Texting & Driving

[FarmerChick]

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ex.../www.csmonitor.com/2009/1001/p02s02-usgn.html


New law going to happen for probably every state.

Ticket if you text and drive.

A few people I know say it is wrong to give tickets for this. I say, drive and drive and do nothing else. I say give out tons of tickets. Might save lives and put into people's head that it is not OK to text and drive. I told my "texting friends" that laws like this happen cause of people's stupidity. They cause the law--cause texting is distracting and killing themselves or others while driving and texting is just plain foolish! They still say--nah, I can text and drive...never had a problem..LOL

what does everyone think?

 

[big brown horse]

No to texting and driving, it is as bad as drunk driving!

Here in WA, you aren't supposed to talk on your cell phone while driving...I think texting is 10 times worse!!

 

[rebecca100]

Same here-no texting or talking. I admit I talk while driving. Usually I have it on speakerphone so I can still use both hands. Texting is definately out of the question. talking is bad enough.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I totally agree. Drive while you are driving!

Recently my husband, my mother, and I have noticed vehicles swerving on the freeway while we are driving. At first I thought there was some new recreational drug that I was in the dark about, but now I am beginning to wonder if these people are texting? This is a recent phenomenon and apparently there are enough people doing it that more than one of my family memeber has witnessed this recently. These drivers are scary. They are swerving over into the shoulder and then over into the lane next to them and back again. I can't believe how poorly they are driving at 60 mph. It is frightening. I like to keep these drivers WELL ahead of me. I don't dare to pass and I sure don't want them behind me! I don't want to know what they do while they are driving in the city. Seems like that would be even more dangerous.

 

[reinbeau]

I can't believe the stupidity of anyone who texts while they drive. There was a horrific accident up here a year or so ago where five just about to graduate high school girls were killed while four behind them in another car watched while the two drivers were texting back and forth. Unbelievable. Horrible. The sadness for those families! Kids are stupid, but adults - where is the common sense??

 

[noobiechickenlady]

I admit. I have done this on occasion. BUT! It matters not so much what you are doing as to how much attention you are giving the road. I feel for the buttons on my radio and keep my eyes on the road. I'll reach over to grab my smokes, but my eyes and attention stay on the road. I've seen people try to grab something out of their floorboard and swerve all over the road, even saw one guy push another car off the road because he was trying to adjust his seat.

I say, if you see someone on the road, swerving or causing issues like this, get their tag number & call Highway patrol. In Mississippi, any cellphone can call *hp and get directly to the nearest patrol office.

All that being said, I have no problem with distracted drivers getting tickets for doing anything other than paying attention to the road, especially if it makes them a danger to others. This goes for putting on makeup, eating, dropping something, digging in the glove box, adjusting the radio, whatever. If it distracts you from your primary responsibility while driving (which is DRIVING) then don't do it, or you SHOULD get a ticket.

 

[me&thegals]

Drive and do nothing else!

My first year of driving, my parents insisted (and trusted me) that I do nothing but drive. No eating, no drinking. There weren't really even cells back then (at least not for the common guy).

I think anybody with young children should not be allowed to drive. I used to horrify myself by how much time I spent turned around dealing with the kids when they were little! I just recently rode with a friend and her 2-yo. Oh my goodness.

So, definitely, put the phones away, put the makeup away, get your finger out of your nose and just drive.

 

[enjoy the ride]

Unless you are a physician giving instructions for life saving surgery in an emergency, nothing anyone has to say is important enough to risk someone else's life to say. Most people can go their whole life without having anything that important to say.
Indeed other things can cause accidents, like eating while driving but very few are as basically self-important and self-centered as people with their cell phone glued to some part of their body.
I can't say the number of times that some fool has almost hit me as I was in a cross walk because they had a cell phone glued to their ear. How dare they think they are so important as to do this.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Unless you are a physician giving instructions for life saving surgery in an emergency, nothing anyone has to say is important enough to risk someone else's life to say. Most people can go their whole life without having anything that important to say.

Totally.

So you will love this . . . I was driving last night and I saw this woman walking along the side of the road. She was talking on . . . not one cell phone . . . but two cell phones simultaneously. Unbelievable!

 

[dragonlaurel]

To stay safe and not hurt others:

Before you put the car in drive:

Adjust your seat and mirrors if needed.
Get your music started if you like to listen while driving.
Hang up the cell phone. Turn it off if you don't have a "hands free".
Make sure kids are buckled up.

While driving:
I've been known to have a couple bites of bagel at a stoplight, but not messy foods or stuff that requires utensils or both hands.

If the phone rings, let it go to message, or use a hands free.
If kids misbehave or cry, pull off the road to handle it.