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I take first hand accounts more than your little google research job done here. I just had a meeting with several police officers around the Houston area and all have confirmed, the number one accident cause is cell phone use. Nothing like taking it straight from the horses mouth.
Yea, because the statistics blow your theory out of the water, so the best course of action for you is to just ignore them, great debate move.
I am sure if the statistics supported your theory, you would have fully supported them.
By the way, there were car wrecks long before cell phones existed. Matter of fact, there are less auto wrecks in 2009 than in 1990, despite there being more cars on the road and the speed limits being raised on many highways.
If the person has to go to jail for three days, they have to have their cell phone in jail. Otherwise it would be cruel and unusual punishment, which is unconstitutional.
I notice the statistics mentioned in this thread are for numbers of cell phones that cause accidents, not numbers of text messaging incidents. I bet voice phone usage causes 100 times more accidents than the text messages. With text messages, you can type 1 letter at a time, with 1 hand, then glance at the phone to verify the letter, so you're never distracted for more than a fraction of a second. With voice calls, you have to pay attention in real time, no matter what's happening on the road, or you will miss what's being said. Some accidents are caused by not seeing what's happening, but some are caused by seeing it but not thinking about its implications.
Allowing cell phones while going 5 MPH would not work. A small child could be using a cell phone while walking on the sidewalk, and could wander into the street while distracted by the conversation. It only takes one tire running over a small head to make a very graphic fatal accident scene. Or a bicycle. Even if you could stop your car when it hit the bicycle at close to zero MPH, just making the rider lose his balance could cause a fatal accident.
And cell phones are gradually becoming obsolete, being replaced by iPads and the like. Those could distract a driver just as much or more. So no cell phone law is going to solve the problem. Even a paper map distracts drivers.
The only solution is self-driving cars. And those are coming much faster than most people imagine. The very next car you buy might be self-driving, depending on when you buy it. They could reduce the accident rate to its lowest level ever, by ending most accidents caused by driver error, drunk driving, and drivers distracted by devices, maps, passengers, etc. They could also reduce traffic jams, by keeping the traffic moving at the optimum speed for the situation.
By the time laws are changed to put cell phone users in jail, such laws will probably be obsolete.
Yea, because the statistics blow your theory out of the water, so the best course of action for you is to just ignore them, great debate move.
I am sure if the statistics supported your theory, you would have fully supported them.
By the way, there were car wrecks long before cell phones existed. Matter of fact, there are less auto wrecks in 2009 than in 1990, despite there being more cars on the road and the speed limits being raised on many highways.
You can speak about 2009 all you want, this is 2014.
You made the claim that cell phones cause the most accidents, yet you show no proof of this. However, another poster showed proof and I showed proof that the number of accidents have decreased since 1990, even though more cars and cell phones are used.
Why limit it to texting? Make it the punishment for ANY use of a mobile phone whilst driving. And add a hefty fine as well.
So, hooking up the cell phone to the stereo, or mounting as a gps unit should be illegal? How about almsot every car having the bluetooth feature that enables a person to use their cell phone by voice activation?
If the person has to go to jail for three days, they have to have their cell phone in jail. Otherwise it would be cruel and unusual punishment, which is unconstitutional.
I notice the statistics mentioned in this thread are for numbers of cell phones that cause accidents, not numbers of text messaging incidents. I bet voice phone usage causes 100 times more accidents than the text messages. With text messages, you can type 1 letter at a time, with 1 hand, then glance at the phone to verify the letter, so you're never distracted for more than a fraction of a second. With voice calls, you have to pay attention in real time, no matter what's happening on the road, or you will miss what's being said. Some accidents are caused by not seeing what's happening, but some are caused by seeing it but not thinking about its implications.
Allowing cell phones while going 5 MPH would not work. A small child could be using a cell phone while walking on the sidewalk, and could wander into the street while distracted by the conversation. It only takes one tire running over a small head to make a very graphic fatal accident scene. Or a bicycle. Even if you could stop your car when it hit the bicycle at close to zero MPH, just making the rider lose his balance could cause a fatal accident.
And cell phones are gradually becoming obsolete, being replaced by iPads and the like. Those could distract a driver just as much or more. So no cell phone law is going to solve the problem. Even a paper map distracts drivers.
The only solution is self-driving cars. And those are coming much faster than most people imagine. The very next car you buy might be self-driving, depending on when you buy it. They could reduce the accident rate to its lowest level ever, by ending most accidents caused by driver error, drunk driving, and drivers distracted by devices, maps, passengers, etc. They could also reduce traffic jams, by keeping the traffic moving at the optimum speed for the situation.
By the time laws are changed to put cell phone users in jail, such laws will probably be obsolete.
They cannot even make self driving trains, let alone cars. The hype is just trying to get more investment, thus profit for those involved. They cannot even get the DC metro system automated, the metromover in Miami is automated and has had a few incidents already in its years.
Jail time seems abit like overkill. How about insurance increase for the first 3 offences, then 1 month license suspension for every one after that. Don't waste your tax dollars on fools who text and drive.
Jail time for drunks, text, facbook, and whatever god dang else stupid people do these days. Sorry but I have no sympathy towards anyone who got their butt handed to them straight to the afterlife because it was important for them to do stupid things like drinking, texting, facebook, selfies, etc while driving.
I'm thinking 3 days in county jail for the first offense. 1 year for a second offense would cure this idiocy.
I'm not sure of this one. Traffic infractions are not usually criminal matters, and I'm not sure they should be. Human beings will never be the creatures of perfection that some people online think they should be, and the judicial system is already clogged up enough dealing with much more serious imperfections.
People who run red lights, stop signs, and yield signs cause a significant number of serious accidents each year, and yet we don't lock them up.
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