Using a cell phone while driving

[EVERLAST]

last Oct I was rear ended by a yellow cab. He was on his CELL phone. He hit me while writing something down. I was stopped and the last car to be able to fit through the intersection...the light was red as well. SO, he ran a red light and rear ended me pushing me into the truck in front of me so hard I tore the rear bumper off of the truck (brand new truck).

I had double whiplash and am still suffering the effects today.

SO, people need to talk on thier phones while driving eh?

[Engine09]

I almost got in a fistfight a few weeks back, this monkey and I were face to face screaming obscenities at eachother, fists clenched and everything.

Why?

I was crossing the street and assumed the car heading my way was not going to turn towards me because the turn signal was not on. Halfway across the street this car suddenly turns and I stop in my tracks fearing that my knees are about to get crushed.

I look at the driver, his head is tilted to the side, one hand on his cell. He couldn't signal because he was driving with one hand. Quite angry, I yell at him, "use your f'ing signal". No word of a lie, he gets out of the car, puffs up his chest and shouts back, "can't you see I'm on the phone!".

I was stunned. What an idiot.

A few days later I almost get rear ended on my motorbike while letting a pedestrian cross, in a crosswalk. The car behind me locks up the brakes, tires screech, rubber is left on the road. I'm watching him in my mirror, he was on the phone.


Bottom line, people think they are the center of the universe and have no concern for anyone else. If they have to make a call, that's important business!

Yeah, anyone who rides a bike or a motorbike, or spends a lot of time walking through the city has noticed how ridiculous people behave. Ever watch someone try to shift gears in a standard with no hands on the wheel?

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

Yeah, anyone who rides a bike or a motorbike, or spends a lot of time walking through the city has noticed how ridiculous people behave. Ever watch someone try to shift gears in a standard with no hands on the wheel?

No doubt. Being a pedestrian is dangerous in this town. Pedestrian crosswalks are particularly bad. Walking people and flashing yellow lights are miraculously invisible to people talking on the phone.

The "it's just like talking to someone in the car" line is a cop-out. If anyone thinks that talking to someone on the phone is like having a regular conversation, go talk to someone who is on the phone and tell me they aren't distracted by it and annoyed by you because they are concentrating on the phone call.

[drp_69]

I think that the "driving without due care" should cover it. I have seen people do the following, all of which are equally dangerous:
-reading
-rummaging for article in the glove box
-turning around and yelling at kids
-putting on make-up in the vanity mirror
-shaving
etc etc etc
We cannot out law everything that distracts a driver, it is up to the driver to pay due care, if taht is not the case it is an offence.

[habernac]

I commute everyday by bicycle. And I take a route that's at least 6km longer so I can avoid roads altogether and not get run over by one of these cell phone talking idiots.

[drp_69]

Anyone ever notice how distracting it is if you have a heated argument with a co passenger, or if you loose your temper. Perhaps that should be outlawed too?

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Did you even read the rest of the thread? Where things like this were said?

Or I could quote the following, which suggests that cell phones should be banned unconditionally.

" Cell phones should be banned while driving."

"In a lot of cases talking on a cell phone while driving is as bad as drinking and driving."

" It's a simple solution, if you're going to talk on the phone..pullover. If you're driving while talking you should be fined. "

--- After your post ---

" SO, people need to talk on thier phones while driving eh?" (I'm sorry you got into the accident, but it seems the culprit was WRITING SOMETHING DOWN and not a cell phone)

" I commute everyday by bicycle. And I take a route that's at least 6km longer so I can avoid roads altogether and not get run over by one of these cell phone talking idiots." (Oh yeah, here's one where everything is blamed on cell phones)

Don't accuse me of not reading. Thanks. Either way, I'm sure lots of people agree with my poiint, and probably just responding to my somewhat defensive and provocative tone. The guy that died was my neighbor, and he was the nicest guy ever, with 20+ years of drivng experience. Sucks that one mistake (whether caused by a cell phone or not) can cost him his life, and apparently, makes him a huge idiot in death where he only deserves respect for his deeds in life.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by drp_69

Anyone ever notice how distracting it is if you have a heated argument with a co passenger, or if you loose your temper. Perhaps that should be outlawed too?

When it becomes plainly obvious that conducting heated arguments with a passenger is leading to thousands of accidents and deaths the we should discuss doing something about it.

Right now though, I don't think it's recognized statistically or even anecdotally that in-car heated arguments are a problem. We've had several anecdotes in this very thread about cell-phone drivers causing problems, but not one about heated arguments.

For example, nobody has said something like "this one time I was almost hit in a crosswalk because the driver and the passenger were talking politics".

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Regorium

Or I could quote the following, which suggests that cell phones should be banned unconditionally.

Right. However I was responding to your comment that asked

I call bull**** if none of you have ever just answered your phone, spoke for 10 seconds or even a minute, then hung up.

To which I commented that you hadn't read the parts where some of us talked about that. You called out every poster in the thread by saying "none of you."

So which is it: did you not read the thread, or were you trying to pick a fight?

[drp_69]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

When it becomes plainly obvious that conducting heated arguments with a passenger is leading to thousands of accidents and deaths the we should discuss doing something about it.

Right now though, I don't think it's recognized statistically or even anecdotally that in-car heated arguments are a problem. We've had several anecdotes in this very thread about cell-phone drivers causing problems, but not one about heated arguments.

For example, nobody has said something like "this one time I was almost hit in a crosswalk because the driver and the passenger were talking politics".

Ah! Thats because it is obvious when a driver has an accident whilst talking on the phone, its plainly visible. But doing many of the above actions are not, or can be hidden, after the fact.
Is there any evidence to show, that after talking on cell phones is made illegal that it reduces the number of accidents. (Your answer would be yes, but does it reduce the overall numbers that much)
Your implication is that talkking on cell phones causes "thousands of accidents" thats why something must be done to stop it.
My point, is it is just another "nanny State" infringement on what we can and cannot do. I think that if you cant drive and talk on the cell phone then everything else should be legislated as illegal. Where do we draw the line?
You should take "due care" whilst driving, it does not matter what else you are doing at the time.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by drp_69

Where do we draw the line?
You should take "due care" whilst driving, it does not matter what else you are doing at the time.

Yeah, you should take "due care" while driving, and if you are dialling or talking on a cell phone, you are not taking "due care" even if you haven't caused an accident.

I don't know where to draw the line. I'd like to see it somewhere north of "talking on a cell phone". If someone else wants to argue for stiffer laws for heated-arguments, stereo fiddling, or putting on make-up while driving, that's their business and they can make their own case. I haven't been potentially run-over several times by someone putting on make-up or having an argument so I don't have a stake in it.

If I do get put in a wheelchair by another moron cruising through a red light because they are finalizing a very important grocery list over the phone, the "nanny state" argument isn't going to help me learn how to walk.

I mean how hard is it? Pull the car over and have your conversation. What's so hard about that?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Claeren

Why do morons always have to ruin everything for the rest of us?!

It's because the laws of the land are directed at addressing the lowest common denominators....

Try being on a condo board as president for a few years.... your faith in society goes downhill fast.

Headsets / BT connections make a big difference I find though.

[J pold]

I drive a standard always have, and really can’t use a cell phone when I drive if I wanted to but I will not say I have not done it, put me in that camp that hates cell phones and if there was a law passed to bane there use I would be all for it

But my worst cell phone driving story I was driving past this girl who was veering left and right on Barlow I speed up to get past her cause she is driving like a moron and she is using her knees to steer she is not looking at the road what so ever and is texting away on her phone all this while she is driving about 90

[Flame On]

I don't know what the hold up is. It's like second hand driving. Ban it and let the whiners whine. Being whined at is preferable to being driven into.