Cell phone fine

[Fergymunster]

My friend just called and got a $90 fine for using his cell phone in a car in NYC.Yes they are inforcing it.

[Kaboom]

90 bucks. count your blessings. the fine is 300€ here in spain. just shy of 400 bucks

[texlle]

Well, that's pretty crappy. I don't use my cell phone much while driving. If I do, I make conversation short.

[ericl]

good. people who talk on their cells while driving are not concentrating on driving. they are a annoying as hell, not to mention dangerous.

[PAT.P]

good. people who talk on their cells while driving are not concentrating on driving. they are a annoying as hell, not to mention dangerous.

I agree with you Eric.I see them on cells ,eat at same time and dont concentrate on braking distance .The Youth are the worst when they combined their loud music.

[Resident Loser]

My friend just called and got a $90 fine for using his cell phone in a car in NYC.Yes they are inforcing it.

...now if they can get the people to actually stop at STOP signs and red lights...and get the Nassau and Suffolk county cops and the NYS state troopers to enforce the speed limit on the LIE and Northern State Parkway...and get the tailgaters off my backside when I'm already, quite literally, forced to exceed the posted limits by their @hole driving habits...

jimHJJ(...I can dream, can't I?...)

[GMichael]

...now if they can get the people to actually stop at STOP signs and red lights...and get the Nassau and Suffolk county cops and the NYS state troopers to enforce the speed limit on the LIE and Northern State Parkway...and get the tailgaters off my backside when I'm already, quite literally, forced to exceed the posted limits by their @hole driving habits...

jimHJJ(...I can dream, can't I?...)

While you're at at, why not stop women from putting on make-up & guys from shaving while they drive?

Oh well. At least it's a step in the right direction.

My foolish thought of the day: Most cell phones have GPS now right? Why not make them disabled at speeds above 10mph unless dialing 911?

[FLZapped]

While you're at at, why not stop women from putting on make-up & guys from shaving while they drive?

Add to that teachers grading papers, lawyers reading legal briefs. And so on, and so on. Hey, how about cops talking on their radios, or taxi drivers for that matter?

Oh well. At least it's a step in the right direction.

No, it isn't. It is a knee-jerk reaction to stupid people who can't talk and drive at the same time. It isn't the only offense on the road, as listed above. It is just the latest poster child for poor driving habits.

There were already laws available, i.e.: Wreckless Driving. If that were being enforced, we wouldn't need a special set of laws. It only penalizes those who can manage two tasks at once.

-Bruce

[GMichael]

Add to that teachers grading papers, lawyers reading legal briefs. And so on, and so on. Hey, how about cops talking on their radios, or taxi drivers for that matter?



No, it isn't. It is a knee-jerk reaction to stupid people who can't talk and drive at the same time. It isn't the only offense on the road, as listed above. It is just the latest poster child for poor driving habits.

There were already laws available, i.e.: Wreckless Driving. If that were being enforced, we wouldn't need a special set of laws. It only penalizes those who can manage two tasks at once.

-Bruce

It's the latest craze. A new way to not pay attention to what they are doing. People get bored too easily. They're always looking for something else to do to keep them busy. And they all think that they are the ones who can do more than one thing at a time. Bull. Put the phone down. Put everything else down too. Watch the road and keep two hands on the wheel. People's lives are a stake.

[ForeverAutumn]

It's the latest craze. A new way to not pay attention to what they are doing. People get bored too easily. They're always looking for something else to do to keep them busy. And they all think that they are the ones who can do more than one thing at a time. Bull. Put the phone down. Put everything else down too. Watch the road and keep two hands on the wheel. People's lives are a stake.

Well said.

I'm a sales rep. I drive around the Province in which I live. I spend A LOT of time in my car, frequently travelling to cities that are hours away. I refuse to use my phone when I drive. If my customers need me, they can leave me a voicemail message. That's why I have voicemail. If I'm on a long drive I will stop approximately every hour to stretch my legs and return phone calls. I will not put my life, or anyone else's life, at risk in an attempt to try to work and drive at the same time. My customers are important to me. However, I have no qualms in telling them that nothing is so important or so urgent that I feel the need to risk a life. Not one of them has ever argued that point with me.

People who think that something is soooo important that they can't wait until they are not moving to make or accept a phone call are just ignorant. I think that $90 is far too small a fine.

A couple of years ago, I was hit by a woman who ran a red light. She stopped, briefly, and then split the scene. A witness said that the woman was on the phone when she hit me. On the phone and too engrossed in her conversation to realize that the light had turned red. And it hadn't just changed either. She wasn't running a yellow that had turned red. It had been red for several seconds...long enough for me to be in the middle of the intersection when she ran it. She hit me on the passenger side and, luckily, I didn't have a passenger in the car so no-one was hurt. But if they had been...well...I just hope that her phone call was important enough to have been worth it.

[FLZapped]

It's the latest craze. A new way to not pay attention to what they are doing. People get bored too easily. They're always looking for something else to do to keep them busy. And they all think that they are the ones who can do more than one thing at a time. Bull. Put the phone down. Put everything else down too. Watch the road and keep two hands on the wheel. People's lives are a stake.

I agree, it is the latest craze. I also agree that people need to pay closer attention to their driving. I ride the bus to and from work and the majority of the idiots I see daily are NOT using cellphones, they are simply careless.

The last accident I had was from some guy playing with his in-dash CD player and not talking on a cellphone.

-Bruce

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Add to that teachers grading papers, lawyers reading legal briefs. And so on, and so on. Hey, how about cops talking on their radios, or taxi drivers for that matter?



No, it isn't. It is a knee-jerk reaction to stupid people who can't talk and drive at the same time. It isn't the only offense on the road, as listed above. It is just the latest poster child for poor driving habits.

There were already laws available, i.e.: Wreckless Driving. If that were being enforced, we wouldn't need a special set of laws. It only penalizes those who can manage two tasks at once.

-Bruce

Bruce,
It has long been proven time and time again that NOBODY is good at doing both. We may think we can drive and talk, but test after test after test done shows that everyone (at least those tested who claimed they were good at both) has diminished driving skills once they pick up that phone and begin to talk. Even those using headset had diminished driving skills.

It has already been said in this thread, cars and cellphones do not mix.

[FLZapped]

Bruce,
It has long been proven time and time again that NOBODY is good at doing both. We may think we can drive and talk, but test after test after test done shows that everyone (at least those tested who claimed they were good at both) has diminished driving skills once they pick up that phone and begin to talk. Even those using headset had diminished driving skills.

It has already been said in this thread, cars and cellphones do not mix.

Did you miss the point. Is it any worse than a lawyer reading his legal briefs on the way to court? A woman putting on make-up? Man shaving? etc. These are examples where people actualy take their eyes completely off the road (which would apply to cellphone users dialing out while driving.)

It is a law not needed. If soemone is driving poorly, including those who can't drive properly when they aren't doing something else, charge them with reckless driving, or wreckless endangerment, both which have been around since nearly day one.

Ya don't need a seperate law that penalizes someone who is NOT displaying any reduction in their driving ability. Part of good driving is not to put yourself in situations you can help. I've seen those tests, most are constructed to produce a given output to make the point wanted.

So what does the woman putting on her make-up and weaving all over get charged with, the lawyer reading and weaving? Not cellphone use while driving, that's for sure.
Actually, one of the most dangerous things we find on the road today is people falling asleep at the wheel.

[Fergymunster]

...now if they can get the people to actually stop at STOP signs and red lights...and get the Nassau and Suffolk county cops and the NYS state troopers to enforce the speed limit on the LIE and Northern State Parkway...and get the tailgaters off my backside when I'm already, quite literally, forced to exceed the posted limits by their @hole driving habits...

jimHJJ(...I can dream, can't I?...)

At this point I call it mere survival.Sometimes I dive slow but if I go to slow I'm now disrupting the flow of traffic and could be dangerous.Somtimes I drive fast temporary to by pass some congestion or go around a truck the has the potentail of spilling stone on the road.When I'm out there I have the eyes of a hawk and have to think in advance as to what other people might do.There's no such thing of finding the middle ground as the people are not perfect i.e 55 or 65 per hour.People adapt

[Resident Loser]

At this point I call it mere survival.Sometimes I dive slow but if I go to slow I'm now disrupting the flow of traffic and could be dangerous.Somtimes I drive fast temporary to by pass some congestion or go around a truck the has the potentail of spilling stone on the road.When I'm out there I have the eyes of a hawk and have to think in advance as to what other people might do.There's no such thing of finding the middle ground as the people are not perfect i.e 55 or 65 per hour.People adapt

...they can't adapt to obeying the laws...But NOO-oo-oo...it's everyone else who has to adapt to their idiocy...Didja' ever think of slowing down to avoid whatever congestion you may encounter? And then using defensive driving tactics to keep out of harms way? Speeding and not leaving a proper space cushion is the root of most traffic woes, the combination causes congestion...Whadya' just do, notice the gravel truck a car length away? You should be well aware of such possibilities way before you find it necessary to pull some no-signal, lead-footed, lunkhead maneuver...

Ever notice the blocks of @holes and how they travel in flocks? Or the folks who seem to think they're at Taledega and they're in some poor schmuck's slipstream simply doing some drafting...Or the morons who seem to think the HOV lanes are really the US equivalent of the autobahn...and then flash lights and blow horns when all along they should see the traffic patterns, see the speeds and realize there ain't no place to go...but obviously they have to get where they're going...like nobody else does?

Slow traffic is the problem, eh?

jimHJJ(...you just keep thinkin' that...)

[Fergymunster]

...they can't adapt to obeying the laws...But NOO-oo-oo...it's everyone else who has to adapt to their idiocy...Didja' ever think of slowing down to avoid whatever congestion you may encounter? And then using defensive driving tactics to keep out of harms way? Speeding and not leaving a proper space cushion is the root of most traffic woes, the combination causes congestion...Whadya' just do, notice the gravel truck a car length away? You should be well aware of such possibilities way before you find it necessary to pull some no-signal, lead-footed, lunkhead maneuver...

Ever notice the blocks of @holes and how they travel in flocks? Or the folks who seem to think they're at Taledega and they're in some poor schmuck's slipstream simply doing some drafting...Or the morons who seem to think the HOV lanes are really the US equivalent of the autobahn...and then flash lights and blow horns when all along they should see the traffic patterns, see the speeds and realize there ain't no place to go...but obviously they have to get where they're going...like nobody else does?

Slow traffic is the problem, eh?

jimHJJ(...you just keep thinkin' that...)

You obviuosly got a chip on your shoulders.Maybe a yoga class or psycriotic treatment.When your finished with that you could always talk to a police officer for furthur assistance.

[Resident Loser]

You obviuosly got a chip on your shoulders.Maybe a yoga class or psycriotic treatment.When your finished with that you could always talk to a police officer for furthur assistance.

...I see it all now...it's me...

I'm not the one exhibiting the latent road-rage, and how everyone and everything is holdin' me back, thinking I can power-out of any predicament...

jimHJJ(...bogus, self-serving BS...)

[HAVIC]

Before it was law I did not use a headset for my cell phone. Once it became mandatory I realized how much easier it was to concentrate on the road and drive. I will never use a cell phone without one. Now I just need a phone with bluetooth so I can use a wireless headset.

Resident Loser, I drive a lot for my job. Speed is not the issue on the roads. Using your signals when changing lanes is what causes the most problems. My other issue with drivers on the road is slow people in the left lane. When all cars that want to go faster in the left lane have to constantly change lanes around slower drivers, this causes more potential for accidents then cars moving faster. Look the the Autobahn in Germany, they do not have more accidents than on the LIE.

[Resident Loser]

Resident Loser, I drive a lot for my job. Speed is not the issue on the roads. Using your signals when changing lanes is what causes the most problems. My other issue with drivers on the road is slow people in the left lane. When all cars that want to go faster in the left lane have to constantly change lanes around slower drivers *, this causes more potential for accidents then cars moving faster. Look the the Autobahn in Germany, they do not have more accidents than on the LIE.

...what happens when, while observing the speed limit, you want to pass a car for whatever reason, you signal and enter the left lane, you know... the passing lane...and in the middle of doing it some dipwad screaming out of nowhere is on your @$$ flashing his lights, fully expecting you to get out of his way? Sorry spitball, I don't get back to the right until...until I see the passed-vehicle's front end completely in my rear-view mirror...it's called proper passing procedure, a space cushion...and I certainly don't speed up above the posted limit to comply either...and then the p!$$pot flips me the bird! I guess that's why I've had only two accidents in my forty years of driving and one of them involved rolling my CJ-7 while off-road...

Familiar with the LIE, maybe the Northern State...Travel east just before the Meadowbrook, watch the freakshow particularly in the twisty area where the signs say "Stay In Lane"...or when they cut from the extreme left, over four lanes of traffic to hit said Meadowbrook...

*Faster? Faster than what...the so-called "slower drivers" doing the 55mph (or otherwise posted) limit?

jimHJJ(...Yeah, my fault...)

[GMichael]

...what happens when, while observing the speed limit, you want to pass a car for whatever reason, you signal and enter the left lane, you know... the passing lane...and in the middle of doing it some dipwad screaming out of nowhere is on your @$$ flashing his lights, fully expecting you to get out of his way? Sorry spitball, I don't get back to the right until...until I see the passed-vehicle's front end completely in my rear-view mirror...it's called proper passing procedure, a space cushion...and I certainly don't speed up above the posted limit to comply either...and then the p!$$pot flips me the bird! I guess that's why I've had only two accidents in my forty years of driving and one of them involved rolling my CJ-7 while off-road...

Familiar with the LIE, maybe the Northern State...Travel east just before the Meadowbrook, watch the freakshow particularly in the twisty area where the signs say "Stay In Lane"...or when they cut from the extreme left, over four lanes of traffic to hit said Meadowbrook...

*Faster? Faster than what...the so-called "slower drivers" doing the 55mph (or otherwise posted) limit?

jimHJJ(...Yeah, my fault...)

Move over will ya? Can't you see that I'm late to pick up my Sammy Hagar CD?

[Resident Loser]

Move over will ya? Can't you see that I'm late to pick up my Sammy Hagar CD?

...sad but true, that's about it...

More people need to see "Signal 30" and partake of the Smith Defensive Driving System...

jimHJJ(...or be shot on sight...)

[Fergymunster]

I look at it this way.Anyone who is 21 years old or 75 years old has a so called license.They get it by passing a test that any idiot can figure out.In some cases it takes 3 or more trys but ultimitally you'll get the license.As for truck drivers the rules are more stringent.Now you put these people on roads and what the heck do you think going to happen. EX:A person who is lets say is 75 is probably going to go slow.A person who is 21 with one foot in the grave we'll go his pace.Now you through in the different personalites in to the mix.i.e corvettes,hummers,porches etc...Is it any wonder we have the problems we do.Oh and gas prices, only adds full to the fire.

[shokhead]

Lets face it,its tough out on the road. Really,i hate to drive. The new thing here in North Long Beach is if your at a stoplight,someone will pull up on your right like they are making a turn but then when the light turns green,they speed ahead of you and everyone else thats been waiting at the light. Also passing in the yellow divider thats for left turns for both lanes. The other day i was in the diamond lane doing 85 and a guy comes up on my a$$ and ride it until i can get out. Then i get back in and give hime some of it which of course he doesnt like so he slows to 50. Jackhole.

[HAVIC]

Resident loser, I drive over 125 miles per day for the last 7 years. After seeing what causes more potential issues on the road it is the non-use of the turn signal. Yes a lot of people who drive fast drive like retards. However the same can be said for the slow drivers. Example, I'm on the i95 heading from Westchester to Long Island. Man in left lane doing 45-50 miles per hour. Sees cars coming up from behind in his lane. Turns wheel and crosses to lanes of traffic with no signal. Cars pass, then he turn across two lanes again no signal. How much safer is that because he is driving slow. Stupid is Stupid.

I tend to drive in between the fastest and the slowest and I use my signals. Like I said before the more lane shifting on a road is the problem. It is because of drivers with the attitude of "It's my right to drive 55 in the left lane" are the ones who will cause more accidents indirectly because of all the excess lane shifting around them.

Also SUV's , there should be an SUV class license because people can not drive them. They can not judge their lane at all, think they are invincable in bad weather or are scared of their size themselves.

Faster speeds do not cause accidents, people doing stupid things do... Like talking on your cell phone without a hands free.

Greg

[shokhead]

I thought we were talking about cars,not boats?