Drivers Ignoring Cell Phone Bans
Tue May 23, 2006 5:52PM EDT
See Comments (23)
This from England, where the use of cell phones is banned while driving: At least 50 percent of the driving population is essentially ignoring the law, happily chatting away (or, by God, texting) while driving on the wrong side of the road.
Strangely, about 75 percent of drivers support the law and think those who violate it should be punished with a fine. Of course, we all ignore speed limits, that "come to a complete stop" rule, and that pesky yellow light, so I suppose this is just a natural extension of growing driver apathy.
In related news, studies have shown that it's not the looking away from the road to dial a number that makes driving with a cell phone so dangerous. Rather, it's the concentration required to focus on a conversation with someone not in the vehicle that distracts the driver enough to make him a real menace behind the wheel. In other words: "Hands-free" devices don't make you any safer while you're chatting away.
A year or so ago, fellow Yahoo! Techie Roger Hibbert and I put a theory to the test at our local Malibu Grand Prix: That driving with a cell phone was just as dangerous as driving drunk. Our experiments, wherein Hibbert consumed half a bottle of vodka, were inconclusive, but tended to support the concensus: He was just as bad a driver after five drinks as he was while trying to juggle a handset and a steering wheel.
Does your county or state ban cell phones while driving? And do people actually follow the law? I'd love to hear how successful these early rules have been, and whether accident rates have declined as a result.
Comments on Drivers Ignoring Cell Phone Bans
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2 Posted by mirrorbombom on Wed May 24, 2006 8:18AM EDT Report Abuse
driving with cell phone is as bad as been drunk because while driving you might have call of death of a close associate and somebody very dear to you on receiving the call you might not know when you swerve into the bush.
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3 Posted by mirrorbombom on Wed May 24, 2006 8:23AM EDT Report Abuse
Please follow the advice of dont make or receive calls while driving, because it's deadly.
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4 Posted by maroball on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:08PM EDT Report Abuse
I live in Caracas, Venezuela and here,it has been prohibited to talk on a cell phone while driving for quite some time. I think is a sensible rule because it has nothing to do with the ability to multitasking. Your attention is diverted from the driving wether you want to recognize the fact or not. People talking on a cell phone while driving are a danger to other drivers and even to pedestrians not to mention to themselves. They usually talk away thinking they are in their living room instead of a car and their attention is never the same while trying to do both things. Just watch the performance of either of them and you will see the difference in their driving. I think it really is safer to stay away from cell phones while driving or at least watch out for people who do both. And stay away from them!!
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5 Posted by gameskeet on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:05PM EDT Report Abuse
I live in Newfoundland, and right now it is illegal to drive and use a cell phone simultaneously. There is a hefty fine if caught doing so. However, headsets are allowed. You will see people ignoring this law just by driving around town.
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6 Posted by darrelfarnham on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:36PM EDT Report Abuse
in ny state talking on cell phone without handsfree unit is against the law. no one obeys the rule.
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7 Posted by jeo143 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:32PM EDT Report Abuse
The reality is, most younger people are able to do multiple things at once. The ones who tend to cause the most concern for me while driving are the soccer moms driving their suv around while talking on the phone. But putting the argument of age aside, so if the hands-free is essentially pointless because it's the thought and act of having a conversation that causes problems, then why shouldn't this be allowed? After all, how is talking on a headset any different than talking to someone in the passenger seat? Many people use one hand while driving, and many people talk to their passengers. So how is a person talking to their passenger while only using one hand any different from someone talking on a cell phone?
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8 Posted by szam199_9 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:52PM EDT Report Abuse
When the Germans began engineering the automobile for Americans, they had a few issues to overcome. Not the least of these was the cup holder. In Germany, they did not have cars with cup holders. It was illegal to drive with only one hand. The engineers could not understand why the cars they exported would have cup holders. They realized that driving at highway speeds, the weight and inertia of a 1 1/2 ton vehicle will crash through solid concrete! So in comparing the driving habits of Americans and Germans, one could come to the conclusion that if sipping that hot coffee could cause unsightly tread marks off the road and into the ditch, why do we do anything that would cause us to avert our attention while driving? Americans love their freedom, and so be it. Let's see how free we will be in the hospital in traction after a 6 minute phone conversation with the ex- at 65 MPH and a very rude interruption when the airbags go off!!! Put the cell phone down, shut it off. There is nothing more important than making sure that EVERY family gets all of their members home each and every day.
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9 Posted by rkk98 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:43PM EDT Report Abuse
I live in Texas where it was legal to drink and drive, as long as you wore your seatbelt, until the feds threatened to stop highway funds about 4 years ago. Don't misunderstand, d.w.i and d.u.i. were illegal but one or two wouldn't get you a ticket. I have strong feelings about cell phones and driving, not against the law here either. Last week I saw a concrete truck swerve across into oncoming traffic and kill 3 men in a small pickup. I later read that he admitted he was looking for his ringing cell phone. I travel and have seen two other tragic accidents of similar nature. Attention gets diverted from driving and people die. That's the bottom line!!
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10 Posted by frevelcason on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:03PM EDT Report Abuse
Yep that's right. They should outlaw everything in the car too. No changing stations, putting on make-up, talking to the kids in the back, taking in or out a cd, eating, etc. Just ban everything then. I see cops talking on their cell phones. And they ain't goin to a crime scene cause their lights aren't on. The states and governments should just ban everything fun or that taste good, check New York.
1 Posted by jjones2152 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:35PM EDT Report Abuse
Hi, I live in Maine. Its not illegal here to talk on a cell phone while driving an automobile. I suppose the effect talking on a cell phone has on a person depends on that person, mainly whether or not they are capable of multitasking. In my opinion, talking and driving is not that difficult to combine and it doesn't affect my performance on the road anywhere close to the same degree that you are referring to in this article (being drunk). On the contrary, I do know some people that should not try to perform this feat even with their car in park, and so it goes.