Question of the day: Tuesday, April 23

Good morning everyone! :sun:

Over the weekend I was talking with my new neighbor. She mentioned that her mother was in a car accident and taken by ambulance to the ER. She sustained a neck injury but is otherwise alright. It was an eighteen year old girl who rear ended her going about 30 miles an hour. The police determined that she was texting during the time of the accident. I also remember reading on Yahoo about that 22 year old guy who was killed in Greeley, Colorado due to texting. He drifted off the road, swerved and rolled his car narrowly missing oncoming traffic.

I am so furious about people of all ages texting and driving. I worry about mine and my families safety every time we have to be on the roads. I think there should be extremely strict laws in place against this. I feel that texting and driving is just as bad as drinking and driving. I think it should be treated the same as drinking and driving, a felony or misdemeanor. :nod: And the proof is in the phone records. You can't hide it.

What do you think? Should texting/driving be labeled a DUI-CP (driving under the influence of cell phone) with the same penalties as a DUI?

I most certainly think that it should be labeled DUI-CP. I personally know someone who was killed because he was texting while driving and for what? ANY text can wait until you can pull over. As much as I grieve for his family, I am SO thankful that he did not kill anyone else in the process.. Not everyone who texts will kill someone (or themselves) but neither will every drunk driver. Either way, they are both completely senseless and should be punishable by law.

End of rant.

Yes it should.  I have almost been hit while driving while the person was texting.  I don't even like to do phone calls as I know it is not all that safe.  I will pull over unless the phone call is a yes/no question or I am driving on a pretty empty road.  I have come to stoplights to hear phone arguments and just can't imangine how well you can drive and do that let alone read and send texts. 
 

I think it definitely should be a punishable offence, but I don't know if it should go as far as DUI. It should be DWS, driving while stupid, with a BIG fine, but jail time, and being on your record about forever? Maybe they could keep raising the punishment for repeat offenders. Jail for second offense? I want to see every state make it against the law, I don't understand how it isn't. Enough people have been killed and enough lives ruined to warrant it.

I totally agree. Not focusing while driving is extremely dangerous, especially with all the inexperience drivers today.  I was driving on the interstate one day and noticed a vehicle in front of me driving under the speed limit and swerving over the two lanes.  I decided to pass when the opportunity allowed me to and when I looked over at the driver it was a young female with her phone up texting; I hope she made it to her destination without harming herself or someone else.

Using electronics (including texting, talking on a cell, or messing with your iPod) while driving is against the law here, but the fine is only $167. It's called distracted driving and over the last 5 years in B.C., 1/4 of all fatal car crashed involved distracted driving!

I agree that we need stronger laws for NO texting while driving!

I don't know about DUI; but certainly things should be harsher.  A friend posted a picture she took on the highway the other day (she was in the passenger seat) of a woman driving, in the rain, while on her cell phone with an ipad against the steering wheel.    Now I know those things can be used as a GPS; but it shouldn't be hand held in that case!  And to be on BOTH!?  In the RAIN??

Di and Bob said:

. It should be DWS, driving while stupid,

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That is pretty funny :lol3: .

SwampWitch said:

Using electronics (including texting, talking on a cell, or messing with your iPod) while driving is against the law here, but the fine is only $167. It's called distracted driving and over the last 5 years in B.C., 1/4 of all fatal car crashed involved distracted driving!

I agree that we need stronger laws for NO texting while driving!

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Then, Vancouver is a safer place to live. I can't wait for the day when it is the law here in the U.S. all over. I am strongly for it being a serious offense such as a DUI and I think it will take many more deaths and loss of life for the law to be put into effect, unfortunately.

MoochNNoodles said:

I don't know about DUI; but certainly things should be harsher.  A friend posted a picture she took on the highway the other day (she was in the passenger seat) of a woman driving, in the rain, while on her cell phone with an ipad against the steering wheel.  

 Now I know those things can be used as a GPS; but it shouldn't be hand held in that case!  And to be on BOTH!?  In the RAIN??

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WOW. Seriously, I bet that goes on all the time, all day long on the roads!!!!!!!!!

If somebody told me 20 years ago that we would be TYPING while driving I would've said they were insane. Somehow it's become acceptable. It's crazy.

I totally agree with you.  Texting while driving is putting other people's lives in danger.  If these people don't care for their own lives, they should realize others are also at risk for their stupidity. 
 

While driving back and forth to Harrisburg when I was doing my Rural Fellowship for school (it was a little over 60 minutes one way), I saw people shaving, drinking coffee, putting on their make-up, reading books and magazines. I saw it all, including some activities that can't be mentioned here. I was always amazed that there weren't more accidents than there were. And there was at least one a day, somewhere along that road.

I don't text while driving. At all. It's totally stupid.....as is all those things I mentioned in the above paragraph. Nope, I don't even think you should be drinking your coffee....unless you're stopped at a traffic light.

It frustrates me to no end to have some idiot almost hit me because s/he is talking on their cell phone and not paying attention or trying to handle the car with one hand because their cell phone is in the other. I do, however, talk on my cell phone quite a bit. Because Hannah is Bluetooth-capable and my cell phone is connected to her, I just have to hit the button on my steering wheel and say "Call Rick" or whomever and Hannah does it. At no time are my hands off the steering wheel. Makes it nice when I'm on my way to the grocery store and need to check to see if we have peanut butter at home or something like that. Or I've forgotten to tell him something. I also talk to my sister that way from time to time.

I think so. I hate it when I see people driving and texting. I'm not ready to meet God just yet.

Winchester said:

Hannah is Bluetooth-capable and my cell phone is connected to her, I just have to hit the button on my steering wheel and say "Call Rick" or whomever and Hannah does it.

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We ALL need a Hannah! :nod:

We don't need more unemployed felons (It's basically impossible to get a job with a felony conviction!), so I wouldn't support making it a felony. But a nice BIG fine would be a good deterrent, I think.

In Japan they watch TV while driving, you can buy the dashboard TVs at any auto parts store. . .

There should be a way to disable cell when inside a car - like airplane mode

In rainy England you can go to prison for texting on your phone whilst driving. I think they changed the law about 4/5 years ago. I don't understand how people can concentrate on driving while they are texting/calling.
 

I use a Bluetooth in-ear device and have used it to report people texting while driving. It is only a $100 fine and is a secondary enforcement. The driver has to be violating another law before they can be ticketed.

My sister has an ear piece for her phone.  Really I think you should pull over when making a call and when you get a call don't answer it Better yet keep your phone in the glove compartment or purse till you are out of the line of traffic. Be reasonable people,you have other people lives in your hands and the most important people in your car; your children and grandchildrens

Think before you chat.