NTSB Recommends FULL BAN on Use of Cell Phones while Driving

[Barefootsies]

Sweet justice.

Washington (CNN) -- Federal accident investigators Tuesday called for a nationwide ban on the use of cell phones and text messaging devices while driving.

Study: Half of young people text, drive

The recommendation is the most far-reaching yet by the National Transportation Safety Board, which in the past 10 years has increasingly sought to limit the use of portable electronic devices. It has recommended such bans for novice drivers, school bus drivers and commercial truckers.

The new recommendation, if adopted by states, would outlaw non-emergency phone calls and texting by operators of every vehicle on the road.
It would not apply to hand-free devices or to passengers.

FULL ARTICLE

[halfpint]

We have this over here in the UK

It is illegal to drive a vehicle or ride a motorcycle while using a hand-held mobile phone. This also applies to any similar device (that must be held at some point) to:

* send or receive spoken or written messages or still or moving images
* access the internet

These devices include smartphones or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).

While driving, you must not use your hand-held mobile phone, smartphone or PDA:

* to make or receive calls
* to send or receive picture and text messages
* to access the internet
* when you're stopped at traffic lights
* when you're queuing in traffic

It’s also illegal to use a hand-held phone when supervising a learner driver or rider.

If you're an employer, you can be prosecuted if you ask your employees to make or receive calls while driving.

The penalties for using your phone while driving

If you're caught using a hand-held mobile phone or similar device while driving or riding, you can expect to get an automatic fixed penalty notice. This means you'll get three penalty points on your driving licence and have to pay a fine of £60.

However, your case may go to court. If it does, you may also face disqualification from driving or riding on top of a maximum fine of £1,000. If you're a driver of a bus or goods vehicle, you could face a maximum fine of £2,500.

Article stolen from the DVLA Gov website and no link cause i dont give a rats arse about our stupid Gov.

[DVTimes]

We have this over here in the UK

It is illegal to drive a vehicle or ride a motorcycle while using a hand-held mobile phone. This also applies to any similar device (that must be held at some point) to:

* send or receive spoken or written messages or still or moving images
* access the internet

These devices include smartphones or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).

While driving, you must not use your hand-held mobile phone, smartphone or PDA:

* to make or receive calls
* to send or receive picture and text messages
* to access the internet
* when you're stopped at traffic lights
* when you're queuing in traffic

It?s also illegal to use a hand-held phone when supervising a learner driver or rider.

If you're an employer, you can be prosecuted if you ask your employees to make or receive calls while driving.

The penalties for using your phone while driving

If you're caught using a hand-held mobile phone or similar device while driving or riding, you can expect to get an automatic fixed penalty notice. This means you'll get three penalty points on your driving licence and have to pay a fine of £60.

However, your case may go to court. If it does, you may also face disqualification from driving or riding on top of a maximum fine of £1,000. If you're a driver of a bus or goods vehicle, you could face a maximum fine of £2,500.

Article stolen from the DVLA Gov website and no link cause i dont give a rats arse about our stupid Gov.

all you do is have darken windows and no one can see you use it.

everybody uses a mobile while driving.

[PR_Glen]

kinda ridiculous they even need to make it a law isn't it?

illegal to drive a motorcycle while texting? shit, they may need to make it illegal to change your pants while driving a motorcycle too..for all those flexible people out there ;)

[halfpint]

all you do is have darken windows and no one can see you use it.

everybody uses a mobile while driving.

Well I dont If it rings while im driving i just let it ring, If its a text it can wait until i have stopped driving . If its important they will ring me back

[Barefootsies]

everybody uses a mobile while driving.

The government/police should go after cell phones like they have done with seat belts for the past 20 years. By that I mean their campaigns where they proactively seeking these drivers out, pull them over, and start hitting them with $1500.00 fines per incident, plus confiscation of the phone.

[PR_Glen]

The government/police should go after cell phones like they have done with seat belts for the past 20 years. By that I mean their campaigns where they proactively seeking these drivers out, pull them over, and start hitting them with $1500.00 fines per incident, plus confiscation of the phone.

exactly.. that would in itself save lives...

[fitzmulti]

About time!

[2intense]

[bronco67]

While I'm walking my dog in the morning, I just have a habit of looking at cars driving by me. Almost every female has a phone in front of her face. Not talking. She's just looking at the screen or texting.

I don't think it will be a huge issue in the coming years, when every car will have bluetooth handsfree, and devices with voice input or siri. Right now, it's pretty dangerous with all of these dumb bitches that can't put their phone away for a few minutes to drive.

[MPGdevil]

What I don't understand is, everyone want's the latest technology and the coolest phones, yet they cant afford a handsfree car kit?

[Barry-xlovecam]

Slow down, stop the vehicle and make the call.

Incoming, either stop the vehicle to answer or call them back when you are off the road.

Inconvenient? awww ... More inconvenient to be in an accident or worse because of someone's need for instant communication.

Most places it is the law that you need to be in control of a motor vehicle at all times so in many cases they could enforce a no cell phone use while driving ban right now.

[stephane76]

about time!!

[BlackCrayon]

had that law in ontario for over a year now.

[ottopottomouse]

all you do is have darken windows and no one can see you use it.

everybody uses a mobile while driving.

Tinted front windows is a £30 fine and you have to remove the film before you can drive away.

[PR_Glen]

had that law in ontario for over a year now.

they aren't enforcing it though.. or not enough.

the simple solution would be to make universal phone docks mandatory on all new cars... even make it mandatory to retrofit old ones.

[rowan]

It's banned in Australia too.

Funny thing is that you're still permitted to use a CB radio.

[wehateporn]

I know people over here who think that they are fine talking on the phone while driving as long as it is hands-free; they have a 'belief' that it is not slowing down their reactions. With this type of person you'd need to take them on a course and demonstrate to them how it's adversely effecting their reaction time.

"Vision is the most important sense for safe driving. Yet, drivers using hands-free phones (and those using handheld phones) have a tendency to ?look at? but not ?see? objects. Estimates indicate that drivers using cell phones look but fail to see up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment.Distracted drivers experience what researchers call inattention blindness, similar to that of tunnel vision. Drivers are looking out the windshield, but they do not process everything in the roadway environment that they must know to effectively monitor their surroundings, seek and identify potential hazards, and respond to unexpected situations."

http://www.nsc.org/safety_road/Distr...5-25-10%29.pdf

[rowan]

I know people over here who think that they are fine talking on the phone while driving as long as it is hands-free; they have a 'belief' that it is not slowing down their reactions. With this type of person you'd need to take them on a course and demonstrate to them how it's adversely effecting their reaction time.

So does this mean a ban on conversing with your passenger(s) is forthcoming?

[Jarmusch]

What I don't understand is, everyone want's the latest technology and the coolest phones, yet they cant afford a handsfree car kit?

You need your hands to text.

[Barefootsies]

I know people over here who think that they are fine talking on the phone while driving as long as it is hands-free; they have a 'belief' that it is not slowing down their reactions. With this type of person you'd need to take them on a course and demonstrate to them how it's adversely effecting their reaction time.

It still effects them to some degree.

The same way a teetering MceeDee's beverage in a cup holder rocks back and forth going around corners, and you have to be mindful and remember to put your hand on there when making a turn.

However, I think we can both agree it's safer and less distracting to do the cup holder-hand move than trying to turn a wheel with the cup in your hand.

[wehateporn]

So does this mean a ban on conversing with your passenger(s) is forthcoming?

Good question, the two types of conversations have a lot of differences. It is not as easy to regulate the phone conversation as it is the passenger conversation.

Passengers can distract drivers too without a doubt. Some studies say that phones distract more, others say both are equally distracting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_...r_conversation

Comparisons with passenger conversation

The scientific literature is mixed on the dangers of talking on a cell phone versus those of talking with a passenger. The common conception is that passengers are able to better regulate conversation based on the perceived level of danger, therefore the risk is negligible. A study by a University of South Carolina psychology researcher featured in the journal, Experimental Psychology, found that planning to speak and speaking put far more demands on the brain’s resources than listening. Measurement of attention levels showed that subjects were four times more distracted while preparing to speak or speaking than when they were listening.[26] The Accident Research Unit at the University of Nottingham found that the number of utterances was usually higher for mobile calls when compared to blindfolded and non-blindfolded passengers across various driving conditions. The number of questions asked averaged slightly higher for mobile phone conversations, although results were not constant across road types and largely influenced by a large number of questions on the urban roads.[27]

A 2004 University of Utah simulation study that compared passenger and cell-phone conversations concluded that the driver performs better when conversing with a passenger because the traffic and driving task become part of the conversation. Drivers holding conversations on cell phones were four times more likely to miss the highway exit than those with passengers, and drivers conversing with passengers showed no statistically significant difference from lone drivers in the simulator.[28] A study led by Andrew Parkes at the Transport Research Laboratory, also with a driving simulator, concluded that hands-free phone conversations impair driving performance more than other common in-vehicle distractions such as passenger conversations.[29] However, some have criticized the use of simulation studies to measure the risk of cell-phone use while driving since the studies may be impacted by the Hawthorne effect.[30]

In contrast, the University of Illinois meta-analysis concluded that passenger conversations were just as costly to driving performance as cell phone ones.[12] AAA ranks passengers as the third most reported cause of distraction-related accidents at 11 percent, compared to 1.5 percent for cellular telephones.[7] A simulation study funded by the American Transportation Research Board concluded that driving events that require urgent responses may be influenced by in-vehicle conversations, and that there is little practical evidence that passengers adjusted their conversations to changes in the traffic. It concluded that drivers' training should address the hazards of both mobile phone and passenger conversations.[31]

[wehateporn]

It still effects them to some degree.

The same way a teetering MceeDee's beverage in a cup holder rocks back and forth going around corners, and you have to be mindful and remember to put your hand on there when making a turn.

However, I think we can both agree it's safer and less distracting to do the cup holder-hand move than trying to turn a wheel with the cup in your hand.

Nice analogy

[scouser]

everybody uses a mobile while driving.

most people dont tbh. maybe in slow traffic but most ignore/pull over if going fast.