NY State - 2 points on record for cell phone use while driving!!!!!

[Drjones]

What would be the point of a new anti-cellphone law if it is not enforced effectively? Would that new law be necessary if the current laws governing moving violations were enforced (i.e. tailgating, failure to maintain lane, etc.)?  Who benefits when more non-enforced (read as useless) regulations are put on the books?

One can write all the laws they want, but if they're not enforced then it is just governmental masturbation.

[Statler]

will you folks please post in a bigger font.

I have to put either the soda can or the electric razor down so I can hold the phone closer to my eyes to read the forum.

oops... traffic braking.... be right back...

[Punx Clever]

honestly i wish all it took was a simple law and not deaths to change people's habits, truly i don't want others to die

I don't know if you actually caught what I was referencing... but just in case: http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html
It fits insomuch as the children dying to be a benefit to the people at large.  Wonderful bit of satire.

My personal opinion on the matter is that we don't NEED laws specifically banning cell phone use, putting on makeup, eating, or any number of other distracted drivers.  If a cop is patrolling along and sees a car weaving back and forth, clearly driving carelessly, he should pull them over on those grounds.  Period.  Who cares what you were doing? If you are driving carelessly you should be held accountable for that.  If it is putting someone else in immediate danger, reckless.  You wouldn't need new laws, it would cover all the stupid things people do while driving, and wouldn't be any different than the cops looking for individual things.

[sbrguy]

yeah i missed what you were referencing my bad.

i agree if they just enforced what was on the books maybe you don't need new laws.

but with dui, you can get dinged if they set up a "check point".  dui have their own set of laws that are so much worse than any other distracted driving.

example you kill someone while not paying attention, you probably will get off and not have to get any time in jail regardless of if you are rich or not, but you kill someone while driving drunk your life is basically over at that point you are going to jail unless you are a nfl football player or movie star.

the funny thing is that you may be driving at the time even better than some sober people and not doing any of the weaving, tailgating, speeding, going to slow, lane violation, not signaling, etc or such and you still get the supsended license etc and you DIDN'T do anything dangerous yet.

i see no reason why you can't do that with just the calling or texting or what have you, if you are seen doing it they should pull you over immediately and give you the same thign that drunk drivers get which are fines/suspended license, and be villified by the public just like a dui where the person just happened to get caught but wasn't doing anything wrong at the time.

[Punx Clever]

I was in no way saying that we don't need DUI/DWI laws... to me it's a whole different animal.  When you are drunk, you are drunk. Period.  You can't put down the buzz whenever you need to.

Talking on the phone is not a condition like being drunk, it's an action.  To that effect, a cell phone checkpoint would be pointless.  "Oh shit, it's a checkpoint up ahead! Gotta get off the phone!" On the other hand, I'd be up for a law that gave penalties for "Distracted Driving."  No reason to leave out the jackwagons who put on makeup or tie their ties while headed to work while you get on the kid texting.

[Bladecutter]

This is a great discussion topic.

One huge flaw, though:

Today's society.

In today's society, a huge portion of the population of teenagers who have vehicles they can drive, also own cellphones. In fact, their whole lives are centered around the cellphone, to the point, that their instinctive reaction to their cellphone going off is to immediately reach for it, and operate it. It doesn't matter what they are doing at the time, they have to reach for it, and inspect it.

I see this all the time with my gf's 19 year old daughter, when we are doing something together.
Doesn't matter if its dinner time at the table, we're at a great hockey game with the score tied in the last 25 seconds of the third period, watching a movie (home theater downstairs), or while having an important discussion. As soon as the phone makes a noise, all her attention goes towards the phone.

Its that single instant when the phone goes off, that bad things happen, when they are behind the wheel. They are so deeply programmed to react to the phone, thanks to their dependence on it to communicate with all their peers from JHS through College, that there really isn't anything that we can do about that.

Now thanks to Facebook and Twitter, the onslaught of their phone going off with someone's update to their insignificant life, their phones are going off much more often than when they receive calls, or someone send them a text message directly.

How safe is it to have a device in a vehicle that's guaranteed to take all of the driver's attention the moment it makes a noise, or starts vibrating?

Teenagers are typically bad enough drivers on their own, and even worse when there's multiple teenagers in the car at the same time, but you throw a couple of cellphones into the mix, and add in the overwhelming teenager emotional system reacting to those messages, and you are going to have a time bomb on your hands.

And the worst part is that if you show a teenager an incident where another teenager had an accident while driving, and using a cellphone, their instant reaction is "Well, they shouldn't have been using their phone while driving." Then you ask them how often they use their phone while driving, and they start to shuffle their feet.

They know its potentially dangerous, but they can't help themselves.

The law would be best served if it were required that ALL cellphones must be TURNED OFF while a vehicle is being operated. That's the only way to eliminate the moment of reaction to the phone going off with teenagers.

Draconian? Yes.
Effective? Definitely.

BC.

[Punx Clever]

Bladecutter... one question.

How do you enforce the "cellphones off" policy?

[Statler]

Bladecutter... one question.

How do you enforce the "cellphones off" policy?

Trained squirrels with laser guns. 

[Howie]

Trained squirrels with laser guns. 

What?  Arm the little bastards?

[hbliam]

In CA it's illegal to text or hold your phone in your hand while driving.  People still do it, but if something happens, you might as well be drunk and unlicensed, because that is how much punishment they will bring down.  It's a pretty big offense if something happens.  Only a $50-100 fine for the first offense if you just get pulled over, and it gets worse from there.  It's not a worthless law, but I don't know the effect it has had on the collision rate (not "accident rate" since there is no such thing).  

Your post is hard to follow. "You might as well be drunk and unlicensed because that is how much punishment they will bring down? Followed by, "only a 50-100 fine."
I don't know the point you are trying to make.

As it stands right now in CA, a cell phone ticket is about $125 the first time and goes up from there. It's not a moving violation so no point on your DMV record. Drunk? You will be arrested, car towed, license suspended, and you should expect at least 3 years probation for a first time offense, classes, and thousands in fees/fines. Unlicensed? Misdemeanor citation at the least, possible arrest, vehicle impounded for thirty days, thousands in fees/fines.

So, no. The cell phone penalties are not anywhere akin to the other listed offenses.

Further, it CAN be in your hand. You just can't hold it and talk on speaker phone because that's not HANDS free. You can dial out or pick up a call but you have to be able to talk and listen hand free.

[Punx Clever]

Trained squirrels with laser guns. 

Now that, good sir, is a step too far.  Chipmunks I could understand... but squirrels!??!?  I bid you GOOD DAY.

[Drjones]

Bladecutter... one question.

How do you enforce the "cellphones off" policy?

Parents being parents and taking the keys away the first time their little kiddies are caught on the cell phone while driving?  There is the ability to track them via the phone's GPS nowdays.

Why is responsibility always someone else's responsibility? 

[SDkid]

Unfortunately it isn't always the teenagers that do it.  Adults have similarly distracting lives that are lived through phone calls (think of a business individual).

What I meant on my previous post (which WAS unorganized) is that if you are in an accident while using your phone (not hands free), you're in big trouble.  If you are pulled over for using you phone, you are not in nearly the same trouble even though you were doing the exact same action.  That's all.

[Drjones]

Not really.  If a person is looking a pair of boobies jogging on the side of the road and runs over a person crossing the street in the process they'll probably be brought up on a charge of vehicular manslaughter.  IF a LEO pulls someone over for not paying attention then they'll probably only get a warning to pay attention.  Just some assumptions.

Also, where I work it is a fireable offense to be using a cell phone while driving on company business.

[seevtsaab]

Everybody knows the only driving behaviour worth punishment is driving too fast.

And for God sakes people, get those tires over the yellow lines, there's a reason they put two lanes
on our roads. Use em both!