New texting law enforcement starts (Lumpkin: station, cell phone, driving)

[Brian and Amanda]

For the naysayers of handheld phone while driving, and/or texting.... I guarantee you would have a different opinion if your child got wiped across the highway while someone was texting where they were going to party that night. It does happen. The law would not be useless, as some folk need laws to remind them about proper self regulation.

[cityrover]

Originally Posted by Brian and Amanda

For the naysayers of handheld phone while driving, and/or texting.... I guarantee you would have a different opinion if your child got wiped across the highway while someone was texting where they were going to party that night. It does happen. The law would not be useless, as some folk need laws to remind them about proper self regulation.

not the child argument now you've show us the light.

that always makes sense and is the universal go to "justifcation" when logic is absent

ban cars, cause your child technically got killed by a car, travelling on a road. roads should be banned too

no wait, ban gasoline because without gasoline cars can't move. but now we have those pesky electrics so you better ban electricity.

when i was little i fell down and cut my knee on gravel. gravel should be prohibited. you would agree if you ever fell on gravel!

and i can go on for about 50000 volumes but you get the idea, i hope!

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by cityrover

not the child argument now you've show us the light.

that always makes sense and is the universal go to "justifcation" when logic is absent

OK..come on. The fact here is that teens and young adults are much more likely than older adults to text while driving, so it is to some extent about kids. Even if that isn't true, it is almost universally acknowledged that texting while driving and talking on the phone while driving carry serious risk and can cause accidents and injury. The logic is there and even cell phone providers understand it.

So what is the problem? The lack of logic is how can you or anyone oppose this kind of law? I just fail to understand the logic? Is it an inconvenience for you? Too bad.

[LumpkinBumpkin]

I think that talking on A phone while driving is distracting. Some folks actions are slowed because of concentrating on A conversation as I have observed and this can easily lead to an accident.

Larry Sorohan is A personal friend of mine who helped get this bill passed. His grandson was killed while texting and driving. The important thing to remember is that this is the first step, now we can work on getting the hands-free only amendment in place.

I hate laws and restrictions more that anyone I know but this one is worth loosing A little freedom over to save lives.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by LumpkinBumpkin

I think that talking on A phone while driving is distracting. Some folks actions are slowed because of concentrating on A conversation as I have observed and this can easily lead to an accident.

Larry Sorohan is A personal friend of mine who helped get this bill passed. His grandson was killed while texting and driving. The important thing to remember is that this is the first step, now we can work on getting the hands-free only amendment in place.

I hate laws and restrictions more that anyone I know but this one is worth loosing A little freedom over to save lives.

Did you miss my earlier post with all the studies showing that hands-free isn't any safer than handheld, and that traffic accident rates stayed the same when handheld bans were implemented?

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by testa50

Did you miss my earlier post with all the studies showing that hands-free isn't any safer than handheld, and that traffic accident rates stayed the same when handheld bans were implemented?

I haven't read those studies....but use a little common sense.

Maybe the conversation part of the call COULD be the same statistically whether handsfree or not, there is no way in hell that you can tell me that someone using their hands to find and dial a number, while looking at their phone, is going to have the same or less risk as someone dialing with a handsfree. There is just no way that can be possible.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by neil0311

I haven't read those studies....but use a little common sense.

Maybe the conversation part of the call COULD be the same statistically whether handsfree or not, there is no way in hell that you can tell me that someone using their hands to find and dial a number, while looking at their phone, is going to have the same or less risk as someone dialing with a handsfree. There is just no way that can be possible.

That's probably true, but at this point we are going pretty deep into details. Putting a hands-free device into your ear could be even more distracting than using a handheld phone, and if the hands-free device comes unplugged from the phone it could be far more distracting than dialing a phone. Also, many hands-free users still dial a phone the classic way, and many handheld users use voice dialing. So it's a lot less black and white than it would seem.

But thankfully we don't have to spend too much energy poring over what could happen if we banned handheld phones because others have already tried it. And it turns out there was no significant change in the number of crashes.

End of story.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by testa50

But thankfully we don't have to spend too much energy poring over what could happen if we banned handheld phones because others have already tried it. And it turns out there was no significant change in the number of crashes.

What studies are you referring to? I don't buy that line that there is no difference. I'd like to review the studies and the sources.

You will not convince me that dialing and holding a mobile phone while driving is just as safe statistically as keeping both hands on the wheel and using voice commands. That defies all logic and common sense. I just would love to read a study done by a credible source that comes that conclusion.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by neil0311

What studies are you referring to? I don't buy that line that there is no difference. I'd like to review the studies and the sources.

You will not convince me that dialing and holding a mobile phone while driving is just as safe statistically as keeping both hands on the wheel and using voice commands. That defies all logic and common sense. I just would love to read a study done by a credible source that comes that conclusion.

These might be interesting reading:

http://www.ama.ab.ca/images/images_p...ellPhones4.pdf

http://mysite.verizon.net/horrey/pap...HF2006meta.pdf

[ToucheGA]

Driving while using a handsfree cellular device is not safer than using a hand held cell phone, as concluded by case-crossover studies,[17][18] epidemiological,[1][2] simulation,[4] and meta-analysis[6][7]. The increased "cognitive workload" involved in holding a conversation, not the use of hands, causes the increased risk.[19][20][21]

This is the justification that Japan used to ban all cell phone use while driving, across the country. Granted, this will never happen in America. We have too many lawmakers who feel the need to jabber endlessly while driving.