A First

[KiowaEagle_imp]

One township near me is really cracking down on texting. And it couldn't happen any sooner. I can't tell you how many times an oncoming car has started drifting across the line. Scares the crap out of you!

[2017EX_imp]

The law crack down on non hands free talking on a cell phone, and even worse, texting while driving, did not really start until the end of my law enforcement career. Now in retirement I constantly see vehicles driving 10 MPH under the speed limit, crossing the center line, and swaying onto the shoulder. When I pass any of those types, I always see the cause, a cell phone. The only other explanation could be a DWI, but I rarely drive at night when the vast majority of DWIs take place.

What annoys the living daylights out of me though, is that people are so willing to risk their lives, and the lives of everyone else that has to share the road with them, for a text or phone conversation that has little to no importance. If I had my way, only two cell phone functions would work in a moving vehicle, 911 and GPS.

[misterprofessionality]

I've actually ended an employment over cell phone use while driving, and got into a serious conflict with a co-worker at another office over the same subject.
I once had a boss that insisted on answering calls and texts at any time, any place, in any situation, including while driving on the highway at 70mph. whenever I was in the truck with him on the way to a jobsite, there would be an endless barrage of calls and texts coming in, which he would always deal with and answer immediately. he thought he was "on the ball." i eventually confronted him about it and told him it had to stop. it was dangerous for himself and dangerous for his business. he said he was fine and not to worry about it. I then informed him that for my own safety i would not ride with him if it was going to continue. he told me "you're my employee and you're going to have to ride with me when I ask you to." So i fixed that immediately.

The other case was a measurer that worked for me. She was always on the road visiting jobsites day and and day out taking measurements and then feeding them back to me so that I could process designs and orders based on them. She insisted on taking the measurements and then calling in the numbers to me right away, as if this stuff was that urgent. not to mention that calling me with a string of numbers is begging for mistakes to take place. it came to my attention after a while that she was actually making these calls *while driving* to the next jobsite. she was literally holding her measuring paperwork up on her steering wheel, holding her phone to her head, and reading the numbers to me while she was driving. absolute madness. the whole thing devolved into a conflict where i basically told her that I would no longer take calls from her if she didn't change her behavior. in the end, i had to teach her how to take pictures with her cellphone so that she could email me a snapshot of the measurements **before** getting into her car.

The moral of the story is some people just can't stand to wait however long it takes to pull over, have a conversation, send a text, and then get back on the road free and clear. they do anything to complete that conversation, and have such a short attention span that they can't remember to call somebody back later. it's going to take a campaign similar to "click it or ticket" of a large and aggressive scale to get people to finally stop.

i propose the campaign tagline: "phones down or downtown" for a campaign in which people caught driving while operating a cellphone are actually cuffed on the side of the road and booked into jail.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Generations and generations raised with varying deficits of common sense. Today, it is just another gadget to feed the deficit. There are some in the gene pool you just can't help.

[Cormanus]

Historically, Darwinian principles would have flushed these people from the gene pool. Sadly, in modern times, there’s an increasing chance they’ll take out perfectly useful folk as well.

[Stichill_imp]

I've actually ended an employment over cell phone use while driving, and got into a serious conflict with a co-worker at another office over the same subject.
I once had a boss that insisted on answering calls and texts at any time, any place, in any situation, including while driving on the highway at 70mph. whenever I was in the truck with him on the way to a jobsite, there would be an endless barrage of calls and texts coming in, which he would always deal with and answer immediately. he thought he was "on the ball." i eventually confronted him about it and told him it had to stop. it was dangerous for himself and dangerous for his business. he said he was fine and not to worry about it. I then informed him that for my own safety i would not ride with him if it was going to continue. he told me "you're my employee and you're going to have to ride with me when I ask you to." So i fixed that immediately.

The other case was a measurer that worked for me. She was always on the road visiting jobsites day and and day out taking measurements and then feeding them back to me so that I could process designs and orders based on them. She insisted on taking the measurements and then calling in the numbers to me right away, as if this stuff was that urgent. not to mention that calling me with a string of numbers is begging for mistakes to take place. it came to my attention after a while that she was actually making these calls *while driving* to the next jobsite. she was literally holding her measuring paperwork up on her steering wheel, holding her phone to her head, and reading the numbers to me while she was driving. absolute madness. the whole thing devolved into a conflict where i basically told her that I would no longer take calls from her if she didn't change her behavior. in the end, i had to teach her how to take pictures with her cellphone so that she could email me a snapshot of the measurements **before** getting into her car.

The moral of the story is some people just can't stand to wait however long it takes to pull over, have a conversation, send a text, and then get back on the road free and clear. they do anything to complete that conversation, and have such a short attention span that they can't remember to call somebody back later. it's going to take a campaign similar to "click it or ticket" of a large and aggressive scale to get people to finally stop.

i propose the campaign tagline: "phones down or downtown" for a campaign in which people caught driving while operating a cellphone are actually cuffed on the side of the road and booked into jail.

For my employment, I have to go to a lot of face-to-face meetings and video conferences and spend a lot of time on the phone and email. I welcome the excuse to "unplug" when I am driving or riding. If I absolutely need to communicate, it's actually much faster I think to pull over, devote your full attention to the communication, and then get back on the road with full attention to driving.

I've actually ended an employment over cell phone use while driving, and got into a serious conflict with a co-worker at another office over the same subject.
I once had a boss that insisted on answering calls and texts at any time, any place, in any situation, including while driving on the highway at 70mph. whenever I was in the truck with him on the way to a jobsite, there would be an endless barrage of calls and texts coming in, which he would always deal with and answer immediately. he thought he was "on the ball." i eventually confronted him about it and told him it had to stop. it was dangerous for himself and dangerous for his business. he said he was fine and not to worry about it. I then informed him that for my own safety i would not ride with him if it was going to continue. he told me "you're my employee and you're going to have to ride with me when I ask you to." So i fixed that immediately.

The other case was a measurer that worked for me. She was always on the road visiting jobsites day and and day out taking measurements and then feeding them back to me so that I could process designs and orders based on them. She insisted on taking the measurements and then calling in the numbers to me right away, as if this stuff was that urgent. not to mention that calling me with a string of numbers is begging for mistakes to take place. it came to my attention after a while that she was actually making these calls *while driving* to the next jobsite. she was literally holding her measuring paperwork up on her steering wheel, holding her phone to her head, and reading the numbers to me while she was driving. absolute madness. the whole thing devolved into a conflict where i basically told her that I would no longer take calls from her if she didn't change her behavior. in the end, i had to teach her how to take pictures with her cellphone so that she could email me a snapshot of the measurements **before** getting into her car.

The moral of the story is some people just can't stand to wait however long it takes to pull over, have a conversation, send a text, and then get back on the road free and clear. they do anything to complete that conversation, and have such a short attention span that they can't remember to call somebody back later. it's going to take a campaign similar to "click it or ticket" of a large and aggressive scale to get people to finally stop.

i propose the campaign tagline: "phones down or downtown" for a campaign in which people caught driving while operating a cellphone are actually cuffed on the side of the road and booked into jail.

Once it's considered as bad as drunk driving, that may happen.

[the Ferret]

Saw on the news tonight New York city is proposing no using cell phones while walking in crosswalks. They called people cell phone Zombies. If the law goes thru $150 fine first time $250 second time.

From my point of view cell phones are too much immersed in peoples lives. THey will never give them up or set them aside, regardless of proposed penalties.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Yeah, NYC might be more extreme than the ordinary. I have seen pedestrians and cyclists without mobiles distracting them getting hit by cagers. In both cases, it seemed almost routine. Person makes contact with cage, rolls over the hood, gets up, gives the bird and moves on. I imagine phone zombies would incur more injury. Where does it all end?

[decarmine_imp]

The law crack down on non hands free talking on a cell phone, and even worse, texting while driving, did not really start until the end of my law enforcement career. Now in retirement I constantly see vehicles driving 10 MPH under the speed limit, crossing the center line, and swaying onto the shoulder. When I pass any of those types, I always see the cause, a cell phone. The only other explanation could be a DWI, but I rarely drive at night when the vast majority of DWIs take place.

What annoys the living daylights out of me though, is that people are so willing to risk their lives, and the lives of everyone else that has to share the road with them, for a text or phone conversation that has little to no importance. If I had my way, only two cell phone functions would work in a moving vehicle, 911 and GPS.

Problem is, how to differentiate between driver and passenger?

[Rocky_imp]

Saw on the news tonight New York city is proposing no using cell phones while walking in crosswalks. They called people cell phone Zombies. If the law goes thru $150 fine first time $250 second time.

From my point of view cell phones are too much immersed in peoples lives. THey will never give them up or set them aside, regardless of proposed penalties.

A couple of years ag I spent a week in NYC and navigated the very busy sidewalks and crosswalks every day. It's hazardous enough negotiating the sidewalks and crosswalks when you're paying attention, but add the distraction of a cell phone and it's almost suicidal.
We don't have those hordes of crowds in our streets in this city, but there are plenty of "street zombies" everywhere you go.
I'm stunned almost every day at how many step off the curb without looking and put their life in your hands. I don't get it!.