Here in California, we have a law (of about 1 - 1.5 years) stating you need to use a Bluetooth (type of) to use your cel ‘Phone while driving - or you get a ticket. Everyone got in line and used that - now we are back to people yakkin’ on the cel 'Ph. itself and making problems for everyone else. Police seem to have forgotten about this. Anyone else seeing this problem return? We won’t even discuss: “Texting”!!!
My choice would be to totally ban cell phone use in a car other than 911
Might as well ban conversation while you’re at it. And radios. And cupholders.
Fact is, people can safely use hands-free cell phones as long as they remain focused on driving. It isn’t the technology’s fault that most people put driving at the bottom of the list of attention priorities when they’re behind the wheel. But no one sees a wreck caused by a person who was talking to his passenger and suggests that we ban passengers.
Don’t ban cell phones. Ban bad drivers. Otherwise, if you take their cell phones away, the bad drivers will just get distracted by the radio, or their Big Mac, or their passenger. You can’t keep a bad driver from being a bad driver unless you keep him from being a driver.
While what you say has merit, that is not entirely true. We have legislated changes in behavior in the past which have taken time to become effective (but in the case of cel 'Phones the enforcement has not been proactive). I do agree that there does need to be changes in who holds a drivers license and that the states need to be “stiffer” in their methods of testing. [an example of this is how the driver’s attitude toward the pedestrian has changed here in CA since the 1950’s- to the worse, as the lic. became easier to obtain]. So the concept of driving does NOT give an automatic “ENTITLEMENT” to an “It’s ME, It’s ME” attitude, so “Get outta ma way!” is inappropriate behavior behind the wheel. Yah. Right. It begins at home. And while THAT is true - THAT ain’t gonna happen very soon…
Cell, not cel. And phone isn’t normally spelled with 'P. Maybe you could use a Bluetooth (type of) SPELL PHONE?
I don’t really see a huge difference in speaking on a phone vs a headset, as long as you aren’t taking your eyes off the road to dial.
I think the idea of banning cell phones because some drivers can’t handle them responsibly is logically unsound. After all, we don’t ban kitchen knives because some people use them to murder, and we don’t ban cameras because some people use them to create child pornography, even though a very solid argument could be made that murdering people and creating child pornography is much more harmful than talking on a cell phone while driving.
Instead we throw the people who use the technology improperly in jail, while not punishing the millions of people who use knives and cameras in responsible and legal manners. The same should hold true for cell phone drivers. Use the phone if you want, but be aware that if you drive like a moron while using the phone, and a cop sees you or you cause a wreck, the penalties will be severe. Meanwhile, those of us capable of prioritizing paying attention to the road over paying attention to whatever gossip we’re talking about on the phone, can continue to use our hands-free phones safely and without endangering anyone.
Just as people in the 21th century CE like to make life “simpler” by referring to cellular telephones as “Cel phones”, we can also use: “Cell” as an abbreviation and an " ’ " before the word “phone” when referring to the object under discussion. HOWever, that is moot as the point of the discussion is why we go to the trouble of creating a law that requires an earpiece and then not enforce the law, when, we presume that the law has been enacted to save lives. Obviously “texting” while driving is stupid and dangerous and it is within current technology to disable the " 'Phone " from being able to be used for text messages when the device is traveling faster than one could walk - or run; but that would also keep passengers from that activity. Perhaps that is not a bad thing either. All of which is aside from the original point, as would be a discussion on other functions that are now included on these devices (eg. camera - both still and ‘video’, internet and all other ancillary functions. The question that began the discussion is two-fold [and nothing more - no references to knives and forks or child porn (as a word and as an activity)]; it is simply this- Why do we allow our elected officials to write an act into law that will not be enforced; and why will we not enforce a law which has been enacted?
If you are of the opinion that one can drive safely (single-handed) at 70, 80 or even 40 MPH while holding an object in one hand against your ear, then perhaps you are not aware of the motor skills and reaction times involved in dropping that object and trying to correct a problem of your own misdirection or that of another person - in nano-seconds.
On of the obvious solutions is that of more disciplined driver’s education, combined with State’s requirements for obtaining the privilege of holding a license. And since I mention that, I will add that MADD now says that 3 out of 10 traffic fatalities are caused by drunk drivers - who may or may not be using a “Cel 'Ph.” &/or “Texting” at the same time.
Joseph (see above) might hold the key to the discussion…