Texting and driving

[ErnieM]

My wife got rear-ended by an 18 year old. She was about 10 cars back, stopped at a red light, when this guy rammed into her at about 20 mph, pushing her car into the one in front of her, and pushing that car into the next one in front -- yes, this was a four car incident.

Right away my dear spouse got out of her car, went to the guy behind who had just rear-ended her, and asked if he was OK. She noticed he was pushing something into his jeans pocket. Our surmise? He was texting.

Just today we got our car back from the repair shop. The bill was over $5000. The guy who rearended her is liable.

We are thankful no one was injured, but GRRRRR !!!

 

[j_garcia]

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully it all works out.

Previous thread. With worse results http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/steam-vent/77513-txting-while-driving.html

I still see it every single day. People just don't get it.

 

[ImcLoud]

When ever you see someone texting and driving, pull your e brake and lay on the horn, it scares the sh!t out of them...

 

[GO-NAD!]

It drives me crazy! It's illegal here, but I still see it all the time. I guess it's because it's difficult for the cops to catch them in the act. My brother-in-law knows a driving examiner, who told him about a young lady who was out for her road test. She was doing fine, when she received a message on her phone. She looked at the examiner and said "I really need to answer this!" in a questioning/pleading tone. He said nothing, so she went ahead and responded to the message - while she kept on driving. When they finished the road test, she turned to him and asked, "So, did I pass?".

"No."

 

[ImcLoud]

It drives me crazy! It's illegal here, but I still see it all the time. I guess it's because it's difficult for the cops to catch them in the act. My brother-in-law knows a driving examiner, who told him about a young lady who was out for her road test. She was doing fine, when she received a message on her phone. She looked at the examiner and said "I really need to answer this!" in a questioning/pleading tone. He said nothing, so she went ahead and responded to the message - while she kept on driving. When they finished the road test, she turned to him and asked, "So, did I pass?".

"No."

I think they should make a device that does not let the texts go through while the vehicle is moving, not sure how they could make it tamper proof but they invented a phone that takes, pictures, movies, tells jokes, gives directions, plays tv, music, and games, ect with no wires so I am sure someone can come up with something...

 

[shadyJ]

I think they should make a device that does not let the texts go through while the vehicle is moving, not sure how they could make it tamper proof but they invented a phone that takes, pictures, movies, tells jokes, gives directions, plays tv, music, and games, ect with no wires so I am sure someone can come up with something...

Phones already have that feature: the 'off' button

 

[markw]

...but it's prefectly fine when a cop does it and kills someone. See linky.

 

[ImcLoud]

Phones already have that feature: the 'off' button

LOL, yes I suppose so but I am talking about something integrated so when you are operating a vehicle your phone can't text, so if your vehicle is moving your phone can not text.. Even if it started with being caught... So if you are caught texting and driving once you get the device, twice you loose your licence... DONE...

Because honestly if my kids were mowed down by some 17 year old girl while they are waiting for the school bus because she was texting her bff about what hat they are wearing to school, I will most likely sniper her leaving the courthouse the next day... And if I ever caught one of my kids texting or drinking and driving there would be HE!! to pay, no matter their age...

I think it should be taken as seriously as dui, there is NO way to operate a moving vehicle and text on a cell phone, I tried it on my riding lawn mower and couldn't do it, that 7mph, imagine 60... There is no way, you can not look away from the road for more than a couple seconds {depending on speed and the road of course}, end of story... I know some places have long, flat, wide, straight, empty roads, for instance Florida, you can take a nap and not get in an accident on some of them roads, but up here, there is no way, the roads are narrow, lanes are tight, curvy, bumpy, and loaded with people...

 

[shadyJ]

I agree imcloud, I don't know what the laws in other states are, but in Illinois, first fine for testing while driving starts at $75 and escalates up from there. Personally I wouldn't mind if it were 10x that amount. Anyone who risks my life and the lives of my family for the sake of convenience has no business behind the wheel. Drivers should reserve their full concentration for driving. There are enough hazards out there as it is, and we don't need to make it worse by letting half-wits drive.

 

[Bryceo]

illegal in Australia also. It's so dangerous I see many of my employes driving my work cars with my company name all over them texting we had an incident just last week were one of my staff tipped a truck over in the gutter texting vered off the road in to the 3ft deep gutter and tipped the truck over.
He is banned from driving for 12 months. Witch is his own fault for being on the phone his only had his licence for 16 months and his lost it for 12 verey annoyed at him

 

[j_garcia]

LOL, yes I suppose so but I am talking about something integrated so when you are operating a vehicle your phone can't text, so if your vehicle is moving your phone can not text.. Even if it started with being caught... So if you are caught texting and driving once you get the device, twice you loose your licence... DONE...

There are apps out already that do this. They've been around for years, but the problem is, they're optional and the people who do this aren't going to use them.

 

[3db]

I agree imcloud, I don't know what the laws in other states are, but in Illinois, first fine for testing while driving starts at $75 and escalates up from there. Personally I wouldn't mind if it were 10x that amount. Anyone who risks my life and the lives of my family for the sake of convenience has no business behind the wheel. Drivers should reserve their full concentration for driving. There are enough hazards out there as it is, and we don't need to make it worse by letting half-wits drive.

Geeze, you guys get off easy. In Ontario, Canada the fine is up to $1000 and loss of 3 (out of 10) demerit points

 

[ImcLoud]

Geeze, you guys get off easy. In Ontario, Canada the fine is up to $1000 and loss of 3 (out of 10) demerit points

thats because riding a moose and texting is SUPER dangerous...

FYI I googled moose accident in google images, WTF DON'T EVER GOOGLE MOOSE ACCIDENT!!! Thats bad stuff, so I went to moose ridiing and the above image struck me as perfect...

Lesbian riding a moose in hockey gear, where was this pic taken?, lol...
This reminds me of a joke...

A guy is working in a grocery store on his first day and a customer asks him if they can sell half of a watermelon, so he goes in the back and asks his boss "some @sswhole wants to buy half a watermelon" just then he noticed the customer followed him back there, so quickly he said "and this nice gentleman wants to purchase the other half". So after the customer is on his way the managar said "wow you are a fast thinker, I don't think I could have come up with that, where are you from" so the guy says "canada, sir". THe manager asked "why did you leave canada" and he replied "theres nothing but a bunch of lesbians and hockey players up there" the manager quickly spouted back "MY WIFE IS FROM CANADA" and the employee replied "what team does she play for?"

 

[3db]

thats because riding a moose and texting is SUPER dangerous...

FYI I googled moose accident in google images, WTF DON'T EVER GOOGLE MOOSE ACCIDENT!!! Thats bad stuff, so I went to moose ridiing and the above image struck me as perfect...

Yeah.. its an art form for sure....

 

[rnatalli]

I believe it's illegal here in Massachusetts, but I still see it constantly. I even see it with bikers; yes you read that right.

 

[ErnieM]

Go Canada !!!!!

 

[Soccerkid830]

I think they should make a device that does not let the texts go through while the vehicle is moving, not sure how they could make it tamper proof but they invented a phone that takes, pictures, movies, tells jokes, gives directions, plays tv, music, and games, ect with no wires so I am sure someone can come up with something...

Car companies do have the ability to do this, with every phone. Yes, as someone mentioned there are apps out there that will have this effect on your phone. The reason car companies have not implemented the technology is that it would disable all the phones in the car, not just the drivers. Meaning others in the car would not be able to text/call either. It'd be a difficult challenge to make it only work for the driver's phone somehow. They also have the ability to make a car a Faraday cage and essentially block all signal to the vehicle. The issue with this is similar to what I mentioned before. But now you wouldn't be able to contact emergency numbers from within a vehicle either, whether it's in motion or not. This would obviously cause an issue in some circumstances.

 

[Midwesthonky]

My Durango has the feature where it will read the text to you when connected via blue tooth. That way I just have to listen. Still lose a bit of attention from the road, but still way better than reading the phone. I can even response from a pre-made list of texts. Handy when driving but don't want to take the eyes off the road. I like the bluetooth hands-free voice feature too.

Even with the hands free phone call options, i still don't like using the phone when driving. Whenever I see someone driving like a "sausage," 99% of the time it's someone on a cell phone. It's especially disturbing when it's a mom driving a minivan full of kids. Weaving all over the place, doing 5 under the speed limit or pulling out into traffic.

 

[lsiberian]

Automated cars. That's what we need. I know you old guys need them cause you can't see. Us young guys need them cause we like to drive too fast.

 

[Swerd]

Automated cars. That's what we need. I know you old guys need them cause you can't see. Us young guys need them cause we like to drive too fast.

Young guys need automated cars NOW so they don't have to put down their phones.

I used to hate the idea of automated cars, now I'm rooting for them. That way, by the time I'm too old to drive, I won't have to give up my independence.