Texting and Driving

[CV355]

My wife and I almost got hit head on twice today by distracted, texting idiots. This is a very common occurrence here in SC, practically every other driver has their face glued to a phone. It's to the point where I am strongly considering liquidating everything I have and moving to another state with a fraction of the population density (bad drivers being a large slice of the pie for why). My wife was in two car accidents last year- one could have easily killed her. Call me paranoid, but those aren't friendly statistics. We can't drive 5 minutes without almost being hit in this state.

Mainstream media, liberals, and most politicians want to keep all eyes focused on gun control- wasted efforts from a statistical point of view. If they truly cared about saving lives, they'd be attacking alcohol, tobacco, and cell phones (their coping mechanisms)

I read this article (Jan 2018) and it really sickened me. "Yeah it's a problem. Can't do nuffin' about it." Half the officers around here text and drive- no wonder they won't enforce it.

http://www.heraldonline.com/news/state/south-carolina/article197767674.html

"Taylor’s proposal also would ban using your phone while stopped at a red light or stop sign, currently allowed under state law."

...the politician(s) that signed that law ought to be beaten. I wonder why so many fender benders happen, or why traffic is so congested in the Upstate...

Any ideas on how to push politicians to do what Alaska did and make DWT offenses absolutely brutal? I like what they did there- cause injury while texting+driving and it's a felony. Good. This country has too many wrist-slaps as it is and none serve as deterrents.

 

[HillbillyHotRod]

Agree. People these days cannot be without their dang phone for 30 seconds. It’s no wonder they walk into man holes or whatever. Here it is illegal to use a phone while driving. But how do you enforce it? A cop has to see to do anything which rarely happens.

 

[VENOM1]

Its not a where you reside issue. Is a national epidemic. I live in Michigan but have also resides in Arizona & Colorado. Idiots texting and driving on every road in each state.

 

[CV355]

Agree. People these days cannot be without their dang phone for 30 seconds. It’s no wonder they walk into man holes or whatever. Here it is illegal to use a phone while driving. But how do you enforce it? A cop has to see to do anything which rarely happens.

There's a solution somewhere, but it'll be short lived until these degenerates find a way to disable it.

Cops do see it, but it's easily contestable by saying "nuh uh." It would be nice if there were "soft" deterrents in place, like detecting the speed of the phone by GPS and locking out messaging. "What about the passengers?" Simple- same solution we use in automation. Two hand tie down. If the phone is above a certain speed, both hands must be on it to remain in the messenger app- easy for a passenger, impossible for a driver.

Its not a where you reside issue. Is a national epidemic. I live in Michigan but have also resides in Arizona & Colorado. Idiots texting and driving on every road in each state.

True. I've driven in Michigan quite a bit. The problem exists, but doesn't seem as prevalent as down here (you guys and your crazy lefts... haha). I've driven through about half of the US, in major cities, etc, and I strongly believe that SC has the worst drivers. Even worse than MA and NY.

Population density also plays into it. I don't seem to see the issue as much when I'm in rural NC, or in the boonies in SC.

 

[PaxtonShelby]

The stupid is strong in this country. Hands-free doesn’t make a difference - you’re still distracted.

 

[Mpoitrast87]

Its a problem country wide. I refuse to do it and i wont get in a vehicle with someone that i know does it. I saw a video on instagram of guy driving his new s550 and he got hit head on by someone who crossed into his lane because of texting. Luckily he had a dash cam and suffered a broken leg i think.

 

[Coiled03]

Like others said, you can't move and avoid the problem. It's everywhere you go, now. I fear for my daughter's safety when she starts driving. I would've feared for her even before all this talking on the phone, and texting and driving crap started. Hopefully, by the time she's old enough, autonomous cars will be the norm, and it will be out of the hands of idiots.

 

[blk02edge]

They've started handing out 3k fines for it up here and 3 month driving bans, over the last couple years I have actually noticed a huge reduction in people doing it.

 

[Mpoitrast87]

The stupid is strong in this country. Hands-free doesn’t make a difference - you’re still distracted.

I think "infotainment" systems in general are bad. Anything touch screen is distracting. And now i even think front collision warning systems are bad. I had a customer tell me he wishes his new car had front collision system like his old car did because he often doesnt pay attention to whats in front of him. I was dumbfounded when he said that.

 

[CobraBob]

This coupled with automakers adding more and more features that have to be controlled on touch screens. More and more distractions. Man, back in the day you had radio push-buttons, heating and A/C controls, and that was about it.

Blocking texting by the driver is a tough nut to crack. It's darn near impossible to prevent the driver from texting on a cell phone. His, or a passenger's. It is definitely a huge safety issue. I see cars in town crossing over into the opposing line too frequently, or crossing onto the shoulder (where people could be walking). When I see it, and it continues more than 30 seconds or so, I call it in to the police dispatch. But 9 times out of 10 a cop is not going to catch that person at that time. It's futile. And freaking frustrating for sure!

Suddenly auto-driving vehicles are sounding better and better! But we're not yet close to it becoming a national reality.

EDIT: Just saw your post @Mpoitrast87 and opening sentences. We agree!

 

[vortecd]

They need to up the penalty if you are found texting while driving it would be 1 year in jail. They need to raise the bar where people will not do it. They also need a number to call if you see it so they can check the phone since I see it all the time.

I don't text at all so I will probably die by someone texting

 

[SHOdown220]

There's a couple videos on YouTube I think out of the UK of a motorcycle cop riding around in the city specifically looking for people with a phone in their hand. Soon as he sees them he taps on the window and tells them where to pull over for their ticket.

Point is i wish our police would take it more seriously and do things like that. I drive in charlotte every day and watch stop lights turn red and 4 or 5 more cars go through after the red with cops sitting at the intersection and nothing happens. People driving like complete idiots and being distracted and never getting pulled. There is almost 0 traffic enforcement in charlotte. The only people I ever actually see pulled over are by state troopers.

 

[olympic]

Police here have started riding city busses to get a birds eye view into peoples cars. 1 cop on the bus with a radio and 2 or 3 patrol cars following a couple blocks behind to nab the offenders. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...g-transit-to-nab-distracted-drivers-1.3992900

I agree it's at epidemic levels and something needs to change.

 

[Kevins89notch]

There's a couple videos on YouTube I think out of the UK of a motorcycle cop riding around in the city specifically looking for people with a phone in their hand. Soon as he sees them he taps on the window and tells them where to pull over for their ticket.

Point is i wish our police would take it more seriously and do things like that. I drive in charlotte every day and watch stop lights turn red and 4 or 5 more cars go through after the red with cops sitting at the intersection and nothing happens. People driving like complete idiots and being distracted and never getting pulled. There is almost 0 traffic enforcement in charlotte. The only people I ever actually see pulled over are by state troopers.

What's funny is I was in a local FB group for my part of town and the soccer moms (the group was 90% women) were always complaining about robberies and how they wanted more police activity near us.

Once they set up a speed trap and at least 2 group members got busted for like 41 in a 35. They tried the whole "why don't the police go catch real criminals" until I called them on getting exactly what they wanted, more police.

Another time police set up in a CVS parking lot to catch folks sneaking into a small strip of stores, down to the CVS parking lot and then exiting a side way, thus skipping a red light. A woman got busted and posted up her excuse of how its BS because she was going to stop at CVS till she saw the time and then decided to just head home.

(I shortly got banned from the group for being "rude")

Funny thing, I always think how easy it would be for a cop to almost hide behind a bush, wait for a red light, and then step out and tap of people's window for being on the phone while driving. Do this where they can easily then make a right into a parking lot where another officer is waiting to write the ticket. Two officers, maybe another one needed for faster writing of tickets, and I feel they could make serious money, in a short time.

 

[08mojo]

I agree the texting while driving needs to stop! It's sad we needs laws and officers to enforce the stupidity of not paying attention while driving. It's not hard to put your phone down while driving...that text, facebook post or instagram picture can wait 30 minutes until you stop driving.

There is definitely a solution to disable a phone while in the driver seat area. All modern cars enable or disable the passenger airbags based on occupancy, so there's one way to enable or disable phone features.

Or how about this: my 2008 corvette's (year stated to show how old/long ago this technology has been around) keyless fob was so sensitive that I could not start the car from the passenger seat because the keyfob was not detected. Have you ever been inside a corvette, they're tiny! Proximity sensors (or however it's done for keyless fobs) could be used and disable a phone in the driver seat area.

Once they set up a speed trap and at least 2 group members got busted for like 41 in a 35.

41 in a 35, and they got a ticket? If you're not going 10 over the limit here in atlanta, you're likely to get shot!

I also don't know why there needs to be a law regarding texting and driving--could it not just be distracted driving (is there already a law for that?)? I don't need to see a cell phone is someone's hand to determine if they were distracted while driving. Record the driving on the dash cam, pull them over, hand them the ticket, and then take the recording to court if needed.

 

[CV355]

It actually makes me feel better in some strange way knowing that everyone else is seeing it too. I keep getting told (usually by rose-colored-glasses wearers) that I'm just being hypervigilant and the problem isn't as bad as I am making it out to be. Tell that to the damage on my Volvo from driving it through a ditch and into someone's lawn from avoiding a texter last year.

They've started handing out 3k fines for it up here and 3 month driving bans, over the last couple years I have actually noticed a huge reduction in people doing it.

Huge thumbs up on that! I can imagine it now- some over-privledged teen gets pulled over in Daddy's Lexus for texting, gets slapped with a 3k fine, cries, loses their license, and can't participate in weekend degeneracy. Solves multiple problems! I like it!

 

[venmos1]

yep it happens everywhere. I see it almost on a daily basis. That and people driving with damn dogs in their laps. We have a 2 lane road (2 lanes in both directions like a highway, but without a divider) that is one of the most dangerous roads in the state. It is a 55mph zone and people absolutely fly on it. Several years ago (maybe 5 +/-) they (police) used to watch it, nailing a lot of speeders, Now you hardly every see them on it. If you do see a law enforcement vehicle its in the fast lane with no one around going about 70. I witnessed a young girl hit a car from behind (they were stopped in the left lane to turn left) right beside me. I was in the right lane. She went to swerve left but i was there and hit the car. I looked over just before she hit and saw her looking down on her phone. Dumb. There just needs to be more police out and about. One good thing around here is there are a lot more under covered police. I agree that there needs to be a heavy fine / consequence. It is super dangerous. But the problem i see is how do you treat it super serious when we see young kids go get wasted at a party, drive drunk and crash, and either kill a passenger in their car or someone else and they get a year in jail? Thats rediculous. The court system is F'ed up. We had this happen locally a few years ago and the father of the girl who crashed was lobbying for her to not get any jail time. Just probation. This country has so many issues. We should never have to fear for our lives driving down the road. Unfortunately its a reality. And like mentioned above, people who blow through red lights ......

 

[Coiled03]

But the problem i see is how do you treat it super serious when we see young kids go get wasted at a party, drive drunk and crash, and either kill a passenger in their car or someone else and they get a year in jail?

What do you mean how? You raise the penalty on BOTH.

 

[ViciousJay]

I love my hands free in my Durango, very easy to use and I my attention is fully on the road. I can say say out of 10 cars on the road 9 of them are people txting, I purposely count them on my way to work because they make a 45 min commute for me into over an hour and a half.

 

[Revvv]

Talk to text, and hands free Bluetooth is a huge benefit.

My phone sits in my pocket, or in the cupholder when I'm driving.

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