Seat belt effort shows the need to clamp down on big road risk

Yes your right and boy I must say Texting and driving is bad, very bad. I've done it and I will be the first to tell you I hate it. And a IPHONE is the wrost.

But talking on the phone, I don't know. I guess the BIG BROTHER will tell me that I can't chew my finger nail while driving next. Holy cow when the mean big gov gets that bad. I don't want to be in the "land of the free".

Yes, I occasionally use a cell while driving. I have a bunch of kids and last minute plan changes are frequent. I try to keep the call quick. If it's getting complicated I tell them I'll call back. If one of the kids are in the car with me they frequently act as my secretary. They take the call and sometimes set it on speaker phone. ("Now you can hear it's me saying NO.") I have been know to tell people not now and hang up or just not answer. I have also been know to pick up the phone in a traffic jam and make a call to a friend or relative to just chat. If I'm going 3 miles and hour bumper to bumper for the next 15 to 20 minutes why not. I have made 911 calls on my phone as needed and triple AAA. I would hate to be denied this but I have been behind or next to the really bad drivers with the phone next to their ear. Others I have suspected of having those phones that sit in the ear. I don't know if they would still be bad without the phones. I guess I'm willing to give up my "rescheduler" to find out.

I have to agree with the majority of posters/replies on this subject. And more power to Kerry! Yes, ban cell phone use while driving unless it's an emergency situation! I, like a lot of you, have nearly been hit by drivers talking on their cell phones. Apparently the phone call is more important than obeying traffic laws. Add into the mix drivers who just obtained their license, and you've got a powder keg waiting to explode. And don't get me started on the other reckless driving patterns I've seen around here: believe it or not, a red light does mean "stop", not "continue through the intersection way after the light has turned red". And those double yellow solid lines painted on the pavement are actually there for a reason; they don't mean "cross over into opposing lanes just because you want to make the light."

i was sitting stopped at a traffic light off of centervill turnpike and just past the draw bridge that crosses the canal.there was a police officer just off of the road giving a citation when i looked in my rear view mirror and the last thing i remember seeing was this young kid with a cell phone slamming into the back of me,he was full speed on his cell phone yapping,and full speed i would say he hit me doing about 40 mph.i had my wife in the car and the impact was so violent that it broke her seat back and mine.he was ticked for failure to stop,the police officer said he saw that he was on his cell phone but that there was no law against it.it boils down to several things,POLITICS,CAMPAIGN contributions.3 people die out of 10 million from heart failure from taking cretin medications and they put a total ban on that product.you say "1500 out of 140 thousand"have accidents,how many deaths?and that is acceptable?

We all should be writing our elected officals against cell phone drivers. It shounds like you didn't get a very good response, but the more of us that do write the better we will be heard. The old saying the squeeking wheel gets the oil does apply and does work. If we don't stay in touch with our officials they will continue to do what they want to or do nothing at all. I just purchased my first "ban cell phones" bumper sticker. We all need to get one and get in the face of those talking while driving. Please don't stop writing these people, if we have to, write them over and over again. They were elected to serve us, and
"we" need to be heard from.

I once came across a young woman travelling north on 464 talking on a cell phone while applying makeup. On one hand I was appalled, but on the other I wished to meet her since she obviously was nimble....

I agree that putting on make-up, fussing with the radio, eating a cheesburger, and so forth can distract a driver and cause an accident. But it can be difficult for a police officer to observe, verify, and most importantly, make a distracted charge stick in traffic court. Seeing a driver using a cell phone is pretty unequivocal and, if necessary, cell phone records would verify the phone was in use at the time of the citation. $100 for the first offense and doubling for every subsequent offense. Points awarded on driving record. That would stop it.

Last summer I had to drive to Nags Head to get neighbor, and her daughter and grand kids out of the emergency room after the were hit by a guy chatting on his cell and running a red light and totaling her new car, she had a broken wrist, daughter broken leg, and kids were bruised.

I have a neighbor, as soon as she gets in her car, gets it started, and before she starts to back out her driveway, she's on her cell. It becomes as bad a habit as me waking up and having a cigarette with my cup of coffee. The difference is my cigarette is only killing me, her cell phone while driving could kill many.

Many European countres have on the books what is called a "Distracted Driving" law. These laws include banning everything from eating a cheeseburger to putting on make-up to using cell phones to messing with the radio dial. If you are doing anything that distracts you from your primary job of controlling your vehicle, they can pull you over and ticket you.

I understand what you are saying, but, unfortunately, when reckless driving occurs, it's often too late to prevent the accident that results.

there are are many people that can drive while talking on the phone. The people that drive and cut people off tend to do that whether or not they they are on the phone. Some people just suck at driving. Police should start pulling people for reckless driving, not speeding, not cell phone use.

After nearly getting killed on I-64 by a cell phone-yakking lane changer, I e-mailed both Del. Paula Miller and Sen. Ralph Northum pleading for legislative action. Miller's staff responded with a bunch of political gobbledygook which essentially said "I can't do anything about it." Northum completely ignored me. I believe a STRONGLY ENFORCED no cell phone use while driving law which slapped heavy fines ($100 the first time, $200 the second, etc.)on abusers would soon stop this dangerous nonsense. The law against 18 year olds and younger is ludicrous. How do you expect a police officer to judge the age of a moving driver between, say 17 and 22 years old? We need to keep pressuring the legislators to set aside the cell phone lobbying do what is in the best interests of safety. BAN ALL CELL PHONE USAGE BY THE DRIVER OF A MOVING VEHICLE UNLESS HE/SHE IS MAKING A CALL TO REPORT AN EMERGENCY.

Why is it that you can pick out someone driving in front of you and quickly decide they are either drunk or using a cell phone?

The answer is simple. Their actions are very similar in nature, and create a similar level of risk to other drivers.

Cell phone use while driving should be banned.

You are correct about cracking down on the mindless drivers talking or texting while driving, Kerry, but there is no need for a new law; we have it already. The law against Reckless Driving. It merely needs to be ammended to include all forms including not using hands-free cell phone devices, texting, watching videos (why does everyone complain about cellphones, but having a theater-on-wheels which distracts all of the vehicle occupants as well as everyone around it goes un-mentioned?), or having those blasted GPS toys (buy a map, it's cheaper and safer) distracting the drivers' vision. Let us be realistic - which causes more accidents: exceeding the speed limits by five miles per hour or all of the above?