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How many times have YOU almost been run into by some (fill in the blank) texting?
Almost got hit 3X yesterday. These folks are SO distracted they are more of a hazard than folks coming out of a college or NFL football game after tailgating. Stick it to them.
How many times have YOU almost been run into by some (fill in the blank) texting?
Almost got hit 3X yesterday. These folks are SO distracted they are more of a hazard than folks coming out of a college or NFL football game after tailgating. Stick it to them.
Being older and more set in my ways, I rarely drive at night anymore.
However, a month or two ago I found myself driving on I-20 (from my weekend house in east Texas to Fort Worth) at night. I was rather surprised at how many cars seem to have bright illumination inside. At first I thought it must be the bright dashboards, with the driver not knowing how to lessen the brightness (I used to have a car that had very bright dashboard lights).
Yet, I finally realized that it was the driver peering at his or her smart phone or tablet or whatever. It was horrifying.
Of course, during the day I regularly see cars drifting about the lanes, with the driver on the phone or texting. I was almost hit recently by a young girl who ran a red light: I could clearly see her talking on her phone as she passed right in front of me.
Used to be, at night, you had to worry about the drunks driving about. Now, you have to worry, during the daylight, of people using their idiotic phones.
Mark my words: the day will come, and that soon, when all insurance policies (car) will stipulate that in case of an accident the insurance company has the right to obtain your phone records, to see if you were on the phone or texting, which would render the insurance company not liable for the damage caused if you were engaged in such activity.
We must remember: people tend to think that OTHER people should not use the phone or text while driving, while THEY are fully competent to do so.
How many times have YOU almost been run into by some (fill in the blank) texting?
Almost got hit 3X yesterday. These folks are SO distracted they are more of a hazard than folks coming out of a college or NFL football game after tailgating. Stick it to them.
Got hit once in a parking lot by some kid texting, can't even begin to count the number of close calls. I'm sick of it.
The illumination may be coming from in dash gps as well. It's a feature we can't get away from.
I'm ok with stiff penalties for those involved in accidents that were texting/talking. I'm not ok with legal witch hunts though, the type that would slap you with a fine for no reason other than having your phone accessible while driving your car. Some people, in their zeal, are already going down this road with ideas and proposals. We like nothing better than turning as many people as possible into criminals rather than focusing on actual crimes.
Being older and more set in my ways, I rarely drive at night anymore.
However, a month or two ago I found myself driving on I-20 (from my weekend house in east Texas to Fort Worth) at night. I was rather surprised at how many cars seem to have bright illumination inside. At first I thought it must be the bright dashboards, with the driver not knowing how to lessen the brightness (I used to have a car that had very bright dashboard lights).
Yet, I finally realized that it was the driver peering at his or her smart phone or tablet or whatever. It was horrifying.
Of course, during the day I regularly see cars drifting about the lanes, with the driver on the phone or texting. I was almost hit recently by a young girl who ran a red light: I could clearly see her talking on her phone as she passed right in front of me.
Used to be, at night, you had to worry about the drunks driving about. Now, you have to worry, during the daylight, of people using their idiotic phones.
Mark my words: the day will come, and that soon, when all insurance policies (car) will stipulate that in case of an accident the insurance company has the right to obtain your phone records, to see if you were on the phone or texting, which would render the insurance company not liable for the damage caused if you were engaged in such activity.
We must remember: people tend to think that OTHER people should not use the phone or text while driving, while THEY are fully competent to do so.
HOw do you prove beyond a doubt that someone was texting though? You can prove someone is drunk with a sobriety test. Law enforcement simply can't look on your phone to see if you sent a text without a warrant. If a cop pulled me over for 'texting' I could say he just saw the screen brightness from my music player or GPS.
HOw do you prove beyond a doubt that someone was texting though? You can prove someone is drunk with a sobriety test. Law enforcement simply can't look on your phone to see if you sent a text without a warrant.
Texts are times stamped and it's not hard to paint a picture of what was happening seconds before an accident.
It may not be 100% accurate 100% of the time but nothing is.
Right, but law enforcement needs a warrant before they can look on your phone to see if you sent a text. I can just say they saw me looking at my GPS.
True. I'd only be in favor of this "phone crime" if an accident occurred so if someone was killed or seriously injured I would think law enforcement would be able to do this. Not for the random, "oh hey officer I saw a guy on his phone a few blocks over"...that's not something we should be concerned with and is the kind of witch hunt I hope to avoid.
I'm not even totally on board with sobriety checkpoints to be honest. I flip flop on that.
Texting while driving is illegal in 41 states and DC. It is legal in my state, because we still believe in freedom here (unless you are illegally here, of course). Maybe in the nanny states, the penalties should be stiffer. Obviously, the law itself is not doing much to deter people.
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