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They are so convenient. So stylish. So "must-have."
Cell phones are every bit as ubiquitous in our pocketbooks and pockets as credit cards or car keys. They make life simpler. They keep us connected to family, co-workers and business contacts.
And they're leading to an ever-increasing number of accidents, injuries and even deaths. Studies have repeatedly shown that motorists on cell phones, whether hands-free or hand-held, cannot focus on driving. Our multitasking has reached its limit behind the wheels of our cars.
It's past time for lawmakers nationwide, including in the Virginia General Assembly, to ban the use of cell phones while driving. The evidence is piling up - literally - that half-measures aren't good enough. In the balance between safety and convenience, safety should win out.
This is not a popular view. Many people drive safely with cell phones and have legitimate reasons to use them. Legislators who travel to and from Richmond often conduct business behind the wheel, and they wouldn't want to give up that freedom.
But too often, cell phone chats are dangerous and unnecessary diversions from the business at hand. They could easily wait.
We've all seen the effects of talking while driving. Distracted drivers veer out of their lanes, slow traffic to a crawl behind them, run red lights. A 2003 Harvard study estimated that cell phone distractions caused 2,600 traffic deaths annually and 330,000 accidents resulting in moderate or severe injuries.
Yakking while driving, essentially, is no safer than drinking.
Some of the dangers have been known for years: Drivers using cell phones are four times as likely to crash as other drivers. Hands-free devices don't eliminate the risks - it's the conversation that engrosses motorists - and gives them a false sense of being in control.
Last week, The New York Times reported that federal researchers were barred in 2003 from doing a long-term study of 10,000 drivers to assess the risk of cell phone use. They suspected the multitasking was a threat to highway safety. Meantime, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration declined to make public the research already available.
What we already know, through studies by several universities and organizations, is proof enough. Virginia, which this year enacted a ban on texting by motorists, should take the bold step of banning all cell phone use by drivers. It would save lives and improve traffic flow while costing precisely nothing.
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Driving distracted is a problem
However, why judge someone using their bluetooth to speak handsfree while someone in the next lane balances a cheeseburger and fries between the steering wheel? Cell phones can be a problem when used improperly but they are not the only issue out there.
What're the enforcement options for the police?
Will they automatically be able to access cell phone records when they are trying to determine a cause for a traffic infraction? Will they be able to pull people over if they see them using a cell phone? If the person pulled puts his/er phone down before they do pull over, will the police be able to do as I asked in the first line, and automatically access, or solicit to access, the cell phonre records? Has research determined that talking via a hands free option more hazardous than engaging in conversation with an actual passenger in the same vehicle? If a fatalaity occurs because a driver was using a cell phone, do the existing statutes and laws about operating a vehgicle in a hazardous manner apply, or because it involved a cell phone, there is no such legal recourse?
How about enforcing existing laws first?
While I would agree that texting or dialing a cell phone is distracting for anyone, many people are quite capable of using a hands free, voice dial system, safely, just as we can safely speak to the person riding with us. But it is also true that some people can barely drive safely with their attention 100% focused on the task. A one size fits all law is not the answer.
Improper driving (drifting out of lanes, tailgating), failure to yield to passing traffic in the left lane, and other things distracted drivers do that make them a hazard, are already illegal and should get ticketed.
I know that takes more effort in enforcement than waiting for a radar unit to beep or counting heads in an HOV lane, but anyone who commutes much certainly sees ticketable offenses every day. (I have repeatedly seen one lady applying mascara in her rear view on the Berkley Bridge) If troopers would start writing these tickets instead of the easy ones, we would all be safer without placing limits on those who are not a hazard.
Selective enforcement
Just how would an officer determine whether a person is capable of multitasking? Would there be a special portion of a driver's exam to verify this ability, and perhaps a special license plate to designate a cell phone expert?
I agree that one size fits all may not the best way to go, but any other format is a violation of the equal justice concept of our legal system.
Perhaps the doubling of any penalty for offenses determined to be related to driving while phoning might make a difference, although there will always be those who feel they are perfectly capable even while running into objects.
of course not
No, just ticket anyone who drifts out of their lane, tailgates or fails to yield the left lane to passing traffic, whether they do it because they are using a cell phone, eating, dozing or whatever.
The point is to ticket dangerous driving whatever the cause.
tickets /causes
Then it's your position that it is not necessary to try to ameliorate the cause. As a dentist, would you remove an infected tooth, or continue to prescribe pain killers without removing the cause of the pain?
Phone conversations are much more distractive than eating or talking to passengers. Giving someone directions, for example, usually involves visualizing a route or landmarks, and that involves inadvertant closing the eyes. Some can't talk without waving their hand(s). And yes, I've seen it happening.
Cell phone users are much more common than "dozers".
And finally, as an educated professional, isn't it true that people are unwilling to admit that they are not able to do two things at once? Which is why the investigation results were hushed up for years, because lawmakers were afraid they would be ticketed!