05Pony

I for one don't think that a law for cell phones will do any good. Talking with or without hands free is still a distraction. I use a cell phone and never seem to be distracted by it. I do know several people who should not use them and they are over 18. Talking on cell phones is no different than someone shaving, eating, reading or anything else people do in cars.

A better solution would be better drivers education. Teach people how to handle a car rather than give someone a key and say have fun. The test in Florida is a joke.

This is just my 2cents.

JustFord0099

"Get back here! you have no front plates and you are on the phone! You are under arrest!"

Blue Knight

Hey, is that window tint below the AS1 line??? Heinous!

kerafaith

Maybe in most cases this is true. However, I was pulled over when I was 18. It was dark & had been raining & therefore the roads were wet. Anyway. I am on a 4 lane (in the city limits). I am in the slow lane & am trying to get my defroster on while watching the road. Well, I happen to notice that I am passing a cop, I look down and am doing 45. No problem I thought that was the speed limit.

the yoyo pulls me over as I am turning onto my road & preceeds to pull me over. He then tell me "well, if I am doing 40 & you're passing me then I think your speeding." Me "yes sir, I may have been. But I was watching the road & trying to get my windows clean. I wasn't exactly looking at my speedomoter". He then while looking at my license asks me how old I am & then continues to tell me "You need to have more respect for cops than that". And then he leaves & let's me go.

HELLO!!!!!!! How about cops having more respect for ME! I was pulled over again when I was about 20 or 21 & the HP tells me he clocked me at 68 in an almost 90* angle curve. At night with the roads wet, I don't think so. I don't even do 68 in that curve in clear dry conditions. He then said he knew I was speeding because he paced me after he clocked me. Well, duh!

It's night & the roads are wet & I have some donkey named jack almost tailgating me. Of course I am going to speed, to get the creep off my rear. And he also precedded to "let me go with a warning, but slow it down because next time he's giving me a ticket." :scratch: He "clocked" me at 68 in a 55 & still let me "go with a warning".

Both times I firmly believe that they only wanted to see who was driving the car. Sports car, late at night, must be a drug dealer or someone up to no good. :notnice:

Now I am not saying that they are ALL like that. But I would go have the tapes pulled in a heartbeat & I would bet my car that my version matches the version on the tapes. So, before cops go mouthing off about drivers maybe they need to watch their own. There are 2 cops in my entire town that I have any use for. One I knew when I worked at a truck stop & the other is the brother of a friend. The other that I have met are nothing but trash.

adrenalin ~ I am not saying I do most of those things. I don't drive that tired, I do not allow dogs in my car, I don't have kids, I don't smoke, etc. But I see people doing it ALL the time. The closest I have come to the dog thing was driving with a car asleep on my arm because she wouldn't ride in the carrier with my other cat. But around here people are forever driving down the road with a dog in their lap hanging out the window.

How does that not compare. If you have a dog in your lap for that same 30 min drive, they can distract you just as a cell phone can. I don't see the difference.

Also, I know this woman who is a truck driver. She has told me that she would drive alseep at the wheel. Lucky her running mates would figure this out by what she was saying on the CB & 1 would get around her & talk her into getting off an an exit & she would just follow them. But the whole time she's alseep. How did she not get pulled over?

And you say that you used to smoke but would wait until stopped before lighting up. Well, good for you. Seriously. But 90% of smokers don't do that. The reach for the cigs & lighter while driving down the interstate at 80mph. And what about the coffee & beagel? Or the business woman going down the road putting on makeup ( my mom has done this). Seriously, it's things that you would think would be obvious no no's. But they occure just as frequently as talking & driving. We just usually fail to notice them.

Or what of the sightseer in front of you. Driving 15mph & stopping & pointing at things. Again. A major distraction. For you & them. If you guys really want to rant about something. Rant about it all. But if you bann one then you should ban all. And if you ban them all then why not ban driving all together & have public transportation for everyone.

You guys say we got by find w/out cell phones. Well, we did pretty well w/out cars too. Let's ban it all.

Anyway. again rant off. Laters.

Let me apoligize in advance if I offended anyone. It wasn't my intention at all.

RRRoamer

That sums it up nicely. Bad cops give the good (the majority) cops a very bad reputation and it is VERY hard to shake it once someone has decided that "all" cops are bad.

REDFIRESNAKE

I'm 39 yrs old and have only been cellular for the last 2 yrs. I got a prepaid to start with but found myself using it more and more so I switched over to a contract.
Everyone has brought important points to the discussion. I'm probably not bringing any points to the table..just some musings I had while reading this thread.
I haven't had a ticket since 1993. 70 in a 55. US 41 in Indiana. Giant speed trap to provide revenue for the state. Seatbelt ticket tacked on also.
One of the mgrs I used to work with was taking the deposit to the bank one night at a mall location and jumped the curb, mowed down a young tree and caved in his truck bumper and grille and him and one of his buddies spent two hrs messing with it just so he could get home. He was playing with his radio when he crashed. And no, we never let him live it down. hehe
I've never been in a wreck that was my fault. Well, except when I was 14 and smashed my mom's 74 Impala putting it in the garage. LMAO!
I slow down when I talk on my cell phone in the car or use my ear bud. Yes, I have noticed a slow down in reaction time when I'm talking on my cell.
Trying to change cd's in a moving vehicle is a major hazard. Good thing I have a 6 disc in my '03. When cassette players were in vogue playing with ff and rev could get you in trouble too.
One of my best friends works for the same company I do and has a half hour drive home and usually calls me and we get to laughing so hard it's a wonder he hasn't had 50 wrecks.
And my last thought..cell phones are here to stay. So are those godawful suv's that I can't see around when I'm turning left into oncoming lanes or trying to back out of a space in a parking lot. So are drunk drivers. So are idiots jacked up on illegal substances roaring down the streets at 3am where I live. Me? I'll just take the good with the bad and drive defensively and hope for the best like I always have.

bigfoot1141

Personally I don't like people on cell phones when driving. Then again I don't like them period, which is why I don't own one. If you're driving, DRIVE! But I understand your story and I think that's BS! The sad thing is that around here most of the cops are ON cell phones while driving. I guess they should just throw the darn CB's out the window! I hate cops with their "I have a badge so I'm the man" attitude. They should be suspended if they are caught on the phone or have an attitude with citizens. Well my two cents.

Fordracing200

Hoping for the best does no good when thieves steal your fender emblems :angry:

bigred0383

Ok, I understand that getting pulled over for a law you don't agree with will make you mad. And when reiteraiting the story online you might be prone to imbellish it a little. But do you really expect us to believe that a cop said that to you? Come on.

Budders

I took the drivers test a few months ago in Florida, and i was amazed at how simple it was to pass! I was lucky enough that my parents let me drive them all over creation so I would have the experience of dealing with the fact that no one in Orlando stops for red lights and that stop signs are really called pause and look for cops. It seems the "cool" thing to do in orlando is drive a Hummer while on the phone, all notions of common sense are tossed to the wind just to find out when the movie starts or what you should pick up for dinner.

poldrv

On October 7, 2004, I was stopped at a red light for a pedestrian crosswalk for about 2 seconds when my vehicle was rear ended and knocked into the intersection. Thank god no pedestrians were in the crosswalks. The driver of the vehicle that hit mine was trying to look for his ringing cell phone between the seats of his full size Dodge Van. He did not even realize that there was a red light ahead of him as he was concentrating on finding his phone while he was driving. The street I was on has a speed limit of 60 kph or 35 miles per hour. The city police estimate his vehicle was going 120 kph or 70 mph. He hit my vehicle so hard that the rear frame broke. This should tell you that using cell phones in vehicles distracts the driver from concentrating on speed and obviously distracts his or her attention out the front windshield. Cell phone use in North America should be banned period. So should women painting their nails while driving, putting on makeup and both men and women reading newspapers and or other articles. As the Doors song goes "Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel!"

In Newfounland the cost of using a cell phone while driving is $175.00.
In Ontario the cost of using a cell phone or having anything in our hand while driving is $280.00. I am hoping Alberta follows suit.

People that like to use cell phones while driving should ask themselves what did they use in cars before the invention of the cell phone. Answer - nothing, and as such there were fewer traffic accidents. So don't cry me a river that you got a ticket for using a cell phone while driving. Also the law should apply to everyone not just those under 18.

REDFIRESNAKE

lol Doug, you crack me up!

Fordracing200

Thats Me, Dougy G