was totaled.

When you are driving, you should give 100 percent of your attention to the task of driving and zero attention to other things. If the phone rings, just let it go to voicemail, if you get a text just ignore it until you get to your destination.

Edit: And I forgot to mention that one of the passengers in the at fault vehicle was killed.

That makes no sense. So a car that has built in cellular, it's fine to use hands free talking, but a cellphone you can carry, it isn't fine to use Hand Free talking? The result is the same. Either allow both or neither.

And even a radio or a passenger can also be distracting to the driver.

NOCTech75
Premium Member
join:2009-06-29
Marietta, GA

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said by IowaCowboy:

I personally think texting and driving or using any electronic device not permanently attached to the vehicle should be treated the same as drunk driving with jail time and license suspension.

So we should put all cops in jail for drunk driving with jail time... they have a whole computer to play with and no laws against that.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy to aaronwt

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Some countries have banned using a cell phone (either handheld or hands-free) while driving outright. I think we should do the same here.

My mother is a grade school crossing guard and the worst drivers she sees are the ones using a cell phone. Now think if that was your child that got ran over because a driver was more concerned about talking to their client than the job of driving. My mother has had more than her fair share of near-misses with drivers and most were texting or talking on a cell phone. That is why I think using a cell phone should be treated as a criminal motor vehicle infraction with license suspension and jail time.

kevinds
Premium Member
join:2003-05-01
Calgary, AB

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Why not stuff like car radio and climate controls? As you said

"you should give 100 percent of your attention to the task of driving and zero attention to other things"

"other things" will be everything else, including talking to passengers...

I sure hope you follow this now yourself?...

And I think that ignoring a text or call until I get to my destination is bloody stupid! If you were driving from Springfield, MA to Long Beach, CA, do you really expect everybody to ignore all calls and text messages for minimum 2 days? This is what you said.

Lastly, if I am on the highway with little traffic around me, yes I will answer my phone, if I am in an area with a lot of traffic or not on a freeway/highway, I will leave my phone.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

You'll be thinking the way I do after surviving a major car accident like I did the one where the other driver reached for a cell phone and alcohol was a factor.

There is nothing more traumatic than being in a high speed crash in the middle of nowhere and watching a car roll and I could have been killed. I might have walked away from that crash but the emotional scars are still with me, especially since someone was killed in the other vehicle and I'm not the one at fault.

Texting and driving, it can wait. Same goes for calls as well.
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

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So, it’s A-OK, if my car had an integrated navigation system w/Bluetooth audio. But you want me brought up on criminal charges if I use my phone for Google Navigation? It’s perfectly fine to press a button to change a radio station or pop in a new CD, but I can’t use the Sirius XM or Pandora app to switch what I’m listening to?

Umm, no not gonna happen. Due to the voice recognition capabilities for the smartphones on the market, it’s pretty much safer and less of a struggle to dictate functions to your phone then reach over and play with buttons on the dash. I used Google Nav all the time for work, while streaming Sirius XM. When I text and drive I usually (but not always) use the voice commands. And quite frankly, I don’t give a shit, NY State was the first to ban talking and driving, but I always talk and drive w/o a hands free thing. I personally know of not one single person who has ever been ticketed for cell phone use. I notice more cops than ever using cell phones while driving or playing on their Panasonic Toughbooks. When I’m out and about I will hold the phone down and put it on speaker when the radar detector goes off, just to be on the safe side and bring the phone back to my ear as soon as the threat is over. And when driving in an urban setting, it really doesn’t matter. I’ve been in various cities and been at red lights next to cops while on my cell phone and they don’t care. Those are real cops with real crime to fight, they’re not tax collectors. They have stabbings to respond to and domestics to break up that are more important than collecting extra revenue for the city in the form of cell phone violations. Stupid nanny state laws like banning cell phones while driving has nothing to do with ‘to serve and protect’ it’s more like ‘to serve and collect’.

If you would like to pay the $1,500 to $2,000 and set me up an appointment at a local Ford dealer to replace my radio with the in-dash Lincoln Factory Nav system, I would be more than happy to oblige, but for the time being, I’ll just use my smartphone, thank you very much.
NoHereNoMo
join:2012-12-06

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You let a drunk drive your car, and he/she crashed it, killing someone else in the car in the process... and you blame "a combination of alcohol and a cell phone"? Sorry, but it's due completely to alcohol.

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA

aaronwt

Premium Member

Yes I wish they would give the death penalty to people who drink, drive, and kill someone. Instead they typically get what amounts to a slap on the wrist, considering they killed someone.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy to NoHereNoMo

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It was another vehicle that had the drunk driver with the cell phone that hit my vehicle. That vehicle rolled killing someone in the process. Mine just spun out and landed in the median and I walked away. This all happened on I-95 in New Hampshire at 65 mph. I was very lucky as many high speed crashes are fatal.
IowaCowboy

IowaCowboy to NoHereNoMo

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It was another vehicle that had the drunk driver with the cell phone that hit my vehicle. That vehicle rolled killing someone in the process. Mine just spun out and landed in the median and I walked away. This all happened on I-95 in New Hampshire at 65 mph. I was very lucky as many high speed crashes are fatal.
IowaCowboy

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Sorry for the duplicate post, I was having issues with getting the site to load.