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Put down the cell phone and drive!

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AJHawkfan

AJHawkfan

Wanna make $14 the hard way?
If this fits better in the Political Forum, feel free to move it.....

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0510catescellphone.html

Proposal: Crashing while on cell phone a felony

By Lisa A. Bernard

Staff Writer

HAMILTON | Motorists who cause crashes while talking on cellular phones could face harsher penalties under a proposal introduced by state Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester Twp.

Senate Bill 317 would allow charges of aggravated vehicular assault and aggravated vehicular homicide to be applied to an individual talking on a cell phone at the time of a crash.

Each violation is considered a felony. Ohio law charges motorists who drive under the influence of alcohol or narcotics with such offenses.

Cates said the bill was crafted after talking with the family of Richard Saxbury. He was killed in a car wreck this year after a motorist lost control of his vehicle while looking for his cell phone.

"If you talk to the Hamilton Safety Council or the Highway Patrol, they will tell you the more things you are doing to distract yourself while your are driving, the more likely you are going to be involved in an accident, and sometimes it can be fatal," Cates said. "In the case of Mr. Saxbury, his life ended one day because some guy reached for his cell phone."

The bill would exempt motorists using cell phones for emergency services.

Sponsor testimony has yet to be given but the bill has garnered the attention of lobbyists representing prosecutors, said Marianne White, a legislative aide in Cates' Columbus office.

"The prosecutors haven't come out in opposition to it, but they had said they have some concerns," White said. "What we've heard from the lobbyists is that when you increase penalties it can sometimes tie the prosecutors' hands.... I think they want to make sure there is some flexibility."

The bill has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Criminal Justice Committee.
 
osustamm said:
Good idea. But an even better question is... Why not tackle one issue at a time? Then maybe some some laws could actually get done.
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Good idea. Start with the food and drink. And then work on changing radio stations and CD's/tapes int he stereo. They've been causing accidents for decades. Cell phones are a rather new "problem". I quote it because I can't see how anyone can be so stupid as to not be able to talk and drive at the same time.
 
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If you use a headset it's the same as talking to someone who is in the passenger seat, but when someone is trying to hold the phone with one hand they most likely are going to drive worse. They only have one hand to react with, and they are less likely to be looking around and more likely to be focusing on holding the phone up to their ear.
 
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rock454 said:
If you use a headset it's the same as talking to someone who is in the passenger seat, but when someone is trying to hold the phone with one hand they most likely are going to drive worse. They only have one hand to react with, and they are less likely to be looking around and more likely to be focusing on holding the phone up to their ear.
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The only issue I see with cell phones is trying to dial a number or type a text message while driving. Talking on a cell phone is absolutely no different than talking to somebody else in the car while drinking a bottle of water. How many people always drive with hands at 10 and 2? We get $50 instant tickets if caught talking on a cell phone while driving on a military installation, but I don't agree with it. The MPs, however, can talk on a cell phone while driving....because they are trained to talk on a radio while driving
 
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scooter1369 said:
Good idea. Start with the food and drink. And then work on changing radio stations and CD's/tapes int he stereo. They've been causing accidents for decades. Cell phones are a rather new "problem". I quote it because I can't see how anyone can be so stupid as to not be able to talk and drive at the same time.
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I agree. Of all the dumb things I see on the road everyday, very few involve cell phones. I was about run over two weeks ago by a lady trying to read the newspaper while driving.
 
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I always love the excuses that talking on a cell phone is no worse than eating, having to discipline rowdy kids, or changing a radio/CD. Uh...you shouldn't be doing those things either b/c they're stupid and a source of distraction. Study after study (and a pretty cool episode of "Mythbusters") has shown talking on a cell phone while driving to be a very real and dangerous distraction regardless whether someone is using a headset or not (in some studies almost as bad as having a couple drinks). It's not hard to pull over to make/receive a call or actually wait until you reach your destination to handle that call unless you're just plain lazy or stupid. There are few (if any) phone calls that are worth an accident, injury, and poetntial loss of life (unless you're Jack Bauer or need to make an emergency call).

With that said, the type of legislation from the original post is nothing more than politcal grandstanding.
 
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Certainly there are exceptions to every rule; some people can safely drive while talking on a cell phone, reading a newspaper, eating lunch, applying makeup, or receiving road head.

However, as is the case with everything in life, a few people ruin it for everyone else. No one can deny that some people have a tendenacy to get totally engrossed in their conversation and totally ignore their surroundings - not exactly the type of person I want rolling up to the same intersection I'm trying to drive through.

Add in to the equation the number of younger, inexperienced drivers (who generally have the attention span of a fruit fly anyway) who also have cell phones, and you have a lot of dangerous people driving around not paying a bit of attention to the road.
 
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ArtilleryBuck said:
The only issue I see with cell phones is trying to dial a number or type a text message while driving. Talking on a cell phone is absolutely no different than talking to somebody else in the car while drinking a bottle of water. How many people always drive with hands at 10 and 2?
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The problem comes in that the worst offenders don't change any other driving habits while talking on the phone. So, aside from driving while fucking with the CD changer, radio, moon roof, food & drink, and smoking a cigarette, now the driver is trying to handle the cell phone too.

StooGrimson is correct, there is ZERO excuse for it. There are no calls that are that important.

Cell phones have become a public nuisance.
 
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AJHawkfan said:
Certainly there are exceptions to every rule; some people can safely drive while talking on a cell phone, reading a newspaper, eating lunch, applying makeup, or receiving road head.
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I'd just like to go on record to state that I have never applied makeup while driving. :wink2:
 
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