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

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.

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.

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.

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

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)

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:

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.

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.

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.

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!

Don't ban my cell ....
 

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.

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!