page 2 says

Quote :

"PLEASE PASS"

2/7/2011 3:47:33 PM

i just think stuff like this is a slippery slope

banning hands free devices is so stupid. i'd rather them ban eating while driving. or driving with children in the car...especially children watching a movie. i see people reading the newspaper while driving.

HEY lets ban the radio, too. singing a long to songs is pretty distracting. def gotta ban books on tape and talk radio first.

actually, i kinda like where this is going...lets ban rush radio. shit is super infuriating and thus, very distracting.

also...we need to ban daydreaming and thinking about things other than driving while driving. don't mentally prepare your grocery list while driving, people!

Quote :

"if I'm having to hold the phone to dial out that is another issue"

solution: HANDS FREE. and get a non-ghetto cell phone. pretty much *ANY* phone can do the voice recognition stuff "CALL STEVE." who sits there and dials a full number anyway?

[Edited on February 7, 2011 at 3:50 PM. Reason : .]

2/7/2011 3:47:50 PM

^ i see what you're saying, but I don't think it's a slipperly slope really.

Politicians are people too, and they tend to write legislation about things that upset them. They most likely see plenty of people driving like assholes who are on their phones, but they don't really pay attention to the assholes distracted by other things.

I don't see them wholesale trying to ban all of those things.

2/7/2011 3:51:14 PM

Yeah, I'm not sure how anyone can be in favor of this (the hands-free banning part). I mean I'm not one of the douchebag libertarians on here screaming about losing the counry and hating on every cop that ever existed, but this is retarded.

I can answer my phone by touching my ear and have the entire call like that. It's no different of a movement than scratching an itch on my face.

I'm sure there will even be somewhat of a loss in productivity. I used to take business calls on my phone in my car all the time (with a bluetooth).

2/7/2011 3:52:22 PM

I hope they reach a compromise of no handsets while driving, but hands free is acceptable.

Otherwise I see the slippery slope.

2/7/2011 3:52:40 PM

^^ The whole argument there is that it's distracting to be having the conversation, not the danger of the motion of answering the call, right? That is what I normally see referenced. Which doesn't make any sense to me, considering anything other than staring straight ahead and actually thinking about the road (rather than just looking like you are) is distracting.

I will admit I don't follow this issue at all so maybe I'm taking that point out of context, but that's the argument against hands-free phones while driving as I understand it.

2/7/2011 3:57:47 PM

Quote :

"I mean I'm not one of the douchebag libertarians on here screaming about losing the counry and hating on every cop that ever existed, but this is retarded."

that is a bit of a stretch right there... that is like saying every republican carries a bible around and wants the minorities to suffer and the rich to get richer


but in respect to the topic at hand, I think that bluetooth (or hands free whatever) should be required to drive and talk on the cell phone, but to flat out ban a phone- that's retarded and entirely worthy of crying "nanny state"

2/7/2011 4:03:41 PM

Quote :

"^ i see what you're saying, but I don't think it's a slipperly slope really. Politicians are people too, and they tend to write legislation about things that upset them. They most likely see plenty of people driving like assholes who are on their phones, but they don't really pay attention to the assholes distracted by other things. I don't see them wholesale trying to ban all of those things."

I'd bet dollars to donuts that almost all of the politicians pushing for this don't use hands-free devices (or heck don't even know how), thus don't really understand the difference in danger levels between using a cell-phone like that vs normally using a cell phone vs texting. In other words, they won't really be affected by this. It's "new" and distracting and "dangerous" so they push legislation through to control it.

However, all the normal stuff people do, and have done for decades, while driving (talking to passengers, eating, singing/tapping along to songs, reading, etc.) they also do on a regular basis and thus probably feel this is normal behavior while driving and it would affect them so they would never push for it to be controlled. Now of course some of that IS dangerous (makeup, reading, and disciplining kids come to mind) but a lot of it isn't any less dangerous and in some cases is more dangerous than having a hands-free conversation imo. They would just never agree to that since it is a part of their routine. Obviously those of us who have newer technology ingrained in our everyday lives understand this but the majority of the politicians do not :/

[Edited on February 7, 2011 at 4:08 PM. Reason : .]

2/7/2011 4:06:49 PM

Thank God I can still use my laptop in my car since they haven't explicitly banned those...if they ban cellphones I'll just use my laptop to Skype or AIM or Google Talk with people

2/7/2011 4:08:41 PM

At least it isn't a bill to ban masturbating while driving...God what an uproar that would cause.

2/7/2011 4:39:05 PM

or road head...

2/7/2011 4:45:51 PM

Quote :

"in ~10 years when self-driving cars hit the market, this will all be irrelevant (even **gasp** drunk driving). Let this old farts have their victories while they can. [Edited on February 7, 2011 at 3:30 PM. Reason : ]"

Care to post your source on that, hun?

2/7/2011 4:49:41 PM

itt people do not read bills

2/7/2011 4:49:52 PM

lol, 10 yrs... maybe in a small infrastructural country like Japan, it won't happen in America in 10 years. We have a better chance at putting a man on Mars first... And I mean a giant snickers, not the planet.

2/7/2011 4:57:50 PM

yay big government!

2/7/2011 5:24:18 PM

yeah, screw 'licenses' and 'speed limits' let me use the roads I paid for however I want! IT'S MY TAX MONEY

2/7/2011 5:26:09 PM

lots of straw men in this thread

i'm not saying you are all wrong, but studies to this pt have shown that talking on cellphones is more distracting than talking to someone in a car. who knows why it is true, but i'm pretty sure that is what they found. more importantly, your view of your focus level is not a significant indicator. saying you are more focused while on a phone is like saying you actually drive better after a couple beers in that in both case, you may be actively trying to focus harder, but your reaction is most likely still hindered.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/technology/19distracted.html

http://www.psych.utah.edu/AppliedCognitionLab/DrivingAssessment2003.pdf

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/what-clown-on-a-unicycle-studying-cell-phone-distraction/

also, to putting on makeup/reading a paper while driving, i'm fairly confident they can charge you for reckless driving if you do this. Also, if you are found to be turning yelling at a kid or messing with your radio and get in a wreck, if they could prove you were doing that i'm sure that would also be reckless driving.

2/7/2011 6:46:52 PM

are they also gonna nail the cops who use their laptops in the patrol car while driving?

2/7/2011 6:50:29 PM

oh that was the other thing. cops dont enforce any rules on themselves, of course they wont enforce this one, but that doesnt change anything. i see cops speeding ALL the time. One time a cop was going about 60 in a 45 (downhill south on creedmoor right before gwood/crabtree), i was about 10 car length behind him and just matched his speed. he switched lanes, braked and got behing me flashing lights. i was prepared to get a ticket but he just "wanted to tell me to slow down but doesnt have time to write me a ticket b/c i'm on my way to a wreck" at which pt he preceded to turn back onto creedmoor and sit through a long left turn signal. so i translated what he said as "i can go fast but you cant. i'm gonna have a power trip b/c you think you are equal to me."

so anyway, of course the cop will break the rules.

2/7/2011 7:00:15 PM

2/10/2011 10:01:44 AM

can't use a phone but i can get a bj while driving? one of these is way more dangerous

makes no sense

I'm AstralAdvent and i approved this message.

2/10/2011 10:06:53 AM

I really hope this is passed. The only way it will be enforced though is if it is a $ maker; that means sufficient penalties--hopefully similar to drunk driving.

Studies have shown that talking on a cell phone is more distracting to drivers than talking to a passenger, since the passenger is visually aware of what's going on and can take cues to stop talking etc. Whenever I see someone driving erratically, they are almost always on a cell phone. Either that or they're a minority woman driver

2/10/2011 8:13:57 PM

^ Fuck you.

2/10/2011 8:14:25 PM

^Huh?

2/10/2011 9:10:47 PM

YOU HEARD HIM!

2/10/2011 9:28:28 PM

2/10/2011 9:37:44 PM

Have no problem with the ban -- have problems with the fact that it is NEVER enforced.

Whenever there is a car inexplicably driving 10-20mph below what everyone else is driving -- left, middle, or right hand lane -- you can rest assured it's a fucking cell phone user or old person.

Get these people off the road.

2/10/2011 10:07:59 PM

FUCK YOU. HOW ABOUT YOU GET YOURSELF OFF THE FUCKING ROAD?

2/10/2011 10:08:49 PM

Even if this law does pass, how is a cop going to know if you're talking on a blue tooth, or speaker phone?

I mean just pull your hair down over your hear and the bluetooth is gone? From the outside it looks like you're just singing to to radio.

2/10/2011 10:21:17 PM

Yeah right. It's easy to spot cellphone users because they are not keeping up with traffic. Just pull up close and you can see them holding the damn head set.

The cellphone user is completely oblivious as all of this is going on.

2/11/2011 2:14:36 AM

how many people will actually obey if this is passed?

I'm guessing very few

2/11/2011 6:29:59 AM

slippery slope. fuck big government.

how about we ticket/arrest shitty drivers instead? I've been driving and talking on a phone for years with no problems - and no, I'm not swerving, going much slower than traffic, etc. fuck this government control; do something about bad drivers, not take away freedoms of good drivers.

radio
video
billboards
ac/heat
passengers
roadside attractions

[Edited on February 11, 2011 at 7:45 AM. Reason : .]

2/11/2011 7:43:32 AM

nanny state

2/11/2011 8:23:07 AM

^agreed

Quote :

"Even if this law does pass, how is a cop going to know if you're talking on a blue tooth, or speaker phone?"

What if you have a sync system? Our ford has one (phone links directly to the car, no headset required), so how do cops know if I am just singing along or talking on the phone? THEY DONT.

They don't enforce this law (in NJ) anyway, so the point is moot.

2/11/2011 8:48:58 AM

Quote :

"so how do cops know if I am just singing along or talking on the phone? THEY DONT"

i'd be afraid if they let this no talking even on hands free pass they'd ban singing along to the radio too

2/11/2011 8:57:17 AM

^ and ^^ just another reason to pull you over to find other ways to ticket you...

now instead of i thought you swerved a lil back there it will be i thought you were on your cell phone back there...

2/11/2011 2:09:53 PM

^ding ding ding!

exactly!

2/11/2011 2:16:16 PM