NTSB Recommends Banning All But Emergency Cellphone Use While Driving

[clifp]

My idea is to take a leaf from the felony book, and deal with it retroactively. If you commit a crime (such as a robbery) there is a certain penalty. In most places, if you use a gun while committing that crime, you get the book thrown at you.

Similarly, under my proposed law, you can use your cellphone while driving if you like. But if you are involved (and I stress mere involvement, not being the cause) in an accident or traffic infraction while your phone is active, you get the book thrown at you.

This would give people the freedom they want, but still make them accountable for their unwise actions.

Great idea. There are already laws about distracted driving. The presumption should be made that if you have talked, texted etc with a couple of minutes of the accident that you are a distracted driver and additional penalties should be added. I agree that even involvement should trigger the penalty. You may have been hit by the other guy but if you weren't on the cellphone you have a better chance of avoiding the accident.

It isn't even all that hard to determine if a cellphone is involved. Cellphones all have call logs or law enforcement can get the information from the carrier. Nowdays most new cars have onboard computers which can pinpoint the exact time of the accident. I am sure insurance companies would be happy to set the appropriate financial penalties for driving while distracted.

People have a pretty strong sense of self preservation, I have had plenty of conversation where I've been told, hey I'm in heavy traffic let me get back to you and I've done the same. If you lack that skill (typically young drivers) heavy fines and jacked up insurance rates will be an excellent reminder.

 

[LauAnn]

I'm all for eliminating all cell phone use while driving. It should have happened years ago IMO. Talking on the phone is not the same as passively listening to the radio.

Currently our municipality can pull you over for texting but the fine is a paltry $50, a slap on the wrist. If they were serious about curbing texting while driving, they should have made the fine a $500. Not only would it be a great deterrent it would go a long way to solving the city's budget issues.

 

[Amethyst]

Sure, CBs and cell phones are both radios, but I seem to remember the CB "craze" lasting all of 6 months sometime in the mid-70's. Cell phones have been around for what, 20 years now? Texting, 5 or 6 years?

When you talk to someone in the car, it can be as distracting as you let it be. But there is a special difference: The passenger is just as invested in safety as the driver. If the driver says, "Uh oh, better focus on my driving just now," the passenger can see and feel the driver's anxiety, as well as the reason for it. The passenger may or may not agree that traffic has become distracting, but the passenger definitely doesn't want the driver making any mistakes.

The person at the other end of the cell signal, on the other hand, is there thinking, "Sheez, how long do I have to sit here staring at my phone?" and the driver knows this. Conversational continuity automatically starts to trump driver safety. It's even worse if the other person is a client - now the driver is afraid of losing money!

Amethyst

 

[easysurfer]

I still can't get the image a couple years back of this guy going about 40mph with one hand holding his phone to his ear, and the other hand on the handlebar of his motorcycle.

 

[Golden Mean]

Sure, CBs and cell phones are both radios, but I seem to remember the CB "craze" lasting all of 6 months sometime in the mid-70's. Cell phones have been around for what, 20 years now? Texting, 5 or 6 years?
Amethyst

Also, a CB mic is held in front of you while a cell phone is pressed to your ear using up one arm completely. You can grab the wheel with a CB mic in your hand. Fewer people are likely to pull a phone away from their ear to work a steering wheel.

I've seen many bozo's with a cell phone in their ear that can't a) turn on the turn signal b) make a smooth turn or c) park their car in one shot because they are trying to pilot the car with only one arm.

Scary stuff.

 

[Nodak]

How would you possibly enforce this if a person has a hands-free phone, there's no way to detect that the driver is using a phone. Unless, of course, the police stop anyone that looks like they're talking to themselves.

 

[chris2008]

In Germany hands free phones are allowed. But when I see drivers at 120 - 180 km/h on our highways or in heavy traffic very busy talking I wish they were banned...
Yes, in case of accidents we may be able to track down the distracted culprit.
But still innocent people get hurt or killed.

 

[Tadpole]

But still innocent people get hurt or killed.

Which is the point. People do not realize that it is the responsible driver in these incidents that is more likely to be seriously injured. The distracted driver is more likely to be relaxed and not aware of danger. The defensive driver is trying to be defensive and is stiff, hitting the brakes, trying to avoid, etc. This difference is a major reason the victim is the most damaged in these accidents.

The on-going costs to the victim and the victim's insurance (if they don't lose it) is often enormous since it really isn't the COCA Cola truck that causes these problems; it is usually someone without a pot to pee in.

As I said before though, laws are useless when they exist but are not enforced.

 

[eytonxav]

How would you possibly enforce this if a person has a hands-free phone, there's no way to detect that the driver is using a phone. Unless, of course, the police stop anyone that looks like they're talking to themselves.

+1, exactly, there is no way to reasonably enforce this. Further more, if a car manufacturer's implementation of hands free is OK, no reason to take exception to any other hands free device. To me, this fails basic logic and if you take it to an extreme, you'd have to ban folks from reaching over to change the radio station or volume control or turning on their headlights. If you really believe the surveys, then ban all use of talking on a phone while driving including the car manufacturers implementation of hands free.

While I fully agree with totally banning texting and talking on hand held devices while driving, if you really want to save more lives drop the speed limits. Heck, most people on the freeways here in Dallas area drive +10 to 20 mph over the limit (and in many cases the limit is already 60 - 65) Further, lower speeds would save gas.

 

[teejayevans]

It's not hard to find stories about texting causing accidents. This one last month about a 17 year old ...

Was the accident really caused by the cell phone or maybe the fact the driver was 17.
Let me know if you find a story of a 40+ year old
TJ

 

[REWahoo]

Let me know if you find a story of a 40+ year old

Not sure of this guys age but he's definitely over 17...

...and his passenger was over 40 and so was the driver he rear-ended.

 

[george76]

Was the accident really caused by the cell phone or maybe the fact the driver was 17.
Let me know if you find a story of a 40+ year old
TJ

A very quick google search gave me this. While not 40+, certainly not a teen. I'm sure there are tons more.

Favaloro was attempting to cross the street when she was hit and thrown 25 feet. The driver, a 27 year old woman, admitted that she was texting while driving at the time of the car accident.
Car Accident Caused By Texting While Driving| Seattle Car Accident Lawyer

 

[Dawg52]

I'm all for eliminating all cell phone use while driving. It should have happened years ago IMO. Talking on the phone is not the same as passively listening to the radio.

Currently our municipality can pull you over for texting but the fine is a paltry $50, a slap on the wrist. If they were serious about curbing texting while driving, they should have made the fine a $500. Not only would it be a great deterrent it would go a long way to solving the city's budget issues.

Agree. A small fine won't do the job, but a $500 dollar one? That would get the attention of many. I do agree with others that current laws on the books should be enforced. I saw a guy the other day driving down the highway reading a news paper. That also deserves a hefty fine. But, what are the odds of a cop diving up behind a guy like this and seeing it? Not easy to enforce.

 

[Alan]

Was the accident really caused by the cell phone or maybe the fact the driver was 17.
Let me know if you find a story of a 40+ year old
TJ

A couple of years ago a train crash in London found that the driver of the train was texting at the time of the crash and missed all the warning signals.

While looking for that report I saw the following fatal US train crash caused by texting.

Train driver texting just before fatal crash | Reuters

and this one in Boston

MBTA: Conductor in Boston trolley crash was texting his girlfriend - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe

 

[Dawg52]

Not sure of this guys age but he's definitely over 17...


...and his passenger was over 40 and so was the driver he rear-ended.

What's crazy is the driver should have known he was being taped and could be fired even if not in an accident. Or you would think.

 

[Bestwifeever]

You don't have to create new laws to prohibit this--the insurance companies can make it part of their policies that they will not cover damage if it occurs while a communication device is being used. You can be sure they'll be looking up the cell phone usage for every accident reported to them.

 

[TromboneAl]

As I said before though, laws are useless when they exist but are not enforced.

Often you'll hear that the police can't afford to enforce something. Can't they structure the fines so that those fines pay for the enforcement?

 

[REWahoo]

What's crazy is the driver should have known he was being taped and could be fired even if not in an accident. Or you would think.

Another example of how texting while driving impairs cognitive reasoning.

 

[ziggy29]

Not sure of this guys age but he's definitely over 17...

... and fired (not the good kind of FIREd, either).

 

[kombat]

I believe the the convenience of calling home to say you will be late, or calling clients to set up appointments should be sacrificed in favor of greater safety.

Totally agree.

Also, ban radios from cars. Too much distraction.

Of course, banning eating while driving is a given.

Next, those distracting navigation systems. If you're looking at the little moving map, you're not looking at the road!

Passengers should still be allowed, but only if they're quiet and don't distract you.

Hopefully it won't be long before we're all driving around in complete silence in our sterile cars, wearing helmets and 5-point safety harnesses.

 

[kombat]

It's already been passed in Las Vegas.

False. The Las Vegas law only covers handheld use. Hands-free conversations are still permitted.

The article cited in this thread advocates banning cell phone use by drivers altogether, including hands-free devices.

I don't know of any jurisdictions that have enacted such an outright ban to date.

 

[W2R]

You don't have to create new laws to prohibit this--the insurance companies can make it part of their policies that they will not cover damage if it occurs while a communication device is being used. You can be sure they'll be looking up the cell phone usage for every accident reported to them.

+1 Bravo! Excellent idea. Laws might not be enforced, and people may ignore them, but it seems to me that most people would not ignore a possible financial hit due to an accident while using a cell phone.

 

[kombat]

I guess I am looking for statistic to show that cell phone is serious cause of death of injury in the US. Cause frankly when I look at the data I just don't see it.

It's because they don't/can't track it.

This is definitely a problem, but it doesn't mean it's not happening. Lots of accidents are caused by people chatting on their phones, but when it comes time to write the report, the driver certainly isn't going to openly admit to driving distracted. They'll just say something like, "I must have been doing a shoulder check and missed the light turning red" or whatever. The police aren't about to devote expensive resources subpoenaing wireless carriers for cell phone call/text logs over a little fender-bender, so it never gets reported.

 

[ziggy29]

+1 Bravo! Excellent idea. Laws might not be enforced, and people may ignore them, but it seems to me that most people would not ignore a possible financial hit due to an accident while using a cell phone.

Sure, but we've already heard enough anecdotes about health insurers refusing to cover legitimate claims for one reason or another. It's not hard for me to imagine them insisting that there was cell phone use involved even when there wasn't, so they can avoid paying out a claim.

Do we really trust insurance companies with this? I don't.

 

[kombat]

After a little thought I would think it would be relatively easy to disable texting while in motion using GPS or position to cell towers.

So, your passengers shouldn't be allowed to text while you're driving, either?