If the federal government bans cell phone use and texting while driving it will be amazing! It has been highly recommended by the federal agency concerned with traffic safety. And it will be brought up as a bill in congress. Whether the people in both houses of Congress have the guts to put public safety over their own popularity or re-elections remaind to be seen but I think we know how it will turn out.
It would be a revolutionary move to get cell phoning and texting banned while driving a car or other vehicle. It would be like getting the horse in after the barn door had been left open for many years and the horse had gone totally wild.
There are probably not accurate statistics on how many accidents have been caused by cell phoning/texting but a huge pileup of vehicles on Missouri highway with deaths and injuries about a year ago—- caused by a 19 year old driver texting— was the trigger for this proposed federal legislation.
I know of at least 3 accidents caused by cell phones…personal experiences of people I know. In the worst one, a relative’s neighbor was killed in a head on crash on a country lane by a teenage girl texting. In the other two, people I know were hit from behind by a cell phoner and suffered car damage but not serious injury other than stiff necks.
I have been staunchly opposed to driving while cellphone activity is occurring. I hate it when someone passes me and I see them on the phone or are looking down in order to text message.
There are many driving distractions including eating while driving or putting on makeup or reading a book (I have seen that too) but cellphone use has increased by leaps and bounds in just a few years and must be responsible for more accidents or near misses than other distractions.
There has been plenty said about this proposal…one of the best I heard is that instead of another traffic law that is hard to enforce….enact a law that anyone who can be proved to have caused an accident by distracted driving, be fined a huge amount of money…like up to $100,000 dollars….and maybe serve some jail time. Also lose their driver’s license for a long period of time. (that does not stop some from driving though) But hitting them hard with a high fine might be a good way to get them to quit their distracted driving.
Another suggestion is it have technology developed that would automatically shut down cell phones when the car is in motion. That would also do the trick.
It would force the addicted cell phoners and texters to pull off the road to do their obsessive communicating.
I hope it happens….making illegal the driving and use of distracting devices
Those people should have their cell phones shoved up one bodily orifice or jammed down the other.
Does anyone believe that having a law against drivers using cell phones and texting will stop this practise? I don’t think so!
I am not sure that a law is the solution. It is against the law to drink and drive and people do it all the time. I think that texting by a driver should be outlawed…as should reading or putting on your makeup.
I think hands free cell phone use is ok..it is just like having a conversation with someone in the car..is that distracting? Perhaps to some people it is. In our car only the passenger uses the cell phone.
perhaps a law with some teeth in it would work..like they make you surrender your car to public auction..take your drivers license away and you do community service for five years or jail for two years. Come to think of it this would work for drunk drivers too..we must be the stupidist John Q Public to let all this madness continue:(