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Facetimeing/skype while driving & how to fix our roads/infrastructure

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posted on Apr, 7 2018 @ 02:58 AM
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So I havent' been in the big city for some time and recently visited and was amazed at how bad the drivers have gotten. I was shocked to see people holding the phone and talking into it, in what looked to be something like a video chat. Then there were SO many drivers totally blocking traffic, causing jams, missing lights, causing havok, all because they were on their phone (not speaker phone either).

I think every city/town/berg/state/etc should make a law that you can't hold the phone while driving. They can come up with some bluetooth/usb interface that can be controlled from the steering wheel or dash/console instead of holding the phone, much like how steering wheels used to have radio controls (probably still do). Make the fine high for talking & holding the phone while driving, like a total of $200-300 per ticket. Hire police officers or "traffic enforcers" in cities and towns to ride around on electric bikes or scooters or motorcycles, something small and silent so they can sneak up on people on the phone.

I'm usually totally against ticketing people, but I'll bet the nation/world looses many billions of $ in work time (let alone personal time) from traffic issues directly related to this phone issue, not to mention the deaths that happen! I figure if deaths don't pursuade gov to act, show them how much $$ they loose by people backing traffic up and causing jams.

They should hire people to do this from 5am to 10pm and have plenty of people on duty. The tickets would pay for the officers in no time, probably a year salary in a couple weeks, if not sooner, especially in a large city. Then use the $$ to fix the roads which are another reason traffic can be horribe. I just saw a pot hole that was 1ft+ deep - honestly, I couldn't see the bottom and it was 18" wide by 4ft long. Great way to destroy your car or kill someone.

This phone issue needs to be taken care of and it needs to be done nation wide. I know some places have laws like this, but it seems there aren't enough or enough people enforcing them.



posted on Apr, 7 2018 @ 03:14 AM
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Berg?

Not sure what it's like in your corner of PA, but out here at least in Australia we have laws against using mobile phones/devices in your hands/laps while driving, even if the vehicle is stationary. People caught get fined and demerit points. Does it work? Maybe, still, some people run the risk because they are selfish butts.

Many newer cars have bluetooth stuff that can already be activated from the steering wheel to provide hands free services. Same for mounted displays/devices as long as they don't interfere with vision.



posted on Apr, 7 2018 @ 03:45 AM
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I took a cruise earlier with a dip# kid who just got his driving permit.
I had to grab the wheel a few times to keep it between the ditches.
He was so preoccupied with his device that I felt that my life or the lives of others was in danger.
He was ready to fight when I took it away.
I let him know that would be a bad idea.
edit on 7-4-2018 by skunkape23 because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 7 2018 @ 03:49 AM
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They can come up with some bluetooth/usb interface that can be controlled from the steering wheel or dash/console instead of holding the phone,


They already have that. The phone links with the vehicle when you get in, then all you have to do is push a button on the steering wheel and you can use voice commands to send texts or make a call whenever you want. The car will even read aloud the texts sent to you.



posted on Apr, 7 2018 @ 09:30 AM
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a reply to: auroraaus


Not sure what it's like in your corner of PA, but out here at least in Australia we have laws against using mobile phones/devices in your hands/laps while driving, even if the vehicle is stationary. People caught get fined and demerit points. Does it work? Maybe, still, some people run the risk because they are selfish butts.


Same with Canada. I've heard about people fined over $500 even if they're at a light, or in a drive through food lineup.



posted on Apr, 8 2018 @ 10:55 AM
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This idiot woman copped a $400 fine and 3 demerit points.... should have been more imo.



Was posted all over social media before the cops found her too. Maybe that's a bigger deterrent.



posted on Apr, 9 2018 @ 12:13 AM
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a reply to: badw0lf

I cannot abide with people like that. They are putting lives at risk because they are so self absorbed and don't care two figs for anyone else.

The cynic in me could say, well, there's darwinian elements that will sort these people out, if they crash and die on a stretch of road not hurting anyone else. But then, it does effect others, not only family and friends, but first responders, witnesses, so on.

I wonder though, if dash cam footage can capture more individuals doing the wrong thing, and a special division of the police force that finds and prosecutes people like that. And more of a deterrent perhaps, maybe something like mandatory education programs, which show explicit raw footage of the aftermath of accidents involving phones and the like. Not just one session, but many many sessions.

* falls off soapbox*




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