CA's New Hands Free Cell Phone Law

[stuckincincy]

Some people drive like crap while talking on the phone. Some people drive like crap while eating McDonalds. Some people drive like crap while talking to someone in the passenger seat. Some people just drive like crap.

 

- yes indeed!

 

I do think there is a qualitative difference, though. You don't get in a heated argument with a cheeseburger, one doesn't dial a donut and so forth. I have very, very seldom used a phone while driving. I find it much more distracting than mindlessly chewing on food.

 

There have been numerous horrific accidents in my area due to phone distractions. Including some of the ones where 3 or more kids died as the driver was chatting or texting.

 

 

There was a national dialogue in Germany when the first cup holders started showing up there. "If you want a beverage, stop and have one.".

 

For the longest time, the radios in German-manufactured cars would not go off with the ignition. The idea being...you turned the radio on, and you can now turn it off.

[Fan in Chicago]

I think there are two issues here. First of all, talking on a cell phone engages ones attention and takes attention away from the task of driving. The same can be said for an active discussion with a passenger. The least you can hope for is that a driver pays attention to his driving. Crappy driver or otherwise, I think talking on the cell phone makes one worse than he/she is already. It is immaterial whether it is hands-free or not. The second hand is mainly required if one is driving a stick shift which 90+% in this country do not.

The second issue is whether there should be a law against it. And I personally think there should not be. Implementing a law against driving while talking implicitly assumes that there is enough information to prove that the attention diversion from talking on a cell is more than due to other causes such as talking to your passenger or eating a sandwich. Hence, I oppose a law.

[mcjeff215]

Can't existing laws be enforced? If some numb skull is veering back and forth like a moron, who cares if he's talking on a phone or has the NY Times sprawled out across the wheel (we've all seen this, I know I have).. peg him for that rather than creating something else. Is that a reckless driving thing? Failure to maintain lane? Most states have got to have something that would already fit the bill.

 

How about the 'get there 35 seconds earlier than you' lane switchers? Good lord, they're much more dangerous than some guy taking a grocery store order from the little lady on the way home from work. On more than one occasion I've seen some moron flying down the interstate and I've said "he's going to cause an accident", only to find him spun out and smashed up a mile down the road.

 

I'm just as freaking guilty I guess. If my phone rings while I'm in the car, I usually just answer the thing. It's like having someone in the passenger seat. Flip the top and it answers, no buttons to screw with. I do honestly make it a point not to dial while driving... though I will at a red light or in a parking lot before I start driving. I'll also not talk on the phone if I'm not familiar with where I am. New roads, different part of town, following new directions... that requires a bit more concentration than I've available while chatting to the wife or a coworker.

 

You know how people turn down the radio when trying to concentrate and drive? As a general rule, if I feel the need to turn down the radio, it's a bad time to use a cell phone.

 

It's probably fine with a good dose of common sense. Unfortunately, most seem to have to have their common sense handled to them by state legislatures.

[Hazed and Amuzed]

You know how people turn down the radio when trying to concentrate and drive? As a general rule, if I feel the need to turn down the radio, it's a bad time to use a cell phone.

 

Does that mean you blast the radio when talking?

[mcjeff215]

Does that mean you blast the radio when talking?

 

Depends who I'm talking to. Are we talking about my wife? Boss? Hot intern?

[Albany,n.y.]

Would you still feel that way if you were an illegal alien driving an unregistered uninsured unsmogged vehicle while talking on a phone?

Just think of the benefit of pulling over a driver like that-all because of the cell phone law. The police pull him over, next thing he's being deported -works for me.

[Spun]

Who uses two hands to use a cell phone?

 

What I'm saying, and I'm hoping you're ignoring it on purpose, is that you don't look inside of the cars that are driving fine and say, "He's on a cell phone and driving perfectly!" But I guarantee that you're passing dozens of them a day.

 

And why isn't there a law against driving while eating a Mcdonalds hamburger? Or a Taco Bell chilli cheese burito?

 

Like I said, there IS -- it's called "inattentive driving." Why don't we enforce the laws we already have instead of making new ones?

 

Yes, I am dosing you on sarcasm. I do get your point. As some have already pointed out there are existing laws in the books. My take is that if the officers were going to enforce the cell phone usage with the old law they would have to also go after taco eaters, makeup queens, shavers, drinkers, radio changers, etc. I see the aforementioned as troublesome at times but few of these activities are consistently as ongoing as a phone call. If with existing laws there was a predominance of tickets for cell phone usage I could see a reaction by some saying that that driver with the mocha and that one with the burger are getting away with inattentive driving but cell phone users are not. Lawyers might have some fun with the inconsistency. So instead there is also a specific law for the cell phone users.

 

Back to the looking inside of other cars, there were plenty of problems on the roads before cell phones. The tailgating, non-signaling, the aggression and anger were all there before but the phones have added to the chaos. Will a cell phone law change all of that? No but hopefully it helps. Some drivers are just bad.

 

The other day I was drinking a cup of coffee on an outside restaurant patio. This lady comes driving down the street with her cell phone in her left hand while held to her ear while also trying to make a right turn. In my view, she was going too fast. She might think otherwise. She couldn't easily use her signal so she didn't. She tried a right hand turn with just her right hand on the wheel and ended up turning down the middle of two lanes. A few minutes later, another guy comes up the same street driving about fifteen in a twenty-five zone. A line of about five cars coming from the opposite direction were waiting for this guy to get through the intersection so they could make their left turns. The guy was visibly dialing or texting while not concentrating on his speed nor the situation ahead. The people had to wait for the guy to get through and an additional signal change. That is what enrages people.

 

Another infraction that is inconsistently applied is when you see people heading to a party with their back seats filled with balloons. Cops seem to go after people for this one but some others seem to get a free ride. It isn't that much of a big deal until one of us gets the ticket or gets hurt.