Chapel Hill Bans All Cell Phone Use While Driving

How do they plan to prove that someone is actually using a hands free device. To simply ticket someone fro being spotted wearing a bluetooth earpiece? If there is a passenger, how would they prove that the driver is not talking to the passenger or singing along with some music on the stereo?
 
kcmastrpc said:
I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

This thread makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with people. Defending their right to be retarded? I'm all for laws that are enforceable and will have an impact on the safety of others.

If you want to use the phone - pull the hell over and use it. Up until the advent of cell phones this wasn't an issue - you had to anyways to use a payphone.
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Then lets ban cars. The rate of people dying per day would plummet. As for enforceable, It's easy to spot someone driving a car.
 
NeghVar said:
Then lets ban cars. The rate of people dying per day would plummet. As for enforceable, It's easy to spot someone driving a car.
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As per your comment, please refer to, "I don't want to live on this planet anymore."
 
NeghVar said:
To simply ticket someone fro being spotted wearing a bluetooth earpiece?
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Totally, you should be ticketed for wearing a bluetooth earpiece. And not just while driving, anywhere, anytime. If you wear one, hang your head in shame :p
 
No problem with this law. As a driver on a public roadway, the government should be able to tell you what you can and cannot do, just as it does for drunk driving. If they want to ban putting on makeup or eating, fine. If they want to ban all communication, fine. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

Now do I want them to ban all those things? No. I'm a conservative who favors personal liberty. I'd prefer to maximize the things I'm allowed to do, so I don't favor banning all distractions in the name of consistency. However, given the responsibilities of the person in control of the vehicle, if the society determines that a given action poses too much of public danger (in a public place, under public regulation), then such action could be restricted. To say it can't be is to say it's ok to allow individuals to drive drunk.

As for passengers in the vehicle... they are not in control of the car, and therefore shouldn't have any restrictions placed on them, even seat belts requirements.
 
OMG! Laws are not the answer people!

If you replaced the damn airbag in a steering wheel with a spear that had a 100% chance of striking the driver in the heart when something went wrong (ie hit a bicyclist, curb, small dog, ...squirrels need to be exempt) you would solve all traffic problems.
 
I think these studies would have had diffrent results if they had used married men. Married men develop a remarkable ability to have a converstaion with someone and not actually pay attention to the conversation.
 
might as well ban talking to passengers, or passengers all together.


better yet, ban mothers in minivans with 5 kids in the back from driving all together.
 
And what about people (like myself) who have Bluetooth built into (or aftermarket installed) their cars? I use that function all the time and I don't find it any more distracting than talking to a person next to me. In fact I find passengers more distracting as I have a habit of actually looking at them while I'm talking.

I'm ok with banning handset use, but this is just a little ridiculous.
 
Gungiddy said:
I think these studies would have had diffrent results if they had used married men. Married men develop a remarkable ability to have a converstaion with someone and not actually pay attention to the conversation.
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:D Hahaha...
 
Seat belts were a big one for the insurance lobbies back in the day. I can not imagine cell phone usage while driving is not on the insurance lobbies death list. The laws restricting uses, are already being passed here and there, and will continue to do so.

To be clear, I am neither for or against it really. Kind of torn actually.
So many morons with a phone stuck to their face, drive as bad or worse than a drunk, blind, asian, woman, doing coke, while putting on her make up does, that I can see a considerable public safety benefit with laws that restrict to hands free or complete non use.
On the other side, I really hate giving up any freedom I have left.
 
Grahamkracka said:
And what about people (like myself) who have Bluetooth built into (or aftermarket installed) their cars? I use that function all the time and I don't find it any more distracting than talking to a person next to me. In fact I find passengers more distracting as I have a habit of actually looking at them while I'm talking.

I'm ok with banning handset use, but this is just a little ridiculous.
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QFT

Hands free cell phone use is no more distracting, and much less in some cases, to talking to a passenger. assuming your not proposing to your girlfriend on the phone or something. might want to pull over for that.

Someones is going to say "any form of multi-tasking distracts the driver!"

god help you if you ever have to drive a stick shift, use a turn signal, or check your speedometer while driving...
 
Take it from someone who lives in California... new laws won't change shit, people still use cell phones while driving, and I'm not talking in a blue tooth fashion
 
GORANKAR said:
Seat belts were a big one for the insurance lobbies back in the day. I can not imagine cell phone usage while driving is not on the insurance lobbies death list. The laws restricting uses, are already being passed here and there, and will continue to do so.

To be clear, I am neither for or against it really. Kind of torn actually.
So many morons with a phone stuck to their face, drive as bad or worse than a drunk, blind, asian, woman, doing coke, while putting on her make up does, that I can see a considerable public safety benefit with laws that restrict to hands free or complete non use.
On the other side, I really hate giving up any freedom I have left.
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I am sure everyone has seen the new Progressive insurance commercials for the "Snapshot" device. such a handy little gadget. all it does is monitor your driving and gives you a safe driver discount if you drive like a robot.

anyone else see these as becoming mandatory soon?

"Sorry mister Smith, your Snapshot indicates you exceeded the speed limit by an average of 3 mph on multiple occasions this month, ran over 2 small animals, sang along on the Radio to Lady Gaga, and called Progressive Insurance Inc. a bunch of Fascist Assholes while driving, an obvious unsafe act. We regret the need to cancel your account with us. Also, The RIAA would like to talk to you about trademark degradation for butchering "Born this way" while you were driving.
 
They passed a similar law here in Vegas, except handsfree is ok. I like it. I can't tell you how many people almost cause accidents because of their damn phone.
 
Loudspeaker said:
Ok for everyone cheering for this and backing the gov't assertions about the evils of drivers being distracted with cell phones. How come eating, putting on make up (yes I'm singling you females out), drinking (non-alc), and smoking aren't ALSO illegal as distractions as well?
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Eating and drinking don't distract your mind like a conversation on a cell phone. It is possible to grab a drink without even having to look at the container.

People who are talking on a cell phone don't like to stop talking when they should be concentrating on driving instead of talking. A passenger knows what is happening in the car and can stop talking when the driver needs to concentrate on driving.
 
jkw said:
This is the same town full of morons who banned ALL guns completely. Residents were not even allowed to have guns at home, and they were ordered to immediately get rid of all guns they already owned.
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There's a little town right north of Atlanta that requires all residents to own a gun. Guess where the lowest gun-related crime rate of the entire state is :eek:
 
Scooty Puff Sr. said:
Supposedly they say that it's not the same because a passenger can still react to things happening around you but someone on the phone can't.

I have mixed feelings about this because I don't like using my cell phone while driving but sometimes I have to and knowing my luck, I would be the one pulled over for it. At the same time though, 99% of the time that I see someone driving like an asshole they are on their cell phone.

And for all people that think that they can drive fine while talking on your cell phone, you probably can't. You just don't realize you are driving like an asshole because you are distracted. ;)
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If you think about it, it's true. Imagine being in an argument with someone in the car versus on the phone. Someone's yelling at you in the car and you start to slam on your breaks to avoid something and they STFU but the person on the phone keeps yelling at you not knowing what is going on thus distracting you further.

Being a Cali resident where we have an idioic law that allows BT headsets this is a step in the right direction BUT I would still rather have them just have a law "banning" distraced driving regardless of what it is.

Why is it legal for me to eat a taco at 65 MPH but I can't hold a phone to my ear?
 
I live in Chapel Hill and think this is awesome. The exemption for emergency calls is necessary but also totally mucks up enforcement. Cops can't/shouldn't be allowed to demand access to your phone.
 
What's next? They won't let me clean and reload my gun while driving?

Where are my rights?
 
I Totally support the bans on talking on your cell without hands free & texting, but the use of hands free I think is safer then having a passenger next to you. You are then only reacting to audio, not to them pointing at something they think is cute/stupid/whatever ore reacting at all to there non verbal queues.

I also wonder if this place is going to ban ford from selling cars with Sync?
 
so what if you are on your car speaker phone and get pulled over... then tell the officer that you are schizo and were talking to your invisible friend?
 
FLECOM said:
so what if you are on your car speaker phone and get pulled over... then tell the officer that you are schizo and were talking to your invisible friend?
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you just have some pink Floyd ready to go... I was just singing along officer!

"Hello..?"
"Yes, a collect call for Mrs. Floyd from Mr. Floyd.
Will you accept the charges from United States?"

"Oh, He hung up! That's your residence, right? I wonder why he hung up?
Is there supposed to be someone else there besides your wife there to answer?"
 
Hamish Campbell said:
Wait wait wait I mean I don't need any gubmit socialism telling me how to drive! If I want to make a peanut butter and banana sandwich on my center console at 85 mph I damn well better be allowed to.
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Oddly enough there's probably no law against that sort of thing.
 
bastage said:
I Totally support the bans on talking on your cell without hands free & texting, but the use of hands free I think is safer then having a passenger next to you. You are then only reacting to audio, not to them pointing at something they think is cute/stupid/whatever ore reacting at all to there non verbal queues.

I also wonder if this place is going to ban ford from selling cars with Sync?
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This is actually the exact opposite of what happens. I'm not sure why people don't understand that the human brain just works a particular way and no matter how confident they feel about their driving and talking skills, it is still more distracting than having an actual passenger (I'll insert here having a normal passenger; not 3 teenagers acting like idiots as that would distract just about anyone). That false confidence is what causes so many of the accidents where people claim "I just didn't see X or Y". Part of the issue is exactly that you miss the non-verbal cues and have to concentrate more on the vocal ones to understand the emotion and inflection behind it. Body language makes up a significant portion of our conversations.

Don't forget that we have been talking to other people present near us for thousands of years. We have only been driving for 60 or so years for the majority, and talking on cell phones for 10-15. Maybe it will develop into something we can do without distraction in the future, but that time is not now. Right now People SUCK at talking on the phone and even doing basic tasks, like buying a pack of gum at a convenience store. Vehemently denying this probably means you suck more than most and just don't realize it because the distraction level is that high. Remember that article a while back about the most incompetent people being the most likely to overestimate their ability?
 
LigTasm said:
This is actually the exact opposite of what happens. I'm not sure why people don't understand that the human brain just works a particular way and no matter how confident they feel about their driving and talking skills, it is still more distracting than having an actual passenger (I'll insert here having a normal passenger; not 3 teenagers acting like idiots as that would distract just about anyone). That false confidence is what causes so many of the accidents where people claim "I just didn't see X or Y". Part of the issue is exactly that you miss the non-verbal cues and have to concentrate more on the vocal ones to understand the emotion and inflection behind it. Body language makes up a significant portion of our conversations.

Don't forget that we have been talking to other people present near us for thousands of years. We have only been driving for 60 or so years for the majority, and talking on cell phones for 10-15. Maybe it will develop into something we can do without distraction in the future, but that time is not now. Right now People SUCK at talking on the phone and even doing basic tasks, like buying a pack of gum at a convenience store. Vehemently denying this probably means you suck more than most and just don't realize it because the distraction level is that high. Remember that article a while back about the most incompetent people being the most likely to overestimate their ability?
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Yeah, I could believe that talking on the phone is more distracting than talking to someone in person. I find when I'm talking to someone on the phone and doing other things those things go a lot slower, a lot less accurately or else I'm ignoring the person on the phone in order to complete the task. Where as talking to someone in person is far less inhibiting, maybe because I can pause and not talk and they can pause and not talk for periods when focus is required, whereas a phone convo tends to be more engrossing.

That said, I'm not a big phone talker in the first place, I think my sister who spends an hour a day in her car on the phone it doesn't affect her skills very much.
 
LigTasm said:
This is actually the exact opposite of what happens. I'm not sure why people don't understand that the human brain just works a particular way and no matter how confident they feel about their driving and talking skills, it is still more distracting than having an actual passenger (I'll insert here having a normal passenger; not 3 teenagers acting like idiots as that would distract just about anyone). That false confidence is what causes so many of the accidents where people claim "I just didn't see X or Y". Part of the issue is exactly that you miss the non-verbal cues and have to concentrate more on the vocal ones to understand the emotion and inflection behind it. Body language makes up a significant portion of our conversations.

Don't forget that we have been talking to other people present near us for thousands of years. We have only been driving for 60 or so years for the majority, and talking on cell phones for 10-15. Maybe it will develop into something we can do without distraction in the future, but that time is not now. Right now People SUCK at talking on the phone and even doing basic tasks, like buying a pack of gum at a convenience store. Vehemently denying this probably means you suck more than most and just don't realize it because the distraction level is that high. Remember that article a while back about the most incompetent people being the most likely to overestimate their ability?
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And I am sure you have tons of research to back this up? your first paragraph about "paying attention to non-verbal clues" makes the entire argument a bit silly. just exactly how are you watching the road as you watch those non-verbal cues.....?

Again, if you argue someone is a better driver talking to a passenger than talking on a bluetooth phone connected through a cars speakers, then I would like to see some research. how about someone in the back seat out of line of site?

Their is no doubt that any distraction can impair your driving, but assuming that talking into thin air is worse than to someone next to you makes no sense whatsoever.
 
motomonkey said:
And I am sure you have tons of research to back this up? your first paragraph about "paying attention to non-verbal clues" makes the entire argument a bit silly. just exactly how are you watching the road as you watch those non-verbal cues.....?

Again, if you argue someone is a better driver talking to a passenger than talking on a bluetooth phone connected through a cars speakers, then I would like to see some research. how about someone in the back seat out of line of site?

Their is no doubt that any distraction can impair your driving, but assuming that talking into thin air is worse than to someone next to you makes no sense whatsoever.
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What makes no sense whatsoever is not banning cell phones because there are other things that can distract a person.
 
mynamehere said:
Oddly enough there's probably no law against that sort of thing.
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True. I don't think most cities have laws against doing certain things while in the driver's seat of a car, i.e. eating a burger or grooming yourself. God knows how many times I've seen someone not realize the light turned green because they're too busy doing their damn makeup. A cop can give you a ticket for reckless/unattentive driving or something along those lines if that's what comes out of it, but I've never seen nor heard of a cop pulling someone over because they're stuffing their face while driving (and I see people stuffing their faces a lot).

Ironically, there are also people who talk on their phones while driving and still manage to obey speed limits, signal, obey traffic rules, etc., yet they can still be pulled over just because they're on a phone.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not defending being on the phone while driving, just pointing out that it's kind of silly how being on the phone is enough to get you cited (even if you're driving safely), yet you could be doing makeup or reading a book while behind the wheel and there's no law against those things specifically.
 
hafnium911 said:
Ouch. I don't see why they don't allow blue tooth, it is just like talking to your passengers.
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It's not the same. You passenger has a vested interest in the safety of the occupants and will stop talking or even assist in spotting for the driver.

I say it's about time. Every damn time I drive there is multiple idiots complete unaware of their surroundings while driving but totally into a conversation.
 
Gungiddy said:
I think these studies would have had diffrent results if they had used married men. Married men develop a remarkable ability to have a converstaion with someone and not actually pay attention to the conversation.
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Haha i'm single and I can do that well now... I should be a grand master by that time I do marry!
 
motomonkey said:
And I am sure you have tons of research to back this up? your first paragraph about "paying attention to non-verbal clues" makes the entire argument a bit silly. just exactly how are you watching the road as you watch those non-verbal cues.....?

Again, if you argue someone is a better driver talking to a passenger than talking on a bluetooth phone connected through a cars speakers, then I would like to see some research. how about someone in the back seat out of line of site?

Their is no doubt that any distraction can impair your driving, but assuming that talking into thin air is worse than to someone next to you makes no sense whatsoever.
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Except you're not talking to thin air. You're probably the guy I get behind on a daily basis, weaving around his lane going 15mph under the speed limit and wondering why everyone is pissed at him.

Just a quick google search leads to dozens of great studies, stuff like this:

A 2001 study showing that hands-free cell phones are just as distracting as handheld cell phones.
A 2003 study showing that the reason is “inattention blindness,” in which motorists look directly at road conditions but don’t really see them because they are distracted by a cell phone conversation. And such drivers aren’t aware they are impaired.
A 2005 study suggesting that when teenagers and young adults talk on cell phones while driving, their reaction times are as slow as those of elderly drivers.
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Good. I can't wait until a nationwide ban is in place. I have experienced people driving slow, lane drifting and simply not paying attention...all because they are on their phones..way too much.

Put your fucking phone down and concentrate on driving your car.
 
RyanR100 said:
Good. I can't wait until a nationwide ban is in place. I have experienced people driving slow, lane drifting and simply not paying attention...all because they are on their phones..way too much.

Put your fucking phone down and concentrate on driving your car.
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Better yet ban fucking GPS, that shit is distracting too.

I seen someone holding a beer while driving. :eek:
 
RyanR100 said:
Good. I can't wait until a nationwide ban is in place. I have experienced people driving slow, lane drifting and simply not paying attention...all because they are on their phones..way too much.

Put your fucking phone down and concentrate on driving your car.
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Thats what I like to say, unfortunately due to most people having no self restraint whatsoever this will never, ever happen.

This seems to be about the range of responses to telling people the facts about driving on a cell phone:

1) Wow, I should probably not do that so I don't die in a car fire.
2) Wow, I'm going to do it anyway even knowing I might die in a car fire.
3) No way, I'm obviously a superior specimen of human that can't become distracted at all.
4) No way, you're like totally making things up and stuff. I'm, like, such a good driver even when I'm drunk.
 
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