Great,the first law passed took texting below the dashboard to crotch gazing, now people will be using selfie sticks and pool cues to text on the rear seat. j/k.
With all the content on in vehicle displays now, the court room is going to fill up really quickly with challenges.
I almost killed someone who was distracted driving. I was stopped at the light at the front and a guy beside was texting so I lurched forward a bit on the red and he just hits the gas and starts to go. So I lay on the horn and he looks up and slams the brakes he stops just inches away from a car going through the lights the other direction.
So the lesson I learned don't try to play with distracted drivers, it only makes it more dangerous.
I almost killed someone who was distracted driving. I was stopped at the light at the front and a guy beside was texting so I lurched forward a bit on the red and he just hits the gas and starts to go. So I lay on the horn and he looks up and slams the brakes he stops just inches away from a car going through the lights the other direction.
So the lesson I learned don't try to play with distracted drivers, it only makes it more dangerous.
I only play that game when there's someone in front so that all that results is a costly fender bender. As a side benefit, it helps to stimulate the economy.
as of june 1st the fines are going up for distracted driving in bc.....
Quote:
The provincial government is now calling distracted driving a "high-risk" offence and increasing financial penalties.
By doubling the current fine and imposing an extra penalty point, first-time offenders will now face a minimum $543-hit to the wallet, starting June 1.
Repeat offenders will pay even more. A second offence within 12 months, will cost the $368 fine plus $520 – for a total of $888 in financial penalties. It escalates even further for additional offences. Also, breaking the law multiple times will also result in an automatic driving record review, which could mean a three to 12-month driving prohibition.
i still think an even better deterrent would be something like this....
officer comes to car window and gets device from driver
officer places device in front of front driver's tire
officer instructs driver to put car in 'drive' and roll ahead a couple of feet
officer instructs driver to pick up what's left of their device since he doesn't want to give them a ticket for littering
the problem is immediately solved
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i still think an even better deterrent would be something like this....
officer comes to car window and gets device from driver
officer places device in front of front driver's tire
officer instructs driver to put car in 'drive' and roll ahead a couple of feet
officer instructs driver to pick up what's left of their device since he doesn't want to give them a ticket for littering
the problem is immediately solved
Although I think this is a staged set up for a PSA, I think this should be an actual thing of some sort so people realize literally how bad driving while texting etc is.
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Yesterday on Elbow, I witnessed the chick in front of me doing the eyes down for 3 seconds, eyes up for 1 second telltale sign of texting. We entered a school zone, so everybody slowed down to 30 including her. As we were going slower, this meant she had even more time to keep her head down. A kid pushed the crosswalk button, traffic stopped but this fricken' idiot still had her head down and, boom, right into the guy in front.
Who in their right mind doesn't even pay attention to the road in a school zone at 9am? If that car hadn't stopped in front, there's a strong possibility she would've hit the kid in the crosswalk.
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Yesterday on Elbow, I witnessed the chick in front of me doing the eyes down for 3 seconds, eyes up for 1 second telltale sign of texting. We entered a school zone, so everybody slowed down to 30 including her. As we were going slower, this meant she had even more time to keep her head down. A kid pushed the crosswalk button, traffic stopped but this fricken' idiot still had her head down and, boom, right into the guy in front.
Who in their right mind doesn't even pay attention to the road in a school zone at 9am? If that car hadn't stopped in front, there's a strong possibility she would've hit the kid in the crosswalk.
#### I see it all the time while driving on the highway.
I especially hate the person that uses speakerphone on their phone, holding it 2 inches from their mouth, thinking they are hands free.
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I wonder if the stigma associated with drunk driving with eventually catch up with people who text and drive. It's essentially just as dangerous, but for some reason it seems to continue to be the social norm and accepted.
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I wonder if the stigma associated with drunk driving with eventually catch up with people who text and drive. It's essentially just as dangerous, but for some reason it seems to continue to be the social norm and accepted.
I would hope so. But I have my doubts. It's easier to vilify the stereotypical drunk driver - irresponsible 20 year old or middle-aged hardcore boozing dude - than it is to vilify a soccer mom driving a Toyota Sienna. My sense is using phones while driving is far more common than drunk driving, and more demographically widespread.
If a sea change does happen, it will probably be in the wake of an extremely high-profile case involving multiple children or an A-list celebrity. Sad that we might have to wait for such an eventuality to change attitudes.
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I think it's worse, because when you are drunk, most of the decisions you make are bad. When you are sober and texting, you should know better.
Nobody wants to admit that they make life endangering actions by choice by texting or using a handset or speakerphone (studies indicate it is the same level of risk as hands free) and driving while they are sober. The lie that text drivers tell themselves is that they are too highly of a skilled driver to get into an accident while texting and driving. They are a better driver than those idiots that crash because they were typing lol right when a car pulled out in front of them.
At this point the laws and fines are making no difference so I propose, for the encouragement of others.
Road side Summary Execution of distracted drivers, and then ironically texting whoever the text or call recipient was to come and pick up the corpse.
I'm sick of these idiots swerving all over the road, jamming intersections and nearly plowing into people.
You are not that fricking important that you can't wait until your car is stopped and in park before you pick up your stupid phone.
It should be simple, if your car does not have hands free, then there is a signal killer in your car so you can't receive calls or texts or anything.
Or better yet, if you attempt to send a text in your car it triggers a small but sharp metal rod in your drivers seat to be propelled at an incredible rate of speed through your anus and out through the top of your head.
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I think the answer to distracted texting/calling lies in the tech itself. Should be easy for phones or even carriers to turn off those functions for the driver of a car.
Maybe a class action suit from victims would tip them to action towards these features?
One issue IMO is the label. "distracted driving" isn't as specific and full of negative stigma as "drunk driving" or "DUI". Furthermore, technology to reduce "distracted driving" are only "reduction" of the activity and not banning it (ie: Voice activated response built into the console of your car vs car doesn't even start if you have a breathalyser built in).
I agree with others, most of the time, people think that crashing and dying is associated more with bad luck and sucky drivers than it is a "fleeting" activity like texting or phone calls. The stigma isn't the same.
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While sometimes annoying, apparently not particularly dangerous. No measurable increase in collisions as a result of inattentive pedestrians in the past 20 years, while there has been a significant increase for motorists.