Poll: cell phones

[Ron Wenrich]

Poll expires. 7.17.06

[gary]

I voted ban all cell phone use while driving. When your driving you should be concentrating on driving and only driving. I drive to Cleveland everyday in rush hour traffic and see people weaving all over the road while paying more attention to their phone call than driving. No phone call is worth someone's life!

[Gary_C]

I voted no ban, because it's too late now as the cell phones have become a way of life for everyone in the "fast lane." 

Plus we would also have to ban puting on makeup, reading books, letters, and newspapers, conversing with passengers, etc.   

[DanG]

I voted "No Ban" too, because I'm just sick of things being banned.  Let's just go ahead with life, for crying out loud!

I would recommend that folks use a hands free device, but I don't think there should be a law requiring it.  I use my phone while driving, and can't recall a single near-miss because of it.  If it rings, I can answer it without looking at it, or choose not to answer it if the driving situation dictates that. 

I think most of the people you see having trouble driving and talking are just crappy drivers to start with. :

[IL Bull]

I think most of the people you see having trouble driving and talking are just crappy drivers to start with. :

Ditto that }:c

[Dan_Shade]

I say no ban, I think bad drivers should be taken care of for bad driving.  I don't care what somebody is doing in their car if they can maintain speed, follow at a safe distance, and stay in their lane.

[joelmar10]

I was torn.  I've seen many near misses caused by cell phone usage.  Still I voted no ban.   How about a partial ban for only the "angry talkers" and the "I can't seem to remove the phone from my face while in the car" talkers.   I've seen ladies putting on eyeliner/nail polish and sipping foofy starbuck drinks all while swinging their hand in a conversation on a handheld, blowing a red light and changing lanes without even a glance over their shoulder.

Bad drivers are bad drivers.  And for many, multitasking is best left to a computer.

[Woodcarver]

I voted no.  Dang said it well.  Some drivers just are not good drivers. Would CB use be the next ban?  Truck drivers use them without it causing a problem.  Cell phone's can be used safely if the driver exercises good judgement about when to use them. 

[treecyclers]

As a participant in many near misses, I find that folks that use their cell phone while driving are definitely distracted.
There's few things that scare me more than a blonde in an SUV talking on a cell phone while puttong on her makeup, drinking her coffee from starb***ks, tending to her kids in the backseat, while smoking a cigarette. Now that's either talent, or the scariest thing on the road.
When I drive,  use my hands free ear bud, as I feel it to be safer than any other option.
And, as I drive a vehicle that could potentially be a lethal weapon if improperly operated, especially when fully loaded, (no pun intended) to the little cars on the road, I do all I can to ensure people's safety while in motion.
I'd feel horrible if I crunched someone because I wasn't totally paying attention.
The way I see it, it's a responsibility I have to society when I operate my 1 Ton, as my front bumper sits higher than most car's taillights, and my rear bumper is higher than the front tires on most of them too.
I'd be fairly safe in a wreck, but any car that meets up with me won't fair as well.
Be safe out there!
SD

[Raphael]

No Ban...
They went to hands free only in NY and it hasn't made any real difference I can see.  I suspect all the drivers who went out and bought the hands free device were the safer ones to begin with.

I just did a 420 mile loop yesterday and saw only one case of bad driving that could be said to be linked to cell phone use.  He was sorting through his briefcase while talking on a hands free cell and weaving across 1.5 lanes:
Q: Was it the cell phone that caused the problem or the open briefcase?
A: Neither... it was the idiot at the wheel.

 I saw alot of unsafe vehicle operation that could only be described as extreme stupidity or just bad driving.  The police should spend less time on the side of the highway with their radar guns (chasing revenues) and more time out in traffic removing the people that are causing real problems (but then again some of them shouldn't be driving either).

PS: If you call me on your cell from the road, please don't waste my time, find a good strong signal and park the car in it until the conversation is done.  If the communication is that important then it's equally important that I hear it clearly.

[thurlow]

Article in yesterday's newspaper..........actually from a major wire service, showing results of a controlled test (don't remember who did the testing, but the results are certainly in line with my observations) showing that persons talking on the phone............whether hands-free or not..........had the same driving skills of someone with a blood alcohol content of .08, which is DUI in many states. >:(

[Patty]

There's few things that scare me more than a blonde in an SUV talking on a cell phone while puttong on her makeup, drinking her coffee from starb***ks, tending to her kids in the backseat, while smoking a cigarette. Now that's either talent, or the scariest thing on the road.

Egads, I must have a twin in Phoenix!  ;D   

My personal favorite is the guy shaving while trying to read a magazine that is  perched on the steering wheel.

Life in the fast lane!

[sawguy21]

This seems to have gone from a discussion of safety while driving to resistance to more government regulation. I have a cell phone, no landline, but will not answer it while driving. I can retrieve the message later, I'm not that important.:D A ban is fine but the difficulty would be enforcing it although if enough people get stopped and charged the number of incidents might drop. A 17 year old girl was recently charged after mowing down a pedestrian while yakking on the phone.
On another note, a local news website ran a video of two cops on a typical street patrol. They flagged down a car on a seatbelt violation. Turns out the headlights and horn did not work, one tail light was out and the bozo had open liquor and a 'pipe'. How stupid is that?

[DanG]

The issue IS about Gov't control, Sawguy.  Our freedoms, especially the right to think for one's self, are being eroded at an incredible rate.  My first question is, why were the cops flagging him for a "seatbelt violation" in the first DanG place? >:(  This is strictly a revenue law.  They were just using that as an excuse to gather some bucks for the City thieves.  So what if his headlights didn't work?  Was it dark?  I'll bet not.  Ditto for the tail light.  One is enough, anyway!  Now, the bottle and the pipe were things he shouldn't be driving around with, but they wouldn't have found that if they hadn't been simply trying to take a poor person's last dime from him.  If he wasn't doing anything obviously dangerous, they should have left him alone!  I got a real problem with this kind of cowardly Facism. >:(

[maple flats]

I voted no ban but I think people should not use them while driving, I am just against government passing laws and getting into everything. We have too many laws already. I think one good approach would be for a law requiring them to remove 2 laws for every new one passed. There are still laws on the books that have no purpose in today's world, that have outlived the technology of the period they were passed in.
Back to the question, there are way too many laws. We started with 10 commandments that tell us how to live and government turns it into hundreds of thousands of laws. We could just go back to 10 and if those were obeyed we would need no more.

[ARKANSAWYER]

   Bann then suckers and do away with all cell phones!   They are evil and of no use to mankind!   You can not talk to someone in front of you any more for more then a few seconds that they have to stop and answer the phone.   Standing in line at the store and half the people you see are on the phone and it slows the whole progress down.    I have had a few near misses while driving because of people and DanG phones in their ears.   It was me being awake that saved us both.    Does someone really need to share the fact that they are doing something?    Are we so needy to converse with someone that we dial up someone else.     Is that much business really being done because of them?   Most of the folks I know with cell phones get less done and finish nothing. 
  They can be handy and a life saver at times but for the most part I bet they kill more people then they save.   You may not know this but I do not have one and think they are evil.

[SwampDonkey]

I voted no ban. I don't use them often and only carry one for safety or to make a call to a client while I'm sitting idle along the road or on a back road with no traffic. If it rings I can ignore it if traffic dictates. I also have an answering system at the house, so if it's important they can leave a message. If no message, then I could care less. ;)

[Frickman]

I voted ban them. I think that under the right conditions they're OK. I've talked on the phone while driving this past week. A landowner was guiding me into his property on a lonely, back road while I did about twenty mph. Talking on the phone and having lunch while doing seventy on the interstate should be a no-no, in my opinion.

[isawlogs]

  We are regulated way to much as it is ...  >:( cant do this ya cant do that ...  : , if one can do it safely and not endanger any body around , why not . I have been cut off in town by people not paying attention to what they where doing that did not have a phone in there hands , whats it gonna be next , a ban on car radios .

[GHRoberts]

I was on my bicycle today.

Lot of rain. My wife was coming out to pick me up.

Got a cell phone call from her asking for directions.

She was parked on the sholder. I was riding on the shoulder.


Sometimes calls are important.

edited to add:

I helped my daughter and son-in-law move from NH to VA a couple years ago. 2 cars and a truck.  we used a cell phone from time to time to report road conditions and to indicte where we were stopping for food or fuel.

The cell phones helped a lot.

[Mr Mom]

     I said to band them in car only and when driving.
     I have no problem with laws that keep people safe. Now some laws like alot of you have said are bull and should not be on the books.




     Thanks Alot Mr Mom
     

[dundee]

Hands free are OK--BUT when I see folk TEXTING while driving, that ain't "hands free", downright stupid
Richard

[Blake22]

What's the difference in talking to your buddy on a cell phone vs him sitting in the seat next to you? Hell where I live you have to stop on a hill in the open for the phone to work in the 1st place. As for as a ban (a new law) no way. To start with the laws we already have aren't enforced. That's just what we need, let a theif or rapist or drug dealer slip by because all effort is on a person TALKING ON A PHONE WHILE DRIVING A CAR. Hope my 'hood doesn't fill up with people with phones.

Leave me alone.

[Engineer]

My vote is for "hands-free allowed" with a caveat or two.  Some folks might say, "well you can just pull over and talk".  Well not everybody does that, and I have nearly rear-ended several idiots for abruptly slamming on the brakes and partially pulling off the road because they had to answer the cell phone.    If you can use all of the important functions of the phone without touching the phone, that's ''hands-free".  If you have to pick it up even to press a button to talk, that's not, and it shouldn't be allowed.   People don't NEED cell phones but it has made business a lot easier.  I keep my cell in my truck 24/7, I look at it as a device for my personal use and nobody else's (that means incoming calls).

Not directly cell-related (or driving related) but a few times I've had a customer in my office when the phone rings.  They look at me and most ask "Aren't ya gonna get that?".  I tell them that I pay the phone bill, not the guy on the other end, and they can leave a message.  It helps my relations with the customer immensely.   The phone is for ME - MY convenience.   

[DanG]

Hey Jon!  PM me your cellphone number, would ya?  If I ever get a call from you, I ain't gonna answer it. ;D :D :D :D