Cell phone solution

[Racer x]

After seeing a semi tractor trailer weaving down the road. I passed the menece to discover the driver text messaging!!!
I have had enough. I want to start a grass roots drive to make a federal law.
Now I am the last person that would say something like that but this is a public safety hazard.
I propose that all cell phones stop working at 20 mph. Except for emergency 911 calls. I know this is insane .and I am of corse not going to do more than blab about this on a motorcycle forum. But am I crazy? Is this a good idea?
Does anyone have any ideas how we can stop the carnage on the highway?

[jman511115]

Government to the rescue.

[Jiggles]

So no more pandora!? I can't text if I'm in the back seat!? My expensive bluetooth headset is worthless!?

I have a better solution, if you are caught texting and driving, we shoot you in the head

[Monkeytofu]

Originally Posted by jman511115

Government to the rescue.

A government by the people, for the people. If you can't trust your government that means you can't trust yourself.

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It'd be pretty easy to get around a software lock of a phone, hardware would be another story but I'm sure that would be pretty easy. I'd love to see what people would come up with to trick phones into thinking they weren't moving.

The best thing you can do with these kind of problems is to try and educate people. It's kind of like cigarettes; the government does get results from raising prices taxes and limiting smoking areas. However, the bulk of change comes from educating people about the damage and how to stop.

[adouglas]

Education alone doesn't do it. Nor does regulation.

What works is a mosaic of different approaches.

We've known for decades that smoking causes cancer. Education has been plentiful. Yet, smoking rates did not drop significantly until two additional things happened:

1) Smokers were forced outdoors. Once it became really inconvenient to smoke, people chose not to do it so much.

2) The price of cigarettes went up so high that it costs less to eat than it does to smoke.

Both of these were accomplished through demonstrably effective legislation combined with the voluntary policies of businesses. But without the education and public support to complement the law, these rules would be as ineffective as the current rules against hand-held phone usage while driving.

So what do you do? Simple. Get caught texting while driving and you get a $1000 fine and a 30-day license suspension. Your insurance rates skyrocket. Make the penalty so stiff that it's just not worth doing. Make the point with aggressive PR similar to the current "click it or ticket" and anti-DUI campaigns (I love the TV spot with the biker who has a helmet full of beer).

[jman511115]

Originally Posted by Monkeytofu

A government by the people, for the people. If you can't trust your government that means you can't trust yourself.

----

Do you trust the government? They manage to screw up almost everything they touch.

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by jman511115

Do you trust the government? They manage to screw up almost everything they touch.

Always have, always will, no matter who's in charge. That's one of the functions of government.

Read some Mark Twain.

[7oxSin]

best bet is to make it like a dui, if u get caught txting and riving you get a dwt and lose ur license etc etc, but if this ever happened it wont stop there, they will start doing it for everything, including your precious cameras 0_0

[Heed]

They should just make some ridiculous fine. IIRC, here in Illinois you get fined $25 if you're caught without a seatbelt. It should be like $500 with a phone, plus an increase in your insurance rates.

[alex.s]

we have a law against cellphone use while driving in california. its a $250 ticket. seems to be working, cell phone usage has really noticably dropped since the law was passed and because of it, now when someone is obviously on their phone, everyone gives them ****.

[mikeohio]

Originally Posted by Racer x

After seeing a semi tractor trailer weaving down the road. I passed the menece to discover the driver text messaging!!!
I have had enough. I want to start a grass roots drive to make a federal law.
Now I am the last person that would say something like that but this is a public safety hazard.
I propose that all cell phones stop working at 20 mph. Except for emergency 911 calls. I know this is insane .and I am of corse not going to do more than blab about this on a motorcycle forum. But am I crazy? Is this a good idea?
Does anyone have any ideas how we can stop the carnage on the highway?

There is currently a federal law banning and handheld devices in trucks, been if effect since the beginning of the year. But I do agree there that there are other things that should be done too.

[ChaoSS]

Originally Posted by mikeohio

There is currently a federal law banning and handheld devices in trucks, been if effect since the beginning of the year. But I do agree there that there are other things that should be done too.

And the fines for that law are in the thousands of dollars, btw.

Originally Posted by Racer x

After seeing a semi tractor trailer weaving down the road. I passed the menece to discover the driver text messaging!!!
I have had enough. I want to start a grass roots drive to make a federal law.
Now I am the last person that would say something like that but this is a public safety hazard.
I propose that all cell phones stop working at 20 mph. Except for emergency 911 calls. I know this is insane .and I am of corse not going to do more than blab about this on a motorcycle forum. But am I crazy? Is this a good idea?
Does anyone have any ideas how we can stop the carnage on the highway?

Excellent idea. It will stop all those truckers who have the audacity to want to talk to their wives in a safe manner via bluetooth, it will put a stop to all those jackasses who send text messages from the passenger seat, put an end to those menaces to society who play games on their phones on the bus, and make sure those cretins who talk on their phones in the back of a taxi cab will never do it again.


I'm actually against cell phone laws, just like I'm against DUI laws. If you can't control your vehicle, I don't care why it is, be it drugs, alcohol, phone use, exhaustion, or just plain ol never learned to drive properly like Unregistered, there should be consequences, loss of license, forced education, fines, whatever.

[Samer]

I disagree about turning off cellphones at a particular speed. What if you are a passenger In a car, or a bus or on a train? I do see people texting while driving and it annoys the hell out of me because they are putting innocent other people at risk for no good reason but that is not the answer.

I hope the ban on texting becomes federal law. It is easy enough to see that someone is texting while driving.

[Samer]

Originally Posted by ChaoSS

I'm actually against cell phone laws, just like I'm against DUI laws. If you can't control your vehicle, I don't care why it is, be it drugs, alcohol, phone use, exhaustion, or just plain ol never learned to drive properly like Unregistered, there should be consequences, loss of license, forced education, fines, whatever.

Sorry but that is insane. Do you have any children? What if your child was driving and you knew there was a drunk driver on the same road putting her life at risk? Your opinion is there is no consequence unless the drunk driver causes an accident. Really?

I can confidently say you are in a very small minority. According to your philosophy, someone can put 5 bullets in a 6 chamber revolver, aim at your head and pull the trigger. If you're lucky, then that person should not be punished in any way.

[Redgeneral]

Originally Posted by ChaoSS

I'm actually against cell phone laws, just like I'm against DUI laws. If you can't control your vehicle, I don't care why it is, be it drugs, alcohol, phone use, exhaustion, or just plain ol never learned to drive properly like ChaoSS, there should be consequences, loss of license, forced education, fines, whatever.

You're contradicting yourself. First you say you're against the DUI and Cell Phone laws, then say that there should be consequences to not controlling your vehicle.

I agree that basicly the penalties should become more severe. Over here, if you're seen swerving and while on a cell it's considered "distracted driving", and it's up to the officer's judgement that if you were being a danger to those around you, they can slap you with a "Careless driving" charge which is a criminal charge.

[ChaoSS]

Originally Posted by Samer

Sorry but that is insane. Do you have any children? What if your child was driving and you knew there was a drunk driver on the same road putting her life at risk? Your opinion is there is no consequence unless the drunk driver causes an accident. Really?

I can confidently say you are in a very small minority. According to your philosophy, someone can put 5 bullets in a 6 chamber revolver, aim at your head and pull the trigger. If you're lucky, then that person should not be punished in any way.

That's not what I am saying at all, you seriously misunderstand me.

Originally Posted by Redgeneral

You're contradicting yourself. First you say you're against the DUI and Cell Phone laws, then say that there should be consequences to not controlling your vehicle.

Not contradicting myself at all. Just saying that the charge should be inability to control your vehicle, not having .09 BAC or higher.

The problem is that arbitrary standards don't work very well. Some people handle their alcohol better than others, others can't handle it at all. Some people can drive and talk on the phone just fine, other's can't handle talking to their passenger and paying attention to the road at all. Hell, I've texted while driving, but it was in a spot where there's just no one around to put in danger, hell, even if I was completely not paying attention the only thing that could happen if I run the vehicle off the road and damage it, there's not even other property in the area to damage. You'd have a hard time convincing me that doing that is dangerous.

In town, around other vehicles, I let it wait, and I use bluetooth for phone calls. I usually don't even answer the phone in heavy traffic, so I don't have to worry about being distracted around stupid people.

[Samer]

What you're proposing is impractical and unenforcable. How is a cop to judge whether someone who is well over the legal limit able to drive safely? They cannot. And if they did, I can assure you a lawyer will have a different opinion.

Do people suddenly become responsible enough to drink exactly on their 21st birtthday? No. Does that mean we should allow children to drink? The law requires certain arbitrary rules but ultimately a judge or jury decide.

Just because someone out there may be slightly more tolerant of alcohol does not warrant turning the whole system upside down. The BAC is a very good indicator of how much more likely someone is to getting in a car wreck. That is a fact. I don't think it is much of an inconvenience for people to avoid drinking and driving under any circumstance. Sorry.