Hey Alan -



I'm feeling you here. I too have had some near misses due to some jackass talking away while driving. I've had near misses from dumbasses eating while driving (BTW, I do drive rather frequently in Alaska - and it's very refreshing - nowhere near the kind of traffic we have in Seattle). I've had one accident that was caused by a sweet looking ass - I was rear-ended because the moron behind me was checking out a girl in some Daisy Dukes.



I'm not saying that because "everyone's doing it - it must be all right" Far from it in fact.



My feelings are that if you are driving in a negligent fashion - no matter what the cause then you are driving negligently. Personal responsibility - not legislation. Banning cell phones would be another example of going to the lowest common denominator for the sake of the irresponsible - punishing everyone else in the meantime.



But what the hell... who cares what I think? I've got a lot of whacky ideas.



I think there should be different lanes on the freeway for drivers of different ability levels.



I think that parents should have to take a test and get licensed to have babies ( my dad thinks I'm a Fascist hehe)



I think that prostitution should be legal. Where's the harm?



I think that light drugs should be legal as well - if we could tax and regulate them and money could be spent on education and prevention then we'd have LESS of a drug problem than we do today - and a much better tax base!



Enough of what I think - you guys probably think I'm crazy now :-)



my .02, well - .04 hell... my $2.00



lig

 

Apologies....I was a little strong with the <Lig's 'if everyone's doing it, it must be right'> statement.
Unfortunately, the cell phone debate seems to rate up there with religion, abortion & politics when it comes to drawing lines in the sand and I 'assumed' to much by the post.
Sorry

 

There's no reason to ban cell phones. There are already plenty of laws in existence to deal with the issue, if only our law enforcement personnel would enforce those laws. Creating new, extremely specific laws only clutters up the books and criminalizes legitimate use.

 

Dario,

I work around where you live. And I can't tell you the number of times I have seen women putting on makeup in the morning while sitting on the Cedar Rd. ramp or while driving on Cedar. As far as cell phones, I have one in the car, but I'm not one of those people who feels "empty" unless they have the damn thing planted to the side of their head while they're driving! I guess if it is an emergency, or if you need to make a quick business call, then fine...use it. But for some reason people feel compelled to catch up with their freinds, get scores of last nights ball games, weather reports etc. while they are driving. As soon as I come up behind someone with the infamous "head tilt" (head cocked to the side on the phone) I gun the Beemer and leave them eating dirt.

P.S. 150 miles to VTEC!!

 

Cheetah -no apology necessary - if someone had taken me out like that I'd be tempted to hunt down cell phone users everywhere myself. Just don't put words in my mouth. Strike - very rational view of this topic.

Watching tv while driving = talking while driving? uhhhhh... if you say so. I've personally never driven and watched tv at the same time so I can't prove or disprove that statement...

lig

 

I'm actually in a slightly different spot if I'm talking about driving the S2000 instead of the Maxima. In the Honda, I'm more inclined to feel "connected" to what's going on, and less likely to be tolerant of distractions. As a result, the few cell calls I've taken on the road tend to be very short--I want to get back to driving!

In the Maxima, though it requires less thought (or perhaps, BECAUSE it requires less thought), I've found myself in somewhat protracted conversations, sometimes lasting most of my commute home (approx 25 minutes). The Maxima lends itself to this type of call, both in terms of having a quiet cabin, an auto transmission, and a "less connected" sense while driving.

In short, it's much easier and more convenient for me to have a cell conversation on the road in the Maxima, but I strongly suspect it's much more dangerous, even with my hands-free earbud.

Case in point: Night before last, my wife called and wanted to give me a list of groceries to pick up. I answered, but said, "I'm on the road, can you call back and leave the list in voice-mail?" The distraction was there, but was short-lived, and under my control as to whether or not I could afford the 15-30 seconds of less-than-perfect attention. I've (without question) had far greater lapses when searching for a CD and/or swapping disks in the player.

Tim

P.S. I'll offer up now the most brain-dead thing I've ever done behind the wheel. Changing shirts. For reasons I can't fully explain, it seemed that I HAD to change while on the road, and on the expressway at that. Getting the shirt off was no problem. However, when I put the new shirt on (passed arms through the sleeves first, and then prepared to do the quick over-the-head thing), I neglected to unbutton the top button of the polo shirt. I get the thing half-way on, but stuck over the top of my head. It would have been hysterical had it not been so incredibly dangerous... flying down the expressway at 65 or so, head stuck inside a black polo shirt, trying to see the road through the opening for my head. Fortunately, I can admit that this was several years ago...

 

well, i saw a lady driving a BMW thinking she's all that. She stops in the middle of the road and starts putting on make up

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Strike
[B]IMO, using a hands free kit is similar to talking to someone else in the car and is acceptable.

 

I can tell by the 9 to 9 vote that this is similar to talking about religion and politics. There are interesting comments. However, The VAST majority of people I see driving while talking are in another world and are somewhat of a danger to myself and others out there. I even got into it with my sister about her use. I know the type of person she is and keep waiting for a call that says "While I was talking to so and so on the phone, I didn't realize the light had just changed and WHAM". I'm just a bit concerned as to who is out there and if they are concentrated on the road.

To OhioRacer: You'll be there in no time. I hope you won't be on the phone when you hit VTEC. :-)

 

I wouldn't ask for it to be a primary offense, but if you get in an accident w/ your cellphone you should be automatically at-fault, or if you get pulled over for something else while on the phone (i.e. speeding, wreckless driving) then the cellphone should be an additional charge. If you are responsible then you will never end up with a ticket for driving while talking on the phone.