They're apparently "debating" distracted driving now (2014, high school)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If a driver is in an accident which results in property damage, death or injury AND phone use was occurring at the time; which is easy to prove in a post accident investigation, reviewing logs within the phone itself be it screen logs, text message receipts or call logs, then additional stiff misdemeanor and/or felony charges are tacked on as well as additional steep fines to the operator.
Can you tell if the use of the phone was hands free or not? I really don't know. I use my phone w/ Apple Carplay in my car and it's no different than talking to a passenger.
You can't allow people to use their phones while driving, for 10+ years, and then all of a sudden say "you can't do that". People aren't going to stop. Ever.
I agree, NY has had a cell phone law on the books for probably 15 years....sit at any big intersection and watch car after car after car go by with the driver with their phone to their ear. It's amazing, but people are playing the odds and most times, they are gonna win.
If a driver is in an accident which results in property damage, death or injury AND phone use was occurring at the time; which is easy to prove in a post accident investigation, reviewing logs within the phone itself be it screen logs, text message receipts or call logs, then additional stiff misdemeanor and/or felony charges are tacked on as well as additional steep fines to the operator.
You'll get those records via subpoena for a serious accident (death or very serious injury) but it's never gonna happen for every accident. Two reasons, one is obtaining the records via subpoena requires a judge's review and sign off and no judge is going to entertain that for a fender bender, two everyone and their brother claims the other driver "had to be texting!" (usually it's the at fault driver claiming this about the other party, oddly enough).
You'll get those records via subpoena for a serious accident (death or very serious injury) but it's never gonna happen for every accident. Two reasons, one is obtaining the records via subpoena requires a judge's review and sign off and no judge is going to entertain that for a fender bender, two everyone and their brother claims the other driver "had to be texting!" (usually it's the at fault driver claiming this about the other party, oddly enough).
My classic "They Had to be Texting" allegation was while driving home from work on Guess Road, north of Durham: I saw all kinds of emergency vehicles up ahead on the left side of the road, and tire skid marks veering right off the road, then hard back left. As I approached the scene, I saw that the car that caused the skid marks had crashed through the front of a house. Crime tape all over the place, flatbed 'tow' truck on the scene to extract the car. It was daylight savings time, so it was an hour or two before sunset, blue skies/clear weather, etc. How you run off, and over correct back that badly, other than via being totally distracted in the first place, I have no idea. Half of the front of that house was boarded up for a few weeks, then contractors arrived and fixed it. I'm sure the insurance folks haggled over that one- whatever the cause- but my only guess was Texting.
PS- on a country road a bit north of there, on a slight bend, I've twice in the past year seen wild tire tracks off into the same people's front yard (houses set back 200 feet off this road, so vehicles missed hitting any structure). One vehicle jumped the previous driveway hump and dug out huge chunks out of the lawn.. I didn't see the scene, but I'm wondering if that vehicle rolled. Tires tracks there this week (same spot) are just tracks... so apparently they didn't go airborne, and it looks like they stopped and exited back onto the road via the next driveway. Somebody out there is clearly distracted...texters? or a row of drunk drivers missing the curve.
Can you tell if the use of the phone was hands free or not? I really don't know. I use my phone w/ Apple Carplay in my car and it's no different than talking to a passenger.
The tactile input on a smartphone would also have logs captured within the phone itself.
Further I believe those logs are referenced during the QA portion of production at the factory.
I fully admit my "idea" is 50K foot view type stuff, and would need air cover for nuances.
You'll get those records via subpoena for a serious accident (death or very serious injury) but it's never gonna happen for every accident. Two reasons, one is obtaining the records via subpoena requires a judge's review and sign off and no judge is going to entertain that for a fender bender, two everyone and their brother claims the other driver "had to be texting!" (usually it's the at fault driver claiming this about the other party, oddly enough).
Sure it would be similar to the process the police get blood test results during DUI/DWI procedures.
As for the fender bender, I agree. But how many fender benders lead to charges against one or the other drivers absent some further illegal activity?
I've been in two fender benders in 16 years (one my fault and the other not) of driving and the cops didn't show for either one. Drivers checked on the other to make sure they were ok. Insurance information was swapped and on our way everyone went.
My classic "They Had to be Texting" allegation was while driving home from work on Guess Road, north of Durham: I saw all kinds of emergency vehicles up ahead on the left side of the road, and tire skid marks veering right off the road, then hard back left. As I approached the scene, I saw that the car that caused the skid marks had crashed through the front of a house. Crime tape all over the place, flatbed 'tow' truck on the scene to extract the car. It was daylight savings time, so it was an hour or two before sunset, driver was likely not swerving to avoid a deer, blue skies/clear weather, etc. How you run off, and over correct back that badly, other than via being totally distracted in the first place, I have no idea. Half of the front of that house was boarded up for a few weeks, then contractors arrived and fixed it. I'm sure the insurance folks haggled over that one- whatever the cause- but my only guess was Texting.
Oh, let's see ... they could have dozed off, they could have spilled their coffee, they could have been swerving to avoid someone who suddenly crossed the center line, they could have had a spider drop down from the visor (I've had that happen! Luckily I was at a stoplight!) ... there are many things it could have been that didn't involve texting.
Everyone's always so quick to assume texting when really there are a number of possible reasons.
Recently got a 2018 Mazda3 with Apple CarPlay - definitely no reason to touch my phone now once it's connected since it has access to all the Apps I would need (messaging, phone calls, Spotify, Podcasts etc...)
Good luck. I am dealing with mazda bluetooth issues now, as I have been for almost five years.
Got my 2013 Mazda 3 new. Was really excited about how good the BT worked, and also happy that I could stream music and even see "what's playing" on the car dash. That lasted a few months, Android version updated and all the metadata went away. Even though there were many discussions on the web, the dealership never heard of it. I even showed them the service memos and they "never heard of it". The car was only a couple months old, but hey, the phone and music still worked, just not the metadata, so (like an idiot), I finally just gave up.
Fast forward a few years and something irked me, so I brought it up again. They looked at my file, and then said "Oh yeah, that problem! We've heard of that. But your car is out of warrantee (by less than 3k miles), so it will be $500 to fix it. I figured "well, I've lived with it this long, and I ain't paying $500 to fix it now" So I let it go.
Last week, I got a new Samsung S10e. The car won't even see the phone. It pairs seamlessly to everything and anything else. Mazda says "Bring it in, we'll go from there."
I just hope your mazda works as good in a year or two as it does now. I otherwise love my car (still), their service is ****-poor.
Back on topic: I personally think that driving and texting should be as bad, and as punishable as drinking and driving. It needs to stop.
1. yes. spiders. one landed on my wife while i was driving on the Beltline. she grabbed my hand OFF the wheel.
2. bees. my sister killed the bee, but still ran off the road. the bee was on the floor for the officer to see.
3. coffee. well, i do not drink coffee, but Cherry Coke does the same distraction.
so many others: small animals, BIG animals, carsick child, etc.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
