More people driving off the road

[Goldenhawk]

...I can look around on any day and see people on the cell phone at the GAS PUMP, even though the sign clearly says it could blow you sky high. The Gas Station people don't enforce their rules either. So, why would you think the police would? ...

There are two reasons the gas stations don't enforce those rules.

One, those signs are up there because some lawyers say they should put signs up, not because anyone actually believes something bad will happen. There are zero proven cases of cell phones causing a gas pump fire - ZERO - in two decades of use across the world. There's a far, far, far higher chance that a lightning bolt will explode the pump than a cell phone - yet you don't see signs saying not to pump gas in a thunderstorm!

And two, they don't get enforced because the average American will go postal if told they can't do whatever they want, by anyone other than a police officer, and even then they might still go postal. What poor counter clerk wants to have a fist in their face for trying to enforce a definitively silly rule?

Now, we KNOW distracted driving is a thing. THAT rule ought to be enforced. So back to your regularly scheduled arguments.

 

[kom526]

There are already laws on the books about distracted driving but most of them are secondary offenses I believe. If you want to reduce cell phone induced distracted driving then make it a primary offense AND remove the loophole that exempts police from using a handheld cell phone while driving.

 

[glhs837]

I think we should pray for those that are deceased. And pray that at some point all of us wake up. As you said, you stop at traffic light, you see it. When I stop to get a newspaper at lunch time at the Wawa, I can look around on any day and see people on the cell phone at the GAS PUMP, even though the sign clearly says it could blow you sky high. The Gas Station people don't enforce their rules either. So, why would you think the police would? And yes, I have even seen the police go on off the road for the same reason. They are distracted too.

Yep, there was a scare years back, and the gas stations went high and right rather than actually analyse the data and make an informed choice.

 

[3CATSAILOR]

Ricky Van Shelton

Cool! I was wondering who it was. I know others sang the song. I don't know who the first was.

 

[3CATSAILOR]

I know of several bad accidents in the last few months on Piney Point Rd alone...where the vehicles seemingly just drove off a perfectly straight stretch of road in broad daylight and collided with large trees after leaving it. Gotta be cell-phone related.

You rarely will know whether or not it is actually cell related. The police will have to get a court order to review the cell records. Something called the 4th Amendment seems to get in the way of accessing someones cell information. I don't know why the police would attempt to access cell records after someone is already dead. The police are not stupid. They are more intelligent than most of the folks out here. They know there is a huge problem with distracted driving caused by cell phone abuse. What I don't understand is why they don't have a "long term" solution for the problem. Their short term traffic initiatives does nothing. Long term enforcement with much higher fines is the only thing people with this "addiction" will understand. Yes, we need to educate adults and the children in schools to stay off the cell when driving. But, at the end of the day, LONG TERM enforcement with heavy fines is the only thing that will cure people from their addiction. Until then, more is likely to die. Unfortunately, I suspect it will be a lot more. It is now April 2nd. Start counting.

 

[RetiredCPO]

You rarely will know whether or not it is actually cell related. The police will have to get a court order to review the cell records. Something called the 4th Amendment seems to get in the way of accessing someones cell information. I don't know why the police would attempt to access cell records after someone is already dead. The police are not stupid. They are more intelligent than most of the folks out here. They know there is a huge problem with distracted driving caused by cell phone abuse. What I don't understand is why they don't have a "long term" solution for the problem. Their short term traffic initiatives does nothing. Long term enforcement with much higher fines is the only thing people with this "addiction" will understand. Yes, we need to educate adults and the children in schools to stay off the cell when driving. But, at the end of the day, LONG TERM enforcement with heavy fines is the only thing that will cure people from their addiction. Until then, more is likely to die. Unfortunately, I suspect it will be a lot more. It is now April 2nd. Start counting.

They can get records and it does matter! My sister-in-law was killed by a NYC sanitation driver who claimed he was watching were he backing and following the directions of his observer. All the accounts of the "accident" were changed when he was confronted with his cell phone records showing he was talking to his family at the time and his "required observer" was no were near the back of the truck. He just threw it in reverse thinking he was backing down a one-way street he just came down and nothing would be behind him.... well he just went on talking and backed over my sister crushing her... THERE IS NO REASON TO BE ON THE PHONE WHILE YOU ARE IN THE DRIVERS SEAT OF ANY VEHICLE ON A PUBLIC ROAD, PERIOD! Not at a stop light, not while you believe you're driving slow enough to be safe, none, PERIOD!

 

[BernieP]

I think maybe the numbers have not changed so much as shifted. As DUI offroads have decreased, cell phone ones have increased. So the 2ams have gone down while the 2pms have increased.

Oh I think we get plenty of DUIs
There is a certain level of stupid that we just can't get rid of.

But yes, I would agree, the number of distracted drivers has increased as the number of vehicles on the road has gone up.

 

[glhs837]

Oh I think we get plenty of DUIs
There is a certain level of stupid that we just can't get rid of.

But yes, I would agree, the number of distracted drivers has increased as the number of vehicles on the road has gone up.

Rate of DUIs over the last 20 years? Here's from 82 to 2011....

http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html

We've cut it from 60% down to 38%. Still far too many, but far better than it was. And I'll bet, were we to have good numbers, distracted driving fatalities are increasing at a far larger rate than the increase in vehicle miles driven.

 

[3CATSAILOR]

There are two reasons the gas stations don't enforce those rules.

One, those signs are up there because some lawyers say they should put signs up, not because anyone actually believes something bad will happen. There are zero proven cases of cell phones causing a gas pump fire - ZERO - in two decades of use across the world. There's a far, far, far higher chance that a lightning bolt will explode the pump than a cell phone - yet you don't see signs saying not to pump gas in a thunderstorm!

And two, they don't get enforced because the average American will go postal if told they can't do whatever they want, by anyone other than a police officer, and even then they might still go postal. What poor counter clerk wants to have a fist in their face for trying to enforce a definitively silly rule?

Now, we KNOW distracted driving is a thing. THAT rule ought to be enforced. So back to your regularly scheduled arguments.

Good point!