The truth about driving and talking on the cell

Well might as well not take your iPod or any portable music player in your car also. Scrolling and scanning for your favorite artist could get you mixed up with the law too. They might see it as a cell phone or whatever else. Turn off your radio too while you're at it, getting too deep into the conversation of a radio talk show might take your attention off the road, since you're listening to someone else talk and you don't have that extra pair of eyes there to help you locate danger or obstructions in the road. Better yet take public transportation, there you can talk on your cell phone, do your make up, listen to your music, and even sleep. That is until the government deems that public transportation is dangerous or causes cancer.

A 45 year old man was killed in my hometown in Texas just Tuesday. A 17 y/o broadsided him ....he was on his cell phone & didn't see the red light. Anything BUT driving is dangerous when you are on the road. Be careful out there!

No, I am the solution to the problem. I suggest everyone do the same!

Unfortunately, these cell-impaired drivers, by definition, aren't paying attention. I'm just helping them pay attention and making them realize that there's a world outside their earpiece.

Hope you're never on the phone while driving anywhere near me, dgshorty...rest assured, I'll do the same to you.

If I've scared just one driver off the phone, maybe I've saved a life. If they don't like it, well, they can always hang up and drive. And so can you.

yet again another action by the state to protect us from ourselves at a not insignificant cost in taxpayer dollars that could be used to help the economy or feed hungry people but leave it to brain dead politicians whose only real belief is to appear to be doing something, after all it's not their money that is being spent.

I think the same can be said for people who listen to music in the car or sing in the car that it's the same as if they were talking on a cell phone hands-free in a car. It's the same type of distraction. Say your listening to a book on CD, is that not the same type of distraction? It's just my opinion that all these flaws that people see when using a phone can be said for all the other things you do in a car. I have GPS-I look at that and I listen to that as well. That could constitute as a distraction, you know? Until someone can say with absolute certainty that having someone talk to you over a phone while both your hands are on the wheel and your eyes are on the road----it shouldn't be an issue.

I am for banning use of hand - held phones while driving...but some places are considering banning eating, drinking or smoking while driving, which is going too far. If they impose such restrictions, then is it a misdemeanor for you to tranport food from the McDonald's drive - through to your home? And if such laws were passed, the states can expect a lot of folks pulled off the side of the roads in order to eat, creating a new hazard.

I guess the one I am against will be when the "call" comes in to ban use of cellphones altogether while driving, even with hands - free devices employed. But I do see every police orificer driving along with his / her phone to their ear. I guess they are "trained - professionals".

A 45 year old man was killed just Tuesday in my hometown in Texas. He was broadsided by a 17 y/o who was talking on his cell phone and ran a red light. 2 families devastated by a cell phone in the car. Worth it? I think not. I think it's especially important for young people not to be able to talk on the phone while driving.

Why in the hell do we always have "to be in touch". We did just fine without cell phones in the past. The cell phone industry has brainwashed people, especially younger people, that our lives are not complete if we are not constantly available by phone.
My company responsibilities require that I carry a cell phone, otherwise I would be cell phone free. Mine is off as I drive and if I forget to turn it off I do not answer it until I have reached my destination.

Driving while talking on a cell is distracting. The "studies" show that it's still dangerous even if you use a "hands free" device. The "studies" also say that it's not really any different if you're holding the cell phone or using a hands free device. It's actually the conversation part that makes it dangerous. Well, if that's the case then we should ban talk radio and loud music. While we're at it we might as well tell all the people with high-end stereos in the car that they can't play those expensive stereos loud either. Oh, while we're at it we might as well just ban radios from automobiles too. Isn't someone doing a "study" on that too? I've used a hands free device for several years and never had a problem. So am I the one that's going to cause an accident?? I doubt it. The accidents are caused by drivers that don't have the common sense to just TURN OFF THE STUPID CELL PHONE !!! There's nothing that important that it can't wait.

And the cop who pulls you over for talking on your phone will grab the mike to his radio and call in your plate, make and model, and inform dispatch the location of the stop. All the while distracted to write you a ticket for the very thing he just did. Hands free is safer, no doubt, and not talking on a phone at all is better, but more laws that only apply to some people we don't need.

I agree...
All cell phone use should be banned.
While we are at it, I think we should remove car radios too.
Studies have shown for decades that the radio is a mighty distraction.
Drive-thrus too, eating and driving is truly a distraction,
drive-thru anythings for that matter.
We probably should outlaw passengers too, we all know what a distracttion
they can be. Yep, two hands on the wheel, a straight ahead zombie-like stare
and no conversation whatsoever. that should do the trick.
How about rain?, The sun? Clouds, signs, pedestrians,.. dogs? Floating pieces of
paper in the wind, happy thoughts, daydreaming...

If waiting until it is safe to take two seconds to change a radio station, and then immediately redirecting your attention to the road is as distracting to a driver as an endless two-way phone conversation, then they're an idiot and should buy a bus pass.

With apologies to Bill Clinton, it's the TWO-WAY CONVERSATION, stupid!

Women seem to have the problem multitasking in the car, so let's just take away their phones and leave the men alone.

Sorry, but I think zeroing in on only 1 thing is a waste of time, money, and energy. Every state has laws regarding careless and/or wreckless driving and those laws aren't enforced very well. Why should someone who is not posing a threat be pulled over? Someone that can't handle talking and driving is going to be just as likely to have an accident changing a CD, yelling at the kids, eating a burger, reaching for a soda - you get the point. It's ridiculous to target only one distraction - target all or none.

Here in NJ the state police are doing a 2 week program to target aggressive drivers (why can't they do this all the time??) claiming 31% of all fatal crashes are due to aggressive driving. Accidents due to cell phone use isn't even close to that. Ever hear of the 80/20 rule? Get 80% of the results with a 20% effort. In other words, go after the low-hanging fruit. Targeting cell phone use is like using 80% effort for a 20% result. So while the police are pulling over a cell phone user, an aggressive driver is causing an accident.

Why is it nobody seems to need to talk until the engine is running and rolling on a street??

A young girl named Mathmatica Jones16 years old died in an auto accident in Memphis TN, by hitting a telephone pole going 50 mph. She was talking on a cell phone. Her parents bought them both for her with no instruction or encouragement on how to use them. Her life is now cut short because of laxed laws and the use of a cell phone while driving. Then her parents tried to sue the city for having a telephone pole too close to the edge of the road. They lost of course. Sad, Sad, Sad....

i think talking on cellphones while one is driving should be illegal, handsfree or not, period.
i also think talking on your cellphone while riding a bus or trina should be banned because i dont feel i need to listen to someone have a very loud conversation for the 45 minute commute - which is why i carry a cell phone jammer which blocks incoming and outgoing calls.

Well, it seems that our government wants to "nanny" us to death. No more talking on the phone while driving. I guess that includes no eating, changing the radio, smoking, hitting the kids while driving. Yep, it's them poor uncoordinated americans that cannot multi task, so they get legislated to death by government as Joe Citizen always seems to be to busy to notice his freedoms being slowly eroded by gov. officials. I habitually drive with only one hand on the wheel and have done so for years. I guess that will soon be illegal in this country

Every Car made needs a cell phone jammer in the car as standard equipment.. If retarded people cannot act responsibly then things like this have to be done for them... Come on Congress stop dragging your butts around get it done!!!!

I suppose next you'll get a ticket if you're caught singing along to your favorite song on the radio. Some cop sees your lips moving and suspects you are talking on your Bluetooth! When will it end? Next will it be, "No talking to your family? No eating or drinking while driving? No nose-picking???" The U.S. is becoming a "Nanny State"! My ancestors left Europe because of this type of over-arching, intrusive watchdogging by the government and now it's back in full radical force!

red eagle are you going to pay for everything you want congress to do or are you going to complain when your taxes triple or worse to pay for everything you want?

Cell usage should be banned and ticketed in moving vehicles. So should blow jobs too.

You don't need to chat on your cell phone while driving or walking, eating, etc. It's not that important. It can wait until you get home or to your office. The mobil phone Companies managed to convince America that you must have a mobil phone. Why? Just in case you have an emergency!

That's B.S. and we should know better. If you ask me I think 95% of people buying cell phone because the device looks nice. I guess it makes people feel important.

Hey! Wake up.... We managed to live without these expensive gadgets for many years. You don't need it! You can function just fine without it!

I think that men are more apt to get into an auto accident by looking at an attractive lady then they are talking on the phone

This whole issue is rediculous! If anyone is involved in any accident an investigation is conducted to determine who is at fault. If it is determined that a driver was reckless because of cell phone use he/she should be ticketed or prosecuted for reckless driving.

To claim that cell phone users are more distracted than other drivers is obsurd! If anything that causes a distraction to the driver should be OUTLAWED consider the following. Changing radio stations, inserting CD's into a CD player, eating, drinking a beverage, talking to someone seated in the passenger seat, children in the car, babies in their car seats, billboards disgined to get the drivers attention, puting on makeup, reading a map, roadsigns, .................

This bandwagon issue should go the way of global warming!