"could soon have to" ... wtf?

Why is it allowed at all for anybody currently. In Australia(

That just don't make sense. What about old people? Oh that's right, they don't use cellphones.

Well, when you're talking the whole country, you have to start small. You start by taking it away from teens on the basis that they have to concentrate on learning how to drive. Once you have the kids locked down, then you can expand it to the rest of the population. I don't think there's anything wrong with that...as long as that is actually their plan.

Why do you have to be on the phone when your driving anyway? Can't you go one hour without running your yap? Talk about ADD...people walking and driving around with phones and ipods tethered to them like some sort of life support system. A phone in the car is fine for an emergency but you don't need to be yammering on one while you're driving.

There's no correlation between cell phone use and car accidents! There are bad drivers, and there are good drivers; and the term 'accident' doesn't really apply in this case! There are no accidents, there are only mistakes made by bad drivers; and one giant mistake is the road test that DMV administers for all new drivers. It's nothing short of a joke! A circle around the parking lot will get you a driver's license! We shouldn't go after cell phone users, we should administer a driving test like the one the have in Germany!

written examination
verbal quiz
2,000 Euros
2 hours of on road/off road driving
stick-s*** automobile

failed? come back in 18 months with another 2k Euros, and try again!

why do you think they have autobons there and here in US we have 50mph limit (at most)? Because you don't have some 90 year old cripple going 15mph in the left lane with reaction time of a sea turtle, that's why!

I think you are full of it. Studies are released every day concerning how dangerous it is to talk and drive. I was almost in 4 wrecks because people veered into my lane while they chatted on my way home today, so that's enough of a study for me.

You are quite right. American drivers are ill-trained -- quite unacceptable by most European standards, not just in Germany.

You are, however, mistaken about the correlation between cell phones and accidents. Extensive studies in both Canada and the UK have determined that people have crashes while on the phone at about the same rate as drivers who are intoxicated. It is reasonable to assume that naive drivers, who have not yet developed the instincts and reflexes that come with experience in any physical activity, from martial arts to flying airplanes, would have a substantially higher number when distracted, and that seems to be the case as well. Add the propensity of younger drivers to take more chances, drive faster, fail to wear seatbelts, etc., and the rationale for such regulations is clear.

Regarding the driving tests: can you imagine the economic chaos that would result from requiring everyone to meet Germany's standards? No politician would even dream of putting such an idea out in public. It would be political suicide. For the same reason, no law will ever be passed restricting older drivers in a state where they are a driving political force, such as Florida, Texas and Arizona.

Perhaps the answer is for young people to become heavily involved in politics, and make themselves politically powerful. Get off their butts and earn the power and respect they think they deserve, in other words.

If various countries are serious about reducing accidents then they must have a total ban on using cell phones while driving. End of story - no exceptions. There is absolutely no way that anyone can concentrate on driving while carrying out a conversation on the phone!
My daughter and I were nearly hit recently by a car going along a one way street the wrong way! and guess what - she was on her cell phone!
Finally, isn't it interesting to note that there are no reports of the possibility that these phones can also cause brain cancer. The European Union recently completed a massive study on this and their conclusions were very interesting. "there is no evidence to suggest that the use of these causes brain cancer but we would recommend caution in using them and would not recommend their use by children!"
You will notice that the core question has been avoided - ARE they safe or not?

Ban them.

Ban the damned adults too.

You wanna talk? Pull over. I'm not having my insurance pay for your stupidity.

I suggest an experiment! I find it hard to believe that none of you EVER talk on the phone while driving during the day. Soooo....

I encourage everyone to take today and tomorrow as a "test" run. It's simple! Don't pull out your handset while you're driving. If you want to talk, use a hands-free. Don't have one? Get one. Can't afford the time or money to get one? Don't talk on your phone. Simply let your voicemail get it, or if it's important enough, pull over and talk.

Let's try this. Seriously. If you can make it through the next two days without talking on your phone, that's awesome! Of course if you do it already, that's even better! Then report back tomorrow and tell us how you did. Be honest too: if you had a couple of times where you did, tell us! We all do it at some point. I know you can all say on here that you don't need your phone, but let's see for sure.

My phone is never used for more than 5 minutes in the car and never without hands free or speakerphone unless my car is not moving and I'm not on the road.

I've had a cell phone for over ten years, and I'll bet the number of calls I've taken while driving is less than 100 total. Guaranteed I haven't done it in several weeks.

It's not necessary to be connected all the time.

To cell phone users:

You may be one of the *very* (arguably non-existant) few who can keep full attention to driving while on the phone. There are [insert Dr. Evil voice] *billions* out there who cannot.

In deference to the safety of those of us on the road not endangering the lives of others, please do not take it personally when I vote to have this law passed, as well as push to have it expanded to EVERYONE on the road....including you.

I think we can all agree that while a few may suffer needlessly, the great majority will benifit from this.

The needs of the many outweigh the desires of a few.

"Or the one" - Spock =P

"I am the One." - Neo :P

What about, instead of voting to dumb down the privileges for everyone, we vote to make it harder to get your license period. How about a 6 month review of your driving record and a mandatory test you must pass in order to keep your license?

The problem is we expect that everyone can drive and everyone has a god given right to do it. I disagree with this, not everyone has the attention span or mental capacity to handle driving on main roads. Yet, we hand licenses out like candy.

I am a student pilot, and its pretty damn hard to get your license. Even after that, you're constantly under scrutiny by the FAA and local airports - no one wants a pilot at their airport that can't see 10 feet in front of them, drinks, or makes a lot of stupid mistakes. Why isn't it the same with driving a car where potentially more lives are at risk by the sheer volume of people who have those vehicles?

While I agree with you on the "in a perfect world", this is the way it should be, but do you honestly think the public would put up with the feds yanking 50% of the people's licenses?

I doubt it...strongly.

The best alternative is to make it harder for those people to drive badly....give them less to distract them. Cell phones are notorious. You've seen 'em...we all have..and it's getting worse.

I understand that the best solution is to not let them drive. That's never going to happen. The second best solution is to not let them drive while on the phone. I can accept this solution. Most folks...grudgingly..will as well.

I know that, in reality, it wouldn't be practical to get all these people off the road. But we also have to consider that in this day in age where just about everyone has at least one cell phone, it's going to be harder and harder to enforce any no-cell phone laws. Someone mentioned New York's law. I think that law is fair, but it's not a law that says "No one can talk on a cell phone while driving".

The law is that a cop cannot stop you simply for talking and driving, but if you're involved in some other traffic violation or accident, you will get a ticket for using a cell while driving. In your opinion, is that a fair law?

Depends. Have they done studies? If it lowers the incidents of accidents/fatalities while on the phone, then yes. I would go for that.

I'm not a nazi, contrary to what others may say. I'll always jump at the option that gets the job done while stepping on the least amount of toes.

Practicality, feasability, results. That's all I want. The best combo of those is what I will push for.

If the NY solution significantly lowers the level of danger caused by careless drivers using cell phones, then I want it here. Although, I would also like to see stats on number of careless driving accidents total...phone or not...to see if it's had any impact on that. I mean...what we're really trying to do here is save a few lives...if they're going to just go on and be careless/kill folks anyway..even without the phone...then maybe we do need to go nazi on 'em and take their licenses.

I don't think they have done any studies yet; the law is only a couple of years old. The idea is that at least while driving in the city, if a cop sees you talking and driving and you happen to make a right on red (illegal in the city), where he might not have stopped you just for that, hes going to stop you knowing he will get two tickets on you. Is that enough to deter people from picking up a cell and driving? I'm sure with so many people in NYC it would deter a few. I think when the law was up for discussion, they knew that if they tried to pass a sweeping law banning the use of cell phones period, people would ignore it and now the police have to decide if they are going to cause a huge traffic jam on a narrow street by stopping someone for such a minor thing (times a million of those situations). Police are pretty busy with other things.

If they can pull ya over for no signal and give ya a ticket for both that and the use of a cell... Good deal.

:)

Everyone wins except the idiot on the phone.

As far as kids are concerned though...any use at all should be a stopping offence. At least for the first 6 month or so...possibly more.

See my comments above.

The regulations on pilots have existed for nearly a hundred years to varying degrees. Even Orville Wright had an airman's certificate, (appropriately, #1,) although it's unlikely anyone tried to tell him how he should fly.

The 100,000,000-plus licensed drivers in the US, however, consider it a privilege, no matter what lawmakers want to call it. Taking things away from people is much harder than regulating the behavior to begin with...in this case, impossible for a democratic society. We can regulate the details, though, such as cell phone use and seatbelts, and the sooner the better.

Wherever did you get the idea that life is fair?

You must be very young. If life was fair, George Bush's daughters would be in Iraq dressed in funny clothes. Life's never been fair, and never will be. Get over it.

People that choose to do other things besides being responsible for what they're doing behind the wheel are, in fact, their own cure. As shown, they're more likely to be in some terrible accident, which will erase their stupidity from the earth.

I only hope for two things: (1) That they are alone when they do it, so that only they have to pay the price of their ignorance, & (2) They do it before they breed, so that the genetics that allow such blatant foolishness are not passed on to another generation.

Natural selection.

Natural selection with a few non-participating casualties.

Not good enough.

if they only harmed themselves,I'd be with ya on thisone 100%. But as you stated as well, this is not the case and is therefore unacceptable.

Something else *needs* to be done...in fact, it's far overdue.

Everyone whining about those of us that can achieve the impossible feat of talking and driving at the same time, try this little experiment.

Drive with one hand and talk to the person beside you.

WOAH thats hard isn't it? Any different than talking on a hands free phone? Nope. Any different than talking on a hand held cell? Not much at all.

If you can't manage that experiment, get your a** off the road and get a bicycle.

Now do it constantly. Is your attention on the road, or on your conversation?

Do you know how fast you are going, or are you just following the twit in front of you?

Do you know how many cars are behind you? In front of you? Did the guy 3 cars up hit his brakes?

Sorry, if you are not payying 100% attention to your driving, you should not be on the road. period. 1 second of inattentive driving is all it takes to turn you and others into road-pizza.

Just because it's easy, doesn't mean it's safe.

So I suppose you don't listen to the radio, talk to your passengers, have a cup of coffee on the way to work, or any of that, right?

I guess that means you'll be surrending your license today.

Have you read anything? These comparisons you are making are completely absurd.

The radio? Subconscious. Talking to passengers..unless in heated debate? subconscious. Coffee....I =wait til I get to work, thanks.

Talking on the phone requires conscious thought, perhaps not much, but enough to make most people shove driving into the subconscious realm. That's where this gets dangerous.

Seriously...stop making these absurd comparisons...they don't help your argument.

If you can't give up the phone, fight the ticket in court, but let us stop all the other twats out there endangering our roads.

"If you can't manage that experiment, get your a** off the road and get a bicycle. "

If you can't concentrate on the road instead of flapping yer jaws at your significant other / homeboy / bookie / therapist / whatever-the-****, get the hell off the road and don't drive - period.

I see it all the time - some mindless mental midget yakking away and then "Oh ****!!!!" and they have to slam on their brakes.

Don't give me any sanctimonious BS - just focus on the road and not on needlessly creating my insurance claim.

I vote that we ban good looking women walking down the sidewalk wearing something skimpy. Honestly, how many of us have had to firmly apply the breaks in a short amount of time due to glancing over to the sidewalk to check something out? ;)

I do not think those comparisons are absurd. There are millions of people who listen to "talk radio" either on the way to work or coming back - especially those with long commutes. People listen to these programs not at a subconcious level - look at the number of people who call in to these radio shows.

I stopped in a convenience store this morning on the way to the gym, the place was absolutely packed with people buying coffee. I'm quite positive a very, very few waited until they got to work to drink their cup of joe. It's just a common thing.

Guilty!

But it's so rare an occurence...

I see idiot's "driving" while on the phone every minute I'm forced to occupy the same roadways as them.

Let's start by banning the most frequent sources of distraction..the one's we can actually...to a degree...control.

Then we can work on getting those women "in" our cars, instead of on the sidewalks... sounds like a good solution to that one to me.

Okay...here:

The guy called in...on his cell phone? Hmm...sounds like we're complaining about the same guy here. He's obviously too distracted to be driving. Get him off the cell. We cna control that...we can't control his radio.

Coffee... the distraction here ismeasured in seconds...if that. Phone conversations tend to last a bit longer than taking a sip o' java.

C'mon...give me something I can work with here...

I know I'm not going to change your mind...not really trying to. The point is that cell phones are a distraction and we can control their use to a degree.

Note I did not say a distraction to all, nor did I say there were not other distractiosn as well..cell phones are simply one of the more common distractions, one of the more dangerous distractions, and luckily, one of the more controllable distractions.

At the very least, I want you to see the logic behind that. We cannot make a perfect world where these people would simply not be allowed to drive, yet we must find some way to make it safer for them and the others on the road around them.

My point is just that there are other distractions that quite possibly, after adding up, may be the cause of many accidents out there but aren't so easy to identify as actually being able to see a cell phone implanted on someone's ear.

I know you're not trying to change my mind; you're trying to get your point across. I understand where you're coming from and to some extent agree with what you're saying. I just do not feel that my rights should be taken away because of the few who just cannot identify their limitations and be responsible.

I also take issue with being labeled in the "stupid bucket" because I sometimes talk on my cell and drive at the same time. It is in no one's capacity (except someone who drives with me constantly, or is in a car near me) to judge how I drive while on a cell phone. I take driving seriously and try to obey the rules of the road as much as possible.

I'm sure we'll just have to agree to disagree, and whatever the law happens to be I'll try and follow it.

:P I didn't throw you in the bucket. *grin*

"do not feel that my rights should be taken away because of the few"

that's the issue...the few are many. More than you possibly realize. I saw 8 on my 10 minute commute to work today. I'm almost certain if I studied them closer I would have been easily able to say 6 of them were paying more attention to the phone than their driving.

Considering I saw, possibly, a total of 25 folks on my way in....8 is a pretty high number.

I was cruising down the highway in the express toll lane, when an excursion cut from the right lane to the left lane between 3 lanes of cars almost hitting all of us including me. All the while he was chatting on the phone, as his arm turned with his head as he half a$$ looked before he went.

THEN

I stopped at Target on my way home and was almost hit by a durango driven by a woman that was talking on the phone with one hand *AND* yelling at her kid (it looked like) while she cut across a lane of parked cars (instead of driving the extra 100 feet) and didn't bother to slow down or look before she nearly plowed into the front end of my Mustang head on. Fortunately there were no cars next to me, and well has a just a little bit of get up and go when I need to get out of the way in a hurry. :-(

Morons, that's just TWO of the experiences on my way home from work today.

Cell phones and driving needs to be a crime, I'm sorry if it hurts people that believe they are safe drivers while talking.

i think this should also include the blackberry devices because even with the hands free ear piece you still need to use your hand when you reply to a direct connect

I vote in favor of a law allowing police to pull you over for not using the hands free that came with your phone, ticket you, and then destroy your phone.

Give me your address so I can send you a one-way ticket to China where you belong

Hey..his opinion is as valid as yours...perhaps more so because he's not making a personal attack here.

Chill. Participate in the discussion if you like, but try and stay away from trolling and flaming, allright?

No-one here is looking to get in a fight...if they are, I respectfully suggest they follow this link:

http://slashdot.org

Thank you.

all drivers should be fined 500 bucks...WOMEN SHOULD BE FINED 1000 BECAUSE THEY ARE USUALLY TALKING, AND DOING HAIR NAILS AND MAKEUP AT THE SAME TIME....5000 dollars for a cell phone in a restaurant.

I saw a lady run into the median the other day because she was chatting and eating. She had NO hands on the wheel except every now and then to keep it on the road.

Didja pull in front of her and slow down to 30... half the time, if you do it slowly enough..they won't even notice.

Naah, my car is too nice for that. ;-)

I didn't say to slam on yer brakes...that'd hurt.

oh yeah ;-)

Its a good idea, but it should be for everyone, not just kids. they will never pass a nationwide law for either though. There will be too much of a lobby against it. The people that make and sell phones, the servers, and other people who are involved in the business, dont care how many people get killed because of them. Some studies have shown that hands free, and vox, are just as dangerous. If you want to solve the problem, use GPS technology, and make the phones where they couldnt be used while moving. Still too much lobby though. Instead of fighting it, i think ill just get in the funeral home business!

It should not just be kids. It should be all drivers. I agree that hands free and voice activated are far safer than the handheld phones. A provision could be made for them. And while we are about it get rid of all the front seat video screens. Back seat is OK.

"I agree that hands free and voice activated are far safer than the handheld phones."

No they're not safer, as this article and a lot of research shows. The problem isn't the fact you've taken a hand off the wheel to hold your phone - hell, don't you drive a manual car with only one hand on the wheel? The problem is that the human brain can only focus attention on one sensory stimulation at a time. Therefore, if you're listening to your mobile and trying to think about what the person on the other end is saying, you're NOT thinking about the car that just changed lanes in front of you, or the red light that's fast approaching.

Mobile use while driving should be banned, in the States and over here in Aus. Far more dangerous than the 3km/h over speeding for which we keep getting fined. :P

But what is next, banning passengers in the front because no one can handle a conversation while driving? it's the same thing.

The whole problem is when you see someone do something stupid and they're talking on a cell, you blame it on the cell phone. How many times, before cell phones were so common, did you see people do stupid stuff while driving? You just couldn't see the fact they might have been carrying on a heated debate with their friend in the passenger side.

It's absolutely not the same thing.

That does not mean we should continue to pile more and more distracting activities into driving.

The passenger seat is there....fast food joints are there. Not much we can do about them.

Cell phones, books, newspapers we can.

You're saying that just because there are other distractions that we should just ignore all of them?

Gee, some drunk-drivers don't hurt anyone...must make it okay then, eh?

I don't want to flame or decsend into name-calling and lame metaphors, but seriously... at some point, someone has to draw the line on what can and cannot be allowed while driving.

I'd much rather not be allowed to talk on my cell in the car than risk hitting someone while doing it.

The evidence is already there to suggest that you're four times more likely to crash while talking on your mobile. Simple statistics, really.

And no, it's not the same as a passenger in a car - because the passenger is aware that your driving, can see when a situation is approaching that requires your full concentration and also does not expect an immediate response if you cannot afford to pay them full attention. Very different to a mobile phone.

I agree that teens who are learning to drive should not be allowed to use their cell phones at the same time.

I, however, can drive and talk on my cell just fine. I have never had any close calls. This isn't for everyone though - some people should not be allowed to drive period. I constantly see women adjusting their hair with the visor mirror down, both hands busy with their hair, foot on the accelerator. Can we not just ban idiots like this? Its the stupid few who do things like this that get the rest of us stuck with little kiddie laws.

Driving isn't for everyone, yet we pretty much let everyone who can pass a test after failing it 3 times get a driver's license.

everyone thinks they can.

and you can drive just fine after a few drinks too no doubt.

it's bulls*** - no human can drive at an adequate level while talking on a phone... not even you.

"I have never had any close calls"

That you know of, but how would you with a phone glued to your ear.

I'm sorry, I don't care who you are you fit into the stupid people bucket when you talk on the phone and drive.

You go 5 miles an hour under the speed limit, change lanes without signaling, etc etc.

You ALL do it.

Speak for yourself buddy. Just because you can't chew gum and walk down the sidewalk is of no bearing on my personal abilities.

Its people like you who feel you need to speak for everyone.

Can you drive and talk to the passenger beside you? Can you drive with one hand?

Try this - drive with one hand, as I am sure most of us do 85% of the time, and talk to the person beside you. Did you cause an accident? Whats the f*cking difference?

Who's to say that I can't? I don't because I respect other people on the road. Sounds like you couldn't give to ....s about them. You have the problem, not me.

Lets try not to make this personal, guys.

DS, are you saying you cannot live without using a cell phone in your car? Because that lady on the road in front of me this morning...yakking away, probably won't for more than another month if she keeps that up.

You're saying you wouldn't be willing to give up this priviledge so that people like me and others on the road would be protected from the likes of her?

C'mon, man..you said you've seen 'em yourself. I don't want 'em hitting me. If I have to give up my cell phone while I'm in the car to do it...I'll sign that petition in a heartbeat.

There's so much moe involved it's ridiculous.

When talking to a friend in the car...a passenger, it's a nearly subconscious activity. You're still focused on the road..though still probably not as much.

Compare that to a phone conversation, where the driving becomes the subconscious activity for 98% of drivers using cells and you start to see the difference.

I personally don't care if you're one of the 2%. If it were up to me, I'd be more than happy to recind your priviledge of talking on the phone while driving in order to protect the rest of us from the other 98% who are absolutely dangerous to everyone else on the road.

Can I live without using my cell in my car? Yes, of course. But it makes life a lot easier. I don't believe my right to use a cell while driving should be taken away because of the people who can't seem to multitask. We live in a society (especially in the US) where we must drive to efficiently get things done. We also live in a society where decisions have to be made quickly and being available is almost a requirement, especially if you're in the business world.

I do respect others on the road, but I also know my own personal limitations. I know I can talk on my cell and drive without any problems. However if I have kids and the wife in the car, I won't use the cell unless absolutely necessary.

Thats just being responsible, and people who drive a car need to know their limitations and be responsible. If you can't do that, get off the road.

I disagree. Having a conversation is the same whether on the cell or talking to your wife in the passenger side. Either you're using your mind to articulate your thoughts and process the other person's words or you're not. I think that it requires the exact same amount of brain power.

I think we just have a thing in our minds that we've seen people talking on cells and making stupid mistakes and automatically attribute it to the cell phone. Its the distraction of a conversation itself that the driver cannot handle. A cell phone is just a medium, its not the distraction itself. Now that does bar those who look at their cell phones, scroll through their phone book, check their schedule, etc. I personally do not do that, but that is more of a distraction than simply talking because your eyes are off the road.

To the point where it becomes dangerous?

Your right to talk while driving is more important than my right not to get killed by these idiots?

I *understand* it sucks to lose your privlidges because some twit cannot do something it seems everyone should be able to do.

I *understand* you life, your comfort, and your ease are important to you...as they are to me.

I also understand that many people are dying as a *direct* result of cell-phone use in vehicles and that the only real-world solution currently feasable is to stop them from doing it.

Yes, it sucks that I'll not be able to do it anymore either. yes, it'll make certain things less efficient/more of a pain.

If it keeps one person from being blindsided by some freak with a phone in his ear...it's worth it.

Any suggestions on how the USA can get 50% of the drivers "of the road" in a timely manner? Without a revolution?

You see...it ain't gonna happen. Next best solution is to bar them from the behaviors that are making them dangerous...the easiest, most common, most dangerous, most controllable of which happens to be cell-phone use.

Your respect for others on the road only extends to those you encounter. This is a limited view. What about everyone else? Don't care? Unknown driver can go ahead and get killed by cell-phone users who can't drive and talk?

We can't get 'em off the road...let's at least get 'em off the phone.

*sigh*

I'm not talking about you. I know you think (right or wrong) that you do not fall into this catagory, so lets say you don't.

You are one of few.

Look at stats...how many accidents arer caused by talking to passengers vs. talking on the cell phone. I'd hazard to guess the difference is so great as to be laughable.

I hate stats. They can so easily be manipulated, but the point I am trying to make is that stats or not, the great majority of folks driving while on a cell are more dangerous than they would be were they *not* on the phone.

Gee, thanks Einstein... you can multitask

But - when you multitask, as we all do, your full attention isn't on any one activity, and the care and attention required to drive is not present.

Nobody is a good enough driver to drive and talk on a cellular - not you, not your mother, nor anyone else considered "human". Funny thing is, every moron on the road thinks they're smart enough, or better enough, or good enough to handle it... ALL of them are hazards.

Of course, you won't believe that until you kill a kid, or destroy your car in a wreck, so power to you. The sick thing is, you'll probably try to blame the kid.

As much as I hate most people that are on phones and don't realize what they are doing. I doubt this will ever fly, police aren't going to drive around looking for people using a tiny cell phone, they don't even enforce "click it or tick it" and there are signs for that every friggen street. I guess if this becomes a law, it will work on the honor system, most teens don't care regardless and will ignore this.

Using a hand held cell-phone is illegal in the UK - fines start at £30 and can go as high as £2500 if you drive anything bigger than a car.
At least 20 people in the UK have died because of careless driving while using cell-phones.
The law applies to everyone...not just teens.

Are there distinctions being made between the use of hands-free devices vs. simply holding a cell phone while driving?

It would seem that the use of hand-free devices would equate to talking to someone actually in the car? Although, that may still prove to be too much for most drivers out there.

Hang up and drive. Damn straight.

Of course, the idiot's who hang out their windows and yell at 'em are just as bad, if not worse.

I really need an EMP gun. At the very least I could shut off their damn phone. So what if their turn signals stop working..they never use 'em anyway.

:P

(Try not to take this seriously. I mean it this time, dammit.)

I am offended!!! No just joking. I feel the same.

Hmm.......... EMP, good idea, id better start makin one:-)))))))))))

I think Mythbusters (US TV show) did a study on the effects of driving while under the influence vs. driving while on a cell phone and the results were quite shocking. From what they found, you should never do either, period.

Buggy

But both at once can be a great source of entertaiment...for both you, your pasengers, and the rubber-necks as they watch the ambulances cart ya'll away.

A provincial government study in Alberta took several people, got a bunch drunk, and gave the rest cellular phones, and let them loose on a closed driving circuit... they found the drunks were far better drivers than the cellular users.

And... the drunk drivers were dangerously bad.

Yes MythBusters did do a show
The resoults were interesting -

Everyone should drive and not talk on a cellphone -

Hands free kits are ok but still you are in fact distracted

The law should be international based , but we'll never see that

dont drive and use a phone

It's about frickin' time. I am so tired of seeing people driving like they're not paying attention, only to find them on their phones. It's just not safe! My favorite is seeing people drive a stick while talking on their phone. "Let's see, I've got two hands: one for the phone, one for the s*** lever, and...oh wait, I have nothing to hold on to the steering wheel each time I have to s***."

I think it's also a very good move by the NTSB. Start with the kids who are trying to learn how to drive and talk on the phone at the same time. Once you have the kids locked down, branch out to all people! Seriously: if you're not allowed to drive while drinking you shouldn't be allowed to drive while talking on the phone. Here's a name for it too: DUICP = Driving while Under Influence of a Cell Phone.

worst drivers in the world
1) black women
2) asian women
3) white women
4) teenagers

i say follow new yorks rule.. if you have a cell in your hand, you get a ticket.. use hands free or dont use it at all..
and FOR GODS SAKE STOP SCREWING WITH YOUR MAKEUP AND HAIR WHILE YOU DRIVE..

Guess what, no one in new york gives two s***s about that law. I see it every day.

By the way, go ahead and back up those absurd stats you have. Because in Jersey and I suspect everywhere else, Teens rank #1 as being involved in the most accidents.

Then look at the population statistics and see that the highest percentage of drivers is in their teens..

Only makes sense that they'd be in the highest numbers for accidents...there's more of them out there than other sections of the population.

Statistics are bull. They're involved in the most accidents because there are an absurd amount of them out there compared to other cross-sections of the poulation.

if 80% of the drivers on the road are teens, I'd fully expect 80% of the accidents would involve them, just as if 80% of the drivers were 40 yr-olds in SUV's, Id expect them to be involved in 80% of the accidents.....starting to get the idea here?

In other words... while your argument may be tru...teens rank #1, it's invalid for the purpose you are using itsince teens are also ranked #1 in the driving population. The two simply coincidde.

If they were 30% of the drivers on the road and causing 80% of the accidents...then you'd have an argument.

I totally disagree with this. You're telling me that there are more people between the ages of 16-19 than there are 20-60?

I don't have facts in front of me, but I think that there are more people driving between the ages of 20-60, which puts teens in the minority but causing or involved in a majority of the accidents. Thats all I was saying - I don't think pulling out stats like "black women cause the most accidents" are at all factual.

Agree with you on the race bit. rwinger is apparently a troll.

Disagree on the 15-19 thing... We're talking amount of time spent on the road as well, not just sheer numbers.

I'm not even sure that teens spend more time on the road. Virtually every single adult commutes to work in a car (excluding the very few who take a bus, subway, or work from home). Then consider the amount of adults taking their family long distances on family vacations. Also consider the number of adults who have to pick their kids up from school every single day of the working week.

Teens spend a lot of time in the car, but I think its more concentrated on particular days of the week (friday, saturday).

I still think teens are the minority both in volume and hours driving. I could be wrong, but that just seems logical to me.

Could be argued for a while since neither of us seem to have hard stats.

Ah well.