Unless it's hands-free. Personally, I can't blame their efforts. It's become a major epidemic/hazard.
They should also ban radios in cars, driving with kids, and even talking with other adults in the vehicle. Seriously, though, almost all of the time somebody is swerving on the road in front of me during daytime hours, and I get a chance to pull up next to them, they are typically texting. Texting while driving is dangerous, but merely talking on a phone is no different than talking with somebody in your own vehicle.
or shaving, or eating a big mac, or (as I saw today) a lady driving with her knees while eating a bowl of something using 2 hands. But heaven forbid someone hold a phone to their ear and talk.
Yep, you're right. Thanks for the correction. http://news.yahoo.com/ntsb-recommends-ban-driver-cell-phone-172412513.html
Uh, how do people text with hands free devices? I mean, do they have voice activated texting on new phones?
I agree with it. Talking on cell phones is not like talking to someone in your car. I've seen numerous drivers talking on a cell phone, completely lost in the conversation and driving thru red lights, stop signs... That's less likely to happen when talking to someone who's riding with you.
Based on what empirical data? A conversation is a conversation. I think texting is much worse than talking on a phone, based on my own observations.
If you look at it again, you'll notice it bans talking to yourself, too. It doesn't go far enough. It should be illegal for women to spit out the window.
With the rise of smart phones and texting and so on... You'd think there'd be some major increase in traffic fatalities because of this. Yet... http://www.nhtsa.gov/PR/NHTSA-05-11 Traffic Fatalities in 2010 Drop to Lowest Level in Recorded History DOT Estimates Three Percent Drop Beneath 2009 Record Low According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) early projections, the number of traffic fatalities fell three percent between 2009 and 2010, from 33,808 to 32,788. Since 2005, fatalities have dropped 25 percent, from a total of 43,510 fatalities in 2005. The same estimates also project that the fatality rate will be the lowest recorded since 1949, with 1.09 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, down from the 1.13 fatality rate for 2009. The decrease in fatalities for 2010 occurred despite an estimated increase of nearly 21 billion miles in national vehicle miles traveled.
