Texting While Driving Banned in Florida

dualblade said:
because it's ok when someone takes their eyes off the road and causes an accident? driving is a serious responsibility and it totally appropriate for the penalties to be serious as well. it isn't like the government is taking away some natural right.

in NY, the penalty is 5 points on your license (just started yesterday). about time. no one needs to be in constant contact. put down the phone and drive
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People have been crashing cars well before cellphones were available to the public.
Should there be a law? Yes. Should these laws alter the way we operate motor vehicles? No.

I rather not live in a Minority Report world.
Policing behavior to prevent danger is a waste of time, only the end result is punishable.
We can only educate and warn people about the danger. That's why law making takes in-depth thought, not emotional reactions.
 
Problems with most of these laws is that even if they are enforced -- with the guilty party in custody for the damage, or the death they have caused... nothing really happens.

There are multiple instances of people on their 5th, 6th, or 8th, DUI conviction -- and yet these people still are allowed to continue wandering free till they kill someone.

I'd say that yes -- texting while driving is on the exact same level of DUI/DWI. Drunks get a big fine, a slap on the wrist, and sent home to do it again. Just like a career criminal there is no amount of money or help you can give them to stop them from their stupid selfish reckless behavior.

The fact you can wipe out a car carrying a family - kill a few of them -- and only spend a token amount of time in prison is sickening. Same with texting - you answer some dumb text and a car full of people could die thanks to you. Society let's just shit slide... why I have no idea.

As efficient, cost effective, and all around positive benefit to society as it would be to simply execute people that cause death on the road... we as a society aren't that strong it seems.
 
collegeboy69us said:
As efficient, cost effective, and all around positive benefit to society as it would be to simply execute people that cause death on the road... we as a society aren't that strong it seems.
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It isn't ever that simple though. That's why the courts are so slow (sometimes frustratingly so). There's a legal obligation to consider all the circumstances and interpert the spirit of the law. A catch-all like that isn't always a good idea.

I just wish people would realize that they're all pretty much terrible drivers and maybe collectively decide its better not to be distracted or impaired when driving. Since that isn't ever gonna happen (I mean, just watch people who say they're good drivers and it's safe for them to go faster than the speed limit on this forum) it's probably better to regulate and make larger or faster vehicles illegal for the average person to operate or just mandate that cell phones won't work except for emergency calls when they sense they're traveling over some sort of speed threshold. Humans are totally in need of some sort of shepherd style set of laws or they'll just become like tragically real life lemmings who kill each other and innocent kids because they're dummies.
 
Florida bans driving while texting, but still has no vehicle inspections. So we still have tons of immigrants driving piece of shit, unsafe cars that belonged off the road years ago around. And the driving tests in the US are still a joke.

There is a lot we could and should be doing to improve driving safety, banning texting while driving is definitely not the top of that list imo.
 
florida is the worst state to get ticket, i got it twice, didn't show up in system for over 60 days so i couldn't pay it. next thing i know i got letter after almost 5 months with double the charge + some fees.
 
Hasn't stopped the idiots in Connecticut from texting or talking on the phone while driving.
 
WorldExclusive said:
What about emergency calls or texts? The sender has to press a special button so they can get through to the person that's driving? How would the person that's driving will accept the call?
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This is absolutely nothing that could possibly happen that would require you to text or talk on a phone while driving. I mean, cars have been around for the better part of a century before cell phones became mainstream. I don't know of a single person that died from not receiving an important phone call...
 
Almost got hit head on twice by some texting. Some people can not talk and drive and shouldnt even attempt to text and drive.
 
The problem is the people that text a lot usually are not the ones who have good driving skills. In Florida I see more people running red lights all day long without any police around to ticket yet someone like me can get pulled over for a seatbelt ticket or cell ticket.
 
Texting is a distraction to driving. The actual act of texting is making you a less capable driver.

I know people who could blow a .2 on a breathalyzer, and still drive safely. Should we just get rid of DUI's and only charge a drunk drivers until after he or she kills someone? After all, reckless driving and homicide is against the law already. Why add more laws on top of laws, right?
 
I really dont understand the argument "all the other things that distract you make this not matter is a small cup of tee".

So what? Just because theres a million other things doesnt mean you shouldnt hit one thing. Small steps?
 
tuksonrider said:
Texting is a distraction to driving. The actual act of texting is making you a less capable driver.

I know people who could blow a .2 on a breathalyzer, and still drive safely. Should we just get rid of DUI's and only charge a drunk drivers until after he or she kills someone? After all, reckless driving and homicide is against the law already. Why add more laws on top of laws, right?
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At least the drunk guy is TRYING to drive and TRYING to watch the road. :D

I'm all for distracted driving laws, but regardless of if it's a cell phone, GPS, passengers cock, whatever. You drive like shit and swerving, etc., you're reckless driving and need something done. If it turns out you were fucking with your phone at the time, it's the additional ticket. Reckless driving isn't a simple pay a small fine thing in most places. Enforce those already existing laws, and things will be fine. Throwing more laws or punishments on top of those will do no good if the existing ones can't even be enforced.
 
tuksonrider said:
Texting is a distraction to driving. The actual act of texting is making you a less capable driver.

I know people who could blow a .2 on a breathalyzer, and still drive safely. Should we just get rid of DUI's and only charge a drunk drivers until after he or she kills someone? After all, reckless driving and homicide is against the law already. Why add more laws on top of laws, right?
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Reckless driving charges aren't just for after a collision. If you're driving erratically, you can be pulled over and cited. A cop is going to see you driving like shit before they are going to see you texting.
 
Blah blah blah. Give us more reasons to ticket people so we can get more revenue.

If this was about safety, the penalties would be more severe. As it stands right now, these laws haven't been shown to increase road safety or decrease cell phone use. People just see the risk of getting a ticket as another tax.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Reckless driving charges aren't just for after a collision. If you're driving erratically, you can be pulled over and cited. A cop is going to see you driving like shit before they are going to see you texting.
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That's the EXACT excuse my drunk driving friend says. He can hold his liquer. He can blow a .2 on a breathalyzer, and a cop following him wouldn't even know he's drunk. His greatest fear are the DUI checkpoints, then they will smell it on him.

He says DUI's are just a money grabbing scheme by the gov't and have nothing to do with safety.
 
Fanfuckingtastic. Now other states need to follow, it's dangerous as hell.
 
This was banned in PA a while ago although not sure if the new law made any difference at all I see people texting while driving all the time.
 
tuksonrider said:
That's the EXACT excuse my drunk driving friend says. He can hold his liquer. He can blow a .2 on a breathalyzer, and a cop following him wouldn't even know he's drunk. His greatest fear are the DUI checkpoints, then they will smell it on him.

He says DUI's are just a money grabbing scheme by the gov't and have nothing to do with safety.
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I'm honestly not following you. Your friend sounds like a real asshole, though.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Reckless driving charges aren't just for after a collision. If you're driving erratically, you can be pulled over and cited. A cop is going to see you driving like shit before they are going to see you texting.
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Depends on the state. Reckless driving in PA is a pretty serious offense. You'd specifically have to put someone in danger of their life before it would be charged. "Careless Driving" is a much looser standard. But like I said...depends on the state and what their traffic code relates.

And for the guy who says he drives fine with a .2 BAC. A cop doesn't need to see you drive erratically to pull you over and sniff around. I don't see too many legitimate traffic stops for ANY violation of the traffic code (taillight out, window tint too dark, not using a turn signal, etc.) that are tossed in court due to insufficient probable cause for a stop.
 
kirbyrj said:
Depends on the state. Reckless driving in PA is a pretty serious offense. You'd specifically have to put someone in danger of their life before it would be charged. "Careless Driving" is a much looser standard. But like I said...depends on the state and what their traffic code relates.

And for the guy who says he drives fine with a .2 BAC. A cop doesn't need to see you drive erratically to pull you over and sniff around. I don't see too many legitimate traffic stops for ANY violation of the traffic code (taillight out, window tint too dark, not using a turn signal, etc.) that are tossed in court due to insufficient probable cause for a stop.
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Reckless or careless, yes. The point is that it's already against the law to put others in danger, and nobody who texts while their vehicle is moving does so skillfully. If you're at a stop light, I don't see the problem. If you're doing it while actually driving, you are driving like shit.
 
dualblade said:
the GPS loophole doesn't exist here. it's all part of distracted driving. doesn't matter what you're doing on your phone, it's 5 points. 5 points for looking up directions, texting, changing songs, whatever
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So you can still distract yourself with a GPS device, as long as it isn't on your phone?

Who thinks this shit up?
 
chockomonkey said:
So you can still distract yourself with a GPS device, as long as it isn't on your phone?

Who thinks this shit up?
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Why does that seem strange? Technically, you are taking your eyes off the road. Changes can, and do, happen on the road in the blink of an eye. Will it in most cases? No, but the hazard still exists and in the blink of an eye you wouldn't have the time to react had your eyes been on the road.

I'm with you, some of the stuff seems trivial, but I've seen some far out stuff happen on the highways here in Dallas, especially at rush hours.
 
It just cracks me up that they're focusing so hard on cellphones, when new cars have a fucking computer screen that the driver is always fucking with. Same same in my book.
 
chockomonkey said:
It just cracks me up that they're focusing so hard on cellphones, when new cars have a fucking computer screen that the driver is always fucking with. Same same in my book.
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I think one user said they could even hand a ticket out for messing the stereo, which I would think that display would fall under the same category though. It's the squeaky wheel game though. It's always that game. It's why we so dramatically care for the kid who was burned all over in Iraq and after he came here and got the first couple of surgeries he dropped off the face of earth as far as media goes.
 
ninjaturtle said:
While I like to see more people driving instead of talking and texting it makes me wonder if they'll just text below the dash, farther removing their eyes from the road.
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it does, and leads to more wrecks according to one study.

Link
 
Rizen said:
Florida bans driving while texting, but still has no vehicle inspections. So we still have tons of immigrants driving piece of shit, unsafe cars that belonged off the road years ago around. And the driving tests in the US are still a joke.

There is a lot we could and should be doing to improve driving safety, banning texting while driving is definitely not the top of that list imo.
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We had inspections back in the 90's and it was found to be a wash, did not stop anything bad from happenning so we got rid of them.
 
WorldExclusive said:
People have been crashing cars well before cellphones were available to the public.
Should there be a law? Yes. Should these laws alter the way we operate motor vehicles? No.

I rather not live in a Minority Report world.
Policing behavior to prevent danger is a waste of time, only the end result is punishable.
We can only educate and warn people about the danger. That's why law making takes in-depth thought, not emotional reactions.
Click to expand...

So, drunk driving should be legal?

(Yes, I'm very aware that that's a strawman, but it follows your line of reasoning)
 
Joseph F said:
So, drunk driving should be legal?

(Yes, I'm very aware that that's a strawman, but it follows your line of reasoning)
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I do think laws are too stupid and overly reactive. Drunk driving laws have done nothing but cause decent people to get arrested leaving restaraunts or friends houses even when they are in control and not a danger. It has not stopped anyone set on drinking and driving overly drunk from doing it. It has not reduced the number of drunk driving deaths.

Those laws are purely over reactive 'this new law will show those drunks' kind of things. Cell phone laws are the same category.

Reality is those kinds of laws are always inneffective. I think some of the laws should be changed: Operating a vehicle while distracted or incapacitated should be the charge. Period.

That way BAC would not even be a factor. Would not change anything: Get drunk and kill someone, go to jail on manslaughter (or worse depending on circumstances).
 
It's banned in DC and NOVA now. Doesn't stop anybody. I nearly got hit on the way to work this morning by some jackass writing a text.

Until they actually enforce the law and really make it hurt somebodies wallet nothing will change.
 
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