Textind and driving, how can we stop it ??

[GothingNC]

Sorry about the typo...

Two major wrecks in my area today caused by a driver being distracted while texting.
Should the driver have their vehicles seized and license revoked instead of a measly fine?



Two hit while changing tire on U.S. 64 in Wake :: WRAL.com

Troopers said a person driving a Nissan pickup truck hit the trailer from behind. The two men standing outside the landscaping truck were struck; the two others on the crew were not.

Texting and alcohol are suspected in the crash, and charges are pending against the driver. Troopers said the driver, who was not immediately identified, stopped at the scene.

Driver was texting just before wreck on I-540 :: WRAL.com

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol says a Cary man traveling on Interstate 540 Thursday morning was texting when he lost control of his SUV and hit two cars, sending a woman to a local hospital and snarling traffic for hours.

[Reddog2]

Need to equip cars with local faraday cage surrounding driver to block transmissions when car in gear. Laws and education aint working.

[M.D. Holloway]

Ya can't until the tech is obsolete which should be in 187 months to 226 months according to my calculations...

Say hello to implants and smart tats...

[stomachmonkey]

Obvious, ban cars.

At least make the penalty on par with DUI.

[porwolf]

What about gettin tough laws on the books prohibiting any cellphone use in cars while driving. In an accident the authorities could get the phone records and verify illegal use at the time of the accident, even the slightest fender bender. The the penalty shoud be heavy and the finacial liability of the offending party sky high.

[Rick Lee]

It's easy, but politically impossible. Treat any cell phone use while driving the same as a DUI. In AZ that's mandatory jail time and about $15-20k after the insurance co. gets done with you. It's every bit as dangerous as DUI and far more rampant. No one will ever be deterred by the nominal fines that currently exist for it.

I even see people at my workplace bumping into each other because so many stare at their phones while walking around the hallways and even the parking lot. I don't get it.

[Evans, Marv]

I agree about the penalties. Penalties should be on par with DUI's and accidents caused while texting should bring severe legal and liability penalties. I myself don't see how anyone can feel in control driving while texting. Kids now days especially don't feel laws apply to them - even the common sense ones.

[Radioactive]

In my opinion or observation it all started with the smartphone.

When people had cell phones that were just phones there wasn't a problem. With a phone that is just a phone and no touch screen, you can answer the phone and dial a number without taking your eyes off the road.

They need to change the law from no cell phone to no smart phone!

[Nickshu]

Sadly the solution for the tech obsessed generation is to convert to self-driving cars. The question is the who gets sued in an accident? The automakers? Interesting article in Popular Mechanics a few months back said automakers are already strategizing to lobby for immunity laws for protection.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by porwolf

What about gettin tough laws on the books prohibiting any cellphone use in cars while driving.

I think this is the only answer. Anything less and the details get too messy. Tougher laws simply won't work (don't work - we have them in Tennessee and IIRC TN leads the nation in the rate of texting accidents). Increasing the penalties for texting while driving won't work either - it would just clog up the legal system (and jails) with myriads of cases.

I think we need a culture change. A good example is probably drunk driving. Back in the day it used to be pretty much accepted. Heck, didn't Dean Martin used to joke about it? What followed though was a gradual shift in public opinion that increasingly portrayed drunk driving as an unacceptable activity. Texting (and cell phone use in general) needs to follow the same track. Nothing will be done until the general public gets fed up with it.

[KFC911]

Sorta like how driving after drinking was "socially acceptable" 2-3 decades ago the penalties need to be more severe. It's just not likely to change unless society (i.e. MADD etc.) gets involved and changes the mind set. Just my .02, but I fear idiots on cell phones much more than drunk drivers these days (particularly when on a m/c). Don't know how we deal with privacy laws, but if you're in an accident, then IMO, cell phone records should be paramount in the investigation of who's at fault. This crap is ONLY going to get worse as time and technology marches on imo....

edited: That Mike guy beat me to it...

[T77911S]

remove texting from cell phones all together. we lived without before, we can do it again......welllll.....maybe.

personally i hate to text. i dotn understand why people carry on conversations with text. YOU HAVE A FREAKING PHONE! just call them.

yes, i do text. but only when i have to. but just to send a message or two. my brother cant always talk on the phone, but i can send him a text.

another thing i hate is when you are talking to someone face to face and they pick up their phone to reply to texts. hey, you can text later. yea i know, they did not want to talk to me.

[oldE]

As above, treat cell phone use while driving the same as DUI.
Research at U of Toronto 15 years ago showed the level of interference with the "defensive driving" part of the brain in someone holding a conversation with someone not present was the same as legal impairment.
The evidence is there, hopefully we can get the social change going.

We need something like MADD. Somehow, PADUCP (Pelicans Against Drivers Using Cell Phones sorry, Wayne) will need some work as an acronym.

Best All
Les

[wdfifteen]

Fines and license suspensions.

[Chocaholic]

Require Bluetooth for phone use. I use mobile email constantly for business. Forwarding documents, asking questions to others in different time zones, etc. Business moves much faster than it did "before smart-phones" so going back to that tech ain't going to happen.

[GH85Carrera]

I agree with the make it the same penalty as drunk driving. And the penalty need to be harsh.

That will happen right after the congress balances the budget.

[Skytrooper]

Create a chip in the phone that shuts the phone off it the vehicle is traveling more than 10 mph. Obviously it would have to be linked to a gps, which most phones have already for 911.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by Skytrooper

Create a chip in the phone that shuts the phone off it the vehicle is traveling more than 10 mph. Obviously it would have to be linked to a gps, which most phones have already for 911.

Interesting technical solution. I think a technology approach to stopping texting while driving could be more effective than a statutory approach. And we all know that enforcement only catches a fraction of the offenders.

[mreid]

^This^

Link the GPS to the screen. If the car is moving, the screen is blank. My iPhone is Bluetooth connected to my car. I can answer calls using buttone on the steering wheel and communicate via the radio speakers and a microphone built in the the overhead console. You may use the phone hands free, but never see texts if the vehicle is moving.

[imcarthur]

A chip would also penalize passengers in cars, buses, trains, airplanes, boats . . .

Ian