I was starting to think I was the only one :p

werd ur hand should not be touching the shift knob unless u are physically shifting

Tell me then, please, what is the justification for banning the use of a hand-held phone while sitting at a red light? You can still pull out a map and stare at it. You can drink soda and eat burgers while driving, but you cannot use the phone quickly at a light.

I think if people kept bringing these points up, the gov't would just ban all that you have just mentioned.

Yes, techincally, drinking/eating/tunning the audio system/adjusting the windows/ or staring at nice cars on the road are all distracting drivers from the "pure" task of driving.

Are cops allowed to check your phone's call history to see if you made a call during the time you were driving?


You need a warrant to search my car, so what about my cell?

^ good question..I was wondering that as well

If there was a crash and they were collecting evidence to investigate it, they can get a warrant and seize it. Reconstructionists do this all the time with the data recorders in cars ( did you know they can find speed, seat belt, what gear etc? from them?). Even taking an air bag to collect DNA to confirm who was driving. They can also use a search warrant for your phone records.

If there was a crash, and if they investigated

yes, that makes sense


What about NO crash, just a cop accusing me of talking on a cell phone?

I will answer your question. Do you put ur car on Park or in N with ebrake up everytime u are stopped at a light? Or do u just put ur feet on the brakes?

If the latter, then when you are using ur phone, whats to say that it won't distract you from losing power control on your feet so that it firmly holds the brake.
you might defend by saying its 2nd nature and no one stupid will lose control? well driving is 2nd nature to me but as u clearly define, with a distraction such as cellphone, it impairs my decisions/driving etc.

its probably like a speeding ticket. If you werent speeding but cop thinks you did, you still get a ticket. Its likely that you will lose in court if you have no evidence to prove that you werent speeding. cops word vs accused speeder.

so if a cop accuse of cellphone use but u werent, he will probably give you a ticket anyways. then you dispute, get the detailed bill from phone company and win the dispute with evidence.

I don't know how a phone bill would prove anything. You would have to first prove that the bill was accurate, that the phone listed in the bill was THE phone you were using at the time ( easy for the Police to suggest you may have been using another phone) that the times on the bill matched the VT time to the second. Police could say that you started dialing but you dropped it when you saw them and that the call was not completed so did not show on your bill...all those sorts of things could be raised. It would come down to the actual evidence given on both sides. To give you a heads up, Police often use binoculars and spotting scopes to see seatbelt infractions. Observers are placed where they cannot be seen and you would only see the pull-over Members. Dropping the phone when you see them is just like all the seat belt non-wearers who pull them on when they see the pickup Members and then lie, saying they had it on at all times. The fact that you had it on when stopped shows that the driver/passenger had a guilty mind and was not telling the truth. Used to love seeing the vehicles weave all over the road while the drivers tried to buckle up. That sounded really bad in court too.

I don't think in this case it is any more distracting than looking at and processing information on a map, eating, drinking pop, etc...

And yes, I sit with my car in neutral while waiting at a light.

so if someone even lightly rear ends you its going to push you into cross traffic
great idea

:rolleyes:

I have my foot on the brake and I watch traffic approaching from behind. I'll usually switch into gear and creep forward if someone is approaching too quickly.

Has there been a formal definition of what "texting" means? Do you have to be tapping in a message to be guilty, or what if you happen to have just received a text and just went to read it?

:cry:
Would you read a book while driving? Taking your eyes and concentration off the road to read a text message is.. nevermind...

I had one genius argue with me that it was OK to watch DVD's while he drove, because it was boring driving from Cranbrook to Calgary. Good thing I don't drive there!

Just use your phone and don't get caught hahaha

and im not even kidding.

=)

WHAT I DO THINK IS WRONG AND HIGHLY overlooked is texting. I think talking on your phone is not bad at all cause im fully capable to do so even while driving stick. But texting you gotta look down and could potentially be dangerous.

It's not looking down that is the problem with using the phone, it is the distraction of the conversation.

Let me put this in a simple way that everyone can understand.

Pat your head and rub your stomach, then switch to rubbing your head and patting your stomach. You notice that brief moment of confusion while your brain tries to figure out what to do? It's a similar struggle for your brain to concntrate on a conversation and focus enough on safe driving.

What is more scary is that people don't seem to notice a reduction in either conversation skills or driving precision/reaction time while yapping on the phone.

As opposed to yapping with other passengers (legal)? Or on the CB (legal)?

Try to shoulder-check with a phone held to your ear, then tell me what the biggest problem is with it.

Putting it simply so the rest of us can understand, of course... :facepalm:

I agree with Soundy, I've noticed a big drop in my driving skills whenever my mom is in the front seat asking me questions about schools and such, which I have to thoughtfully answer with cautious.

It puzzles me that yapping on the CB is legal but I suppose that for people like logging truck drivers, road maintenance workers, etc.. who need a way to co-ordinate their locations to perform a job, it makes sense.

Chatting with a passenger can also be a distraction similar to talking with someone on the other end of the phone. However, people tend to allow the phone conversation to take priority over the driving where as with a passenger you can better prioritize what it is you are concentrating on.

How many members are receiving BOLF's for people driving on cell phones now that we have the new law? hah

Quite a few.

Maybe because they've been doing it for 50 years without it being a problem?

What's the significant difference? You don't need to hold your CB mic by your head, thereby restricting your movement, and you don't need to look at your CB to dial or text. At most you take three seconds to change channels, and that only very rarely.