Ban on Cell Phones While Driving
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-12-15/ban-cell-phones-while-driving
The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that texting, talking or emailing on a cellphone should be banned by all states, except in emergencies. The recommendation includes hands-free devices as well. The only exception is G.P.S. navigation systems. The board made the recommendation after an investigation into a deadly road accident in Missouri involving a 19-year old driver who sent and received 11 text messages in 11 minutes just before the fatal crash. Join us to discuss the implications of this latest effort to curb dangerous driving.
Guests
Russ Rader
vice president of communications, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
David Teater
senior director, Transportation Initiatives, the National Safety Council.
Deborah Hersman
chairman, National Transport Safety Board.
Steven Yantis
chair of psychological and brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
Horace Cooper
adjunct fellow for the National Center for Public Policy Research
Comments
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I'd like to see cell phone use while driving banned. However, I don't know how the "hand's free" would be enforced.
You don't have to wear a seat belt, but now cell phone use is on the chopping block? I have a better Idea, new laws to end distracted driving: no passengers allowed in the car (talking will occur), no driving while; thinking, having emotion, listening to NPR and/or having any other environmental factors at play and finally no driving while any one else is on the road. In this way no one will be distracted, and the roads will be safe to drive.
Thank you,
Chris
I read on CNN.com (Link Below) that the recommendation did not include phone systems built into cars - the kinds of phone features more expensive cars are having installed in the dashboard nowadays.
So, assuming this legal recommendation was acted upon, it's only real affect in the long run would be to change *how* Americans talk on the phone in the car and who they pay to do so. Your old car dies, you pay the extra fees for built-in phone features when you buy your new one, your neighbors do the same thing... and in five to ten years, we have the same kinds of phone distractions that we have today, just with more money in the car manufacturers' pockets.
This seems to be less about safety and more about funneling money to some effectively-lobbying businesses.
[http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/13/us/ntsb-cell-phone-ban/index.html?hpt=us_c2]
I like this comment /but hands free should never be inforce ,my Car has hands free and I have no problem keeping an eye on the road when Driving !
I never Text when Driving ! that should be Ban for sure! since the new Cars that do have Hands FREE Calling is fine ! it in my opion will never cause an Accident of this Nature ! (The Bus Accident) .
Including a ban on "hands free" devices was a brilliant stroke on the part of DoT. It lays out the maximum restriction, offering an immediate point of compromise when it comes time for legislation. Smart politics, focused on achieving a practical end-point.
First, I wish DR SHOW would make it a lot easier to post comments. It is a real pain for me to log in every time because I can never remember my password. Am I missing something? Is this easier than I think? As a comparison, if you go to On Point, you can simply make a comment. I think you might get a lot more comments on this site if it were easier. I have written to DR SHOW directly about this, but they never responded.
Second, I am in full support of the recommendation that all cell phone use be banned in cars. I am so tired of being behind someone when the light turns green and they just sit there because they are looking down at their cell phones. And it has been proven that if your mind is on a conversation, even hands-free, you are not thinking about what you are doing. Do you really want someone's death on your conscience all your life because you crashed due to being distracted by a phone conversation?
I hope all states will enact this recommendation.
The real issue at hand is answering WHY drivers are tempted and feel pressured to respond to every communication at any time. I feel that the answer can be found in workplace performance pressures. Work environments/expectations have gone far beyond M-F & 9-5. Can you imagine an on the road sales person not responding to a "hot" sales lead as soon as it comes in? We are "on" at all times and if we do not respond to a work inquiry we may feel or truly be job threatened. In this global economy many companies are 24/7 and the threat that your job will be sent overseas or someone can else can do you job is a constant pressure upon heads of household during this troubling economy. In some cases managers live in different time zones and are just starting their day when you are supposed to be ending yours. I do not believe any responsible adult with a family/children /responsibilities would choose texting over the life of another person. Banning use alone without addressing the causes is a sad waste of time as it is no longer the 1970's and we lived in a land of plenty for all.
I agree that texting while driving should be banned, talking on the phone should not. It is really no different than talking to a passenger next to you. So, while we are at it we need to ban car radios, all drive thru's at all restaurants, GPS units, passengers, all dashboard gauges except speedometer and gas gauges, manual transmissions, floor mats and seat adjusters.
Banning hands free is an extreme. What about drinking, talking to the passenger, shaving, reading a map, singing, etc...
I learned this lesson years ago. Driving while talking on a very intense subject...when i hung up i realized I could not remember anything about the last couple miles, stop lights other traffic NOTHING. I was a total blank. Then and there I realized I could not divide my attention. We should make the penalties for accidents involving personal injury or death. mandatory jail time and immense financial penalties. Conversations can wait you are driving a lethal weapon. have concern for the innocents around you!!!
If having a conversation on the phone is dangerous because it makes the driver think without regard to what is happening on the road, isn't listening to NPR equally as dangerous given that the programming makes its listeners think without regard to the situation the drive is in?
The gentleman speaking about the necessity of using cellphones while drive is grabbing at straws. It is NOT a necessity. If one MUST speak on the phone, if it is that urgent, the driver can pull over! His arguments hold no water
Distracted driving has been going on since the invention of the car. I agree that bans on texting are a good idea but one can not regulate common sense.
Distractions abound in a car. From my children arguing in the back seat to listening to the DR Show on NPR to drinking my morning soda all are distractions. Are we now going to tell car makers to not put in a radio or cup holders?
I know numerous people who have been involved in accidents caused by someone drinking coffee, dropping a smoke, or changing the radio station.
I do talk on the phone while driving. I use auto dialing and spend as little time as possible making the calls. I do not makes calls on roads that I am not familiar with. I use a hands frree method as much as possible. But for the lifestyle I maintain these calls are critical to managing my life.
Again you can't regulate common sense.
I don't get it, what is the big rush to answer every message received? How did we get along before cell phones? And, is it that important that you can't wait until you get to a safe place?
I believe that the lives of people are important enough to forego using any device that might take ones attention off the road. Many people drive so wrecklessly as it is without the distraction of texting and trying to dial phone numbers.
I applaud this decision.
Horace Cooper: Your hypothetical reasons for keeping your phone on during driving represent the only time I hope children and teens are not listening to NPR. When data and society's opinions match, why would you oppose such a bill? I wonder.
Not really. No response is required, awaited, or solicited while thinking about what you hear on NPR
Please discuss the research results to compare listening to the radio or music in the car to speaking on a cellphone in the car. Thanks.
Please discuss the research results to compare listening to the radio or music in the car to speaking on a cellphone in the car. Thanks.
To all those against the ban, do I believe you or my lying eyes?
Every day, I see with my eyes people talking/texting on cell phones driving like drunks. Drunk drivers are banned. Cell phone use while driving should be banned.
It seems that most people agree that texting should be ban with less support for talking on jawbone. And generally I agree, however, when I'm driving and get into traffic I ask my passengers to stop talking to me while I have to concentrate on driving, something I learned from my spouse years ago. Generally, my passenger is quiet for about 1 minute.
Also, I see people tuning a radio or inserting a CD; both of which seem to be dangerous to me.
To many people think that they can drive automatically and don't have to pay attention.
The real issue of this accident, is the poor driving of the TWO bus drivers who slammed into a simple fender-bender. Yes, the boy was distracted while driving, the initial accident was his fault. Missouri has a no texting while driving law already, we don't need to make it "more illegal". Why aren't we talking about the poorly trained bus drivers hauling our children to school and field trips?
Officers cannot enforce laws on the books now and we are going to add laws to make them watch driver inside the car.
Make the it a felony to purposely drive impaired and cause any accident. This would include drunk driving, putting on makeup, reading a map, looking at the person you are talking to while driving, using a cell phone - all of which I have witnessed causing accidents
Though 1 of your guests does not agree with the NTSB, I remember in the 80s that we all, who were new to the mobile phone, pulled over to talk, with no problem, knowing we were being prudent about accident risk!!!!
Tempest in a teapot?
I have for years thought some basic analysis was missing here. YES, texting and phone use has become an ever larger % of distracted accidents. YES, if yoou are going be distrated int he car, the phone is one of the worst ways. However, the all of the data I have seen inducates that the total number of accidents per hour and per mile of driving is largely unchanged. What is happening is not tthat we have more accidents, but that the accidents we have are more likely to be caused by phones.
This suggests that the issue is not the phone, but the human. After a certai amount of time in the car drivers get distracted. We start putting on makeup, changing the radio station, searching for CDs/tapes, digging through a bag, eating, reachiing into the back seat to pick something up, even reading books and news papers while driving (a once common sight on the highways out west).
Cellphones are merely the addictive device we turn to first when we get distracted. This explains the increased percentage. But the issue is not the phone, it is that humans get distracted. I am afraid that NTSB semems to have gotten it wrong.
Banning phone in the car hardly seems the answer. The so called "analysis" of this subject seems distorting.
I guess I can't see this as enforceable, nor can I see it not leading to difficulties down the road. Banning texting is easy because digital input is required and it is obvious to anyone passing by or watching, and should be banned. Talking on a hands-free device is something else. What if I sing alone in the car? Am I to be pulled over by Simon Cowell and judged as to whether I was singing or not? And as for "cognitive engagement", is "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell me", the NPR game show to be blacked out on car radios? How about soccer Moms with 7 shouting kids in the minivan? It is impossible to draw the line or get a good definition. ANd that makes it impossible to meaningfully legislate.
Talking on cell phones and especially texting are distracting and dangerous. They should be banned.
There should be more emphasis on educating public about other activities that distract drivers.
Our society is addicted to being connected and reachable at all times, and this addiction will be hard to break out of.
I do not understand the argument that daily business and family demands justify the risks associated with simultaneous cell phoning and driving. As a motorcyclist, I can testify to at least three instances where I have avoided accidents and injury by spotting and avoiding motorists talking on cell phones. One incident occurred in the parking lot of the Mason, Ohio branch of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
I do not understand the argument that daily business and family demands justify the risks associated with simultaneous cell phoning and driving. As a motorcyclist, I can testify to at least three instances where I have avoided accidents and injury by spotting and avoiding motorists talking on cell phones. One incident occurred in the parking lot of the Mason, Ohio branch of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
The guest who mentioned cell phone use should be allowed as it is not any more dangerous than talking to your young child is way off base. Talking to your child (Especially if you get into a heated conversation) is every bit as dangerous as cell phone driving.
While I was driving with my two young children (in the back) I once ran a red light and got pulled over by the police. I never saw that light because I was distracted by my children!
One should apply restraint when driving and talking in the car to ANYONE!
Recently we moved to England. Driving is so challenging over there that the first few weeks we did not permit ANY talking in the car. After that we agreed that there would be no talking as we approached and navigated roundabouts. England has the correct approach. Distracted driving is illegal no matter the cause (cell phone, eating, extreme conversation whatever). The USA should follow England's lead. If an officer sees you driving overly slow, fast, erratic... he should be able to pull you over and give you a ticket for distracted driving.