Seriously, WTF!

[Gary 351C]

When the hell is this going to stop! Someone needs to drop the hammer on this crap. Getting caught with your phone in your hand while driving needs to be the same as a DUI.

[Loren]

The crazy, bizarre moves in traffic that texter drivers do are only matched by the most severely intoxicated DUI violators. Sitting at green lights, swerving well out of lanes one way then the other, running straight into the back of other cars. We see them get away with it all the time, then sometimes they don't. Yes, penalties should equal DUI in my opinion.

[silver_bullet]

....

[malc]

Although being illegal to use a cell phone it´s rife here in Spain.
Last week I sat in horror in my car parked while a 4x4 tried to park beside me,
the driver using one hand while reversing the other hand holding the phone....
she´d already given up on a space further down the road..

[DanStokes]

Preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned. It makes me nuts.

Dan

[studemax]

Go back to driving cars with a 3 on the tree and no power steering. Problem solved.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I found his phone wrapped around the steering wheel



yeah, don't text and drive - it could be your brother that dies.

[Barry Donovan]

I have the cure.
manual transmissions and manual steering.

All automatics, into a junk pile... like aluminum engines after their first 5000 mile rebuild.

[Scott Liggett]

Its only going to get worse. The generation now gerring licenses grew up with a phone in their hand. They have years of training to pick it up every time it beeps. We have literally created a generation thst are trained like Pavlov's dog. Now, they have ro reverse thst training when they get behind the wheel. Hard to do.

[malc]

This is about as bad as it can get texting at the wheel...Texas last Wednesday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...bus-crash.html

[Gary 351C]

Its only going to get worse. The generation now gerring licenses grew up with a phone in their hand. They have years of training to pick it up every time it beeps. We have literally created a generation thst are trained like Pavlov's dog. Now, they have ro reverse thst training when they get behind the wheel. Hard to do.

I think you hit the nail on the head Scott. We have been dodging drunk drivers for the last century so now we just add cell phone junkies to the list.

[DanStokes]

To me the really sad thing is that we've developed a society where many people HAVE to drive to get to work, go shopping, etc. and now we seemingly have a generation for whom driving is an interruption to their phone calls, texts, and so on. To address this the car makers either have to close up shop or develop cars that don't require their operators (notice I didn't say "drivers") to pay attention to the act of operating the vehicle. And now we get the advent of self-driving cars that are programmed to take care of themselves and therefore their uninvolved occupants. So that's the way it's going.

Dan

[AndyB]

I realize that it's probably impossible, but it's a shame that simply driving poorly isn't against the law. Arguing with your spouse or yelling at the kids in the backseat is just as distracting as checking your phone for the 12th time this minute. Driving while too tired to see straight, while frustrated from work, or while 'legally' sober are all dangerous not just to the driver, but to the other cars as well. And then there's the folks that lack the skill in the first place, even when they are paying attention!

There's no substitute for paying attention and driving within your limits. It's like defensive driving, something that I don't think they even teach anymore.

[pdub]

I agree it'll only get worse as stated above. In fact it already IS worse.

I stopped at the beer/gas store on the way home from work a couple weeks ago. I tossed the beer into Bubba and was just about to close the door when an elderly lady came sort of hobbling quickly over to me, "SIR? SIR? Can you help us?"

She came from the car parked at the gas pump. "Our car won't start. Do you know anything about cars?" Y'all go ahead and laugh, because I sure did. Well....what's going on?

Young girl was driving, Grandma was riding along. Young girl was not in the least bit concerned about their predicament, she was texting. I said try to crank it. Young girl was texting. Grandma said "TRY TO CRANK IT." Young girl said, "Ok, wait a minute"...and finished that text message.

Young girl turned the switch. Click, growl....hmmmm I said "Do that again." Young girl behind the wheel was texting. Grandma didn't want to be stranded somewhere, she hollered at young girl, "DO IT AGAIN." Young girl finished her text message and then turned the key again.

I said, "It sounds like the battery is dead." Grandma asked if I knew what to do about that. I jumped them off, motor cranked. I told Grandma to make sure they were where they were going before they turned the motor off again. She gave me a hug and a whole lot of thanks. Young girl never looked up from her "smart" phone. THAT's where we are, everywhere.

[DanStokes]

As I read your story it dawned on me that that young woman is actually handicapped by technology. She is so restricted in her movements and her ability to pay attention to the world around her that she might as well be in a wheelchair and with some kind of mental condition. And maybe blind, too - take her to the Grand Canyon and she probably wouldn't/couldn't see it. What a shame. I wonder if this is what the folks who invented the smart phone had in mind?

Dan