Alberta passes distracted driving law

[pylon]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I hate texter/drivers as much as anyone in this thread, but it's not the same as drunk driving. Once you're drunk, you just can't drive anymore tonight. That's it. Call a cab. Call Calgary Cab (my new fave, thanks to a couple posters...) But texting and driving is a completely different kind of offense. The cop has to see the person staring at their crotch for it to be illegal. And even then, it's he said she said.

I don't know what the punishment should be, but giving a person a DUI for looking at their phone at a light is not really proportional, even though I personally want to fire them into the sun for making me wait an extra second when the light turns green. The people doing it on Deerfoot need to get charged with reckless driving. Even doing it on Elbow Drive, where some 900 year old granny is hitting the pedestrian lights, and 20 year old Tammy is too busy checking facebook. That's reckless or dangerous driving. Charge these people. Make it scary. As a 90s kid, I was scared s-less about drinking and driving, because I could lose my license or hurt or kill someone.

This epidemic is similar, but not the same. It needs to be cracked down on, and it needs to be called what it is. "Distracted" is a word I can use to describe myself while writing this post, because I've got highlights going on the TV. Distracted isn't lethal. Texting and driving is. Amend 'Dangerous Driving' to include texting. Just trying to rewind and think like a teen, if you told me I was distracted, it wouldn't really register. If you told me I was dangerous, it would sound like something I need to consider. I'd probably still roll my eyes, but I'd also be sitting there holding my driver's license, and worrying about a ghost car seeing me text and drive, for fear of losing my license for 'dangerous driving', just the same way many of us were deathly afraid of driving home from the bar for fear of a checkstop and the repercussions.

I swear the police would make way more money, and improve road safety substantially, if they'd ditch the constable hiding in a fishing hole, and instead give him a ghost car with dash cams, and he just drove around in traffic and busted all the people staring at their crotches. And while he's at it, he can fine the F out of people that flick their cigarettes out the window. And if he's really skilled, he might nab an evil speeder or two.

I believe if you equipped a car with cameras in all directions to catch people in the act, it would be fair punishment to convict them.

I do believe you would have to have levels though.

Texting or using a device at a light would be a minor offense.

Texting or using a device while in motion. Is a imprisonable crime.

If people want to fight it, they can go in front of a judge, and show him the dic pics you were sending to your POF hookup at that moment, and explain why endangering everyone on the road, was necessary. Everything is time stamped now, and you could synchronize the trapping system to verify the exact moment.

I would have zero issues if this became law. If you really have to be that connected, get a CarPlay or Android drive equipped car, and you can stay connected handsfree. Even though there are grey areas with those systems as well, it is still infinitely better than looking at and interacting physically with the device.

[FireGilbert]

Sending people to jail for distracted driving? This thread has officially jumped the shark.

The fine and 3 demerit points in Alberta seems like a good start. I agree the police should do more to enforce this though. Get the cops out of the speed traps and onto the roads looking for dangerous drivers.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Cole436

I'm not sure, but I think ruining hundreds of people's lives at once, when there's clearly an education problem, is not the right way to go about this.

OK, then the first time they get a warning, including a big fine, and a document clearly laying out what Pylon said will happen. Bam, there is your education. Do it again? Pylon's rules.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Sending people to jail for distracted driving? This thread has officially jumped the shark.

The fine and 3 demerit points in Alberta seems like a good start. I agree the police should do more to enforce this though. Get the cops out of the speed traps and onto the roads looking for dangerous drivers.

What's your opinion on drunk driving. I mean losing your license for what having a few beer and driving home that's ridiculous. I pay more attention when I'm drunk. Get the cops out onto the roads looking for dangerous drivers not drunk ones driving well.

http://www.distraction.gov/downloads...unk-driver.pdf

On a per time basis the impairment and risk are similar. Though people likely don't talk on cellphones as longs as they are drunk although texting is likely worse.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by GGG

What's your opinion on drunk driving. I mean losing your license for what having a few beer and driving home that's ridiculous. I pay more attention when I'm drunk. Get the cops out onto the roads looking for dangerous drivers not drunk ones driving well.

This is wrong for so many reasons. Driving drunk and driving while texting are similar insofar as they both involve driving. Not much else.

It isn't even worth the effort to explain. Drunk driving is so obviously more dangerous.

Not to mention the fact that it has been proven time and time again that overzealous laws never curb the crime in question as much as desired.

Edit: that link says nothing about the dangers, only the level of distraction. In fact is seems to indicate that driving drunk has far more risk.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

This is wrong for so many reasons. Driving drunk and driving while texting are similar insofar as they both involve driving. Not much else.

It isn't even worth the effort to explain. Drunk driving is so obviously more dangerous.

Not to mention the fact that it has been proven time and time again that overzealous laws never curb the crime in question as much as desired.

Edit: that link says nothing about the dangers, only the level of distraction. In fact is seems to indicate that driving drunk has far more risk.

I'm going to take it that you did not read the study then.

Accidents increase, breaking time and applied pressure slow. In other words your level of impairment is similar. Next onto risk.

http://www.bcmj.org/council-health-p...king-cellphone

4 fold increase in collision causing injury to the driver.

The risks are similar

[mrkajz44]

Well - just got rear ended by someone who I'm almost 100% certain was looking at their phone. There was a witness on scene too who said they didn't see the other car's brake lights before the impact and their car was already drifting into another lane. Despite that, no ticket from the officer that came on scene, either for distracted driving, or following too close.

All I can hope is she tells her friends about this (high school girl) and it scares her and the people she talks with to stop looking at their stupid phones while driving. It's such a pain in the ass now to go through insurance and get everything fixed, etc. Just lucky no one was hurt I guess, as traffic was pretty much stop and go at that point, so she wasn't going that fast when I got hit.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by GGG

I'm going to take it that you did not read the study then.

Accidents increase, breaking time and applied pressure slow. In other words your level of impairment is similar. Next onto risk.

http://www.bcmj.org/council-health-p...king-cellphone

4 fold increase in collision causing injury to the driver.

The risks are similar

Haha. Did you seriously just make a condescending remark about me not reading the study then post a different link to back up what you said was in the first link?

Not to mention the fact that your new link doesn't give any detailed information on what kinds of injuries are sustained.

Your new link even quotes one of the most relevant parts of the first study:

By contrast, when drivers were intoxicated from ethanol they exhibited a more aggressive driving style

So yeah, I'd say there is a pretty good chance that car crashes created from driving more aggressively tend to me more serious than ones created from a lack of attention.

I'm pretty sure every piece of evidence you've posted actually supports my point. So maybe it is you who is having problems reading...

Drunk driving and distracted driving have one thing in common, they lead to bad driving and they lead to more accidents. However they are not even remotely the same. Drunk driving is far, far more dangerous because of the aggressiveness involved with the driving and the types of accidents that it causes. Distracted driving is bad and it hurts a lot of people and causes a lot of accidents but it doesn't kill people at anywhere near the rates of drunk drivers.

Oh and here is something relevant that supports what I've been saying:

Numerous authors have found that the impairment that cellphone use causes to driving performance occurs regardless of whether the cellphone is a hands-free or handheld model.[3,5,6] When people have cellphone conversations, they are required to consider the information they hear very carefully. This concentration on the conversation competes for the brain’s resources in a way that listening to the chatter of a passenger does not and can result in impaired driving performance.[7] Some researchers have suggested that since passengers are in the car, they are aware of the driving conditions and will keep quiet in difficult driving situations.

[blueski]

Having a phone that works in a non-hands free mode while you are driving is just asking for trouble. Its worse than having a keg tap built into your dash. The solution to this has to be a technical one. Phone companies and or smartphone makers need to build in these safety's by default. I fail to see how they aren't liable for a class action lawsuit at some point.

[jammies]

The tech solution, presumably detecting your phone being in motion, has no way of knowing if you're a driver or a passenger in a car with your phone. Does it seem reasonable to stop passengers from using their phones while in a car too? What about bus passengers, or when you're on the LRT?

Technology isn't a panacea to fix all human stupidity.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by jammies

The tech solution, presumably detecting your phone being in motion, has no way of knowing if you're a driver or a passenger in a car with your phone. Does it seem reasonable to stop passengers from using their phones while in a car too? What about bus passengers, or when you're on the LRT?

Technology isn't a panacea to fix all human stupidity.

We are at an age were we have the technology to mount an industry standard proximity sensor under the driver's seat of all cars and then work with phone manufacturers to install universal antennas that work with the sensor under the seat within 2 foot radius to disable all screen functions if the canbus of the car detects motion via RPM/gear or speedometer (or the phone detecting motion). I imagine it's just a matter of cost and some important (celebrity/politician, etc) people dying due to distracted driving to have the safety standards mandate such equipment.

[Canehdianman]

I'd be super happy to pay an extra $2k for my new car because of some idiotic technology to stop people from texting they drive.

Might as well double down and install intoxilyzers in everyone's car too.

And something that detects when my kid is screaming so my car can shut itself down until I am no longer distracted.

Jesus, are you people for real?!?

[ken0042]

So instead of people holding their phone in their crotch, they will be leaning to the passenger seat.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by ken0042

So instead of people holding their phone in their crotch, they will be leaning to the passenger seat.

Not easy to text or read cell phone text from the passenger seat while you are strapped into your seatbelt and nearly impossible to drive and do it at once.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Not easy to text or read cell phone text from the passenger seat while you are strapped into your seatbelt and nearly impossible to drive and do it at once.

It's also impossible to text with the phone right in front of you and drive at the same time but people still do it. In fact in my texting and driving days I used to pretty much have my phone above the middle console as a right hander.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by jammies

The tech solution, presumably detecting your phone being in motion, has no way of knowing if you're a driver or a passenger in a car with your phone. Does it seem reasonable to stop passengers from using their phones while in a car too? What about bus passengers, or when you're on the LRT?

Technology isn't a panacea to fix all human stupidity.

Is it such a bad thing to shut down smartphone functions when in motion? society is going to to crappers because of these things, people sitting next to each other hardly even talk anymore because they're attention is on the almighty smartphone. I would bet the most popular phrases these days are "I don't remember you saying that" or "I didn't see it"

What did the world ever do before smartphones?

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by T@T

Is it such a bad thing to shut down smartphone functions when in motion? society is going to to crappers because of these things, people sitting next to each other hardly even talk anymore because they're attention is on the almighty smartphone. I would bet the most popular phrases these days are "I don't remember you saying that" or "I didn't see it"

What did the world ever do before smartphones?

I can't even imagine, you would have no excuse to ignore the smelly a-hats on the bus next to you. Having a phone/music is about the only thing that makes public transport nearly bearable.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by T@T

Is it such a bad thing to shut down smartphone functions when in motion? society is going to to crappers because of these things, people sitting next to each other hardly even talk anymore because they're attention is on the almighty smartphone. I would bet the most popular phrases these days are "I don't remember you saying that" or "I didn't see it"

What did the world ever do before smartphones?

So you are proposing that if you are sitting on a train or bus, all alone, for hours that you should be forbidden from watching a movie on your phone, communicating with people, doing some work, reading an article, etc.? Not everyone looking at their phone is sending OMGs to their BFFs about nothing, and even if they are, that's up to them.

I get annoyed with people's obsession with their devices as well, but a ban on using your phone when in motion is absurd. The solution isn't the technology - it is the people. People have to learn how to not text while driving, and to put it away when out for dinner.

And, for the record, I fully support the distracted driving legislation AND I also use my phone as a navigation device and to stream audio while driving (which is completely within the law, as long as I don't touch it - and I don't). Sure, I could fold out a giant map and pop in an 8-track, but the world has moved on. The weak link is us - the humans, and not the technology.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

So you are proposing that if you are sitting on a train or bus, all alone, for hours that you should be forbidden from watching a movie on your phone, communicating with people, doing some work, reading an article, etc.? Not everyone looking at their phone is sending OMGs to their BFFs about nothing, and even if they are, that's up to them.

I get annoyed with people's obsession with their devices as well, but a ban on using your phone when in motion is absurd. The solution isn't the technology - it is the people. People have to learn how to not text while driving, and to put it away when out for dinner.

And, for the record, I fully support the distracted driving legislation AND I also use my phone as a navigation device and to stream audio while driving (which is completely within the law, as long as I don't touch it - and I don't). Sure, I could fold out a giant map and pop in an 8-track, but the world has moved on. The weak link is us - the humans, and not the technology.

Despite increased efforts over the decades people still drink and drive so leaving it to people to "learn" simply isn't realistic.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Despite increased efforts over the decades people still drink and drive so leaving it to people to "learn" simply isn't realistic.

Agreed. That's where the fines, demerits, insurance, etc. have to come in. But to use your example, then why not ban alcohol entirely in society because some choose to drive after consuming it? My point is, smartphones have many legal uses while in motion, so an outright ban just misses the mark.