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Texting With Angels
Posted 8/15/2012 1:32:00 AM

I don’t know how much good the distracted driving law is actually doing.  I still see drivers around me on their cell phones.  There are still some behind the wheel with their heads down, texting.  Sometimes drivers think they can hide what they’re doing, but not the biker charged with texting who allegedly tried to elude police and ended up in a crash.  I saw a school bus driver cornering with one hand on the wheel, while she used her cell phone.  A driving instructor was so wrapped up in her cell phone, the student sat for a long time waiting to make a turn when others could see the way was safe.  Now we have the transportation safety board calling for limits on cell phones and texting while flying, after a light-plane crash in BC.  The case they’re looking into saw the pilot deal with three text messages and then 28 minutes on the phone before flying so low he clipped a tree and crashed.  Maybe it should be illegal to call or text someone you know is flying.  Maybe we need a new twist on an old line.  She said, “Be an angel and text me while you’re driving through the mountains.”  And he did, and he is.  Let me know what you think.

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Posted By: Bob Layton  

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  1. fred posted on 08/15/2012 06:38 AM
    Right Bob, we need another law! My question is, to what end??
    I follow police passing people on their cell phone, eating, etc. and both of us never slowed down. I wonder what the cops were doing instead of seeing the same things going on around them I did. It certainly wasn't reacting to them.
    Maybe we need a law that states you must do what your paid for, hmmm, would that work in government as well ?????
  2. Robert posted on 08/15/2012 06:51 AM This comment was edited by a moderator at 11:20 AM on 08/15/2012
    My wife and I always had a policy that texting and driving is a big no no. I know the distracted driving law is difficult to enforce, but so are many other traffic violation laws, including drunk driving. And yesterday we were talking about cell phone cams, and being vigilanites with them.

    Bob replies: But not while we were driving.
  3. Richard G posted on 08/15/2012 08:27 AM This comment was edited by a moderator at 11:19 AM on 08/15/2012
    There is no empirical correlation between cell phone use and real life driving. There is only anecdotal evidence or comparison where real life driving conditions are eliminated, but neither form of evidence explains the consistency of accident rates per km driven before cell phone use and after cell phone invention. Despite the exponential increase in cell phone use, the accident rate has remained constant or decreased. Driving itself carries distractions. It is not a specific type of distraction that is the villain (even though cell phone use has been singled out and demonized), but the inability to manage distractions, from street signs to other vehicles, to pedestrians, to instrument panels, to life's stresses.

    Check the accident rates anywhere in the US or Canada; they have been constant over the existence of the cell phone. Cell phones are an easy target for governments to be seen to be governing: even though nothing is broke, they got to be seen to be fix'n it.

    Bob replies: Empirical or anecdotal, the pilot is just as dead.
    1. Daryl posted on 08/15/2012 12:16 PM
      @Richard G Obviously you don't do enough driving or seen any of the studies. Yes it's not the only problem out there but it is a problem. I have enough personal experience and observation that has seen it as an issue.
    show more replies
  4. The Infidel - Mr. John posted on 08/15/2012 08:40 AM
    Just hilarious, when watching the Toronto mayor, Rob Ford, squirming on the podium, having to admit that he was reading while driving,...with back-up picture, to prove it. He really looked pale white and dumbfounded about being "caught!" His response,..after a lame excuse, was to chastise the media for bringing the issue up. Maybe, next time, it will be in front of a judge, defending himself, for piling into somebody and maybe killing somebody because of his actions. I don't think I would like my car insurance company seeing that kind of coverage,...what he isn't thinking about is, this has set the precedent that he DOES break the law and drive dangerously. Next time, or an accident, this can be used against him, whether he is doing it or not!
  5. Bob $ posted on 08/15/2012 10:35 AM
    I remember following a woman from 50th St/Whitemud all the way north to Fort Rd/66th St. (for some reason we were going the same way),..and all the while she was decorating her face with make-up, lipstick, and eye-liner. She managed to fluff her hair in her rear-view mirror before I turned off at 129 Av...I couldn't believe it!!! At times, I had to speed up just to keep up to her 60-70 cliks all the while she was weaving in and out of traffic.
    I remember, also, almost being T-boned by a giant pick-up by a woman running a red light,...slamming on my brakes, stopping inches from my head in my Camaro, and then watching her back up in her lane and then waiting for the red to turn green for her,...whereby she proceeded to accelerate BACKWARDS in her lane and almost slamming into the card behind her, slamming on her brakes and then proceeding forward, all the while yapping on her cell phone, and laughing about all this! Unbelievable!!!
  6. David W. Lincoln posted on 08/15/2012 11:15 AM
    As long as making it tougher to get a licence to operate a motorcycle, or any other vehicle is seen as a non-starter because it is seen to infringe on rights - we will continue to see carnage on the roads.

    It is about arrogance blocking people investigating if there is more than rights that are involved.
  7. The Infidel - Mr. John posted on 08/15/2012 12:02 PM
    I once made it a project to monitor street signs that did not make any sense, as a distraction and confusion to drivers, and you would be amazed how many there are. If you specifically watch for these, you will be amazed,...did I just say that?
    One of the best, was one location coming onto an off ramp from the Yellowhead, @ 50th street, eastbound. At the top of the hill, at the lights, were 3 truck signs indicating,...one sign, no trucks left turn,...one sign,..no trucks right turn,..and one sign, in the same location as the other 2,...NO trucks can turn left,...go straight,...or turn right! So, if you somehow got there, driving a truck, you would have to get the spaceship that Bob is looking for,...to beam you up Scotty! Just plain stupid!!!
  8. Darryl posted on 08/15/2012 12:10 PM
    I do a fair bit of travel through and around the city on a regular basis. Through that I have had someone have a near miss and almost cause a collision with myself or another vehicle near by. At least 70% of those incidents were due to distracted driving mostly with texting and other cell phone usage. Of course people are ignoring the law, they are adicted to it. If you can afford a cell phone you can surely afford a hands free device. If not I hope you can afford higher insurance becuase that will be a likely outcome of bad driving habits.
  9. Paul posted on 08/15/2012 12:13 PM
    The last thing we need, Bob, is yet another law. Besides the fact that several studies have shown that juristictions that have implemented cell phone bans have seen no disernable decrease in accidents, the police have shown again and again (think photo radar), they will take the path of least resistance and find the way to give the most tickets out as quickly as possible. Not try and, you know, prioritize on the severity of the cell phone offense.

    I heard in Winnipeg they ride bikes between cars peeking in window of cars stuck in trafffic, so they can give out tickets. This type if usage was never a problem. Do you want that here?

    As for flying a plane...you can't legisate against stupidty. The pilot could have been playing on a gameboy, reading a book, or writing a letter. Are we going to make laws against that?
  10. Kyle smith posted on 08/15/2012 05:57 PM
    No one cares about the dangers of texting and driving! This is apparent as I drive hwy 2 through st Albert into Edmonton every day. I have seen it all, from almost being hit by a guy lane changing with a phone at his ear to a guy sitting at a light beside a police cruiser texting people aren't stopping and police aren't enforcing it! On to a new subject, do you not think these hockey players are paid enough? Poor guy only made 1.7mil. Last year. While some of us are struggling to get by raising family's these hockey players need more ? Bull I hope Gary bettman doesn't give in to the nhlpa, maybe these players should fund raise for their arenas like minor hockey!
  11. CJE posted on 08/15/2012 07:02 PM
    My thoughts would be to have an automatic jamming device for all vehicles... that would jam all phones, or electronics... if these Jamming devices can be used in a hand held form and used, they should be able to be installed in cars with an always on. No this won't totally stop the distracted as People will still eat, put on make up, and read... but at least it would take care of all the electronic devices that cause interference.
    This could be made a law for all cars to have one installed and to be in working order! Granted lots would not like it but it would help some.
  12. Garry Chubb posted on 08/16/2012 09:29 AM
    The question I have about all this distracted driving law is....are the police going to issue tickets to themselves for all the distracted driving they are performing while driving down the road, all the while tapping away at the keys of their computers and watching the computer monitors in their cars. I personally have seen police driving down the highway at 100 kph PLUS and fiddling with their computers or talking on their cell phones....Is THIS not also dangerous??? The only thing missing might be the scones and Timmys double double!
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