posted on January 10, 2001 07:48:46 AM new
England, Japan and Germany have banned the use of hand-held cell phones in cars. some U.S. cities have done so, and several states are considering it as well. it is obvious that having two hands on the wheel is safer than one, and that having fewer distractions is safer as well. in some studies the use of hand-held phones has lead to as many accidents as drinking. i personally have seen several people with a cell phone in one hand and either a drink, a sandwich or makeup in the other! do you feel that this ban is a good idea or that it is an invasion of our privacy?
posted on January 10, 2001 07:54:42 AM new
It's an excellent idea. Our niece was in an accident last September with her four month old son. She was yakking on the cell phone to her mom and blew a stop sign on a rural road. She got broadsided by a gravel truck. She survived, but her baby didn't. And she's messed up pretty bad herself, not just emotionally, but physically, and the head injury has changed her forever.
They should make those things so if the car is in gear, the phone won't work. If it is sooo urgent, pull over and make the call.
posted on January 10, 2001 07:57:15 AM new
Sorry...as for the invasion of privacy thing. I don't think it's an invasion of privacy! It's a safety measure, kinda like you can't go out with your pals and down a whole bottle of Jose Cuervo and then drive everyone home.
Kris
[email protected]
posted on January 10, 2001 08:07:45 AM new
Hello Stusi,
I'm all for the ban of any activity other than driving on the part of the operator of a vehicle.
Along with operating a phone (hand held or otherwise) I think that use of earphones should also be banned. I often see people driving along listening to something through earphones and obviously blocking out the outside sounds. Not good when every moment of reaction time is important to avoid or prevent an accident.
I don't see how such a ban would be an invasion of anyone's privacy.
posted on January 10, 2001 08:14:36 AM newcodasaurus I don't know about other states, but in California it is ILLEGAL to listen to headphones that cover both ears while driving.
posted on January 10, 2001 08:28:49 AM new
I ditto what Codasaurus wrote so well. Using a phone is a privilege, not a right, as is driving an automobile. If a person cannot due without the phone while driving, then they should do without driving. It is bizarre that we Americans think everything that we enjoy is a "right".
I have many friends, one ex-wife, and one current wife, all of whom hated drivers that used cel phones, but after acquiring them slowly but surely got into the bad habit of using them while driving. I know many physicians who need to be in touch with their practice. They too start out with the best of intentions but gradually evolve into the phone-wielding Neanderthals we're all used to. Aside from the sheer annoyance it causes other drivers, it is damned dangerous as Maddienicks so tragically points out.
posted on January 10, 2001 08:40:51 AM new
Hello Greg,
What has California to say about using phones while driving?
Unfortunately, here in Georgia nearly anything goes.
Folks barrel along the interstates during rush hour reading newspapers, books, business correspondence. Gals busy themselves at lights primping and putting on makeup and don't stop just because the traffic has started up. I've seen some guys using electric razors to shave on their way to work.
Carry permits for firearms are readily obtainable and there have been more than a few instances of road rage turning fatal.
posted on January 10, 2001 08:56:56 AM new
i have a hands-free phone cradle in my car. i dial while at a red light. my hands are free and i can hear everything going on around me. the manufacturers of these devices are going to make a lot of money as the law inevitably changes. i personally believe that using a hand-held cell phone while driving should be illegal!
posted on January 10, 2001 09:26:40 AM new
People are split about 50/50 about the use of cell phones while driving. Generally those people who use cell phones want to keep
them in use while driving and those who don't want them banned.
It's certainly a distraction but then those people who want to drive
and talk on the phone will argue that children, radios, smoking, eating, and talking
are also distractions.
I believe that the phones should only be used in case of an emergency
in cars.
posted on January 10, 2001 09:35:20 AM new
Just the other day, I watched a girl with a cigarette in one hand and a cell phone in the other pull away from a stop sign and make a left-hand turn, driving a car with a stick shift. Neat trick, if you can pull it off.
posted on January 10, 2001 09:47:55 AM new
I will answer my phone if I am not in heavy traffic and have an open road in front of me.
If I am in the city I will tell them to hold on and find a place or side street to pull over. If I am up on the expressway I will talk if cars are spaced out moving OK. I never dial. Obviously some people can not pat their head and rub their tummy at the same time. If they can't judge the risk well they may pay more than a fine. If it were the law here I would follow it 100%. But I try to be reasonable.
I have seen people putting make-up on looking in the rear view mirror and reading a book balanced up on the wheel. People with a big dog in their lap have no control either.
posted on January 10, 2001 09:59:12 AM new
Hands free is the only way to go. AT&T has started a program of sending out hands- free car kits (at no charge) with all orders. That won't solve the whole problem but I guess it's a good start.
posted on January 10, 2001 10:00:52 AM new
I live in a county that has (effective Jan. 1) banned the use of cell phones while driving....It is permitted to have a "hands-free" adapter. (yeah, try finding one! - the store shelves are empty!) for use while driving.....I can understand the safety issues & understand why laws have to be written to protect us from ourselves, BUT as I drive down the street, buckled up (cause it's the law!) talkin' thru a speaker on my cell phone (cause it's the law!) I wonder how long it will be before my radio stations, volume, seat placement, etc. are dictated by the law?...
posted on January 10, 2001 10:19:41 AM new
Hands-free is definitely the way to go. I got a new cell phone for Christmas and bought a hands-free attachment on eBay which arrived this week. I tried it out for the first time on Monday, and it works great. They're inexpensive and I don't see why anyone wouldn't have one if they want to be on the phone while driving.
I'm not sure using a regular cell phone while driving should be illegal, though, any more than eating a cheeseburger or picking your nose while driving should be illegal.
posted on January 10, 2001 10:37:24 AM new
Some insurance companies will balk at paying a claim if you wreck while driving and eating at the same time. I have a friend who works in the insurance industry who told me that. I'm not sure of the legalities...
I have one of those little folding cell phones...it is virtually impossible to open it, turn it on, dial it, and then hold it while driving. I think I've answered it once while driving, but I don't make a habit of it.
I agree with making it illegal. I've come close to being run over more than once by a mom in a mini van, kids in the back, and she's yacking on the phone.
posted on January 10, 2001 01:08:43 PM new
Brooklyn Ohio, the home of the "Seat-Belt Law," was the first city in the US to ban driving while talking on a cell phone. There are signs on all the major roads that tell you to "Park to Talk." It makes sense; pull over and make or take your call.
Woudn't it be nice if we didn't need a law to tell us to be courteous toward others? Or to protect us from injury that we caused ourselves?
We all have seen cases of near-misses (or even hits) due to a driver not fully concentrating on the road. It's not just cell phones, it's eating, talking, blaring radios, kids, alcohol, cigarettes, I've even seen two people punching each other as they swerved down the road.
Driving in a car is one of the most dangerous things you do every day. Driver education is so important. Kids learning how to drive need to be made aware of the dangers and how to AVOID accidents and be RESPONSIBLE drivers.
IMO, being a responsible driver also includes not yakking on a cell phone while driving. If I need to make a call, I pull into a parking lot.
posted on January 10, 2001 01:34:15 PM new
Okay, if we pretty much all agree that holding and talking on your cell phone while driving is bad -- just who are those nasty people??
posted on January 10, 2001 01:34:56 PM new
I guess I am one of those who can't rub my head and pat my tummy.
I resisted a cell phone for years and finally got one a couple of months ago for "emergencies" -- how does ANYONE talk and drive with those things? They are so small you can't put them between your head and neck and get a hand free. I am so right-handed I can't turn the corners with my left hand and hold the phone in my right (or vice versa), and I sure can't stop and start (I do drive a manual). Dialing is impossible because the little buttons are so small you have to look down at the phone to dial and then you're not looking at the road.
I cringe whenever I see someone chatting and driving at the same time, because I know they can't be paying attention to their primary function.
My phone is now OFF when I am in the car -- if someone needs to talk to me they leave a voice mail.
posted on January 10, 2001 01:39:44 PM new
The thing that really bugs me is how they can't [won't] use their turn signal while gabbing on the phone because the left hand is tied up.
posted on January 10, 2001 01:40:38 PM new
After seeing the effect these cell-phones have had on the driving skills of people around here, I too am ready to see the use of hand-held ones banished in vehicles, but I see no problem with the hands-free-kit adapted versions.
This is not depriving anyone of any 'freedoms' or 'rights', just an exercise of common sense, IMHO.
In the can't-believe-they-did-that catagory I'll place my offering of the blonde in the camaro I spotted a few years ago that blew through a busy interestion (she did have the green light) while putting eye-drops in her eyes.
posted on January 10, 2001 03:19:17 PM new
a bit off the topic--i was in a rather small waiting room at a doctor's office recently. it was maybe 10' x 12'. a young guy got a call on his cell phone and proceeded to carry on a very loud conversation for about ten minutes in front of all the other waiting patients. have you ever made a comment about keeping it quiet to someone using a cell phone?
posted on January 10, 2001 03:58:13 PM new
My previous boss would just throw a fit if anyone used a cell phone in public. I don't mean in a movie or something like that. If someone got a call in line in the supermarket
he was ready to lynch the guy. Why he considered it invasive he could never explain. He would say the person was acting self important and rude. I thought it was a little irrational. I wondered how many are like him - just irritated to see it anywhere.
posted on January 10, 2001 07:11:51 PM new
First let me say that cell phones are the greatest invention yet for parents. If I had to give up something else, I would, to make sure my sons have their cell phones. I know they're not going to be stuck on the highway at night with no way to get help. If they're going to be late, they can call and let us know. They can always reach me on mine, when they need me. Having them just gives me a feeling of security, knowing that if I WANT to check on them, I can, and if they NEED me, they can find me immediately. (for important things like the call today-what cleaners to take his jeans to!)
I am very hesitant about calling them when I know they're on the road. I have this vision of them trying to grab the phone while passing an 18 wheeler on the hill. So I don't call unless I really need to..it's just reassuring to know that I CAN.
They did help me break the boys of coming in late, however. There's nothing quite so embarrassing as having your mother call during your make out session to find out why you're not home yet!
posted on January 10, 2001 08:15:03 PM newgravid: I am one of those who gets annoyed--though the only time I am moved to "lynching" is when inconsiderate bumpkins make/take calls in a movie theatre. Why am I annoyed? I really don't want to have someone else's "private" conversation foisted off on me. And they *are* foisted as, for some reason, cell phone users tend to be very loud when they are on the phone. The library I work for has had to formally ban their use by patrons as the contant ringing & loud conversations were becoming disruptive. And as for driving, I do think their use while a vehicle is in motion should be banned--I have had several near misses due to drivers that "call & drive."
For all that "they are a godsend" for parents, it says something about our society anymore that people can not *stand* not to be in constant touch with others. I do have a cell phone, which I bought just in case my car breaks down or I need directions--that sort of thing. I have not given the number to anybody, and I do not have it turned on unless I am about to use it. I have an answering service on my home phone, which I check a couple of times a day. One of the things I really dislike about having DSL now is that my phone rings through instead of taking messages
posted on January 10, 2001 08:23:16 PM new
bunnicula- i didn't realize that there is a conflict with DSL and messages. are you sure there is no device to get around it?
