Drinking and driving (Page 2 of 2)

While you are eating you are not in full control of the vehicle.

CB radio is the equivalent of the old police radios so if you banned CBs, the police would have to arrest themselves!  Don't quote me on that but I heard it somewhere and it makes a bit of sense!

Old Doll, I hear you when you say "whats so important about telephone calls" that they can't just wait. To me, I believe it is about the almighty $$$$$$$. I am a vice president for a construction company and must spend quite a bit of time driving. Any time you are driving it's just dead time. Without a way to either contact other people or have other people contact you a lotta business is missed. If I miss a call it is possible I could loose a project worth a whole lotta money. Is that worth hurting or killing someone in an auto accident - NO! But people are gonna use the phones regardless. I am presently working in California where they just recently banned all hand held cell phone use. Is it working? That depends on how well you can hide your phone while driving. As I drive around town I still see people with a cell phone in their ear. I see people driving while trying to adjust the earpiece to their phone. I have been using my phone as a handless unit but I do admit the ear piece is very annoying. I remember a long time ago when all the talk was about how the cell phone, laptop computer and pager were going to make our work easier. Well, it has not made work any easier for me. All it has done is force me to work longer hours just to keep up with what's going on each and every day.

This thread started as a different topic and (I guess it's my fault) gradually sliped to seat belts and cell phones. Am I against safety - NO, not by any means. My rant is "Where will it end"!
I got my 1st cell phone when there were very few of them available. You had to constantly update your roaming area every few miles just to be able to use the thing. I have not had an accident nor have I came close to having an accident while driving and talking on a phone(knock on wood). How many of us smoke? (I used too) Many times while smoking I would reach up with 2 fingers to take the cigarette outta my mouth only to have it stick to my lips and my fingers would knock the fire off the end onto my lap. (Poor Little Willie) At those time I have done some serious "trick driving". There are many more distractions out there that I believe are more serious than cell phone use while driving. Just the other nite, while stopped at a red light behind some IDIOT"S I got to watch part of a porno movie thru the back window of their Escalade. That's what I call dangerious! It was all I could do to stay behind them so I could see the rest of the movie.

NELA

Hey Kap they should let you off for the PR job you have done,see we all know ...we are just human
we all make mistakes..and some cost very dear...

This "I hear what your sayin'" response is just a polite way of saying you're full of s*** and I do not agree with you whatsoever. Civil right this, civil rights that, bla, bla, bla.... Accident reports all over the world are proving, without a shadow of doubt, that cell phone use in motor vehicles have now become the leading cause of traffic accidents. There is room to change and amend (upgrade) laws in a democratic society. Driving and using cell phones impairs ones' ability to safely operate a motor vehicle just as much as, or more, than chugin' down 2 or 3 beers. I, being of sound and rational mind, honestly feel that cell phone use in a vehicle, when resulting in serious injury or death to an innocent victim, in or out out of perpetrators' vehicle, should manifest the same punishment that occurs from drinking and driving. Why not? Same neglegence+same end result should = same consequence(i.e. punishment).
          There are however alternative solutions here to each dilemma that would end this nonsense altogether; take a freakin' cab and/or use a hands free cell phone device. And watch yer dirty movies at home, in private!(ahem)

    Common Sense Rules (or so we hope)!

Peace and Guitars,
SouthPaw41L

Lol NELA ... I bet you could have used a cigarette after that!

Welcome back Old Doll We missed you here in Chordie Land.I am very sorry to here of the accidents that have affected your family.It must have been a very difficult time.I do understand the reasons for me being charged and I do not dispute it.The bottom line is that I should not have been driving.Whether you are talking on a cell phone or texting or doing your make up or have your dog on your front lap or reading the paper,You Must Be in Control Of Your Vehicle.
However,I do dispute the reason for being pulled over which is why I intend to fight this charge.
No sour grapes here,just the way I see it.
Good to see this turning into a healthy conversation as by reading previous posts, there are many young Chordies out there that hopefully will take some of this information with them. Cause they have there whole life in front of them.
There are also some old Chordies out there that will hopefully learn something here to, because they have the rest of their lives in front of them.
Peace
KAP54

Thanks Nela,

I take your point. My own Sons and family have handsets and navigational systems. This world of high teck gives me great pleasure also. But im not driving a couple of ton doing so.
How must your brain feel, if and when you get a call for a couple of million dollars. work wise ?.  Please dont tell me you stay cool
and have an easy clarity to concentrate on driving.
My son was driving when he recieved the news Linda his girlfriend had died. in a car crash, he was 3 hours driving away from home. To this day he doesnt remember driving back home. I do! i remember every second. I thought id never see his car come up my driveway.
My own sons pal wrote off his car and nearly his life 2 years ago. He seen his bosses name come up on his cell. answered it,
dropped the phone, Then  without thinking picked it up, He ended up in a ditch.  His boss rang the emergency units as he heard the impact.
i do feel handsets are a wee bit safer but id rather not have phones at all in cars.
As for the porno crew? i promise you i wouldn't be lenient in that situtation. Id have memorized the reg and informed the police.

The car aint a place for this stupity.

A family member and his wife are having the deaf gene removed scientificly to have some children with out profound deafness.
Isnt it a pity we cannot remove " The stupid gene" which a lot of drivers around the world have!

This is a link for a drink dont drive .  Graphic but powerful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ni-SCc2Ig0

Ps. Thank you Kapa for the welcome back.  Its a long story as to why!  But it appears now with a very sad ending.
Life is precious.
Love from the Emerald. Keep the focus on your writing.

Old Doll.

To everyone. I never said using a cell phone or any other device, while driving, was a good thing. What I said was "Where will it end". No one has shown me the difference between dialing a phone number or selecting a radio station, changing a CD, setting your AC/heater controls, or drinking a cold drink, ect, ect, etc. Are these good thing  - NO! All these things require you to take your eyes off the road and your hands off the steering wheel. Is that safe driving - NO!
Do we do any or all these things (and others) while driving - YES! And don't anyone say that while driving they place 100% of their attention on the road. It just don't happen. Are there responsible drivers out there who can do any of these things while driving - I think so, but still not a good thing. What is the answer - I don't know.

I'm 57 years old - driving since I was 14 years old (raised in the country). Drive 40,000+ miles a year, only 4 traffic tickets since I been driving, never in an accident that I caused. Does this make me a safe driver - APPARENTLY NOT!

I know what you mean accidents and children. My youngest bumped into the rear of a lady (someone we knew) and scratched her bumber. A cop saw the accident but refused to issue a ticket since everyone was friendly and the damage was so slight. We told the lady that we would pay to get the scratch fixed and to just bring us an invoice. She did that, we paid $171.00. Next thing we knew we were being sued for medical damaged. She won - our insurance company paid out $50,000.00 - my son's insurance was canceled. Go figure. I guess thr right law suit is easier to when than the lottery.

nela