Ban on cell phones

[Guest]

Ok you are driving down the road and you are talking to the person in the passenger seat and you are stopped and ticketed for talking on a hands free phone when in fact you are not. Really sounds stupid but could it get to that. This looks as though our lawmakers are trying to take away freedom of speech. Boy if we don't get our you know what together and oust all the current congress and the president we will end up having to get a permit to go p---. Someone on here has said to vote out all the incumbents looks to be right. Again we need to educate the young people of the freedoms we are losing I really don't think they know how it use to be.

[Guest]

I see lots of cops talking on cells while driving. Wonder how that will go over with them? And while they are at it, radio use isn't as distracting?

[Guest]

Ok you are driving down the road and you are talking to the person in the passenger seat and you are stopped and ticketed for talking on a hands free phone when in fact you are not. Really sounds stupid but could it get to that. This looks as though our lawmakers are trying to take away freedom of speech. Boy if we don't get our you know what together and oust all the current congress and the president we will end up having to get a permit to go p---. Someone on here has said to vote out all the incumbents looks to be right. Again we need to educate the young people of the freedoms we are losing I really don't think they know how it use to be.

Tell that to the thousand or more people who have died as a result of distracted drivers. :cus:

[Guest]

I see lots of cops talking on cells while driving. Wonder how that will go over with them? And while they are at it, radio use isn't as distracting?

posh - police used to talk on walkie talkies and/or cb radios - cell phones are just the continuing upgrade in technology.

and radio use IS distracting - especially when the occupant has the volume turned up loud enough to prevent them from hearing warning honks from other drivers or emergency sirens!

[Guest]

the fact of the matter is deaths and accidents on the highway are up due to cell phone use!!!

We can rationalize all kinds of possibilities and confusions but we have had those in existence forever and they should not be used as an example or a justification to allow the increased accidents and deaths attributable to cell phones.

I am all for a method of disabling the phones while inside a car. Gotta make a call? Stop and get out.....like the old days when one had to use the phone.

I am amused by organizations such as MADD, mothers against drunk driving. Because most mothers are not involved in the drinking so they can, justly so, be very righteous above the deaths caused by drunk driving.
What we DO NOT see is anything like MACPD, mothers against cell phone driving. The death rates are about the same in magnitude. Now why is it the mothers are not as inspired? Because THEY do not want to be against anything that will affect them!!! How very hypocritical and inconsistent and inconsiderate....eh?

btk

[Guest]

posh - police used to talk on walkie talkies and/or cb radios - cell phones are just the continuing upgrade in technology.

and radio use IS distracting - especially when the occupant has the volume turned up loud enough to prevent them from hearing warning honks from other drivers or emergency sirens!

I know NJ. The Sheriff's Office here issues cells to the Deputies and Blackberrys to the Investigators. Cell conversation can't be picked up on scanners like the radio traffic. My point is....... they going to ban LEO from using cells while driving? I'd bet not in Virginia with it's strong Sheriff's Association and powerful Commonwealth Attorney lobby.

[Guest]

Ok you are driving down the road and you are talking to the person in the passenger seat and you are stopped and ticketed for talking on a hands free phone when in fact you are not. Really sounds stupid but could it get to that. This looks as though our lawmakers are trying to take away freedom of speech. Boy if we don't get our you know what together and oust all the current congress and the president we will end up having to get a permit to go p---. Someone on here has said to vote out all the incumbents looks to be right. Again we need to educate the young people of the freedoms we are losing I really don't think they know how it use to be.

doug - first: if the driver has a cell phone and was NOT on a call the cell phone records would show that - ticket beaten; second: lawmakers are not trying to do away with your freedom of speech - freedom of speech refers to the right to speak without being censored for what you have to say - NOT the ability to make a phone call or not! neither of those facts, however, negate the fact that we should Get Rid of Incumbent Politicians.

btk - you are so right about the folks who think that the cell phone law would be a good law BUT that it should apply to someone other than them!!! since this story hit the news yesterday, the interviews on air and in the papers with the stories of personal justification for being exempt from this potential law are hysterical!

[Guest]

Don't know how this would work. Do we tell doctors to not take calls, how about police that have not only a radio but a phone and a laptop in the front seat.
What about businesses that use two way communication to direct their employees to jobs.
I would think that thousands of people trying to get to the side of the road to take a call is going to kill as many people as we have now. The new accidents will be the people rushing to make up time lost by pulling over to the side of the road. Some places, like big urban areas have no place to pull over to take a call. People will find ways around this and if they don't they will die in the crash running a stop sign or light trying to make up the time.

I would think a couple of kids in the back seat are more distracting than a cell phone.
Now I have cussed my share of people who text and have a phone on their ear making it impossible for them to get to their turn signal switch but to make hands free against the law is BS.

It is ammazing how they will be able to get this fast tracked and passed while the real work of running our country goes down the crapper!

THROW THEM OUT. They are the most useles 535 people we have on the planet right now. I hope they don't let this kind of crap coming from NTSB get to a vote.
Maybe they should take a page from Al qaeda and change their name so the might get a better image.

[Guest]

I think the limitations should apply only to TEXTING while driving, at this point. A law against that alone would make more sense.

And, it seems like the technology boom ought to be able to come up with a way for the text composition function to be disabled when the phone is moving faster than walking speed.

[Guest]

I'd like to SEE THE DATA that proves cell phone usage causes accidents and highway deaths.

It all sounds a little too politically correct to me. Studies by the NTSB show highway deaths significantly lower than in 2008 and cell phone usage is not even mentioned in the study (Statistics).

Just saying....show me the data!

[Guest]

I know NJ. The Sheriff's Office here issues cells to the Deputies and Blackberrys to the Investigators. Cell conversation can't be picked up on scanners like the radio traffic. My point is....... they going to ban LEO from using cells while driving? I'd bet not in Virginia with it's strong Sheriff's Association and powerful Commonwealth Attorney lobby.

posh - my point is why would anyone ban emergency personnel from using a cell phone for business when they have been communicating by one device or another for years? the use of a cell phone for police/emergency communication is totally different from a private citizen calling in to the office for updates or a soccer mom calling to order a pizza for pick-up on the way home from practice or a couple of guys dishing the dirt on the girls they met at the bar the nite before!

do you really think that the police/emergency responders are cruising their beat and using the phone for other than police/emergency business? here in my town the phone records are reviewed every month [or maybe it is every quarter] for just that reason - to insure that the phone is being used for emergency communication and not personal business. as arrogant as some of the officers on our force can be - they are not willing to risk official reprimand from their commanding officer for misuse of official property!

[Guest]

I think the limitations should apply only to TEXTING while driving, at this point. A law against that alone would make more sense.

And, it seems like the technology boom ought to be able to come up with a way for the text composition function to be disabled when the phone is moving faster than walking speed.

Virginia and 31 other states have the no text while drive law. DC has a no call hand held law. FYI.

[Guest]

posh - my point is why would anyone ban emergency personnel from using a cell phone for business when they have been communicating by one device or another for years? the use of a cell phone for police/emergency communication is totally different from a private citizen calling in to the office for updates or a soccer mom calling to order a pizza for pick-up on the way home from practice or a couple of guys dishing the dirt on the girls they met at the bar the nite before!

do you really think that the police/emergency responders are cruising their beat and using the phone for other than police/emergency business? here in my town the phone records are reviewed every month [or maybe it is every quarter] for just that reason - to insure that the phone is being used for emergency communication and not personal business. as arrogant as some of the officers on our force can be - they are not willing to risk official reprimand from their commanding officer for misuse of official property!

I never said they were using them for anything other than business. Where you getting that from? I thought I was being clear. Guess not. However, I think if banned for citizens, why not LEO? Dangerous is dangerous.

[Guest]

Virginia and 31 other states have the no text while drive law. DC has a no call hand held law. FYI.

nj has the ban on cell phone use while driving law as well - it's just too bad that are not enough police to enforce it! and it's too bad the states i drive thru en route to maine and/or florida cannot enforce the law[s] along I95 either! ;)

[Guest]

I never said they were using them for anything other than business. Where you getting that from? I thought I was being clear. Guess not. However, I think if banned for citizens, why not LEO? Dangerous is dangerous.

sorry for the misinterpretation! i don't think there is cause to ban the use of cell phones for le personnel...dangerous is dangerous - but the common good is better served by their use of the technology than it is by allowing that use by untold numbers of people using it for non-emergency reasons.

the numbers of le personnel who use cell phones will always be smaller than the general public who might have access to the technology.

[Guest]

sorry for the misinterpretation! i don't think there is cause to ban the use of cell phones for le personnel...dangerous is dangerous - but the common good is better served by their use of the technology than it is by allowing that use by untold numbers of people using it for non-emergency reasons.

the numbers of le personnel who use cell phones will always be smaller than the general public who might have access to the technology.

I could see this leading to a gun control debate real fast. Good day! :icon_wink:

[Guest]

I cannot think of anything so important for me to make a phone call that I can't pull over to the side of the road or into a parking lot and make the call.
I always amazes me all the people you see driving and on the phone. What in the world do so many people have to talke about? How did they get along before cell phones? Most people using them probably weren't around before cell phones.

[Guest]

This goes to prove the debate for and against is so varied why waste the time for a law that really can't be enforced and has so may ways around it. This holds true to so many laws passed in congress right now. I don't like to see people injured either but lets be honest about it. I do know what freedom of speech is but don't you think this can become something that could be taken to far.

[Guest]

DDoug: it's not lawmakers (yet) wanting to do this. It's the NHTSB that published this.

Posh 08: Not only do they talk on cell phones and radios, cops have LAPTOPS open on dashboard mounts. (At least they do around here)

Billthekid: Highway deaths are DOWN. In point of fact the number of deaths on our roads is not at the lowest since 1949 when there were only a fraction of the number of cars on a fraction of the number of miles of roads in this country.

Getdul981: It's no business of yours. If you don't want to talk and drive, hey, no problem. You don't need a reason to have rights. I drive a lot - and used to drive a LOT more than I do now and sometimes it was just plain nice to have someone to talk to. Here's the rub, though.. I have told people 'hang on' when I see traffic or something else that demands more attention from me.

People, the number 1 killer on the roads is still drinking and driving. So here we have the NHTSB telling us that drinking will still be legal and cell phone use shouldn't be. Cell phone usage is EXPLODING with millions upon millions of people talking and driving, with the numbers and rates continually increasing, AND YET STILL ACCIDENT RATES GO DOWN.

"Distracted Driving" is implicated in a lot of accidents. This includes eating, putting on makeup in the rear view mirror and having to deal with kids throwing tantrums in the back seat.

I started driving in 1976 (supervised). Got my license in '78. Had one accident in '81 (slid on an icy road), one in '86 (came over the crest of a hill on a 2-lane road and cars were EVERYWHERE and didn't have enough time to completely stop though I was under the speed limit) and '90 (person in front of me slammed on their brakes for no reason and I got a 1/8" dent in the fender next to my headlight. I'm smart enough to know how to mentally prioritize my tasks - I do this all the time. However, I've also seen drivers that seem like they can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

Drunk driving kills far more people than cellphones EVER will. The only way to reduce fatalities to zero is to ban driving. I mean, imagine if cars were invented today. The government would NEVER allow them out of the barn because of safety considerations.

[Guest]

There are several business reasons to use phones/ two way communications, taxi, bus, pizza delivery guy, planes trains, In addition drivers talk to their passengers. Soooo the National Highway and Safety Board ought to go back to the drawing board.

In addition to cell phones wherein many drivers have blue tooth (handless links) there are navigation system, again some voice activiated. the Voice Activated are just become reliable. The threat of preventing from phone use is an over reaction and could neveer be enforced.

Having said that distraction do create problems but where do you start and stop, no texting, no eating , no drinking (non alcohol beverages) no smoking no putting on make up, no hanky panky while driving....Good luck with that

[Guest]

There are many distractions while driving you can't hold peoples hands while they drive. Maybe the best thing to do is ban automobiles all together. See how crazy these things get. Leave it alone government we are capable of surviving on our own. Accidents happen no matter what you do. Don't drive stay home and drink, beer is made in the US support your local companies and it's good for the kidneys. (This is called humor)

[Guest]

I agree with a cell phone ban. Why is everyone so intent on either talking or texting while driving? Why when I go for a walk in the early am I see at least half of the cars leaving my village with a cell phone in their ear? What can anyone have to say to anyone at 7am within a mile of their home that is so important to put my life in jeopardy? Why is this being seen as a bad thing? IMHO anything that will keep other drivers from being distracted makes it safer for me to drive or walk. Why should I have to put my life in danger because you want to talk on a cell and possibly be distracted. Get Real

[Guest]

I agree with a cell phone ban. Why is everyone so intent on either talking or texting while driving? Why when I go for a walk in the early am I see at least half of the cars leaving my village with a cell phone in their ear? What can anyone have to say to anyone at 7am within a mile of their home that is so important to put my life in jeopardy? Why is this being seen as a bad thing? IMHO anything that will keep other drivers from being distracted makes it safer for me to drive or walk. Why should I have to put my life in danger because you want to talk on a cell and possibly be distracted. Get Real

:agree:

[Guest]

it is not a bad thing at all. Just scares the heebiejeebies out of those who can't live without a cell phone glued to their head.

Next I vote for banning them in restaurants!!! Got the hots to make a call? Leave the room like the old days. Somehow we made it through many years that way.

btk

[Guest]

it is not a bad thing at all. Just scares the heebiejeebies out of those who can't live without a cell phone glued to their head.

Next I vote for banning them in restaurants!!! Got the hots to make a call? Leave the room like the old days. Somehow we made it through many years that way.

btk

:agree: Somehow many of us lived and, may I say, prospered having to find a pay phone when we were away from our office or home. Driving requires full attention without distraction: phoning, text messaging, and driving do not mix.

[Guest]

:agree: Somehow many of us lived and, may I say, prospered having to find a pay phone when we were away from our office or home. Driving requires full attention without distraction: phoning, text messaging, and driving do not mix.

I just do not understand this infatuation with being available to all times to everyone. When did this become necessary? Is it vital for you to really have to have that conversation in the middle of a restaurant, in a doctor's waiting room, in the bathroom, while you are driving? We don't want to listen to it and have no interest in it.

[Guest]

Ah, the old "I don't see why anyone else NEEDS {fill in the blank}" mantr.

It's pathetic.

Technically, nobody NEEDS a car. Nobody NEEDS computers or microwave ovens. or any of a whole host of things.

I guess reality just doesn't matter to some people anymore. Cell phone usage is going UP. the accident rates are going DOWN. In addition, more than half of all highway fatalities are due to DRUNK DRIVING and yet alcohol is legal.

You know who the second most deadly group of drivers there are out there on the roads? The elderly - the retired. Yes, the people in The Villages. I can't count the number of retirees that have forgotten the difference between the gas and the break and mow down a few at a bus stop or go through a store's windows.

In the NTSB's editorial published in USA Today this morning, they specifically mentioned three pretty bad crashes. Three.

There are far worse distractions out there.

Of course letting the facts interfere with a narrative doesn't seem to stop some people.

No, there's no 'need' for a cellphone. There's no NEED for even a radio in the car. Heck there's no NEED for any non-safety-related device. Maybe all seats should be hard concrete so you don't get l;ulled to sleep by being comfortable.

Or maybe.. Just maybe.. Some of these people could pull up their Big Boy Pants and grow up.

Distracted Driving is already an offense. It shouldn't matter if someone is weaving because of a cell phone or a cheeseburger or a screaming kid in the back, Distracted is distracted and the person should be pulled over.

But since there are now more cell phones than cars (300 million to 254 million) in this country and yet the accident rates are still dropping, that SHOULD say something.

When I'm talking to my wife or daughter on the phone, my eyes are on the road. If the traffic is too severe - when I would naturally have to pay more attention - I end the call. Most of my commute is pretty boring. When I was commuting from NH to NJ on a weekly basis, the cell phone (and XM radio) was a godsend. When my wife and I were coming back from Canada and her son called from Iraq, she was grateful.

ladydoc: In a restaurant, I either ignore the call or take it outside if I must. In the car, you can't hear it.

Carla: Since driving requires your full attention, I assume yo unever travel with passengers or, if you do, you never speak to them or listen to what they have to say. That you have no GPS, radio or CD player must go without saying.

Bill: My phone isn't glued to my head. I keep it in my pocket.

Army One: I certainly agree with you on texting. It takes your eyes off the road. That's why I find it incredible that the NTSB said GPS is ok. To be honest, I find my GPS *more* distracting in a city I've never been in (like when I was driving all over Scotland in a rental this past August). That's government thinking for you. Cell phone bad - GPS ok. Ummm.. Even a GPS could make you take your eyes off the road (though far less than texting)

Sigh.

There. Ok. I vented.

[Guest]

You're right... no GPS, no CD, usually no passengers. Do have a radio, tuned low. Haven't found it necessary to talk on the cell phone while driving or to text, for that matter. Actually, never found it necessary to text at all. Everything is so handy here!

[Guest]

I agree with djplong. Your GPS is just as distracting. It may be giving you directions verbally - but you all know you look at the screen to see where you are at in your route. So the GPS falls right in there with texting or talking with that phone in your hand while you drive.

I would be lost without my cell phone. I use my Ford SYNC hands free. Both hands are on the wheel, I speak the commands and the SYNC does the rest. I travel (a ton - got over 50,000 miles on my car and it is a little over 1 1/2 years old). IMHO - I am less distracted talking on my phone than you would be having a passenger sitting next to you. Seriously - if you were to really think about it - when you are driving with a passenger you tend to look over at them every now and then when you are driving. (If you don't believe me take a look at yourself next time you are out driving about with others).

My phone at least gives me some security when I am traveling. If I had to pull over to make a call it could be even more dangerous (who know how safe the area I would be pulling over is). My husband can keep tabs on where I am in my travels and I feel so much safer with it by my side. I would hate to have anyone take that away from me.

[Guest]

I just do not understand this infatuation with being available to all times to everyone. When did this become necessary? Is it vital for you to really have to have that conversation in the middle of a restaurant, in a doctor's waiting room, in the bathroom, while you are driving? We don't want to listen to it and have no interest in it.

You are so right Ladydoc. And why do people on cell phones speak so loudly that everyone in the vicinity is forced to hear their private conversations? Cell phones are like an addiction that people can't live without. I often see groups of young people having lunch, and most aren't talking to each other, they're talking or texting on a cell phone!

[Guest]

You are so right Ladydoc. And why do people on cell phones speak so loudly that everyone in the vicinity is forced to hear their private conversations? Cell phones are like an addiction that people can't live without. I often see groups of young people having lunch, and most aren't talking to each other, they're talking or texting on a cell phone!

I object to the loud calls made in public which disturb other people and lets face it, most of those conversations are certainly not crucial. I did not say do away with cell phones or even comment on using it while you drive...my comment was about how intrusive they can be to others who do not want to hear it. My other comment was a social commentary question...which is why do people feel they need to be available to everyone at all times? I give my cell phone number to about 6 people who might need to reach me in an emergency. Others can just leave a message at the home phone.

[Guest]

it is not a bad thing at all. Just scares the heebiejeebies out of those who can't live without a cell phone glued to their head.

Next I vote for banning them in restaurants!!! Got the hots to make a call? Leave the room like the old days. Somehow we made it through many years that way.

btk

:agree:

[Guest]

You are so right Ladydoc. And why do people on cell phones speak so loudly that everyone in the vicinity is forced to hear their private conversations? Cell phones are like an addiction that people can't live without. I often see groups of young people having lunch, and most aren't talking to each other, they're talking or texting on a cell phone!

Now THAT issue, I have some sympathy with. That's simple common courtesy which seems to be less and less common with every passing year.

The fact is that we, as human beings, are VERY social creatures. Anything that taps into that is tapping into a basic need to feel connected. From oral traditions to papyrus to Gutenberg to Bell and Edison - communication improvements have always been a boom industry.

[Guest]

:agree:

:agree:

[Guest]

The idea of a ban on cell phone usage while driving while in a restaurant is just another example of trying to legislate common sense. It didn't work when municipalities passed laws requiring every care traveling at night to be preceded by a man carrying a lantern, and it will not work now.

Technology moves faster than we can react to it with laws. My GPS and my cell both respond to voice commands and I can send and receive messages/email without ever looking at my phone. As djplong has said the roads are safer now than they have ever been. Cars can now park themselves, stop you in an emergency, notify you if you start to drift off, etc. In the not too distant future your gps will not only determine the best route, but drive you there.

Very seldom is one more law a solution to anything and they often create more problems than they solve. Use your common sense and basic courtesy when you drive, eat in a restaurant, go to a movie theater or drive your golf cart. Hope others will do the same.

[Guest]

I fail to understand why my life should be put in danger because you feel the need to use technology while you are driving?? Please explain.

[Guest]

I believe that you me in greater danger when to talk to your wife, yell at the kids, etc. Technology allows me to keep my eyes on the road and makes my driving better. My cruise control prevents me from rear ending another car while the distraction from your kids endangers me while you look to the back seat. Technology has continually made us safer. The invention of head lights, the invention of turn signals and horns (remember when you had to use hand signals?), the invention of non-skid brakes, disk brakes, horns, safety belts, then shoulder belts and continuing on to airbags.

Luddism has never led to greater safety or a better life.

[Guest]

I just do not understand this infatuation with being available to all times to everyone. When did this become necessary? Is it vital for you to really have to have that conversation in the middle of a restaurant, in a doctor's waiting room, in the bathroom, while you are driving? We don't want to listen to it and have no interest in it.

I agree. I conclude from my friends "back home" who are constantly on the cell phone that it is the Conduit of Co-Dependency. Here in TV I don't see it so much. Our neighbors and friends here have moved beyond monitoring and micromanaging every minute detail of their "adult" children's lives.

Whenever I hear somebody "managing" somebody else or some situation over the cell phone in public, it's like they purposely talk much louder....like they are so important that everyone else needs to hear them. Professionals are guilty of it too....have heard social workers and business people broadcasting their conversation to an entire store or restaurant.

It reminds me of this saying:

Best Stress Relief: Resign as General Manager of the Universe!

[Guest]

You folks really have missed the whole point of my post. We need to stop the loss of our freedoms. Again create a crisis and the people will buy in to any thing. Next who knows you can only drive on certain days because of the amount of traffic.

[Guest]

probably at some point one needs to ascertain freedoms or rights being infringed upon.

Use of cell phones I do not think of as a freedom being infringed. I view it as a right....you have the right to drive a car....you do not have the right to speed and cause accidents and kill people....you should not have the right to use a cell phone if it is determined to cause accidents and kill people.

That is my take on it.

btk

[Guest]

I fail to understand why my life should be put in danger because you feel the need to use technology while you are driving?? Please explain.

I am not putting your life in danger. YOU are putting your life in danger by leaving the house (though I don't know, offhand, the statistics for in-hous accidents versus on-the-road accidents).

I do not text while I drive. I pay little attention to my GPS and now wish I could upgrade to the one my wife has which has much better voice directions. I have NEVER been ticketed for distracted driving. I have never been involved in anything more than a fender-bender and have never been sued for being 'at fault' of anything. *All* the accidents I've been involved in since I started driving in 1978 were condition-related (I believe I outlined the 3 I had earlier). My 'record' now consists of having ONE ticket (for driving on an incomplete inspection sticker) in the last 23 years.

In other words, you don't have to worry about me.

You have to worry about the drunk. You have to worry about the people who can't handle driving to begin with. When the NTSB says there are a little over 3000 accident where cell phone usage was a *factor* (and please note that multiple factors can be listed for any accident - like 'speed and alcohol'), understand that is an incredibly small percentage when compare to everything else.

A few months ago, an elderly woman rammed her car through a storefront window. Despite the overwhelming evidence of how much more dangerous it is to leave the elderly untested, cell phones get the news headlines.

I wonder why that is...

Army - you are proceeding from a false assumption. You believe that my talking to my wife is endangering your life. Even on my worst day (like when I was driving myself to the hospital with debilitating chest pains) I'm hardly a threat to you because:

- I don't drive impaired (drunk)
- I keep my car well-maintained (brakes, lights, windshied wipers, etc)
- I don't do drugs
- I don't take/make calls when the circumstances demand more attention from me.
- I've taken my car into a parking lot to test it's limits so I know what it can and can't do if I find myself in exceptional circumstances.
- I *have* pulled over when the driving has been so boring that I'm lulled into fatigue.

In other words - you're looking at the wrong boogeyman.

[Guest]

djplong

It sounds like you are one of the few who takes driving seriously. My response wasn't intended to insult you personally and if it did, I apologize. My response was intended to raise the awareness to all on this forum that any distraction is and could be disruptive. The use of cell phones and texting while operating a motor vehicle is in the least one distraction and needs to be dealt with. I have been in an accident where a distraction caused a death, and because of this I make the statement "Cell phone usage while driving is a distraction that at the very least should be illegal" Trying to rationalize that distractions aren't dangerous when driving is a falsehood.

[Guest]

No offense taken.

It's been my position that it doesn't matter WHY you are distracted. If you're weaving over all the lanes on the road you should be PULLED OVER. I don't care if the problem was that you had an itch! Distracted driving is distracted driving.

By the same token, if your brain works differently and you can be eating a sandwich, talking to your spouse on a blutooth while plotting your course with the latest traffic updates on the radio - and you're rock-steady in your lane and maintaining proper spacing, etc - then you are ovbiously NOT distracted.