texting and driving

[sandman228]

so the wife and I are on vacation this week and 1 of the things we had to do was take our dogs to the vet to update there shots and for a wellness checkup . so were getting onto interstate 99 with the dogs in the car were driving my wifes Mitsubishi outlander sport that we bought new 3 yrs ago and that she takes immaculate care of . this idiot in a dodge ram is behind us while were going up the onramp and i guess i wasn't going fast enough for him so he whips out around us long before the onramp ended across the rumble strips and straight to the passing lane i just shook my head and muttered what an ******* under me breath . so a couple miles down the road he is still in passing lane but slowing down im in my lane maintain speed i was running almost 60 mph in a 55 zone . he decides to whip over in front of me no signal never looked nothing it was close enough i had to slam on the brakes and whip the steering wheel to the right or he would have hit me for sure . so by this point im super pissed off and i know this is how road rage starts but i went out around him pulled up beside and yelled what the hell is your problem he looks up from his cell phone and says what ? he was totally oblivious to what he just did then the wife says you almost hit us and partially ran us off the road . i just left it go at that and drove away . how many accidents is there gonna be till people learn to stay off there phones while there driving ? i see people texting and driving pretty much on a daily basis and it needs to stop . i realize that by pulling up beside him and yelling that my actions weren't exactly the best thing to do either but im so sick of idiot drivers , ive spend a fair amount of time on the road in or on anything from 2 wheels to 18 wheels ive seen my share of idiots .

[BrassMagnet]

I think the problem really started when they began calling them "accidents" instead of "collisions." An "accident" is not my fault. It just happened!
Technology just helped add to the toll! The attitude is the real problem!

[Tripplebeards]

Somehow there should be a motion detector installed in ALL cell phones that shuts off calling and texting after 10-12 mph. It would save a lot of lives. My Harley collects dust in my garage because of this very reason. IMO the majority of the offenders I've seen over the years are young kids...mainly girls.

[Thin Man]

No joke about the dangers of texting & driving. A few months ago I was stopped for a red light waiting for it to change. Had one of our daughters in the car with me. The light on the cross street went from green to yellow to red and a car to our left stopped in the curb lane for the light. As I started out to make a left turn I checked both sides of the cross street for incoming traffic, just as a matter of habit. Then I HIT THE BRAKES!!! A young female driver came through the intersection from our left (MY side of our car) without slowing down or attempting to stop for the signal. As she passed through the intersection her face was buried in her cell phone. If I hadn't checked the cross traffic that day I would not be here to write this message. Defensive driving at it's best involves responsible driving on your part and keeping an eye open on all other traffic on the roads. It saved me that day.

[Hossfly]

Yep it happens far to frequently, sitting to turn left at busy intersection with arrow only on for like 5 sec. guy in front texting, get arrow have to honk they get woke up and go while you have to wait for next cycle. We have laws just passed here to write tickets for this completely unenforceable. Glad I’m retired.

[Don Purcell]

But you don't realize these idiots are special, they each think they are the most special person on the face of the planet and no one else matters, we should all adjust our lives for them. Flipping morons.

[bdicki]

My wife has an auto response set up. It might be her car that does it.
https://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/how-t...ing-1794911685

[lefty o]

texters are worse than drunks.

[rockrat]

Cell phones have GPS, so it shouldn't be too hard to shut off the talk and text functions above, say, 15 mph (911 would still be active), but it would cost the carriers money, so I suspect thats why it isn't done. Gotta put profits over peoples lives, right???

[RedlegEd]

Hi. Remember that idiot in Texas that killed 13 people by colliding with the church bus in April last year? https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...led-13-n778206. I really hope he spends the rest of his life put away behind bars where he'll never be a danger to anyone again. Ed

[wv109323]

It is illegal in my state. It seems to help to make it illegal.

[ThomR]

I see it all the time on my way to and from work. 99% of the time it is young people, mostly young women.
People just need to leave their phones in their pockets or in the glove box while driving. If it's so important that you have to text the person just pull over to a safe spot and send the text.

[trapper9260]

It is illegal in my state. It seems to help to make it illegal.

It is also in my state also. The law enforcement want to try put it hands free that way it will be easy to know who is not to be use of the phone driven.

[osteodoc08]

“Distracted driving” as they call it now out paces drunkenness as cause of fatalities on our road ways. Many states are making distracted driving illegal which includes texting, using your phone as a gps unless in a mount, etc.

[AggieEE]

RedlegEd, One of the 13 people that this idiot( calling him an idiot is an insult to idiots) killed was my neighbor's wife. She was a super nice lady and almost had a smile all the time for everybody. If this guy wanted to kill himself I could have given him some suggestions that wouldn't involve hurting anyone else.

Stupid people are not new. Back in the late 80's early 90's if you would have said cell phone the answer would have been "What?" I was working for a company that caused me to live on Loop 410 in San Antonio. I have seen people reading the newspaper, doing something to something in the passenger seat or in general believed that the sky was brown. This was during rush hour. I blame seat belt laws and air bags for saving these idiots lives to be able to reproduce when Darwin should have been allowed to work. We have enough stupid people in government I don't need any more in my life.

[Hannibal]

Somehow there should be a motion detector installed in ALL cell phones that shuts off calling and texting after 10-12 mph. It would save a lot of lives. My Harley collects dust in my garage because of this very reason. IMO the majority of the offenders I've seen over the years are young kids...mainly girls.

It is easy to detect if a cell phone is moving or stationary. Cell phone companies could disable the phones with a minor software change.

Now. You need a state or federal law.

Good luck with that.

[MaryB]

An idiot kid texting is why I have a 3 inch long titanium plate in my neck and constant neck pain now. Kid admitted to the cops he was texting, lost his license for 3 years except to drive to and from work. Kid decided that meant after work he could drive his buddies around town and he was texting again and ran a red light. Injured 3 in his car and 2 in the car he broadsided. No license at all now for 5 years and he has 12 months of community service to do including speaking on the dangers of texting and driving and how it ruins lives. Judge made him tell my story of how he almost killed me when he ran a stop sign texting and I slammed into the side of his truck at 40mph...

[Hannibal]

Do you remember when you were 20? I swear, I could have split my torso from stem to stern with a corn knife and watched myself knit back together in the mirror.

Now days, a paper cut on the finger requires triple-antibiotic ointment and a band-aid or it'll get infected.

I'm not sure who's sense of 'humor' is responsible for this, but I am NOT amused.

Sorry to hear about your accident Mary.

[abunaitoo]

It's illegal here except for LEO, politicians, doctors, government workers, while doing work.
Friend of mine almost got killed a few months ago.
He had opened his door and a SUV almost hit him, taking off the door.
She was on her phone, she stopped looked at him, and then drove away.
He got the license and saw her face.
She used to be a politician.
First she said she was late for a very important meeting, and didn't know she had hit anything.
Then she said she didn't stay because she felt threatened.
I court she got no jail time. Had to pay his $500 deductible. Community service.
Never said she was sorry. Never admitted she did it.
She a trustee for Bishop Estate. Largest land owner in the state.
Different rules for different people here.

[snowwolfe]

About 8-9 years ago we lived close to Anchorage Alaska. The Anchorage chief of police rear ended another car while the guy was sitting at a red light. Yup, the chief was texting. Of course he said it was duty related, lol