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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Thank you for asking anyone in a car to pull over before calling. But were you aware that your radio station (WAMU) has a reporter that requests phone calls about traffic incidents? One would only phone in about traffic if one was in traffic so really WAMU is encouraging phone use in the car. And it probably isn't the only station doing this! Wow!
I dropped cell-service 1 month ago, primarily because of cost. The first week I thought I had made a huge mistake, now I know it's the best thing I've done lately. Freedom and safety are much worth it!
I dropped cell-service 1 month ago, primarily because of cost. The first week I thought I had made a huge mistake, now I know it's the best thing I've done lately. Freedom and safety are much worth it!
This NOT a new threat. People choosing to drive distracted is as old as cars. The penalties have to be severe enough to MAKE people take care. I know that after the fact is poor safety prevention but laws banning drunk driving have not removed the drunks - putting them in jail is the only deterrent because they drive drunk even with their license revoked.
Do insurance companies still pay up if it's clear that texting or cell phone use was happening when the accident happened? That might reduce cell phone use while driving.
As a public employee, I have had to sign an agreement that I would not drive while phoning or texting. I agree that it is dangerous to drive while telephoning, but given all of the other things that we do while driving, I find it hard to believe that we are going to outlaw handsfree phone use. I would be satisfied if we started by connecting phone use and the hazzard lights on peoples cars so that I would know to be defensive and not to presume that others are aware of my presence.
I have never had a problem driving while using a cell phone (my usage is light). But I have run off of the road a couple of times while trying to attend a crying infant in the backseat.
I know that babies are safer in the backseat in the event of an accident. But what is the increased danger of distracting the driver by having children so far away from their caregiver? Surely it is best not to have an accident at all.
The guest who says that cell phone use in the car is critical to our lives, is nuts. If we take the cell use out of our cars - we will adjust just fine. We need down time. I am absolute afraid of people using cell phones while driving (especially texting). I see it everyday. I am a recovering alcoholic and for years I have been afraid to drive at night knowing how many people drink and drive. Now I am wary of driving during the day knowing how many people talk/text on cell phones 24x7.
We continue to add more and more tasks that is acceptable to do in the car. There is a growing unconscious sense that multi-tasking in the car is doable and doesn't come with a risk. We need, as a society, to slow down and take time to do one task well and give up trying to do more and more. We have lost the sweetness of simple, non-rushed lives. The more we do, the more we expect of ourselves and is expected of us. It is zero sum game.
In what world does he think that officers have the time to pull over everybody they suspect of distracted driving. They barely have the time to pull over red light runners.
I live in Texas, please ask the gentleman who says we should not ban c phone whilst driving...where in Texas is the speed limit at 80mph. Thank you
As someone that rides a motorcycle, cell-phone usage has become a major issue. I myself have a least one vehicle that will either try to change into my lane each week and routinely have people turning in front of me. When I look at them they are almost always on the phone. This is a very common problem with other riders I have spoken with and I can't say I've met a single person on a bike that wouldn't support a total ban on usage.
i agree that cellphones can be dangerous but:
a) are emotionally charged, politically charged and information-dense radio programs less distracting?
b) how about law enforcement officers who have an entire laptop sitting right next to them?
c) how about the panelist's comment about indifferent distractions such as toddlers and uncontrolled children?
d) how about cars with touch-screen digital displays that advertise the ability choose music, navigate to desired locations(though is it suggested, like alcohol's "drink responsibly", these devices recommend them not to be used while driving, but who actually heeds these warnings)
there will always be distractions.
what about hands-free talking, will police officers be able to pull anyone over now and accuse them of having a phone in their cup-holder??
The answer to cell phone use while driving is a very simple one.
When all vehicles are manufactured trucks cars,ect...as long as the motor is running,the electronic device would be blocked by a chip in the onboard computer that runs the vehicle.When the engine is running no one could send or receive messages or talk,until the operator turned off the engine,therfore the vehicle is not going to operate if the motor is off.
Thank you, speedy
I am with you on that. Maybe there should be a special license for those who want to talk on their phone and drive. Or include these skills in a drivers safety course.
Eating while driving causes 80% of all car accidents, study shows!!!!!
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-07-19/local/17928504_1_drink-and-dr...
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The NCPPR is a collection of anti government fear mongering idiots. Why is a fool like Horace Cooper even a guest on this show?
A comment was made that there are 120 automotive fatalities a day in the U.S. according to the NHTSA this is almost a 100% increase over the 2009 statistics. Also drivers who are driving and listening and thinking about your responses to these comments you better be careful.
Why don't the insurance companies just refuse to pay for accidents where cell phone use was involved? The ins. cos. can check cell phone records to verify the time.
I agree, why aren't they talking about banning EATING while driving seeing that it causes 80% of all accidents!
I am a very careful driver, and the only 2 accidents I have ever had in the last 15 years were directly related to my cell phone. Most of us like to think we are the kind of people who can handle this kind of multitasking, but there is really no way to know until its too late.
For those opposed to the ban, do you really want to test your limits with such a high consequence? Or better yet do you want to be the victim of someone who choices to take that risk?
Mr. Coopers arguments are based on one very large error. That people talking on cell phones are involved in "important" conversations. And he is discreting people with disabilities and care givers by comparing their sitations with cell phone abusers.
I have NEVER overheard (and that's easy the way people shout into their phones) heard anyone involved in anything but idle chat while using their cell phone.
Responding instaneously to a warning is vague...if you are traveling at 60 mph and the time it takes for the "device" to see a hazard, determine you are not responding, issue a warning and then have you "refocus" and act is just 1 second, you rcar has traveled 88 feet. That's almost 1/3 of a football field or the distance from home plate to 1st base. At 30 mph, you would have traveled 44 feet. Those distances are not "instaneous"... Ron
Mr. Coopers arguments are based on one very large error. That people talking on cell phones are involved in "important" conversations. And he is discreting people with disabilities and care givers by comparing their sitations with cell phone abusers.
I have NEVER overheard (and that's easy the way people shout into their phones) heard anyone involved in anything but idle chat while using their cell phone.
Mr. Coopers arguments are based on one very large error. That people talking on cell phones are involved in "important" conversations. And he is discreting people with disabilities and care givers by comparing their sitations with cell phone abusers.
I have NEVER overheard (and that's easy the way people shout into their phones) heard anyone involved in anything but idle chat while using their cell phone.
As a bicyclist and pedestrian, I CHEER the NTSB for calling for a BAN, yes a BAN, on cell phones while driving.
I know people's capacity for self-delusion. But you are endangering yourselves, your passengers, your children.... and me and MY children.
It's not an infringement on your civil liberties to protect myself and my kids.
So, yes. I think you should adopt new behaviors. But yes, I believe those behaviors should be OUTLAWED.
Excellent program. You cannot shout loudly enough that distracted driving is a serious problem. I applaud you and NTSB's initiative. Of course, you also cannot emphasize loudly enough the fact that cell phones and incoming emails are not the only or, perhaps, even the major problem. Any activity other than actively driving can be fatal. A number of years ago, I used to take advantage of my daily commute to listen to cassette-based language courses. Thank God, I never hit anyone, but I did have a couple of instances when I had to brake sharply to avoid rear-ending the vehicle in front of me. Each time, I was looking directly at the car in front but my mind was mainly on the cassette. NPR, along with the NTSB, ought to be constantly reminding radio listeners of these dangers. Bill Potts, Bethesda, MD
I have to voice my opinion on this, as a service technician and frequent driver. The proposed ban on all cell phone use (execept emergencies) during driving is just going to devastate the service industry. In the course of driving to customer sites, I field text messages paged out to me from the main office, then have to call those customers and explain procedures or talk them through a problem, any case of which you would consider a very in-depth conversation that must be carried out while driving to another customer site.
If the ban prevented me from taking and making these calls, my effectiveness and thereby my company's would be serverly hindered. Not to mention any other service based companies which rely on being able to dispatch techs, update them, and have them report in and/or field calls.
I should mention as well to everyone who might say: "Is a company's effectiveness worth driving distracted?", yes, and those of us who drive very frequently do not have a problem with multi-tasking. I have over 300,000 logged miles over the last 5 years driving for my company, nearly all of those miles include making calls to customers while doing so, and I have never had an accident of any sort . If anything, drivers need more practice and experience before getting behind the wheel to prevent these crashes.
"I agree, why aren't they talking about banning EATING while driving seeing that it causes 80% of all accidents!"
Sure - why not - please suggest a sensible way to do it.
But first let's get these phone users 'turned off'
How can anyone say mobile phone use while driving is safe? EVERY DAY I see people make serious driving errors while talking on their phones: running stop signs & red lights, & turning left in front of oncoming traffic.
Those that defend this practice fit studies that show how people consider behavior by others to be unacceptable but alright for themselves because they believe they are exceptional. Clearly they are not.
Paul
in Kalamazoo
I do not disagree that people are out of control with their cell phones, I don't disagree that texting is dangerous... this is a difficult issue... driving in general is dangerous and sometimes difficult. my first thought when I heard about this suggestion to ban cell phone completely was "why don't we just ban humans from driving motorized vehicles?" The Truth is we can get educated and trained on how to handle the responsibility of driving.... maybe they need to ban cell phone usage for those under 25... many of the people I've seen being the most distracted were very young looking. These things are a problem, but there are always accidents, and there are always bad drivers... maybe there needs to be required retraining for driving every 5 years or something. Also, I'm a single mom & I sometimes need to use my cell phone on the way to somewhere, but I have learned my lesson from close calls on how dangerous using the cell phones and I limit my own usage and how I use it. I've had more close calls from my 4 year old yelling at me or or throwing things at me, or me turning around to give her something real quickly (which I don't do anymore). I agree with having safety measures (like the seat belt law)... but I think we have to be careful about punishing everyone because of some people who cause problems.