Yeah, I wonder why.

[ConPilot1]

http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/22/11811108-motorcycle-deaths-stay-at-same-level-despite-overall-safer-roads?lite






Maybe try some sweeping national legislation on banning the use of cell phones and laptops and such in cars????

I don't know about you guys but sometimes my daily commute is like a Donkey Kong game. Most of the offender cagers are happily yakking on their cell phones.

No offense to our ladies here but women are the worst offenders in the cell phone abuse category.

It would be safe to say 6 or 7 out of ten women drivers I see on the road have a cell glued to their face and mouth going a mile a minute.  



Check the guy in the photo.  

[bluepoof]

There was a story in our local paper over the weekend about a 19-yr-old driver filming a group of Harleys from his cell phone while driving.  He veered into them, giving 2 riders minor injuries, and then crashed into a center divider.  The other Harley guys swarmed him and beat the crap out of him. I have to admit to being on Team Harley here.

Note that the driver was charged with "distracted driving" though will probably get off better than the riders charged with assault, even though it was his own damn fault that the crash happened.  

[Bruce Bogtrotter]

Maybe try some sweeping national legislation on banning the use of cell phones and laptops and such in cars????

It's the scourge of our generation. I don't know that the political will to deal with this will ever materialize, but it can't be enforcement-based because people just don't give a shit and there aren't enough cops. There has to be a technical obstacle put in place (phones go dead when GPS detects movement, etc.).

[Hoochie Papa]

We have a distracted driving law here. You may use a hands free devce for talking on the phone. No texting, eating, doing makeup, reading, googling, GPS'ing.

It doesnt work. They havent stopped doing it, they just try to hide it. Instead of people texting with the phone up on the steering wheel where they are half-assed watching the road, they do it down on their lap. Now their attention is not even near the road.

[bomber]

It's the scourge of our generation. I don't know that the political will to deal with this will ever materialize, but it can't be enforcement-based because people just don't give a shit and there aren't enough cops. There has to be a technical obstacle put in place (phones go dead when GPS detects movement, etc.).

You may be right . . . . .

On the other hand, the exact same things were said about drunk driving . . . we were loosing more folks to that than to combat ops at the time . . . .

Tough enforcement made a big difference.

Just something to think about.

[Bruce Bogtrotter]

Tough enforcement made a big difference.

I think MADD made the biggest difference by changing the culture such that: a) driving drunk became socially unacceptable, and b) by creating the political will to stiffen sentencing.

Interestingly, their current focus is on implementing an unobtrusive shutoff device. If they can do that for BAC, it would probably be less complicated to do that for cell phones.

My point is that making texting while driving illegal accomplishes little; you need to create a social stigma for doing it, and for those caught you need substantial penalties. Without those two things (and it doesn't look likely to happen any time soon), the only other solution is a passive system that shuts it down completely.

[bluepoof]

Interestingly, their current focus is on implementing an unobtrusive shutoff device. If they can do that for BAC, it would probably be less complicated to do that for cell phones.

It may be tough to shut off the driver's devices but not passengers'.    

[Bruce Bogtrotter]

It may be tough to shut off the driver's devices but not passengers'.    

My right to live (up there with liberty and pursuit of happiness) should take priority over the privilege of someone using a cell phone while driving. Wouldn't be much of a leap to make a legal case for cell phones as "open containers" -- not allowed to be active whenever a car is moving.

And as much as it would pain me, if it meant not using my phone as an mp3 player, so be it. But I'd be real sad to go without my GPSDrive navigation app.

[bluepoof]

My right to live (up there with liberty and pursuit of happiness) should take priority over the privilege of someone using a cell phone while driving.

Hey, I agree 1000000%.  I'm a huge proponent of anti-distracted driving.  My only point was that it would be technically difficult to shut off a driver's phone (which I would absolutely support) but leave passengers able to use their phones.  If there became a way to do it, I would support it fully.

As it stands, I never use a phone while driving (I keep it in my purse in the backseat so I'm not even tempted) and I throw hissy fits if I'm a passenger and the driver uses the phone for anything.  I'm also all about being a jerk to people on Facebook or Twitter if they're obvious about posting while driving.  I agree that there needs to be a social stigma.

[ridingfar]

I guess I missed the memo about it being OK to not have your attention fully directed to the task of driving.

I blame:

- The rise of a self righteous, self centered, self entitled culture
- The decline of Personal Responsibility for ones behavior or the impact of that behavior on others
- The profits of corporations feeding the devices and services enabling communication anywhere, any time and with anyone/everyone

You can't legislate morality, but you can stigmatize bad behavior enough to curtail it's prevalence.

We are Americans, the most innovative culture in history, so how hard is this? How about:

- Flashing strobe lights (a la school buses) when a communication device is in use in a moving vehicle to warn other drivers
- Increased mandatory penalties for damages occurring while using a communications device (a la "three strikes" and you don't drive)
- Minimum age restrictions for using com devices while moving
- Auto-disable functions for all non-GPS features

I don't know the specific answers, but I do know they are available and will take conviction and strength of character to apply. That's what I'm not sure our society is willing to provide in order to make a change.

[UFO]

Show me some normalized data, then let's talk.  Throwing out raw data like "GHSA projects that motorcycle fatalities remained at about 4,500 in 2011, the same level as 2010" doesn't really mean much.

-Did the average number of endorsements of those in accidents rise or fall.
-Did the number of licensed riders rise or fall.
-Did the average age of licensed riders rise or fall.
-How many of these accidents were blamed on cellphone usage?
-How many of these accidents were blamed on excessive motorcycle speed?

Etc.

I also see nothing having to do with cellphones in the article.  And just because the guy in the picture is on his phone doesn't mean he was when the accident happened.  People usually make phone calls after accidents.

Not saying I'm against anti-distraction laws, but don't throw up an article that says nothing about causation and start ranting about a cause.

Edit:  So I scanned the summary and the correlating factors for increases or decreases in a states fatality # were 1) good/bad weather trends (for more/fewer fatalities in that state), 2) more/fewer registrations (for more/fewer fatalities in that state).  29% of all motorcycle fatalities involve a rider with a BAC > the legal limit.  Why not rant against that statistic?  All very mundane.

[bomber]

Not saying I'm against anti-distraction laws, but don't throw up an article that says nothing about causation and start ranting about a cause.

Very good point.

I personally know of two riders who were killed by distracted drivers.

I can cite the number of drivers per mile who veer very close to me (on my bike) while driving distracted (approx 2 per mile in suburban traffic).

That's enough for me.

Normalized data would certainly help.

[Hardware]

Hey, I agree 1000000%.  I'm a huge proponent of anti-distracted driving.  My only point was that it would be technically difficult to shut off a driver's phone (which I would absolutely support) but leave passengers able to use their phones.  If there became a way to do it, I would support it fully.

As it stands, I never use a phone while driving (I keep it in my purse in the backseat so I'm not even tempted) and I throw hissy fits if I'm a passenger and the driver uses the phone for anything.  I'm also all about being a jerk to people on Facebook or Twitter if they're obvious about posting while driving.  I agree that there needs to be a social stigma.

It would be fairly easy to have it based on proximity to the driver's airbag in the steering wheel.  Too close to the airbag and three things happen -  vehicle ECM fries itself (shutting the vehicle down and forcing an expensive repair), driver's airbag deploys and cell phone detonates in idiot driver's ear/face.

Pretty fucking simple.

[scottzilla]

http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/22/11811108-motorcycle-deaths-stay-at-same-level-despite-overall-safer-roads?lite






Maybe try some sweeping national legislation on banning the use of cell phones and laptops and such in cars????

I don't know about you guys but sometimes my daily commute is like a Donkey Kong game. Most of the offender cagers are happily yakking on their cell phones.

No offense to our ladies here but women are the worst offenders in the cell phone abuse category.

It would be safe to say 6 or 7 out of ten women drivers I see on the road have a cell glued to their face and mouth going a mile a minute.  



Check the guy in the photo.  

Two of the most populated cities in the world have laws making it illegal to use a cell phone while driving: NY & LA.
Your logic is flawed.

[sprk_sprd]

Maybe I'm daft, but I don't understand the "Check the guy in the photo" comment.  I realize he's on his cell phone, but who's to say whether he was on his phone when the collision occurred, or if he simply whipped out the cell phone to call 911/wife/family/etc.?

[falconati]

I don't think the picture was really related to the article

[stromgal]

While I know personal experience cannot be extrapolated to the general population: in my 43 years of street riding, distracted/inattentive driving was never as bad as in the most recent 3.

[veefer800canuck]

Cops should IMMEDIATELY be able to check the cell
Phone records on all parties involved in a traffic accident.

I suspect the 17 Y.O. Girl that hit me was on the phone or texting at the time, and I asked the cops to check, and they said they don't pull cell phone records unless there is a FATALITY!

WTF???

I'm semi-crippled up for life, she gets a $172 ticket for "failure to obey a traffic control device".

And if she WAS on the phone, she gets a pass. Cop told me he asked her at the scene if she was on the phone at the time of the collision. She said "No."

Apparently that's good enough. Great detective work there Kojak.

[dan88z]

we have a no cell phone law here, but it appears that I'm the only one who obeys it. I constantly see people (mostly women as noted before) yakking on the phone and not paying attention to their surroundings. I can't wait to install my Stebel horn and blast it as I go by people on the phone.

[sammyseaman]

I'm semi-crippled up for life, she gets a $172 ticket for "failure to obey a traffic control device".

I kinda wanna punch myself in the face for saying this but..... Sue the feckers!