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Do you check your phone at traffic lights?

Micky Do said:
The thread is about mobile phones, and they are a major source of distraction for many.
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Right, and I've been discussing mobile phones (lol?). People are just emotional and reactionary. A $500 ticket for looking at a text? Dumb. It's not illegal for me to change the song I'm listening to, or look at my map app for directions, but oh man watch out if it's a text message. :rolleyes:
 
smallcoffee said:
Oh well. Tickets don't discourage anything, they just take money from people. Laws aren't really enforced anyway so what's the point?
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Actually, there is good evidence that some laws, such as the ones that mandate use of seat belts, have had their desired effect and have decreased crash-related injuries. I haven't seen similar statistics for statutes that prohibit texting while driving, but they are relatively recent compared to seat belt laws. On what do you base your contention that "tickets don't discourage anything?" Do you really believe that drivers wouldn't speed more often if there weren't penalties for doing so? Why do you think that drivers tend to slow down when they spot a police car at the side of the road?

You're absolutely correct that texting while driving is but one of many activities that can distract drivers. But it's been singled out because its negative impact is so high. It would be wonderful if we didn't need laws to encourage people to do the right thing, but that's unrealistic.
 
citizenzen said:
I don't check my phone at stop lights, as I don't have a smart phone.

What I have noticed is that many people who do have one pay an inordinate amount of attention to them.

I really don't want to be like that.
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They inconvenience others at best. At worse, they're a menace to the road and the easy way to resolve it is to revoke their driving privilege. That'll give them something to think about when they're not on the road. Making it a felony has the advantage that any ticket fine is nominal given their insurance rates will be where it really hurts.

The Brits have it right:

https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law
 
smallcoffee said:
Right, and I've been discussing mobile phones (lol?). People are just emotional and reactionary. A $500 ticket for looking at a text? Dumb. It's not illegal for me to change the song I'm listening to, or look at my map app for directions, but oh man watch out if it's a text message. :rolleyes:
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I don't understand how a cop can enforce a texting law.
 
dogslobber said:
In court, your word V cop's word means the cop will always win. Discovery can pull your cellphone records around the time of the felony. All the cop has to do is observe and ticket, then leave it to the court.
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I'm not so sure. If the state allows cell usage but no texting, the officer won't know if you're sending a text or dialing the phone. In traffic court the officer still has the burden of proof and its extremely unlikely any department will seek a subpoena for cell activity on something as trivial as this.
 
Roller said:
Actually, there is good evidence that some laws, such as the ones that mandate use of seat belts, have had their desired effect and have decreased crash-related injuries. I haven't seen similar statistics for statutes that prohibit texting while driving, but they are relatively recent compared to seat belt laws. On what do you base your contention that "tickets don't discourage anything?" Do you really believe that drivers wouldn't speed more often if there weren't penalties for doing so? Why do you think that drivers tend to slow down when they spot a police car at the side of the road? You're absolutely correct that texting while driving is but one of many activities that can distract drivers. But it's been singled out because its negative impact is so high. It would be wonderful if we didn't need laws to encourage people to do the right thing, but that's unrealistic.
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They slow down simply to not get ticketed, then speed right back up after they pass the cop. It's especially bad because as we all know there are specific speed traps and artificially low speed limits in some places to maintain revenue. It's not for safety many times.
 
dogslobber said:
They inconvenience others at best. At worse, they're a menace to the road and the easy way to resolve it is to revoke their driving privilege. That'll give them something to think about when they're not on the road. Making it a felony has the advantage that any ticket fine is nominal given their insurance rates will be where it really hurts.

The Brits have it right:

https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law
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What they should do is revoke their right to public transportation too. Then it'd be more equivalent to enforcing such a draconian measure here in the United States.
 
smallcoffee said:
Idk. I think you guys just have this weird idea of what it means to "check your phone" while driving. Looking at or responding to a text message isn't any more distracting than changing a radio station, looking at a billboard, or whatever. If you're scrolling through Facebook (which is dumb because Facebook is dumb) then that's a totally different thing. Might as well read a book or something.
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How long are you taking to read a text message or respond to it? Something tells me that it takes more than one second to look at the screen and read a text, and I'm pretty darn certain it takes more than a few seconds to compose a text. Changing a radio station can easily be done without taking your eyes off the road, or only doing so for half of a second.

And, I've always loved the "reading a billboard" part. You are right, you shouldn't spend time reading billboards. But there is one huge difference. When looking at a phone screen, your focal point is no more than two feet from your eyes. And if you're looking at it down in your lap or on your car's console, it's completely out of your view of the road. Your eyes looking at something two feet from your eyes is very different from looking at something 100 feet or more away. Looking at the billboard doesn't change your focal length, and generally keeps you looking only a few degrees off your intended view point. Quite different from looking at a phone screen.

Now, I'd love to see billboards all gone. I hate incessant advertising, and massive displays blocking the natural view.

smallcoffee said:
What they should do is revoke their right to public transportation too. Then it'd be more equivalent to enforcing such a draconian measure here in the United States.
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What are you talking about? Revoking use of public transportation when they've been caught texting while driving? And how is texting while driving being illegal, draconian?
 
samiwas said:
How long are you taking to read a text message or respond to it? Something tells me that it takes more than one second to look at the screen and read a text, and I'm pretty darn certain it takes more than a few seconds to compose a text. Changing a radio station can easily be done without taking your eyes off the road, or only doing so for half of a second.

And, I've always loved the "reading a billboard" part. You are right, you shouldn't spend time reading billboards. But there is one huge difference. When looking at a phone screen, your focal point is no more than two feet from your eyes. And if you're looking at it down in your lap or on your car's console, it's completely out of your view of the road. Your eyes looking at something two feet from your eyes is very different from looking at something 100 feet or more away. Looking at the billboard doesn't change your focal length, and generally keeps you looking only a few degrees off your intended view point. Quite different from looking at a phone screen.

Now, I'd love to see billboards all gone. I hate incessant advertising, and massive displays blocking the natural view.
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Depends. I don't usually look at my phone for more than a spilt second. I usually don't even read the entire message because I get the idea immediately, then with auto correct and a quick glance you don't need to look to type. I certainly don't think people should do it in congested areas, but if you're just cruising on the freeway or down a residential street? Yeah no problems.


samiwas said:
What are you talking about? Revoking use of public transportation when they've been caught texting while driving? And how is texting while driving being illegal, draconian?
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Taking away somebody's license here in America is equivalent to taking away the use of public transportation, somewhere like the UK. It's draconian. It causes people to lose jobs, then families, homes, etc....
 
smallcoffee said:
then with auto correct and a quick glance you don't need to look to type.
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Maybe you. Maybe you're awesome at it. But let's not pretend that the vast majority of people out there are not that good at it, and as such, the law needs to be based on them, not your particular awesome abilities. I can barely type on an iPhone normally, much less while driving. Have you never been behind a car that was swerving all over the road while the person was dealing with their phone? Sorry...there is very little that is so important that you need to text while driving.

I certainly don't think people should do it in congested areas, but if you're just cruising on the freeway or down a residential street? Yeah no problems.
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A residential street? That is the single worst place you should be paying less attention to the road. You know, places where kids are running around or riding bikes? Yeah please don't do that.

Taking away somebody's license here in America is equivalent to taking away the use of public transportation, somewhere like the UK. It's draconian. It causes people to lose jobs, then families, homes, etc....
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Then simple solution: don't text while driving. There is nothing so important in your life, that it can't wait a few minutes until you've stopped somewhere. To say otherwise is to place an extremely large "self-important" label on yourself.

You an /eric would have been great pals. He believed in texting while driving at any and all times, because he was somehow able to focus on both the screen and the road at the same time. Uh huh.
 
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samiwas said:
Maybe you. Maybe you're awesome at it. But let's not pretend that the vast majority of people out there are not that good at it, and as such, the law needs to be based on them, not your particular awesome abilities. I can barely type on an iPhone normally, much less while driving. Have you never been behind a car that was swerving all over the road while the person was dealing with their phone? Sorry...there is very little that is so important that you need to text while driving.
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Then use your judgement and don't do it? Idk why we need a law.And yes I have, they're texting and driving wrong. You don't continuously use the phone, you glance at it.


samiwas said:
A residential street? That is the single worst place you should be paying less attention to the road. You know, places where kids are running around or riding bikes? Yeah please don't do that.
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Idk if you've been in America lately, but there aren't that many kids playing in the streets anymore. And on top of that you see them, and they're not dumb enough to run in front of cars.


samiwas said:
Then simple solution: don't text while driving. There is nothing so important in your life, that it can't wait a few minutes until you've stopped somewhere. To say otherwise is to place an extremely large "self-important" label on yourself.
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Or just text and drive and don't be dumb about it.


samiwas said:
You an /eric would have been great pals. He believed in texting while driving at any and all times, because he was somehow able to focus on both the screen and the road at the same time. Uh huh.
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I don't believe in it. I think you should refrain from doing it most of the time, but let's stop demonizing it. Especially when everybody does it.
 
smallcoffee said:
Then use your judgement and don't do it? Idk why we need a law.And yes I have, they're texting and driving wrong. You don't continuously use the phone, you glance at it.

Idk if you've been in America lately, but there aren't that many kids playing in the streets anymore. And on top of that you see them, and they're not dumb enough to run in front of cars.

Or just text and drive and don't be dumb about it.

I don't believe in it. I think you should refrain from doing it most of the time, but let's stop demonizing it. Especially when everybody does it.
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Okay, sweet dude. Sounds like your self-imposed needs are more important than anyone else. Maybe you can drive drunk too as long as your don't normally wreck while doing it.

Everyone does not do it. Kids who aren't smart enough to know better do it.
 
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samiwas said:
Okay, sweet dude. Sounds like your self-imposed needs are more important than anyone else. Maybe you can drive drunk too as long as your don't normally wreck while doing it.

Everyone does not do it. Kids who aren't smart enough to know better do it.
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Everybody from police officers to ambulance and school bus drivers to doctors, engineers, fast food workers, and fashion models.

Not everybody is suited to it, and most people shouldn't ever do it because they can't handle it. But stop acting like looking at a text message is murder.
 
smallcoffee said:
Idk. I think you guys just have this weird idea of what it means to "check your phone" while driving. Looking at or responding to a text message isn't any more distracting than changing a radio station, looking at a billboard, or whatever. If you're scrolling through Facebook (which is dumb because Facebook is dumb) then that's a totally different thing. Might as well read a book or something.
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Seriously??

EDIT: I've now read further down the thread and, looking at your other responses, see that you are serious.
 
Want that red light to turn green? Try to do something on your phone.

But yeah I'm guilty of this and nobody should be on their phone if we're trying to be safe.
 
smallcoffee said:
Absolutely. Really the hard part is checking, responding is easy since you don't really need to look to type.
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Speak for yourself. I can't type on an iPhone without looking at it. I am not alone.

Speak for Riyadh. Instant type on an ompnrvelgnou lolling at it. I do not done.

Nope.
 
samiwas said:
Speak for yourself. I can't type on an iPhone without looking at it. I am not alone.

Speak for Riyadh. Instant type on an ompnrvelgnou lolling at it. I do not done.

Nope.
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Yeah, so you shouldn't be texting and driving probably. It's not a big deal, some people just can't do it.
 
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