Originally Posted by Shirik
Where I live, it is actually illegal to drive while using a hands free kit (in most situations). It is perfectly legal to use cell phone while driving otherwise. The reasoning behind this isn't trivial, but I've had it explained to me once and it makes a hell of a lot more sense than any justification for banning the use of cell phones except when using a hands free kit that I have ever heard.
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That's a new one.
I've heard of banning it, period - the theory there is that it's not the act of holding the phone (using either your hand or your head/neck/shoulder) that's the problem, it's that your mind is focused on too many things at once and it's the conversation, not the traffic, that tends to come to the foreground.
I do not see, however, how it therefore follows that it should be allowed only when not using the headset. I'd love to hear that justification.
As for the actual legistlative issue.. I have to agree with Republic on this. If we had a law for every time someone said "They're oughtta be a law", well, we'd have millions of confusing, often contradictory laws, and basic freedoms would be blurred, obscured, removed. There are some clear-cut cases - like putting knives in other people - that should be outlawed except in specific situations. But if it's not obvious, skip the law.
In this case, driving while distracted by cellphones ranks fairly low on causes of accidents - behind things like driving while drunk, driving while changing the radio station (which has been going on since, oh, the 50's?), driving while tending to a child... plainly put, the roads aren't 100% safe, and focusing on one little niche cause of accidents isn't going to make much of a dent. Look at drunk driving - making it illegal didn't exactly make it not occur, now did it? I'll agree the law needs to exist in this case, but all it results in is something extra to charge the person with when the accident did occur.
For technology-related cases, the offending party ends up with a banged-up car, an immediate hole in their pocketbook, and a higher insurance rate. The victimized party ends up with a healthy dose of Life Happens, and eventually a fixed or new car. Modern car technology makes it unlikely this kind of accident will be fatal.. so, let it be.
Full Disclosure:
I will drive while holding the phone near my lap, on speakerphone. (Bluetooth, it turns out, is a pain to keep track of, keep charged, and put in ear only when needed.) I will also send & receive text messages when all I see are brake lights or a red traffic light - i.e. when not moving.
I have also been involved in 3 accidents:
1. Rear ended in Stop & Go traffic by someone from Maine who wasn't accustomed to NJ traffic patterns. He was also tired, and was about 20 hours in to a straight-through drive from Florida, alone. I was not manipulating technology at the time, and neither was the other driver.
2. Front car in a 4-car accident in Stop & Go traffic.. when the driver of the rear car mistook the brake peddle for the gas and slammed in to the car in front of them, pushing that car into another, and the other into me. Fortunately my car held. I was not manipulating technology at the time, and neither was anyone else involed.
3. Lost brake control on a damp, oily exit ramp. Steering remained operational, so I was able to quickly pull off the road and hit the guard rail rather than hit the car in front of me. I was not manipulating technology at the time.