What are your views on cell phone usage while driving?

Had you had any close calls with another driver on their cell phone either talking or texting?

Today I ran a quick errand and in the course of a few minutes had a couple of close calls all due to the other driver using their cell phone while driving and NOT paying attention to the road.

I feel at the very least, they should have mandatory hands-free devices and a no texting while driving. In my state they just passed a no cell phone usage while in a school zone.

The problem as I see it is not the cell phones themselves but the lack of attention paid to the road. Same as not paying attention when applying lipstick, lighting up a smoke, etc. I believe law enforcement needs to more strictly enforce "reckless driving' citations for those who do not give serious attention to the road and who do not respect the power of the vehicle they are driving. That being said, I also believe hands free ought to be required if one must use cell phone while driving.

I hate it and think it should be illegal...although it might be difficult to enforce unless there is an accident. There are so many people on the roads that don't know how to drive properly anyway...adding a cell phone to the mix makes it worse. If you need to talk, pull over into a parking spot or get a hands free device. ~Lisa

Everything you said except the hands free - no one "must" use the cell phone while driving. People can no longer differentiate between a need and a want. Just because it rings, it doesn't have to be answered, they do have voicemail ! Additionally, cars can be pulled over and actually stopped ~gasp~ to then talk on the phone.

Talking to someone in the car is not the same as talking to someone on the phone. Even in a store or other location the focus is still on the phone, not what is going on around the person.

I've seen folks applying full face makeup, shaving, reading, eating, using a laptopetc, and having Fido in their lap. I've seen many doing 2 or more at the same time, which is very scary. Even the hands free people talk with their hands, I see all the gesticulations going on and wonder if they steer with their legs.

I, too, have been able to avoid several mishaps and wonder when I won't see it fast enough since I have to be diligent for them as well.

dl

I think it is too dangerous to use your hand to hold your phone while driving; I think maybe the hands-free sets are ok---I mean, what is really the difference between that and talking to a passenger? I guess as long as you are not trying to do serious business on the phone, where you are more focused on the call, then maybe it is okay. But I have stipulations! Hands free only! The phone call should be as short as possible! Use only when really needed. A call home, such as, "Honey, do I need to pick up the kids' prescriptions, or did you get them?" --something like that might be okay. I don't think people should make a habit of phoning while driving; they should make it a habit to DRIVE instead, LOL! People who just LOVE to talk on their phones, for the sake of talking, do NOT need to drive and talk, hands-free or not, I think! But to make a quick call, or receive a quick call, hands-free, should be allowed under certain circumstances. I think if you are a safe driver, you will be conscientious of when is a good time to be talking while driving, whether on a hands free set, or to a passenger. You can't keep people from talking, after all!

Everybody, be safe out there!

I don't think that anyone can safely use a cell phone while driving. Maybe on the open road where there's nothing going on but I think it's impossible to think about what you are doing and talk on the phone at the same time. So many times we will notice people just poking down the road and basically being a hazard and sure enough they have a dang cell phone plastered to their ear. I'd like to know how people lived before cell phones because you'd think that it was some necessity of life now days. I even see people jogging and texting...that was a new one!

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Dumpcan huh? That's so funny coming from the biggest pile of garbage I've ever seen!

I think it is safer for me to be on the phone and driving than to have my kids screaming and fighting in the car while I'm driving.

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I totally agree. I hate the bluetooth though. To me it is the most annoying device ever. When I see someone wearing one, I wonder why they are so important that they have to have their cell phone attached to them for the whole world to see while they are out in public. It is not hard to pick up your phone and answer it. Sorry if I offend anyone, this is just how I feel. Plus, I can never tell if someone is talking to me or on the phone. (I was at my parents house yesterday and my mom had one of those evil things in her ear, and I thought she was talking to me until I realized she was on the phone.....)

I have a cheap 'ol VM pay as you go phone. I use it for the quick reasons listed above. Plus, my son has Aspergers and I need to be able to be contacted by the school should the need arise. Without my phone, I was at home all the time, afraid to leave the house.

I don't talk and drive for long periods of time. 99% of my "conversations" are less than 1 minute. I mean, how long does it take to ask if we need milk while I am at the grocery store?? LOL

The people who talk and drive for long periods of time while on the cell phone need to hang up and drive!

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"Yesterday my life was duller, now everything's technicolor!"

....Don't!....

When my kids would do this, I would pull over and rectify the situation. My kids know there is no arguing or distractions while someone is driving.

I am not a big fan of talking on the cell phone while driving. Both DH and I have had near mishaps due to people talking on their cell phone . Last week I was behind an SUV with a package on their back bumper. I was behind them at a red light, so I beeped the horn to try and get their attention. I beeped 3 different times, as well as the people to the left of them, in the left turn lane rolling down their window to try and get the driver's attention. My DD said "Mom, she's on her cell phone". I beeped again, and she put her hands up in the air as to gesture "WHAT~!!!???", with the phone still in her ear. I rolled down my window and so did she, as did the car to the left.... I yelled "Get the hell off the phone, and get the thing off your bumper!!!!!" She finally got it, and gave us the thumbs up. The "package" turned out to be a rolled up newspaper in it's plastic bag. The driver drove off w/out getting it off her bumper.

I think it should be illegal unless you are a doctor maybe.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Never fails, every single time I see someone driving on the road going too slow, swaying all around the lane of the road, making extra wide turns, etc....THEY ARE ALWAYS on their phone! The worst is when I see people texting while driving on the freeway....they drive as bad as a drunk driver. I see these drivers not paying attention to the road or other drivers...like they were in dream land and everyone else needs to look out for them...they just don't care! You would think people would have enough common sense that when they are in danagerous traffic situations that they would put their phones away but, noooo they go right on texting, dialing, and talking.... Unfortunately, it is going to take a horrible accident somewhere that will cause the laws to change where you can't use the cell phone while driving or you can only use hands free devices.

The insurance institute for highway driving did a study a couple of years ago that found that you use the same part of your brain to talk on the phone as you do for driving. Hands free devices made no difference in driving performance while on the phone. I stopped talking and driving after that. That finding speaks volumes for my safety, my kid’s safety, and everyone around me on the road. I read another study, (can't remember source) that said driving while talking impairs your reaction time MORE than drunk driving. I would never drive drunk, I'm not going to talk and drive.

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Myself, I find it extremely difficult to talk on a cell phone and drive at the same time.On the very rare occasion that I've had to take a cell phone with me because I was expecting an important call and tried to talk and drive at the same time ,I found it not easy for me.I avoid it if at all possible.
I see so many people glued to their phones though while driving and it makes me nervous cause I know they aren't giving driving their full attention.

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May you be blessed

~Lisa

I think it is safer for me to be on the phone and driving than to be blindfolded while I'm driving, but that doesn't mean I think either one is appropriate.

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We have had this conversation before. Police not only talk on the phone but also type on the computer and look at the display when they are driving. Often they are in pursuits when doing this. If it's safe enough for them to do an intelligent person like myself who multitasks quite well can keep her attention on the road.
I just worked five years a job where I was driving constantly and talking on the phone. Never even a close call because I was paying extra attention.
And yes I did HAVE to talk on the phone if I would have pulled over each time I would have been fired a long time ago for exceeding my monthly allotment of hours.
Lots of working driving people MUST talk and drive at the same time.
I recently got a Bluetooth and I like it.

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I really don't like talking on the phone, be it a landline or cell phone so it's not an issue for me. Have I ever talked on a cell phone while driving before? Sure. Usually when one of my kids would be calling me to come pick them up from school or something like that. Would I just dial up a friend to chit chat? Probably not. I don't know what the statistics are, but I would be that alot of accidents are caused by people chatting on their cell phone and not paying attention to the road. I say ban them while driving. ~Lisa

annadrose,
Not all police districts allow the use of a phone while driving.
My hubby is a police officer. They are not allowed to talk while driving. They are not allowed to be on the computer while driving either.
Judy

I talk on the phone frequently when driving. I do not dial or text. I don't really see where it's a problem as long as I'm paying attention to the road. If you're going to ban talking on the phone, you need to ban all the aforementioned tasks as well.

I think that people who aren't safe while they are driving and talking on the phone should be ticketed or something, but I would be very very much against banning cell phones while driving. I'm glad that isnt in my state yet! I've never had a close call b/c of it.

When you get a badge, then maybe you can do it all too. Everyone thinks they are intelligent and that certainly is up for interpretation, as well as mutli-tasking abilities.

Again, no one has to talk on the phone while driving no matter how much they try to justify it. No one, working people included - as if they are so important, which they are not. This is but an example of a modern convenience turned into a must have.

dl

it's okay to drive and talk as long as you are safe




This is baloney! It's take concentration to have a conversation. Talking on the cell phone while driving completely takes away from the concentration one would use with his or her driving skills, watching signs, looking in the rear view mirror, etc.
Very different than, for example stuffing your face with a big mac while driving.

I really don't think that as long as I am being "safe" while talking makes any sense.

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1) please don't make broad generalizations--not all police depts. allow talking on a cell phone. Ours doesn't even allow the officers to carry their personal cells while on duty. OIC (officer in charge) often has a dept issued cell, and there are specific protocols for when it can be used.
2) "often" they are in pursuits doing this? Not if they have competent and qualified dispatchers! The officers relay the information via a lapel mike and earpiece or via radio--and the dispatchers do the typing and looking at display.
3) ALL police officers receive special training in defensive and safe driving practices; much more than the average citizen--even the intelligent ones who multitask well(FWIW--I multitask quite well. I was able to dispatch fire/ems/police, answer 911 calls, answer radio traffic; sometimes all at the same time!)

I don't answer the phone while driving. I don't dial while driving. I don't text while driving. Too many unknowns involved. I multitask well--the driver in front of or behind me, may not.

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Beer is good, and people are crazy"

People keep mentioning that having a conversation is a distraction when you should be driving. I agree... but I don't.

I think that it's not just conversation that is the issue... it's that it's a conversation with someone who isn't present with you. The level of concentration is different. If someone is sitting beside me while I am driving, even though they are in the periphery, I'm getting queues from their hand motions, whether they are slouching or on the edge of the seat, stopping to sip their Diet Coke, etc.

If the other person is in my phone, I have to turn my ears on 'high' and hyper-focus on what I'm hearing. Has the call been dropped? Was that said to me or did somebody else walk into their kitchn and ask something? There are just a million other aspects you have to mentally attend when you can't *see* the other person that make a cell phone conversation different than an in-person one.

I do occasionally talk while driving, but it's rare, it's short, and because I do it so rarely I don't have a sense of complacency about it and am hyper-aware of my driving.... more than I am aware of my conversation. I don't want it to be any other way, so I won't take it up as an everyday practice anytime soon.

Wrong wrong wrong, should be illegial, if a true emergency arises then simply pull over and either make that call or take a call. I have said this before and will say it again its so dangerous you can take your life or worse someone else's innocent lives or lives. For me I rarely use that cell phone only for several people will I answer it and never ever driving. My husband my children my parents plain and simple and again never ever driving so reckless and so irresponsible. As far as talking on the cell phone in public like a store again go outside no one needs to hear your whole private conversation so rude.... Peace. Catherine

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in memory of my beloved beautiful brother Sonny who is now an angel in heaven

Hands free is probably OK, not much different than eating, fiddling with the radio, etc.

Texting-no way should that be OK. That requires a lot more attention, you have to look at the phone a lot more, it takes at least one hand at all times to do it, etc.

Maybe there needs to be laws about where cell phone use is OK, such as it's OK on the open highway or in places where the speed limit is less than a given rate, etc. I have no idea what the "safest" place to use a cell while driving would be, but maybe the area does make a difference.

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Although some people can multi task while driving, alot of people can't. These people who can't, make it extremely dangerous to be sharing the same highway, freeway, parking lot, and street with. What I have seen on the highway and freeway are people doing 20 plus miles below the speed limit (while texting or talking with their hands, as if the person they are talking to is right there with them) and you can't get around them, it causes others to come up on your bumper at very fast speeds, while you pray that person doesn't slam into you. Others are texting or talking in parking lots totally oblivious that there are other cars travelling in the same lot with them. It seems like their eyes are fixed to their cell phone and not the road.
I am not sure if there is a safe speed for calls using a handset and certainly texting should be banned while driving.

I totally agree. I have had quite a few close calls because of the other driver talking on a cell phone -- and I am sick of it

I have had close calls with all kinds of idiots on the road some were using their phones but since I have been driving since 1978 you can rest assured I have had many close calls with people who were NOT on phones.
This is an issue that we need to agree to disagree on. Like many others I believe that different people have different capabilities as well as being able to focus better or worse than others.

I will continue to talk on my phone and I will continue to pay extra attention when I am.

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Faith + Love = Happy

Your arrogance is glaring. You want to agree to disagree on a valid safety issue because you think you are more capable, can multitask, and better focus, etc.

Wow. And I have to say it now. You have no idea why your supervisors weren't happy with your job performance or why you lost your job. In reading some of your self centered musings of why none of it was your fault, I can see why.

dl

My DH is an otr truck driver and uses a head set to talk on the phone. The other day he was almost run off the road by a state police car (dont' remember which state) the officer was on the puter and the phone....nice. anyway. I talk on the phone and drive. Probably shouldn't but if I'm in a situation that demands more attention, I hang up.

We have had the convo before...lol.

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Melissa

Strong and bitter words indicate a weak argument.

, as you say we will definitely have to agree to disagree very very sadly, while driving you sincerely need all your attention 100 percent on the road, why can you not wait a few extra moments to make a call or take a call??, it could Anna save your life, or a innocent life, kindly reconsider your personal views on this subject. Thanks, peace. Catherine

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in memory of my beloved beautiful brother Sonny who is now an angel in heaven