Cell phones being used in vehicles while driving. Pros. Cons.

[Jules]

Eating? Dog on your lap? Applying makeup? Where do you draw the line?

Reading a book? We were beside a woman doing this in city traffic.

Any of the above can be given a ticket for distracted driving here.

 

[Knight]

Even with hands free thru our cell phone we don't call or recieve a call while driving. But the use of our cell phone for GPS locating various places we haven't driven to is convenient.

Still ignored by a lot of people.

It is illegal to talk or text on a handheld cellphone or similar device while driving under legislation passed by the 2011 Nevada Legislature.

As of Jan. 1, 2012, fines of up to $250 are being imposed for any driver using a handheld phone or similar device to talk, read or type.

 

[bobcat]

I think this is turning out to be more of a problem than hands free cell phone calls. It's the large interactive touch screen infotainment systems now perched on the dash of most new vehicles. Here's the report:
New Study Finds Big Car Touchscreens Are Dangerous—Slowing Drivers Down by 58%

 

[Been There]

No one should be on their phone while driving. Florida law prohibits cellphone texting or using, unless it’s hands free.

 

[Tish]

100% Ban, you can always pull over to take the call.
Over here, you get fined.

 

[WheatenLover]

Since my car is pretty much pre-high tech (2004), it has nothing I used to take for granted on it, including the screen that shows everything including maps and music.

Until I find out whether my car can be upgraded, I put my cell in a holder on the dash to use maps. The sound is up so I don't have to look at the phone. If that were forbidden by law, I'd be living in Homer, Alaska, by now. I have no real good sense of direction. Plus when I do remember how to get somewhere, it is always because I navigate by landmark. I'm lucky I know the name of the street I live on!

IMO, drivers should not do anything else with their phones while driving. I have been a passenger in a car with a normally intelligent and safety-conscious person who checked their incoming texts while driving. Nevah again!

I can see the tombstone. Here lies XYZ. Checking his texts was more important than living.

 

[Michael Z]

There already is a ban in our state. And if you are in an accident while on a phone that is not hands free, you are in big trouble! Maybe even jail!

 

[Mike]

Here in the UK, to use a phone in a car, you need to
pull over and shut down the engine, even if you are
safely parked, the engine has to be off, or you will get
charged for using a phone while driving/in charge
of a vehicle.

Mike.

 

[MarkD]

Here in the UK, to use a phone in a car, you need to
pull over and shut down the engine, even if you are
safely parked, the engine has to be off, or you will get
charged for using a phone while driving/in charge
of a vehicle.

Mike.

I'd vote for that. I now expect to have to honk at the person ahead of me at a red-light. It seems no one is paying attention anymore. It shouldn't be my job to alert someone on their phone that the light has changed.

 

[StarSong]

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I think this is turning out to be more of a problem than hands free cell phone calls. It's the large interactive touch screen infotainment systems now perched on the dash of most new vehicles. Here's the report:
New Study Finds Big Car Touchscreens Are Dangerous—Slowing Drivers Down by 58%

Exactly the experience I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread. Computer screens suck a driver's attention from the matter at hand: driving.

 

[WheatenLover]

Exactly the experience I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread. Computer screens suck a driver's attention from the matter at hand: driving.

I am too neurotic to pay attention to screens while driving. I have a simple point of view. I pretend all the people in cars around me are my beloved friends and relatives. That ensures that I stay focused on driving.

When I was 12, my best friend died in a car accident. Not only was that horrifying, it made me resolve to do my best never to physically hurt another person -- especially in such a way that they were seriously injured or died. I feel that way about other animals too.

 

[January]

There is an incident of distracted driving in Ohio that looms large in our minds because the girl's father is a well known sportscaster who made it his mission to educate us. She drove into the back of a stopped truck and died because she had looked down to answer her phone. The message, from her friend was, "Hi."

Short calls can be deadly if they take your eyes off the road. Is it really necessary to tell people you'll be there in ten minutes?

that is a text then - which are illegal to reply while driving here - the only calls allowed are voice calls from a mounted phone or using an external device - eg a hearing aid.
Exactly so nobody is looking down and away from the road to do so
You reach across and touch the button t o answer - so no different to turning on the air con or the radio.

Given they are legal and safe - yes I'm fine with answering a simple quick call to say I will be there in 10 minutes, as an example