NTSB Cell Phone Ban Advocacy

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by bhunter

I concur with his position. The absurdity of the NTSB proposal ought get all involved fired. It is almost like they couldn't decide what to do, thus they went for "Big Gulp" nanny approach, rather than a more nuanced proposal. The only thing that Hersman and the board did was show their idiocy. Come to think of it, is the NTSB, formed in 1967, even needed or could other agencies fulfill their role?

What puzzles me is that the NTSB is full of really smart people who have a very high standard for doing accident investigations (full disclosure - I've been on a few big accident investigation boards for different agencies). People in the AI community look up to these folks. Plus, Hersman is pretty easy on the eyes.

That said, this is an excellent example of (over)activist government. No worries though. It ain't going anywhere IMHO.

[BlueStreak]

We have the ban here in VA. When it was first implemented, people were stopped and warned. (Myself included.) That was a couple years ago.

Now, no one pays any attention to it.

Much ado about nothing, to my mind.

Dave

[finnbow]

What rankles me is the prohibition of even hands-free devices. That said, the police aren't gonna enforce this anyway.

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by finnbow

What rankles me is the prohibition of even hands-free devices. That said, the police aren't gonna enforce this anyway.

As it stands, there is nothing to be enforced. The board only issued recommendations.

Regards,

D-Ray

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

As it stands, there is nothing to be enforced. The board only issued recommendations.

Regards,

D-Ray

True. Still it seems that they're opening themselves to all sorts of criticism for overreaching.

[wgrr]

I have very mixed feelings about this. I put many miles a year on the road and twice I have narrowly escaped hurting someone or myself, due to me being on the cell phone, both hands free, and on a conventional cell phone.

I lost a very good friend a few years ago. The accident was officially caused by a dropped cellphone on I540. He reached down to get it and flipped his Denali multiple times throwing him out because the idiot refused to wear a seatbelt.

Cellphones (texting and voice), eating, applying makeup, f***ing, writing a report,etc.. should all be banned for the driver of a vehicle. It will never happen. if it does it will never be enforced.

[Charles]

Used to, the cops wrote you up for dangerous & reckless, crossing the center line, etc...which is the reasoning behind the cell phone ban.

How many different laws against the same thing do we really need?

Chas

[merrylander]

Quite apart from the innocent bystanders we could look at it as Darwin in action. The problem is that it invariably seems to be the bystanders who take all the damage.

[Wasillaguy]

Originally Posted by Charles

Used to, the cops wrote you up for dangerous & reckless, crossing the center line, etc...which is the reasoning behind the cell phone ban.

How many different laws against the same thing do we really need?

Chas

Exactly. We have laws to cover distracted driving of all forms. Enacting laws that will not be enforced only cheapens the legal system. "Why worry about breaking laws, they don't enforce half of 'em anyway."

For the last two decades, every handheld GPS has been outfitted with circuitry that will not allow it's use when traveling faster than about 100mph. This is done to keep small plane pilots from using the cheap devices (they want them to buy the expensive avionic units).

So.. the technology is there, just make it mandatory that all cell phones have the same circuitry and dial back the max speed to 15mph or something. Of course, this means passengers, bus riders, etc. won't be able to use their devices, so maybe you go one step further and use proximity sensors. If the phone is directly over the driver's seat, no workie.

Or, better yet, use the existing laws to prosecute those who have accidents and leave everyone else alone.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Charles

Used to, the cops wrote you up for dangerous & reckless, crossing the center line, etc...which is the reasoning behind the cell phone ban.

How many different laws against the same thing do we really need?

Chas

I believe overlapping laws arise from successful legal challenges to existing laws.
So, the law is tweaked, or expanded to thwart the "way around it"-s.

Dave