Your driving and texting days may be limited.....................

[Times Roman]

Police to spy on drivers suspected of texting in federal test

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoram...153231394.html

As more states ban texting behind the wheel in a fight against deadly driver distractions, police departments around the country have found enforcing those laws difficult, if not impossible. Now a new federal grant will pay for experimenting with the only technique shown to work so far -- spying on motorists while they drive.

The $550,000 grant announced this week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will let police departments in Connecticut and Massachusetts test a variety of anti-texting moves over the next two years, from ad campaigns to roving patrols. The aim: To find "real-world protocols and practices to better detect if a person is texting while driving," said NHTSA chief David Strickland.

While 38 states ban texting behind the wheel, proving that someone is using their phone to type text rather than look at a map or some other permitted use has become a roadblock for law enforcement agencies. Only 10 states ban all hand-held cellphone use behind the wheel, so in most states with a texting ban, simply holding a phone in your hand isn't enough for a ticket; officers have to see a driver thumb type before they can pull them over. In Minnesota, police wrote 1,200 tickets for texting in 2011, compared to 200,000 for speeding, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. In Scranton, Penn., police issued 10 tickets in six months after that state's ban went into effect -- and one of those was to a driver who admitted texting after a crash.


That's why the NHTSA grant will pay for "spotters on overpasses" and other roadways who could identify drivers while they type, and there's already evidence for how such a program can work. In Bismarck, N.D., police wrote 31 distracted driving tickets in two days during a crackdown earlier this month where they used unmarked, high-riding trucks or SUVs to peer down into cars and catch texters in the act. Since North Dakota bars not just texting but Internet browsing behind the wheel, officers had to see what specific apps drivers were using, with one officer telling The Bismarck Tribune that they could have written twice as many tickets, but couldn't get enough evidence.


While some safety groups have called for an outright ban of cellphone use behind the wheel, such proposals haven't gained much support in Congress or legislatures around the nation. No federal agency has the power to control what people do with smartphones while driving, and there's still an open debate about how serious a risk texting or other electronic distractions pose compared with better-known dangers such as drunk driving. Thousands of Americans have already been the victim of a motorist who should have been steering instead of typing, and the U.S. Supreme Court has said there's no expectation of privacy when driving on public roads. But if the only way to enforce texting bans involves undercover police reading cellphone screens over driver's shoulders, the debate over how to make roads safer will take a different route.

[Lunk1]

Currently texting and driving is a secondary offense here. This is the first ever secondary traffic offense this state has ever seen. Secondaru offense (for any who are not aware) means that the officer must witness another violation OTHER than the texting before they have probable cause to initiate the traffic stop and issue the citation. (My opionion is that this will change)

Minors are prohibeted from ANY cell phone use in a MV..even calling.

I have no doubt that the Federal Govt. will push for EVERY state to adopt matching laws on texting and driving...just like the did the .08 law.

[S&S_ShovelHead]

No handheld devises at all here in BC.

[stpete]

Why text and drive anyway? Call me old fashion, but if your phone works, use it. haha..

[Honkey_Kong]

Why stop at this? How many people crash their cars while trying to light a cigarette? Or what about the people being distracted from their driving by eating/drinking (not alcohol)?

My point is this is a pathetic waste of federal money to go after something that most people don't do simply because we realise we can't text AND control the car well. Those other more "classic" bad things people do while driving each contribute to more accidents than texting, but yet we do nothing about them.

[Far from massive]

I agree wholeheartedly with banning texting and driving, there is no good way to safely text while driving. Handsfree device laws covers this very well (my suspicion is that the person who got approval for the half million in funding for studies is closely attached to someone doing one of the studies).

Of course at the same time I will freely admit that many people can text and drive more safely than others can talk and drive. I have seen many who are clearly so involved in their phone conversation that virtually none of their attention is on the road. You can see these morons driving on the highway...usually their speed will go up and down 10-20 mph depending on whether they are talking, listening or God forbid arguing.

Personally I think the amount of accidents caused by Texting and other use of cell phones is huge. As we continue to make huge strides in alcohol, speeding, aggressive and other problem areas cell phones will continue to grow and soon become the major cause of accidents.

I have always been of the opinion we should have multiclass licenses where if you hold an A class license (which you would have the option to test for, both you and your vehicle would have to meet certain standards) then you get special priveleges like driving in the left lane at 70 mph and cell phone usage. Anyone in this group could film any bad driving and submit the tape to an independent committee and if you got x amounts of bad reports verified by different sources you would loose your A class priveleges. Its my opinion that by rewarding exemplary driving instead of just punishing really bad driving we could greatly improve highway safety as well as speed the flow of traffic as anyone who understands physics and skilled driving knows rush hour backups are strickly the result of shitty driving.

Just my 2 cents.

[< <Samson> >]

Why stop at this? How many people crash their cars while trying to light a cigarette? Or what about the people being distracted from their driving by eating/drinking (not alcohol)?

My point is this is a pathetic waste of federal money to go after something that most people don't do simply because we realise we can't text AND control the car well. Those other more "classic" bad things people do while driving each contribute to more accidents than texting, but yet we do nothing about them.

We think too much alike.

What if a "pig" is using their laptop while driving?

What if I am using the maps on my phone. . . . . .

As always the government knows what's best for the sheeple. . . . The only realness to this is the fact the sheeple are quite stupid in many cases. As why the government needs to control the mindless sheeple.

[MickeyKnox]

This is banned where i live, Ontario Canada, and it couldn't have happened sooner.

I cant' tell you the number of times i have been close to being sideswiped, or cut off, rear ended, or witnessed other motorists cross the yellow/white line, or hit the gravel, all because of texting while driving. And this is juts what I have seen. Your attention needs to be 100% on the road, not your phone.

We have stiff fines in place 300$ and im glad. There should be stiffer penalties similar to drunk driving - the catastrophic results are very similar. If you need to text or talk on the phone that badly, pull the f*** over! Or setup your vehicle for wireless cell through your radio, hands free! Don't risk injuring, or jeopardize the rest of us safe motorists with your selfishness.

End rant.

[fukngruvn]

No handheld devises at all here in BC.

yep, in BC basically you are not allowed to HOLD or look at a cellphone or other electronic device that could distract your driving, even while stopped at a light. This includes dialing so even if you have a handsfree speaker phone, unless you use voice commands, technically you are not allowed to dial a call!

i'm just waiting until they use the phone's gps signal to determine the phone is moving, then lock out all functions over a certain speed (like factory GPS in your car)
^^ i know this wouldn't work very well for passengers and ppl on public transit, but the gov't likes to stick their nose in our business, so this doesn't seem too unfathomable.

[Lunk1]

Why text and drive anyway? Call me old fashion, but if your phone works, use it. haha..

Cause I HATE talking to ppl. You always have all the aquard pauses and hear way more BS during a voice convo than I ever wanted to hear!

[capetown]

I have hands free texting in the truck but it doesnt recognize my east coast accent. Lol

[austinite]

It's 2012. Who does anything that isn't voice controlled in a car anyway??

[Times Roman]

It's 2012. Who does anything that isn't voice controlled in a car anyway??

I don't. I have a pretty modern phone though. Damn thing takes pictures too. Mostly the inside of my pocket =)

[MickeyKnox]

I have hands free texting in the truck but it doesnt recognize my east coast accent. Lol

lol!

[austinite]

I don't. I have a pretty modern phone though. Damn thing takes pictures too. Mostly the inside of my pocket =)

hahaha. Do you have a rubber case that is 4 times the size of the phone, too?

[Times Roman]

hahaha. Do you have a rubber case that is 4 times the size of the phone, too?

naw... it's a little pphone. like I said, fairly modern.

funny aside. I'd been putting off cell phones for years. finally in 2006, my employer insisted i get one. told him not doing it. so he siad fuk it, and bought me one and paid the monthly bill to boot.

[austinite]

naw... it's a little pphone. like I said, fairly modern.

funny aside. I'd been putting off cell phones for years. finally in 2006, my employer insisted i get one. told him not doing it. so he siad fuk it, and bought me one and paid the monthly bill to boot.

Sweet! Can't beat free! For a second I thought you were going to say you purchased all the components and made your own cell phone!

[Times Roman]

Sweet! Can't beat free! For a second I thought you were going to say you purchased all the components and made your own cell phone!

had a buddy build my first computer back in 1990 from components.....

[MickeyKnox]

Sweet! Can't beat free! For a second I thought you were going to say you purchased all the components and made your own cell phone!

That would be Atomini..

[austinite]

No. Atomini makes pumpkin pie. TR buys raw powders and makes chicken fajitas and stuff.

[lovbyts]

The thing I don't like is they are also making it so they can read your text. Isn't that actually a form of invasion of privacy? Why don't they just hurry up and make all the cars so they drive themselves then the point is mute

[Atomini]

This is banned where i live, Ontario Canada, and it couldn't have happened sooner.

I cant' tell you the number of times i have been close to being sideswiped, or cut off, rear ended, or witnessed other motorists cross the yellow/white line, or hit the gravel, all because of texting while driving. And this is juts what I have seen. Your attention needs to be 100% on the road, not your phone.

We have stiff fines in place 300$ and im glad. There should be stiffer penalties similar to drunk driving - the catastrophic results are very similar. If you need to text or talk on the phone that badly, pull the f*** over! Or setup your vehicle for wireless cell through your radio, hands free! Don't risk injuring, or jeopardize the rest of us safe motorists with your selfishness.

End rant.

I was just going to say the same thing about our laws here in Ontario.

But the problem is... this shit hasn't stopped ANYONE from texting and driving. Ever since the ban in 2009 or whatever, i've STILL had close calls with idiots texting and driving! And by the way I don't agree with banning talking on the cellphone - I believe most people can manage driving while talking with the phone up to their ear. But I do have issues with texting, or reading emails or anything equally very distracting while driving. The ban still hasnt' stopped anyone though. EVERYONE still does it, I see it everywhere. I've seen cops do it too!!

[Atomini]

The thing I don't like is they are also making it so they can read your text. Isn't that actually a form of invasion of privacy? Why don't they just hurry up and make all the cars so they drive themselves then the point is mute

Because this isn't about safety. It's about revenue from tickets. You don't think they could easily build cars with speed limiters that could easily limit your speeds in different zones that have transponders or something which would allow different limits depending on the different zones you're in? Of course they could do that. But then there would be ZERO tickets being issued to people and therefore zero revenue generated.

This is why I don't support all-out handheld device bans while driving, which is what we have here in Ontario. As I mentioned in my previous post, I don't think talking with the phone up to your ear is something that should be banned. The whole idea behind banning it is "so that you have both hands free while driving". That's bullshit, because there are about 6 million other things that everyone does which removes one hand from the wheel, and THOSE things aren't banned! Eating while driving, smoking while driving, drinking a bottle of water while driving, or how about just simply driving single-handed with your arm rested on the window ledge? If the idea is to ban ALL types of handlheld device use with the reason being 'both hands free while driving', then why not give tickets to everyone and anyone who drives with one hand on the wheel regardless of why? Bullshit logic, doesn't make sense.

And then you have those who say "because talking on the phone is distracting while driving". Again, stupid bullshit logic that doesn't make sense! If that's the reason why we're banning talking on the phone, then why the HELL do we allow bluetooth devices!? People are still talking through the bluetooth device and under this logic I could argue that it's just as equally distracting as talking with the phone up to your ear! GOD, the lawmakers are such idiots...

[austinite]

Driver-less cars exist and are already running around in certain places where they are now legal.

[Bryan2]

This is retarded all they have to do is come out with a law on all new car manufactures to add a part to the radio that when you receive a text message it auto texts the person back that you are driving and will contact them later and if you want have it read out loud to you as well.

The technology already exists in aftermarket head units. This will help start the battle with all new car sales going forward. As far as older cars it will still be a problem, but if they make it a law to add it to every aftermarket as well as new car unit that takes a huge percentage of the population out of the mix.

[lovbyts]

Yes I'm fully aware this is about revenue, not really about safety.

[Honkey_Kong]

We think too much alike.

What if a "pig" is using their laptop while driving?

What if I am using the maps on my phone. . . . . .

As always the government knows what's best for the sheeple. . . . The only realness to this is the fact the sheeple are quite stupid in many cases. As why the government needs to control the mindless sheeple.

Here was one that happened to me as a child in Canada. We're in stop 'n go bumper to bumper traffic outside of Toronto due to construction. Of course my brother and I are fighting with each other. So my Mom is yelling at us to stop. She turns her head to yell at us some more and POW she rear-ends a broad who only speaks French. Now if they're going to ban mobile phones, shouldn't they by law require a plexi-glass window so she can't hear us fighting in the back seats? I mean talk about distracting, kids ALWAYS do that.

[lovbyts]

Just give them both a valium before you head out and they will get along just fine. A muzzle and straight jacket work also.

[krugerr]

This is retarded all they have to do is come out with a law on all new car manufactures to add a part to the radio that when you receive a text message it auto texts the person back that you are driving and will contact them later and if you want have it read out loud to you as well.

This isn't quite as simple as you've suggested. If you were to do this as compulsory, it then becomes invasive. It's stealing the data intended for the user before it reaches the user.
Also, if it was an area effect type device, what about other mobile users in the car? Your wife sat in the passenger seat then can't text or call.
If you make it so you sync your phone before hand, people will just refuse to do so.

It is an interesting idea though, I'm currently at University studying Electronic Engineering. You've given me something to think about for my final year project next year! Thanks!

Krugerr

[kmms]

it's common here to see people riding their scooter with their kids and dog, smoking a cigarette and texting at the same time.

[lovbyts]

it's common here to see people riding their scooter with their kids and dog, smoking a cigarette and texting at the same time.

People are not going to understand unless you spell it out for the. That is people riding with the wife, kid or kids and dog all at the same time.

[kmms]

555 love the baby in the bucket!

[DSM4Life]

Why text and drive anyway? Call me old fashion, but if your phone works, use it. haha..

I hate talking on my phone. All I do is text.