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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Thanks for covering this issue. And to the NTSB head for her political courage. I support her effort.
I believe a "PREVENTIVE" ENFORCEMENT APPROACH toward illegal wireless communication (WC) while driving is UNWORKABLE IN MOST INSTANCES (eg. catching someone in the act).
I see POTENTIAL FOR DIS-INCENTIVIZING WC in moving vehicles by USING SOME "DISCOVERY" METHODS USED WITH DUI ENFORCEMENT.
A PROHIBITION for any WC, with emergency exceptions, in a moving car BY ANY OCCUPANT (similar to "open container" prohibitions for alcohol).
ENHANCE PENALTIES for instances of fatal or serious injury accidents where WC use identified (as with DUI).
INTRODUCE "IMPLIED CONSENT" (as with testing for alcohol use) for police examination of device and provider company records of WC for any device(s) in the vehicle (in a relevant timeframe) as part of accident investigation as condition for driver license/vehicle registration. Including, of course, strong privacy shields of message content and counterparty identities.
Thank You, Rich from Sunrise, FL
Fundamentally, any time when someone is in a car they are somewhere that they do not want to be. So we need to design our cities so people spend less time in cars. In fact, driver behavior is very malleable, but you have to look at the big picture.
1. A number of years ago, I was rear-ended by someone changing channels on their radio. Are we going to ban radios too? Why not make driving in the suburbs illegal too, being that more accidents occur in the suburbs than in other areas.
2. Instead of putting this on the driver, why not put it on the car! We have the technology for self-driving cars.
3. Banning the use of cell phones is not the ONLY possible solution but it is the one which restricts personal freedom and freedom of speech the most.
COMMENT:
I use the phone responsibly while driving. Texting, yes, texting should be banned because it is highly distracting, but not talking! You can ban it if you want, but you WILL NOT stop me from talking a phone while driving."
Jim in Grand Rapids, on MichiganRadio WUOM
Driving is not a right. It is a privilege. Part of that privilege is being responsible for one's own actions. The overwhelming evidence (much less common sense) indicates driving while texting and talking contributes significantly to accidents. Unfortunately we humans seem to do the right thing only when a penalty is involved to reinforce good behavior. Time to quit debating and get on with some sensible laws against cellphone use while behind the wheel.
I agree that cellphones and other digital devices are distracting, but if we are going to attack hands-free talking then shouldn't we ban the ability to listen to emotionally charged, politically charged, or otherwise information dense radio programs?? There is nothing wrong with radio programs but like one panelist mentioned regarding children/infants and other uncontrollable stimuli, shouldn't we include stimuli like emotionally-charged and informationally dense radio listening?
Education is needed also. My dad told me that driving is like holding a loaded gun. If you do not pay attention to what you are doing - someone dies. Part of the problem is that while we are making cars safer in accidents to save the people involved, we are also making people less concerned about being in an accident.
Correction! Seat belt use is mandatory( with variations state by state) in virtually all states except New Hampshire and is a useful way to save lives as would be banning hand-held cell use, as I've noticed as a professional driver.
This would be the best way to solve the problem of distracted driving in the US, in my opinion. Texas' governor recently erred by vetoing a law passed by both houses of government. It was a grave mistake and should be corrected now.
The comments that just drag out other distractions are nonsensical. We KNOW what the cellphone causes - we can stop that - to a fair degree.
I see EVERY day lunatics doing all kinds of dangerous stuff while having the phone glued to their ear.
If we can identify other causes and have means to stop it - we should. Clearly these folks with tolerance for whatever distraction have never lost a family member or friend in one of these phone accidents.
In today's world a driver license is given without even a need to be able to read and understand the language road signs are all written in.
Could be we need to have more regulation of driver licenses to begin with.
A driver license is not a right, it is a privilege, in reality it is a license to use a deadly weapon against all other users of this same deadly weapon whether you have built a skill set or not.
Texting, eating, talking, drinking, shaving, reading a book or newspaper while driving are all things that cause deadly accidents.
Mayhaps we need to only give driver licenses to persons who have the ability to use common sense rather than anyone who will pay the money.
Making anything illegal doesn't make people stop doing something and people who have access to a great deal of money can buy their way out of any sort of criminal act.
All people are not equally skilled. I'm a commercial pilot and can talk on the radio and pilot a plane in busy airspace.
I've been trained to prioritize - AVIATE, NAVIGATE, COMUNICATE. How do I retain cell phone ability, while limiting 19 year olds.
Driving is privilege not a right. No one has the right to place anyone else in danger, because they "need" to text.
The only reason there are not more crashes is because the rest of us are looking out to avoid distracted drivers.
Carriers need to block texting as soon as the handheld is moving more than 5 miles.
AMD
Your guest who cited the inevitability of distraction while driving--a finding backed up by his studies--seems to be on to something. We have created a transportation system that forces most people to waste precious hours DRIVING, which is an inherently dangerous activity. Of course someone who spends three-four hours a day running errands or commuting is going to try to do other things; who can afford to waste that much time? Why doesn't the NTSB issue a finding about how many Americans die needlessly because of the lack of mass transit in this country? They deaths mentioned due to cell phone use are about 10% of the overall total--what about the other 90%? We are wasting money and time and risking our lives because our transportation and land use patterns are fundamentally flawed.
What are mere maimage and loss of life against a convenience without which we all did until about fifteen years ago? I'm sure an unrestricted Market would bring all those people back to life, or give them new arms, legs, or brains.
At least we could do this: in order to use a cell-phone in a moving car, you must be signed up as an organ donor....
(Yes, it is freeing in some ways to be able to use your cell-phone whilst driving, but the way people write and talk about it it's as if it were on par with freedom of speech and of superstition.)
Hopefully Mr. Cooper will not hit a pedestrian or another vehicle while driving and texting.
Conversely, I would hope that Mr. Cooper's doesn't harbor any desire to be hit by a vehicle piloted by a texting/talking driver...
The problem is not the cell phone, it is the drivers. Most drivers make several mistakes per mile. Frequently the same ones over and over. "I see how you got that dent." Drivers drive with their lizard brain and are oblivious to much around them. Most have bad habits and have forgotten the basics. Note how many people can't make a legal left turn and require pedestrians to dodge them in the crosswalk.
Distractions increase the update rate. Note how many people can't maintain their speed control and get pissed off at drivers using cruise control.
Note how many people won't signal when it matters, such as exiting the highway but will signal at the left turn only lane. Most drivers need remedial training. Requiring regular retraining with an instructor would do far more towards reducing the 35,000 fatalities and the million crashes.
If someone continues to make the same mistake over and over, is it really an accident?
Peter
Wouldn't technology that blocks Cell Phone use while driving also block passengers from using their cell phones? Isn't that an unnecessary extreme?
The NTSB wants to ban cell phone use while driving because of distraction. Should they not also ban passengers, radios, eating, drinking, etc. while driving since those cause distractions?
I agree that texting should be banned but I think that you should still be allowed to talk hands free.
I was in sales for a number of years in both the pre and post cell phone era and spend the majority of my time on the road.
My office was in my car.
I cant tell you the number of hours I spent standing at a pay phone conducting business. When I was able to talk to people from my car -- my productivity went way up
Here is a thought that may make a difference; Have a simple message in all outgoing texts; "Please do not text me back if you are driving. Please focus and keep your hands on the wheel".
I've noticed that many people who are talking on hand held cell phones don't use their turn signals when changing lanes or turning at corners. This is another reason to ban hand held cell phones while driving. Moreover, I live in Michigan where cell phone use is permitted and I spend time in California where it isn't permitted. My observation is that cell phone use by drivers is much less common in California than in Michigan.
Shouldn't we focus on distracted driving laws and not cell phone specific laws?
I would posit that a person putting on lipstick, picking up a dropped french fry, or reading the newspaper while driving is a significantly greater threat than a person having a conversation on a cell phone.
I would love to know how much and WHO paid off Horace for his ridiculous comments.
Driving is a privelege.
Talking on the cellphone is a distraction and for Horace to reason that 'he can recover whatever he was doing as soon as he got off the phone' is nonsense!
Really? AFTER you have run over someone while texting? Or hit another car?
Obviously, Horace has NEVER lost a friend/loved one, nor experienced the tragedy of ANY accident, due to someone who was careless and thoughtless enough to text on their phone while driving.
People like Horace make excuses for EVERYBODY, even Pedophiles have rights, but that's a whole 'nother story!
I am an independent pest control operator. I have no office or secretary to handle my calls. I handle calls throughout the day enroute to each job. Were I to pull over for every business related call, I would join the millions of unemployed. Please address the needs of small business folks like myself.
I am against the prohibition of cellphones / driving for all those opposed / comments. Additionally, I would add; what about Trucker's and "CBs". CB's have been used for more than 40 years. So, conclusion; should we ban cellphones and all move to CB technology?
My husband uses his hands free phone in the car every day. I've noticed that as soon as he takes a call he DOES NOT look in his mirrors very often. He stares straight ahead and concentrates on the call. I've commented on this many times and it concerns me but he won't change his habits. ALL calls should be banned!!!!
The argument that somehow a ban on cell phone usage is somehow equivalent to banning blind people in cars and toddlers is incredibly jejune and reminiscent of Dan Ackroyd's "Irwin Mainway" character. Of course children in the car can be distracting and to some extent a conversation with a blind person in the car is akin to the cell phone, but why is that child or blind person in that car...because they have to get somewhere (i.e. the whole point of being there). This does not apply to cell phone usage (it doesn't really have to happen in a moving car).
The bizarre argument of "what if" the driver is an situation where there is an emergency and can't stop. So outside of saving Sandra Bullock, can the speaker who made the argument compare the number of times this situation happened compares to the number of cases that resulted from cell phone use
What doesn't show up in the stats related to cell phone use is the greatly increased stress in driving for all.
Driving defensively has always been an important safe driving strategy but it has been forced to an absurd level. I have to come to a complete stop several times a day because of oncoming drivers using hand-held phones crossing fully into my lane to pass a parked vehicle on their side. There are 2 things wrong with this - first they should be the one's stopping with an obstruction on their side of the road, and second, with one hand their maneuver is life threatening.
On highways these drivers are wandering outside their lanes and slowing down and speeding up unpredictably.
I appreciate DRS trying to get all kinds of points of view expressed - but the producer has found a new low in finding this Harold Cooper.
His 'arguments' are so much without sense that I have to keep myself from making some probably undiplomatic statements.
The argument that driving and cell phone use are essential for work purposes is a canard.
If people removed the option, they would be forced to stop think, prioritize, and strategize work -- rather than make dozens of impulsive calls, which don't necessarily increase productivity and do jeopardize traffic safety.
I have had a friend killed by a driver distracted using his cell phone. The driver's need to use his/her cellphone (e.g. productivity) needs to be balanced with the public's saftety. I fully support the cell phone ban, and I find Horace's defense of the practice irresponsible.
R. Hobson