Thread: So who is really in the wrong here.

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A couple of years back I was told that in a business travel situation where life and accidental death coverages normally doubled for employees directly involved in an accident, corporate insurance did not pay for any employees in that vehicle if it was shown that the driver of the car was using his phone at the time of the accident. Using bluetooth is bad enough, as it distracts the thought process and takes attention away from the road, but texting is simply stupid. It's amazing how many teenage kids I see driving in urban traffic steering with their elbows with thumbs flying, and that's with an ordinance against it so they can be ticketed....

Something has got to be done, this has become epidemic. Next time you are driving look around you and a big percentage of the drivers around you are either holding a phone up to their ear or texting, and it isn't just kids doing it, the older people are too.

I was in line at the grocery store a couple of nights ago and there was a lady in front of me who couldn't even hang up from her phone call long enough to check out her groceries. She had a phone stuck to her ear and was taking her sweet old time taking one item at a time out of her cart and putting it on the counter. The cashier had to wait each time because the lady was so slow. I almost was at the point of telling her to hang the d*** thing up, but didn't want to come across as a jerk.

I think the cell phone and smart phones are a great invention, but they sure have created a bunch of problems by people who are so important and have such important things to discuss that they have to be glued to one 24-7. I hope they pass a federal law banning them from use in a car and ENFORCE it with stiff fines.

Don

I'm guilty of talking when driving and can even answer it through my hearing aids which I think makes me a safer drive. There are days where I'm pushing it and am a dangerous driver because I am so dang tired and will call my wife. The talking wakes me up. I know that overall, the phone probably causes more accidents than not, but there are times where it is handy, at least for me because I can wake up or I find out about an emergency and can head to the hospital sooner. As far as texting goes, there is no way that I will be doing that. I have also run into the frustration of standing in line while someone takes their sweet ol time and talks loud enough so that everyone in a 10 mile radius can hear them. And talking in a restaurant or some type of meeting is also rude. We have the phones, but we don't have the etiquette that should go with them.

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

..... I hope they pass a federal law banning them from use in a car and ENFORCE it with stiff fines.
Don

Headline on the KC Star this morning, CELLPHONE BAN IS URGED, apparently by the NTSB based on the accident posted above, which was in Missouri. National news says that while the NTSB can recommend the ban, each state must enact their own law, and then enforce that law.

I think England has taken the lead in banning cell phone use. When Steve and Sue were over she was telling me the cops spotted her holding her pink phone and pulled her over. She was just holding it, not talking on it, but they still saw it there.

If our police don't enforce any laws that may be passed it won't have any effect I'm afraid.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

I think England has taken the lead in banning cell phone use. When Steve and Sue were over she was telling me the cops spotted her holding her pink phone and pulled her over. She was just holding it, not talking on it, but they still saw it there.
If our police don't enforce any laws that may be passed it won't have any effect I'm afraid.
Don

I'll add one more thing, and then will get off of the soap box on this one. You're right, Don. The feature accident here happened in Gray Summit, MO west of St Louis in August 2010, a year after Missouri had made it illegal for anyone 21 or younger (not sure I understand that age break??) to text while driving, and it's stated today that "The statute has led troopers ticketing about 125 motorists in the last two years. Give me a break!! That's an average of just over one per week across the entire state??

Don it was made illegal to even have a phone in your hand here in England 3 years ago, you get a hefty fine and 3 points on your licence, 12 points and you are banned.
It always amazes me when i visit the states just how many people drive while on the mobile phone.

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Something has got to be done, this has become epidemic. Next time you are driving look around you and a big percentage of the drivers around you are either holding a phone up to their ear or texting, and it isn't just kids doing it, the older people are too.

I was in line at the grocery store a couple of nights ago and there was a lady in front of me who couldn't even hang up from her phone call long enough to check out her groceries. She had a phone stuck to her ear and was taking her sweet old time taking one item at a time out of her cart and putting it on the counter. The cashier had to wait each time because the lady was so slow. I almost was at the point of telling her to hang the d*** thing up, but didn't want to come across as a jerk.

I think the cell phone and smart phones are a great invention, but they sure have created a bunch of problems by people who are so important and have such important things to discuss that they have to be glued to one 24-7. I hope they pass a federal law banning them from use in a car and ENFORCE it with stiff fines.

Don