Drivers And Cell Phone Rant!

[BearBio]

ANY insurance claim should require that both parties produce evidence that they were NOT on the phone.

Anyone on the phone should be blamed (at fault).

Loss of life should be a felony, in that case.

Any driver under the age of 21 should be considered an adult.

Parents should be liable for children (when driving their cars) until 21.

Federal policy prohibits use of a cell phone while driving (however, my boss did it 3 times while we were going to a meeting this week).

 

[Alpo]

Huh. So, iffen I'm driving down the road, and my daughter is running her mouth on my phone, and somebody runs a stop-sign and hits me, the cell records will show my phone in use at the time, so I am automatically the guilty party, even though I was not the one talking? And since the guy that ran the sign was driving a gas-miser rice-burner, and I drive a real truck, his car is totaled and he's dead at the scene. So now I'm guilty of felony manslaughter, based on cell-phone records and your plan?

GOOOOOOOD plan.

 

[MP22]

No federal policy prohibits cell phone use while driving!!!

 

[PA Reb]

Wow, I didn't mean to cause any uproars here with my post. Today (Sunday), I'm as stiff as a board and the old back hurts bad, real bad! I ruptured my L 4-5 disc about 30 years ago so I've dealt with the pain many times over the years and will have do so this time. I've read through this thread since my original post and I have to agree that outlawing cell phone use while driving probably isn't the answer, although it might help a little. I don't know what the answer is but I do know people are being injured and killed daily because of it. I suppose the argument will rage on and on because in my view, society as a whole is the problem and that isn't going to change any time soon .

So forum friends, be safe out there. To all my biker brothers and sisters, keep the shiny side up !

 

[EQGuy]

No federal policy prohibits cell phone use while driving!!!

There was a federal policy prohibiting federal employees using cell phones while driving. I have been retired for a while now so I do not know if it is still in place.

 

[LVSteve]

Huh. So, iffen I'm driving down the road, and my daughter is running her mouth on my phone, and somebody runs a stop-sign and hits me, the cell records will show my phone in use at the time, so I am automatically the guilty party, even though I was not the one talking? And since the guy that ran the sign was driving a gas-miser rice-burner, and I drive a real truck, his car is totaled and he's dead at the scene. So now I'm guilty of felony manslaughter, based on cell-phone records and your plan?

GOOOOOOOD plan.

But the jury will find it unlikely that you were having a 20 minute conversation about shoes with a high schooler called Stacey. Oh, wait.....

 

[LVSteve]

In 1974 I got a CB radio in my car. In 1992 some lowlife broke my truck window and took my toolbox and my CB radio. In those 18 years I had that CB in three different vehicles, drove 'em all over 6 different states, and never had an accident because of talking on it. Everybody and his little brother had a CB in the car and was ratchetjawing in the late 70s -early 80s. I never heard of anyone causing an accident by talking on the radio.

Yet I keep hearing about all these people having accidents while talking on the cell.

Why is that? Could it be that it is NOT the cell phone that is the problem? Could it possibly be that the problem is the morons driving now? The people that you rant about all the time. The cashiers that can't make change. The people that can't add 2 and 2 without a calculator.

So, if the problem is (as I am certain it is) the morons amongst us, outlawing the use of cells won't do anything. Except to pass another stupid law. We've probably got enough stupid laws.

There is a BIG difference in operating a CB or any other radio and a cellphone. With the radio you can put the mike down while the other party is yacking. With a cell it must be held up to your face all the time.

 

[zoom6zoom]

I think drivers in general are just very poorly trained these days. At almost every intersection I see them never even looking to the left or the right when they have the green, they just sail on through confident that they have the right of way. Unfortunately that idiot on the phone who just ran the red is gonna change their life.

 

[amazingflapjack]

I was riding with a group on "God and Country" day up in Virginia back some years ago, and one guy had no headlight lit on his scoot, so I pointed it out to him, and he responded that he didn't bother lighting it in the day time because for many folks, a bike does not take up enough "minutes of space" or something like that, to register in their brain as a "threat." Like riding along when a bird flies out from the side of the road, you see it, but don't necessarily make any accommodation in your driving because it is there. He was an engineer and said that this is why we see people look right at us on our motorcycles, and just pull out, or whatever, anyway. I have retained that piece of information, and it has made me a much more circumspect rider. Also, this young woman really needed an encounter with someone that would get her head on straight, in my view. Flapjack.

 

[26Ford]

Here you go brother, some pics to keep your spirits up!!

 

[26Ford]

The back tire is 12 inches wide, if they can't see that while they are talking on the phone, instant Felony

 

[jframe]

How about just outlawing cell phone use ALTOGETHER? I've got one, and I can't even to BEGIN to get a signal where my gf and I live, and it's right in the middle of town. Anyone would think, in the high tech 21st Century, that cell phones would be bulletproof, and the service would be likewise.

 

[LVSteve]

How about just outlawing cell phone use ALTOGETHER? I've got one, and I can't even to BEGIN to get a signal where my gf and I live, and it's right in the middle of town. Anyone would think, in the high tech 21st Century, that cell phones would be bulletproof, and the service would be likewise.

HA! Been there, done that, saw no bars.

Three years ago my late wife and I went to visit family in Iowa. Guess which little town in Iowa is one of the few places in the Midwest with no AT&T coverage? Guess who had just got new phones AKA small paperweights? We had to drive 10-12 miles to get a decent signal in the next town.

 

[Edmo]

PA Reb, I'm glad you weren't hurt any worse. Watch out for the idiots. They are among us and breeding at an alarming rate! As a fellow motorcycle rider, here are some of my proposed changes:

- If you elect to text or talk while driving, your air bags are automatically disabled. You are putting us at increased risk with distracted driving so your risk level is also increased.

- Throw a cigarette out of your vehicle with a motorcycle rider behind you and the motorcycle rider gets to throw three lit cigarettes into your vehicle at the next light.

- If something falls off your trailer or out of your vehicle with a motorcycle behind you, the motorcycle rider gets to hit you three times with the object. If it is a pillow, we all laugh... If it is a 2x4 or a cinder block you will likely remember to strap it down next time.

Be safe out there. The only requisite to getting a drivers licence is $28 and the ability to hold still long enough for them to take the picture.

Edmo

 

[BearBio]

No federal policy prohibits cell phone use while driving!!!

Department of the Interior and USDA certainly do! When I get back to work I'll get the policy number/Presidential Order/etc.