While that information is troubling, I don't see how it supports a ban on cell phones while driving. You would still be able to use your cell phone (and thus be traced) while sitting in a parked car or, more importantly, while at any of the example locations in the article such as the battered women's shelter. I'm just not seeing the relevance...

No relevance. It just seemed like a fun way to tweak a discussion.

Just checking. I was afraid I'd missed something. (As usual!)

I need to be sure not to make any calls from the donut shop now. Then everyone will know I broke my diet!

The other night, my wife and I were driving home and saw a pickup driving down the highway with 2 video screens playing. At first, we thought they were behind the head rests in the jump seat. As we passed them (at on obviously reasonable and prudent speed), we determined that they had 1 DVD player hooked up to 2 monitors strapped to the driver's and passenger's sun screens, so the driver could watch the movie too! Is this not getting out of hand???

Lets keep this kinda quite or my girlfriend will never be able to get any of her daughters to answer their cell phones (not that she has much luck now... and NO, it's not b/c they are driving and thus acting responsible.)

Well David,
It's a good thing you didn't run off the road or lose control of your vehicle while you were watching the other folks' movie, passing their truck and all the while noticing: 1 DVD hooked up to 2 monitors, strapped to the driver's and passenger's sunscreens (what's that?), with a scratch on the left volume knob, a piece of lint on the upper right-hand portion of the passenger's monitor, 1/8 showing on the fuel gauge...sorry, I couldn't pass it up.

A.P.

It wouldn't have bothered me if the dog's barking from beneath the passenger's feet wasn't drowning out my ability to hear the movie!

Study: Cell phone use quadruples crash risk

Posted:02/06/2006

Drivers talking on a cell phone are four times more likely to get into a serious accident, according to a new study out of Australia.

Using a hands-free phone didn't affect that risk, suggesting that the distraction of having a conversation while on the road - not holding the phone - increases your chances of having an accident.

Only a few states have laws that prohibit using a handheld cell phone while driving: Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. Several other states allow local governments to enact similar laws. Check on the laws in your state.

But researchers say the latest study shows these laws may not be effective because the risk remains whether drivers use a handheld or a hands-free phone.

The study, conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, was based on the experience of 456 drivers who owned a cell-phone and had been injured in a crash.

The increased crash risk remained the same regardless of sex, age or weather conditions.

The findings were consistent with 1997 research that showed a similar increase in risk.

Cell Phones Make Drivers as Bad as Drunks
Cell Phones Make Drivers as Bad as Drunks

By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Managing Editor
posted: 29 June 2006
01:00 pm ET

A study in which both the participants and the scientists got sloshed has shown that motorists who talk on cell phones while driving are as impaired as drunk drivers.

The scientists did their drinking during a pilot to the main study, which involved 40 volunteers.

By participating, the researchers gained insight to what makes people think they can drive safely while using a cell phone or when drunk. They're now advocating for laws to address the growing problem.

Yes, but until they can show that cell phones cause HGN to become apparent and create an odor of an alcoholic beverage, I think the "cell phone" defense (in DWI cases) still fails. But that's just me.

[This message was edited by Gretchen on 06-30-06 at .]

A passenger not wearing a seatbelt endangers no one but himself. Having an open container endangers no one, period. Yet these activites are illegal.

On the other hand, cell phones actually endanger others, but it is legal to use them. So yes I think cell phone usage should be prohibited while driving. This would be a small step towards achieving some rationality in this area of the law.

As Jane Starnes said more amusingly in another thread recently, who needs research? I drive 42 miles each way from home to the office crossing north of the metroplex and I see more bad driving while phones are used (handheld or hands-free) than any other distraction while driving. Many drivers seem to get in some kind of trance and driving becomes a peripheral matter. It is downright scary at times and to think much of the usage is probably trivial conversation is even more disturbing. I have come to have tremendous respect for those who pull over to use their phones. The roads have become too busy for such an absorbing distraction.

I know I will catch some flack but I have to weigh in on this.

You need to differentiate between driving in metro areas and rural areas. If I am driving in Houston,Dallas, Austin, etc. and the phone rings, I'll get it when I get to my destination.

BUT .....

I live in rural East Texas and have a one hour drive to work and a one hour drive home, all of it on rural state highways and FM's. There are times when I call my wife just so she can keep me awake while I am driving.

Let's not make to blanket at ban. Especially with the problem of some (although just a few) rural law enforcement officers using any excuse to pull someone over. I know a constable or two that would double the county revenue if the law was too broad.

Like you Paul, I have been driving for an hour each way since beginning law school 20 years ago. I have resisted using the phone for the purpose you describe though. For that, I have fresh air, the radio, and even breaks. I do understand what you are saying about open rural roads being of a different nature. Unfortunately, the all-too-absorbing distraction of the phone is still there. Also, how can a compromise restriction be regulated with effectiveness? As is often the case (think gun laws) the good guys pay the price for the bad guys actions. Generally, our roads would be safer without cell-phone usage.

[This message was edited by John Stride on 06-30-06 at .]

I commute from Round Rock to DPS headquarters, so I deal with lots of traffic. I listen to books on tape or CDs which make traffic jams much more bearable. I find them much less distracting than trying to have a cell phone conversation, perhaps because the latter requires interaction on my part. Even with the books, if they get too exciting, I will switch to music until traffic thins out.

Janette Ansolabehere

I agree definitely about cell phones in traffic. Of course, I am a small town boy and when I am in traffic I don't want any distractions. I won't even let my wife and child talk to me.

And John,as to the compromise restriction, I don't know. I just generally fear making a law too broad. Maybe such an austere group as the prosecutors and staff who are part of TDCAA could brainstorm. It seems that there should be a way to write a law other than to say, "no cell phone while you are in your car." Maybe limit it to certain types of highways or certain traffic situations or exclude some types of roadways or traffic situations. I am not saying I am against the law. Just don't make it so broad it's application becomes unjust.

I can see an exception for emergency calls to 911, which can be verified by events or phone records. But often, even those could be made from the side of the road. What other specific exceptions could there be that can be effectively monitored?

I have also had to shut down books on tape while driving because I could not handle the multi-tasking in traffic. On occasion I will even turn of the radio for the same reason (or because I can't compete with the "boom-boom-boom" vibrating from the vehicle alongside)

[This message was edited by John Stride on 06-30-06 at .]

[This message was edited by John Stride on 06-30-06 at .]

Well, I am sure that someone would suggest that booty calls be immune from regulation.

I live in a rural area too. Although most of my driving is not on rural roads, I find them as dangerous as busy roads. Roads are often too narrow with little or no shoulder and usually very curvy or hilly. If you veer out of your lane just a wee bit catching a tire on a muddy shoulder or into the oncoming traffic isn't it still dangerous? Look at the rollover that was on TV several months ago where the person tried to avoid an accident by moving over and hit the soft median and rolled her vehicle I think 3-5 times, maybe more. It would be very difficult to restrict phone usage by the type of road. That would be equivalent to limiting it to use on roads that had a 30 mph speed limit or less, but that would be more rational than rural roads that have a 70 mph.

If you really want to do the law right, it would make sense to me to determine exactly where, how, and in what circumstance cell phone are causing accidents.

I would suggest that, for a six month period prior to drafting a bill, all law enforcement be asked (or mandated) to keep track of all accidents where cell phones played a role or were a factor. That might shed some light on how to draft the bill.

In rural East Texas, I can't really say that I have seen cell phones being a problem, but I admit that I don't have access to all the accident reports that might reflect otherwise. My wife says that I am also projecting my own driving onto everyone else and that my drive is not demonstrative of how most others drive. It sounds like everyone responding is a very careful and caution driver so I am not out of the normal with the others in this forum. And I am sure there are lots of dangerous drivers out there that do all the things referred to in all the posts. Of course, those dangerous drivers will be dangerous regardless of whether they have a cell phone to there ear or not.