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Old 01-31-2011, 01:43 PM
 
Location: South Jordan, Utah
8,182 posts, read 9,177,880 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisC View Post
Have you ever followed someone while they were texting? They drive like someone who is about four times over the legal alcohol limit. If texting while driving remains legal, we may as well repeal the laws against drunk driving. They are about sixes.
Ya I see people texting all the time and it is (gasp) illegal yet they still do it. My point is laws don't stop people; they usually just increase your awareness of police. Unless we want to pay for a policeman in every car texting, talking, eating, changing the radio, reading (saw that last week), doing makeup, looking at the GPS, etc. will continue.

Do we focus our billions on passage of and sporadic enforcement of more laws or we do spend our resources on safety?

Despite the massive increase of more distraction in the car accidents continue to decline. We had 17.9 million car accidents in 1980, 11.5 in 1990 (when car phones started to become popular) and 10.2 as of 2008.

Did more laws cause this drop? Maybe but the way we talk about cell phones I would have thought accidents skyrocketed.
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Old 01-31-2011, 02:23 PM
 
Location: A Nation Possessed
25,347 posts, read 18,496,433 times
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Well, in any case, I don't think turning a blind eye is the answer.
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Old 01-31-2011, 03:15 PM
 
Location: USA
498 posts, read 1,450,495 times
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Texting in Utah is a felony. It doesn't get harsher than that. Talking on a cell phone is still legal (to whoever asked). It doesn't seem like that deters many people. To many people it's just a matter of what they perceive as dangerous, just like speeding. The best way to address the problem is to try and convince people that texting while driving is dangerous, because that's what will ultimately have the most affect on whether or not people do it. That said, I think banning cell phone use while driving would be sensible, as it's really too hard to enforce the texting laws when people are allowed to use their cell phones for other things.
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Old 02-01-2011, 07:57 AM
 
Location: A Nation Possessed
25,347 posts, read 18,496,433 times
Reputation: 22218
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lamborgotti View Post
Texting in Utah is a felony. It doesn't get harsher than that. Talking on a cell phone is still legal (to whoever asked). It doesn't seem like that deters many people. To many people it's just a matter of what they perceive as dangerous, just like speeding. The best way to address the problem is to try and convince people that texting while driving is dangerous, because that's what will ultimately have the most affect on whether or not people do it. That said, I think banning cell phone use while driving would be sensible, as it's really too hard to enforce the texting laws when people are allowed to use their cell phones for other things.
I agree with all of this. Educating people is more effective than threatening them.
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Old 02-03-2011, 12:34 AM
 
1,828 posts, read 5,302,145 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lamborgotti View Post
Texting in Utah is a felony.
Not exactly true. It is only a felony if you cause a fatality.

This is another law that seems impossible to enforce. Some questions I have:
  • Do you think that due to this law, fatality accident homicide investigations include subpoenaing cell phone records now?
  • If you sent a message five minutes before the accident should it be a felony?
  • If you sent a message two minutes before the accident should it be a felony?
  • If you sent a text message immediately after being involved in an accident could that mistakenly used as proof you texted prior to the accident?
  • Are the phone company's records of text messages going to able to be tied to the exact time of an accident, and how would the exact time of this accident be proven in court?
I don't condone distracted driving, but I also don't see this kind of law being anything but media fluff. I believe that once someone is charged with this and has means to hire a good attorney, the path will be laid for any subsequent cases to be overturned.
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Old 02-04-2011, 01:29 PM
 
Location: Newark, Delaware
728 posts, read 1,777,560 times
Reputation: 855
It isn't so bad out there... or at least it didn't leave any terrible impressions on me in all of my years living in Utah. But, this is a good one I learned commuting to Philly: In Philly/Jersey it's an unwritten rule that if you are in a left turn lane you and the 2-4 cars behind you MUST jam the gas as soon as the light turns green to beat the oncoming through traffic... can't tell you how many times I've been honked at by the person behind me because I didn't perform this manouver!

On another note, when I moved to Delaware the agent at the company I was with went "Wow, auto insurance sure is cheap out there in Utah..." Read that as you will, but I saw it as a measure of "bad drivers+congestion+living costs, etc." Count your blessings Utahn's, it's a tradeoff of something for another no matter where you live. I do miss the cost of living there in Salt Lake

Or, look at me as another native-bad-driving-Utahn that you no longer combat on the roads!
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Old 02-15-2011, 08:56 AM
 
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
515 posts, read 2,319,068 times
Reputation: 302
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lamborgotti View Post
Texting in Utah is a felony. It doesn't get harsher than that. Talking on a cell phone is still legal (to whoever asked). It doesn't seem like that deters many people. To many people it's just a matter of what they perceive as dangerous, just like speeding. The best way to address the problem is to try and convince people that texting while driving is dangerous, because that's what will ultimately have the most affect on whether or not people do it. That said, I think banning cell phone use while driving would be sensible, as it's really too hard to enforce the texting laws when people are allowed to use their cell phones for other things.
No, it's a misdemeanor. I went to traffic school - I know this for a fact.

Speaking of driving issues, lately there are speed traps everywhere all over SLC - I don't know what's going on. I have seen them on I-15& 215, as well as sitting in parking lots and side streets, places I have never seen them before. I went for many years without a ticket - just got one in one of these places. FYI, it was on 1300 E, going north approaching the I-80 ramps. It was a stupid and dangerous place to pull someone over, as people are trying to get on the freeway there. A week later I saw them get someone else in the same spot.
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Old 02-15-2011, 06:16 PM
 
Location: USA
498 posts, read 1,450,495 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cinnabon View Post
No, it's a misdemeanor. I went to traffic school - I know this for a fact.
Get caught by a policeman texting while driving and it is a class C misdemeanor. If you cause a fatality, it is a felony, and that could get you up to 15 years in prison. Texting is texting regardless of whether or not you get in an accident, which you really only have control over when you make the decision not to do it in the first place. Making the distinction between one possible scenario and another possible scenario is pointless in this situation. The worst you could be charged with for texting while driving is indeed a felony.
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Old 02-16-2011, 01:21 PM
 
Location: A Nation Possessed
25,347 posts, read 18,496,433 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cinnabon View Post
Speaking of driving issues, lately there are speed traps everywhere all over SLC
Solution to problem: drive the speed limit (or within 5 mph of it). It's amazing how well that works in avoiding tickets.
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Old 02-18-2011, 12:41 PM
 
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
515 posts, read 2,319,068 times
Reputation: 302
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lamborgotti View Post
Get caught by a policeman texting while driving and it is a class C misdemeanor. If you cause a fatality, it is a felony, and that could get you up to 15 years in prison. Texting is texting regardless of whether or not you get in an accident, which you really only have control over when you make the decision not to do it in the first place. Making the distinction between one possible scenario and another possible scenario is pointless in this situation. The worst you could be charged with for texting while driving is indeed a felony.
Um, yeah. Lots of things become a felony if you wind up killing someone while doing them. A DUI for example. Texting while driving is a misdemeanor - it's really that simple. I'm not defending it, I don't do it. The point is, many people don't realize this and think it's just a regular ticket like any other moving violation.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisC View Post
Solution to problem: drive the speed limit (or within 5 mph of it). It's amazing how well that works in avoiding tickets.
According to the police you have a 10 mph "grace period", not 5. But way to miss the point anyway. Whether or not I speed or ever get a ticket, I find seeing an excessive amount of speed traps all over the place annoying... especially where pulling someone over in that spot creates a worse hazard than the speeder was causing.
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