Thread: The Illegality Of Driving While Talking On A Cell Phone

How many of you live where it's illegal to drive a vehicle while you talk or text on a cell phone?



Where I live (in PA, USA), the Legislature decided to pass a "No Driving While Talking On A Cell Phone Law", however they neglected to anticipate the outrage and legal contention that would follow. A lawyer (full disclosure - I know him in real life), successfully sued to overturn a ticket his client received in violation of this law, and since police have been reluctant to enforce it. I'm sure they tack on something extra if you were talking on a phone while involved in an accident, though.

Do you think it should be illegal to talk and/or text on a cell phone while driving?

Or do you think current laws against negligence or reckless driving are sufficient?

Are you more distracted eating, changing cd/song, talking to passengers, etc. or do you consider it less distracting or about the same as when you talk or text on a cell phone?

apart from the Illegality ,talking on the phone while driving pose a danger to everyone on road.lack of concentration .which are all fatal..texting while driving is more distracting .so in my opinion do not use cell while driving..

Originally Posted by speedking

How many of you live where it's illegal to drive a vehicle while you talk or text on a cell phone?

Where I live (in PA, USA), the Legislature decided to pass a "No Driving While Talking On A Cell Phone Law", however they neglected to anticipate the outrage and legal contention that would follow. A lawyer (full disclosure - I know him in real life), successfully sued to overturn a ticket his client received in violation of this law, and since police have been reluctant to enforce it. I'm sure they tack on something extra if you were talking on a phone while involved in an accident, though.

Do you think it should be illegal to talk and/or text on a cell phone while driving?

Or do you think current laws against negligence or reckless driving are sufficient?

Are you more distracted eating, changing cd/song, talking to passengers, etc. or do you consider it less distracting or about the same as when you talk or text on a cell phone?

No matter what the public outcry is, these laws are good. When eating, you still are concentrated on the road. Changing a song takes a split second. When you're talking to another passenger, that passenger is watching the road also, and if you're starting to be reckless he can tell you that. If you're talking on a cell phone, that's where your attention is. There is nobody to tell you that you're in danger, and you could easily miss something like a sign or a pedestrian and end up killing someone (or yourself). Texting is even worse, since most people need two hands to text, meaning none on the steering wheel. Also, you're actually looking at a screen rather than the road, whereas with talking, at least you're looking at the road even if it doesn't have your full attention.
It's something that should never be done, basically.

There was actually a recent study (here amongst other places) that said that actually bans on texting while driving does not decrease accident rates. It's been disputed by some lawmakers, but it's been making the rounds for what that is worth.

Even still, I'm all for a ban on texting while driving. That's just too much and it's impossible to do while keeping enough attention on the road. Honestly for talking, though, I think it can be reasonable with the appropriate hands-free devices. If you're ever having to pull out your phone to mess with contacts or whatnot it's not going to work, but the conversation alone is not necessarily enough to be a problem.

As with anything, the focus needs to be on responsible driving. Talking on the phone, having a conversation in the car, eating, listening to music...any of these can be distracting if you let them be.

The worst one I ever saw? A group of girls having a very animated conversation in the car.....in sign language. It was even ok still until the driver half-turned, with both hands off the wheel in order to say something....

in australia it is also against the law to use mobile phones while driving,
which i suppose perhaps they could be a distraction partically texting.
Thanks god for hands free car kits.
Once caught though i cant see anyone getting away from the fine in anyway,
not here anyway

I am in NW Indiana but get the Chicago news. They do have the legislation that you have to have a hands free devise in order to talk while driving and there is no texting. Since a woman was just killed by a driver on a cell phone, they are trying to get legislation going to ban the use of cell phones in the car entirely. I don't know if that will be just the driver or any use.

Connecticut USA. It is illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving unless you use a hands free device. I find that every time there is someone driving like they have no clue what they are doing, they have a cell phone up to there ear. If you cant do 2 things at once then stay off the phone. They ruin it for everybody. I personally don't have a problem driveing and talking at the same time, but there are tons of stupid people that do. For people that don't like these new laws just remember "Its only illegal if you get caught."

It's inconsiderate to drive around talking on a cell phone. I have no idea how you can possibly concentrate on the road while texting. I'm fairly young and decent at texting and still do not see how that does not remove concentration from the road. I was hit by a car when I was younger although I luckily didn't suffer any damage and the person was not drunk nor distracted by texting. Now if you are distracted and paying less attention to what is on the road how can it possibly be the same? I believe that at the bare minimum headsets should be required if any cell phone is to be allowed. That way you are not trying to keep the phone on your head with one hand and grab the steering wheel with the other. Basically you can grab the wheel if needed and try to brake instead of scrambling with the phone on one. You might think logically you would drop it and grasp the wheel but I see women putting on make up with one hand, people eating, and god knows what else people do while driving so in reality it does not work how we would believe.

My opinion is that out of consideration for others you should put your attention on the road and limit distractions to the absolutely necessary which does not include drinking, eating, texting, putting on make up, etc.

I hate those kinds of ppl. who speaks on their phone in the same time while drivin' ... many, many accidents are happening for this reason, and is time to be more focus on the road.

I also live in a country where this is illegal, but ... rules are to be broken.