BMA says 'No' to mobile phones whilst driving

[Paddy]

The BMA made a recommendation today that drivers should not use a mobile phone whilst driving – including hands free kits.

What are your views on this?

[DuRaNgO]

Even if there are laws put in place, people will not stop using them as they've become as common place as a car radio

I know that I won't stop.

[Wombat]

I hope people stop calling and driving. A call is such a distraction (Yes, more than people in the car). It really bothers me when I see someone make a stupid move on the road, and then I realize they have a phone to their ear. There's at least one town I know of (in Ohio?) that has been aggressively ticketing cell phone drivers. Glad to see it.

[Raptor^]

If you need to take your hands off the wheel for any length of time to fiddle with your phone then you shouldn't be using it. Its not like your radio where you can hit the 'volume up' button and keep your finger on it while looking ahead even, you have to pay attention to the phone display.

Using a hands free kit and speed dial (or preferably voice dial) seems OK to me. Talking to someone on a handsfree kit definitely seems fine.

You'll be banned from talking to your passengers while on the move at this rate

[rylan]

Personally I don't think my government has the right to make me not use a cell phone in my car. As long as I'm not swerving around and creating a dangerous situation on the road, I should be able to do whatver I want. If they wan tto stop cell phone use, then they should also make it illegal to drink coffe or eat food in the car. And how about those people you see putting on makup while driving.. make that illegal too.

Just let cops make a (hopefully) intelligant decision.. if the person is driving erratically, they should be pulled over, regardless of if its because of a cell phone or spilling your hot coffee on yourself. Just make the fine hurt if you're all over the road while using a cell phone.. same with other things in the car. I see enough people who try to read newspapers and do other crap like I mentioned that cause accidents... you can't just single out cell phones.

[Wombat]

Interesting argument. Now replace the "using cell phone" with "having a drink or two". We don't let people drink-and-drive, and cell phone usage has been shown to have the same affect on driver proficiency.

[The PIT]

Where I live a women pulled up the at the lights since they were at Red she had a quick drink of coke. A police motor cyclists pulled up and gave her a ticket. Thats one dumd side of things.
Mobile phones should be banned from cars except hands free. Try being in control when a kid steps out in front of you. Poeple have been killed in this country due to idiots using text messaging. One last message someone texted was "Oh shit" when he killed several poeple in a layby. No doubt he thought he was in control. It's a bit like the drunk saying he's in the control, maybe he is until he has to react quickly to a situtation that he hasn't antipated.
It's true what Raptor says on this about talking in a car. If they push to hard they'll have to Ban it.

[SCompRacer]

Any distraction while operating a moving vehicle increases the odds of a mishap. Higher speeds compound the problem as a one second distraction at 55 MPH covers more distance than at 30 MPH.

Chicago is a dense metropolitan area and I have witnessed many careless acts with a motor vehicle while the operator was using a cell phone.

Typical observations I have made are erratic speed, unable to follow changes in the direction of the road or outright wandering out of their lane, and on the brakes hard after they lift their heads from dialing to see the driver in front slowed for conditions they would have seen if they were paying attention.

Sure, some people are more responsible with cell phone use while driving and feel persecuted. But laws like these are enacted as a direct result of the percentile that causes the problem, no matter how small in relation to the total number of those who use cell phones while driving.

[Technoid]

The thing about mobile phones I realy dislikes are the thing put into them that has nothing to do with phoning people;
Games, Chat, SMS...
The clock & alarm function and the calculator is ok since they have a practical use.

I have gothen questions on how many games i can play on my phone and how many ring tones...

My usual answer is "I don't know, I use it to make phonecalls.."

[cjolley]

They should treat them just like radar detectors are treated some places.
If you are cought talking while driving and holding a handset, confiscate it!
chuck

(Who has suddenly turned into a real meany )

[rylan]

Actually radar dectors are legal in almost every state now. There was in interesting supreme court case over cops confiscating them, and it was found unconstitutional do to so.

[Wombat]

I think they're illegal in VA and somewhere else. But if you have one when you get pulled over the cops really wallop you.

[RichL]

PIT - You mean someone had time to text "Oh Sh*t!" as he swerved towards the layby?
I think you're getting confused with the recent story of an off-duty policeman who was talking when driving and his last words were something like "Oh sh*t!" as he collided with something that killed him.

Personally I've got a handsfree kit (since some people in my office cant understand that I'm not on callout) and I find talking to the sun visor to be a little more distracting than talking to a passenger.
Making calls on the move should be prohibited because you have to actively take your attention from the road to dial - even if its a speed dial. Taking a call should only be allowed if you have a hands free kit.

Call me an overly aggresive driver, but if I get some suited twerp in a rep-mobile tailgating me at 70mph with one hand pressing his mobile phone to his ear, I find a quick dab on the brakes works absolute wonders. As does adjusting one of your windscreen washer jets to go over the car and land 30 feet behind you.

[slyfox]

This is just another example of allot people not using common sense so the government feels that it has to step in to help protect us from ourselves. Just look at seatbelt and helmet laws.

slyfox

[cjolley]

The same thing could be said of almost any law including all traffic rules.
chuck