$2000 1st offense fine, 6 mo. loss of license. My idea to deal with texting while driving in the Seattle area. (attorney, homes)

[homesinseattle]

The loss of license would be second offense. I know we’ve discussed this before. I drive a lot with my work, every day I see drivers texting at 70 MPH on the freeway, saw a guy swerve this morning and almost kill himself. Our laws (and I know it would be statewide) have to have some real teeth, the money from the fines would go into high visibility (anti texting while driving) ad campaigns with brutal warnings about the fines, photos of horrible wrecks.

I’m sick of this crap, puts my life in danger. Who (legislatively) would vote against this idea? In my fury, (I’m not joking), the other day I registered the URL (StopCarTexting.com). Thoughts about my penalty ideas or what I could do with the URL? A friend who understand devices told me that it would be possible to have phones lock up (with the exception of nav and incoming calls) if the speed a device is traveling exceeds a certain speed, say 10MPH. Is this true?

[Thom52]

I can't really argue with the dangers caused by texting drivers.

Just wondering if the law would apply to cops on their phones too?

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I’m sick of this crap, puts my life in danger. Who (legislatively) would vote against this idea? In my fury, (I’m not joking), the other day I registered the URL (StopCarTexting.com). Thoughts about my penalty ideas or what I could do with the URL? A friend who understand devices told me that it would be possible to have phones lock up (with the exception of nav and incoming calls) if the speed a device is traveling exceeds a certain speed, say 10MPH. Is this true?

Your Draconian fine and other penalty idea would hit poor and middle class hardest. I don't know if they do progressive fines in the US, they do in Europe and it's interesting to see massive speeding tickets for rich brats in Lamborghinis bought for them by their dad the Sheikh of Whateverthehell.

The answer to your question is yes, the phone knows you are moving, the modern smartphone anyway. I remember when GPS was new and sketchy in phones, ten years ago or so. Not any more, if you let them they'll track your day by default. Doesn't bother me. I can see why it would bug others. Yes, it would take hours or days at-most to disable SMS while moving. I'd have to sit down and puzzle through other ramifications of that before suggesting it, though.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by Blondebaerde

Your Draconian fine and other penalty idea would hit poor and middle class hardest. I don't know if they do progressive fines in the US, they do in Europe and it's interesting to see massive speeding tickets for rich brats in Lamborghinis bought for them by their dad the Sheikh of Whateverthehell.

The answer to your question is yes, the phone knows you are moving, the modern smartphone anyway. I remember when GPS was new and sketchy in phones, ten years ago or so. Not any more, if you let them they'll track your day by default. Doesn't bother me. I can see why it would bug others. Yes, it would take hours or days at-most to disable SMS while moving. I'd have to sit down and puzzle through other ramifications of that before suggesting it, though.

I hear you, I’d be all for progressive fine levels based on income/capacity to pay. This financial comparing overreach would probably bother the libertarians even more though. I think the fine should be financially painful for each person, perhaps staggered as you suggest.

[elkotronics]

Great idea, homes. If the fines are high enough to hit the common working man (and he could still afford to pay the fine) I think it could be effective.

Stupid people suck. The fact that they kill innocent people with their stupidity really sucks.

[dav51lin]

i agree more dangerous than drunk driving because so many more doing it constantly

[LINY29]

Unfortunately, you're gonna have to get real. The City/County attorney doesn't even appear to effectively prosecute violent criminals or serial offender.

[dozerbear]

Sounds like a great idea. Car and Driver magazine did a texting vs drunk driving test and found that:

After running the same test again while driving drunk, response times for both drivers were better when the driver was drunk, compared to when they were reading or sending text messages while sober.

A Transport Research Laboratory study showed:

The study found that reaction times for those who texted while driving were 35 percent worse than when they drove without any distractions at all. When driving while intoxicated, the reaction time was only 12 percent worse than when the driver was sober and driving without any texting distraction. The researchers also found that there was a significant decrease in ability to maintain a safe driving distance between vehicles while texting and steering control dropped by 91 percent compared to driving without distraction

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/texti...k-driving1.htm

Mythbusters found that they failed driving tests by "a much bigger margin" while talking on a phone vs driving drunk.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8LuM92Twm8

[elkotronics]

dozerbear - thank for that information. It nailed homes' argument perfectly. And, sadly, more people are going to die a very awful, violent death in the future. God help us all.

[leastprime]

Originally Posted by Blondebaerde

Your Draconian fine and other penalty idea would hit poor and middle class hardest. I don't know if they do progressive fines in the US, they do in Europe and it's interesting to see massive speeding tickets for rich brats in Lamborghinis bought for them by their dad the Sheikh of Whateverthehell.

The answer to your question is yes, the phone knows you are moving, the modern smartphone anyway. I remember when GPS was new and sketchy in phones, ten years ago or so. Not any more, if you let them they'll track your day by default. Doesn't bother me. I can see why it would bug others. Yes, it would take hours or days at-most to disable SMS while moving. I'd have to sit down and puzzle through other ramifications of that before suggesting it, though.

I use the bus extensively, I like to track where I am at, but the stupid app doesn't know that I am the one driving