It sounds ridiculous to me, and I find that most of the ban supporters are the same people who will scream bloody murder if we try to enact any safety regulations that might prevent people who are really dangerous from driving cars. They don’t want tougher testing, enforcement of violations other than excessive speed or failure to stop, and they REALLY don’t want us to take licenses away from people who have continuously shown lack of judgement or ability.

While you are at it, you can tell him what you said to a civilian in the same post as you identified yourself as a member of the USAF. As a retired officer, I happen to know that he will be VERY interested in THAT.

I would thank you for your service, but I am not so sure I am getting my money’s worth out of you (and yes, I pay enough taxes to cover your salary AND benefits).

USAF. It is very likely that I fly as much or more than you do.

Incidentally, it must be somewhat difficult for you to fly with your head so far up your ass.

Pilots who get too many traffic violations will lose their pilots license LONG before they will lose their drivers license. I suspect that if you do know pilots who are bad drivers, they are not quite “atrocious”. Also, how would you know they are “excellent pilots”? Surely you don’t actually fly in a plane, you might die you know.

ppellico,

Here is the real rub. If they outlaw cellphones, people will simply start using email and texting instead. Then I suppose we will need to outlaw those as well, but we won’t really be able to enforce that so it won’t help.

I cannot understand that since there are stupid teenage drivers, we must all give up our rights.
I am always telling my kids, just because I do something doesn’t mean they can or even could do it.
There are levels of skill.
There is maturity.
Why don’t we just outlaw in-dash radios?
Somewhere there has to be a stat showing accidents caused from loud music or the changing of channels.
Why not close up all drive through food services.
This has to be more dangerous than cell phone use.
Hot coffee while driving!?
Madness.
Come on, America, stop with all the laws to cover laws that are not enforced.
Simply apply laws now on the books.
If you cannot drive, lose the license!

Ok…maybe outlaw in-laws in cars…that would be OK.

A few years ago, I was ordered by my employer to get a cell phone so that they could keep in touch with me when I was out of the office. The few times I could not avoid talking while driving, I found that carrying on a coherent conversation was incompatible with driving at my usual level of efficiency. My experience is consistent with the studies which conclude that cell phone users are worse drivers than drunks. Now that I am semi-retired, the cell phone lives in the center console in case I need to call 911. It hasn’t been turned on in years.

again, the problem comes down to people being c-rappy drivers…
- add in ANY distraction, and your accident / oblivious driving rate will increase. cell phones come in to play because of the percentage of time driving spent on the phone vs. eating a big mac…

the whole problem is: you cannot 100% protect yourself from oblivious drivers. So, the government decides that killing people is ‘bad’ so they try to reduce the number of oblivious drivers..
I for one, like the idea of regulation to protect the masses from manslaughter as the result of ‘oblivious behaviour’…

All the more reason why you shouldn’t be talking on the phone while driving

Just then, a lady driving an Explorer, on the phone, jumps out of the lane at speed, heading right for me, intending to turn right. She was so involved in her call that she wasn’t even looking ahead. I jumped back on the curb with an inch to spare. She finally stopped about four feet past me, still gabbing on the phone, gesturing like it was my fault.

My wife and I both screamed at her to get off the damn phone and drive. Unfettered, she punched it and drove on.

I would like to see her don an orange jumpsuit at the graybar motel for a day or two. Absolutely.

The hands-free cell phone law starts in California on July 1, but I suspect we won’t see much compliance or impact on impairment. Lots of folks here just don’t care to be inconvenienced.

@Landcrusher:

You should have a bumper sticker stating:

“I can use my cellphone while driving because “I was licensed by the Army to drive some serious gear. I am also certified by the FAA to fly a plane, talk to air traffic countrol on the radio, and calm my passengers all without being able to see outside, in turbulence, at well over a hundred miles an hour, descending at 700 feet per minute, looking to break out of the clouds at 200 feet above the ground”.”

Side note: I personally know several excellent pilots who are also atrocious drivers. As a rule, pilots seem to have a completely separate and serious mind set when flying.

Seeing some fool with a phone on his ear going 39 in a 50 zone weaving in the lane gives me the chills.

If the phone rings let voice mail get it. Check the message at a red light or pull over when possible. We had a 3 year old killed because a cell phone talker ran a stop sign and T boned a car. Tried to wiggle out until they pulled up the phone records.

The problem is that they can kill me as well when they go right through that red stop light and plow into the side of my car at 45 mph. this is not a case of the government trying to protect us from ourselves, it is a case of a very vocal group of people making a sensible argument with several studies to back it up, that cell phone use while driving is a significant safety hazard to those around the cell phone user.

Your comment doesn’t advance your position, it simply points out that you are a cause du jour type.

Lumbergh,

Here is the difference between drinking and cell phones. There is no real benefit to drinking. It doesn’t save lives, produce food, medicine, or other goods. It is simply a leisure activity. Cell phones serve a purpose. They save time, and make us more productive – JUST LIKE CARS. Any logic against cell phone usage is easily adaptable to banning driving.

There are all sorts of people in the world who want to save your life so you can do they things that they value – ONLY. If you want to do things that you want to do, well, it better not be one of the things they DON’T value. If so, they want to take your property, or punish you by taking your time.

There are actually good arguments on both sides of the cell phone equation, but I never got hit by someone talking on the cell phone. I did get hit by a woman talking to her mother. Perhaps we should keep family members from talking to the driver?

I will go for the cell phone ban when we start taking driver training, licensing, and road design seriously. So long as we will license anyone, and then not take away a license for anything, banning cell phone usage is lipstick on a pig.

Seeing some fool with a phone on his ear going 39 in a 50 zone weaving in the lane gives me the chills.

If the phone rings let voice mail get it. Check the message at a red light or pull over when possible. We had a 3 year old killed because a cell phone talker ran a stop sign and T boned a car. Tried to wiggle out until they pulled up the phone records.”

YES QFT (Quoted For Truth).

Call me insane (and I have a cell phone), but I’d like to see jail time accompanying cell phone usage when it causes an accident.

I’m all for people having personal freedoms, talking on the phone, etc, but they just need to realize they are facing …say… 15 years in prison if they kill someone. Maybe 5-10 for serious injury to someone else.

I don’t even listen to the radio when I drive. The only accident I was ever responsible for was when I was listening to the radio.

Now that I drive a (manual) sports car & (manual) motorcycle, I am constantly scanning for dangerous. I think if most people were required to take & pass an MSF course there would be alot better (or fewer) drivers on the road.

Here I de-lurk because this issue is different.

The problem is not cell phones or cars. The problem is us. The danger with cell phones is caused by a fact about how humans create the world we experience. To have an opinon favoring cell phone use while driving after understanding these facts is equivalent to be in favor of the right to engage in fundamentally reckless driving behavior that endangers others. I cannot believe anyone in this community would hold such a view.

The facts are that holding a conversation impacts what we become aware of — literally what we see. Listening to the radio, eating and other activities are handled in other parts of the brain and do not have the same effect. The research in the area is now unambiguous and rests on a foundation of 20+ years of research into human cognition. No part of the science is debatable.

Banning cell phone use (including hands free) while driving is deadly important — especially because many (most) people see it as an issue of irresponsible use. This is categorically not a matter of personal freedom, responsibility or just ‘better concentration’.

To be in favor of cell phone use is to be in favor of allowing people to drive while temporarily blind.

A total ban will happen eventually. Personally, I bet things move when the insurance industry gains legal access to cell phone records and treats coverage for those found to be driving while on the phone the same as those found DWI.

I can’t get excited about this until we redouble our efforts to get drunks off the road. And if we’re going to have NAV systems, especially ones that double as dvd players, then why worry about cell phone users – at least they’re still looking at the road (except when they’re dialing).

Often with laws we are all for the ones which stop the other guy from doing things we don’t do and wish he wouldn’t. The problem with banning cell phones while driving is that the vast majority of people simply wouldn’t put up with it. Long live democracy.

Here is the problem with what you are saying. Cell phone users aren’t a problem except when they are. You notice the morons, but you rarely notice the people who aren’t morons. The results are what need policing, not the correlative cause. Police rarely give out a ticket without using radar anymore. That’s a shame, because speed is rarely the proximate cause of an accident.

I know we all think we are the exception, and that drives the problem, but how do you justify pulling me over for using a cell phone when I am still driving better than at least 20% of the idiots on the road? Before you make any assumptions about my abilities, I will tell you that I was licensed by the Army to drive some serious gear. I am also certified by the FAA to fly a plane, talk to air traffic countrol on the radio, and calm my passengers all without being able to see outside, in turbulence, at well over a hundred miles an hour, descending at 700 feet per minute, looking to break out of the clouds at 200 feet above the ground. (bad grammer intentional for effect).

All that being said I try not to talk on the phone on the highway, but like someone else said, the real problems are not cell phones. The government needs to take responsibility for its own duties first.

So, I am with Chuck. He made a good point. It wasn’t empty at all. It was perhaps a bit hyperbolic, but I think that was plain enough to see.

@ chuckgoolsbee: Your argument is completely empty. With your version of freedom, drive any speed you want, don’t wear a seatbelt, keep a bottle of tequila close by for a stress relieving swig every now and then…what the hell, ignore traffic lights and drive on the wrong side of the road too. The damned guvment can’t tell you what to do, this is a free country! The cops should just leave you alone to drive as you please…that is unless you crash and kill the entire family in the minivan ahead of you. Only then should the police charge you for driving like an idiot?

Probably 95% of drivers believe they are indeed good to excellent drivers, whereas realistically, in North America, only about 15% to 20% (at best) are actually good, experienced drivers. When you mix the truly bad drivers with the ones who think they’re good drivers and factor in cellphones, as my father used to say, “that’s an accident going somewhere to happen”.

Why don’t the government entities take more responsibility for the road engineering deficiencies they are directly responsible for instead of passing dubious laws? Oh, right, it is easier to pass a law than it is to actually do hard stuff like putting up guardrails, installing rumble strips and providing proper shoulders.