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BGR: NTSB recommends all states ban use of cell phones, hands-free devices while driving
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) voted on Tuesday to recommend that all states ban the use of using cell phones while driving, whether for talking or texting. It is also recommending that states ban hands-free devices, which are typically used as a safety measure among those who do place phone calls while driving. “No call, no text, no update is worth a human life,” NTSB chairman Deborah Hersan said. “This is a difficult recommendation, but it’s the right recommendation and it’s time.” States are not required to follow the NTSB’s recommendation, The New York Times said, noting that state regulators can individually choose to implement a law or ignore the recommendation altogether.
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Vi__Di Vi__Di
12/14/2011
The Wall 
Larger fines and a technical solution will be needed.
gdt gdt
12/14/2011 
EMP ? Nothing else will stop people from talking...
Vi__Di Vi__Di
12/14/2011 
Either Jamming or require all cell phones to detect key in the ignition type thing (Key2SafeDriving).  URL link
gdt gdt
12/14/2011 
Great idea. I'd also use a muffler for people using speaker-phone or push-to-talk. Especially in the mall
Vi__Di Vi__Di
12/14/2011 
The NTSB's call to ban cell phones is not practical.  It is like telling drivers to stop breathing.
PJLouis PJLouis
12/14/2011 
But I have to admit that NTSB is right. It is very destructive. Though it is not the only destruction on the road that I'd ban. State Troopers on a highway destruct me even more. I cannot concentrate on the road and pay full attention to them and their moves. Let's band them as well.
Vi__Di Vi__Di
12/14/2011 
Larger fines and more cops on the road.

I just saw someone suddenly stop in the middle of the road to let someone out for a train when they could have simply pulled into the parking lot to that person out.  The driver did not slwo down to give any indication he ways going to stop; he just jammed on the brakes.  The driver did not turn on his turn signal or even his hazard lights.  The driver actually stopped in the middle of a traffic lane.  I honked my horn and so did half a dozen other folks.  The driver got out of his car to scream at the top of his lungs, which I heard through closed car windows.  He shouted to mind our own business - by the way that is a cleaned up version of what he said.  Worse still he got back into his car and refused to move his car.  The incident lasted about 1 minute, I drove around the ***.

What the driver did is a traffic hazard and I am sure against some trafiic law.  The driver did not care that he almost caused a multi-car accident and had the nerve to scream at everyone.  Where were the cops?  A bunch of cops on the road would have stopped that.

Then there was that time the driver was drifting from their lane into my lane while they were talking on their cell phone.  By the way, despite the laws in my state requiring headsets or hands free in a car, the driver had the phone up to their ear.  No hands free and no head set.  When people leaned on their horns (including me) to wake her up, her joyful response was a middle finger in the air - and she used the hand holding her steering wheel to make that lovely gesture. I think there is a law against that as well - driving without hands on a steering wheel,

Laws help but incredibly larger fines and more cops would be very helpful.
PJLouis PJLouis
12/14/2011 
so, no new laws just enforcement ... however, some states do not have laws against texting or talking on the phone while driving.
gdt gdt
12/14/2011 
So those states should get laws.  But to ban phones is so uneforceable.  The bottom line is you could include the following distractions:
Radio - singing along with singers you are listening to. 
Blasting the radio so loud you can hear the radio through rolled up windows and you can hear the radio blasting at least 100 feet away
Playing movies on a DVD player in a car - yes I have seen moron drivers actually look all the way back in their cars to see what their kids are looking at.  How do you keep your foot on the brake while craning your neck and body to stretch into the back seat?
Drinking coffee while driving - saw that this morning and the moron was also eating.  How do you stuff food in your mouth, drink coffee and drive all at once without not paying attention to the road.
Putting makeup on while driving and doing so with both hands while in a moving car - just saw that this morning.

The list can go on and on.  Yes I look at other drivers while driving because I am so amazed at some of the stupid things people do while driving at 50 miles an hour and 10 miles an hour - on highways and heavily traveled streets without a care in the world for all of the people around them.

The NTSB is just playing politics.  The NTSB needs the story since their last agency boss just got picked for drunken driving.  Yes I said drunken driving rather than DUI or DWI. The term drunken driving has a bigger impact.  How much do you want to bet the NTSB's leadership talks on their cell phones while driving?

Like I said, the story has made the news and it is probably nothing but politics.  I would rather focus on the lack of moral authority of the NTSB leadership when making blowhard judgements.
PJLouis PJLouis
12/15/2011 edit 
I agree that a ban is not effective, but a $200+ fine would be effective for texting or talking on the phone.   It was pretty effective is getting everyone to use seat belts in the 70's.
gdt gdt
12/15/2011 
Fine are not very effective. China enforce death penalty for bribery, nut has one of the highest corruption levels in the world. 

Cars should be equipped with hammers that will go on when ignition is on. It should be strong enough to block cell phones in the cars nearby. Kind of EMP...

And then we can remove cops from the road - they are the biggest destruction.
Vi__Di Vi__Di
12/15/2011 
BGR: Transportation board won’t back NTSB recommendation for hands-free ban

U.S. Transportation secretary Ray LaHood said he will not issue a nationwide ban on using cell phones and hand-free devices while driving, as proposed recently by the National Transportation Safety Board. LaHood believes that hands-free calling is not a problem in the United States, and his stance certainly supports the auto and mobile industries. Ford, for example, equips several of its car models with Ford Sync hands-free technology. A ban on hands-free devices would likely prevent the company from selling that product. Hands-free phone calls are “not the big problem in America,” LaHood argued. ”If other people want to work on hands-free, so be it.” LaHood has admitted that talking on the phone while driving is a distraction and he toyed with a nationwide ban, but never followed through with it. Individual states, however, have the power to issue statewide bans and there are currently nine states, in addition to Washington, D.C., with bans in effect. Thirty-five states currently ban texting while driving, too. The U.S. Department of Transportation is currently working on a set of safety guidelines that hands-free and in-car entertainment system manufacturers will have to follow, The Wall Street Journal said.
Vi__Di Vi__Di
12/22/2011 
Good.  Like I said, the NTSB was trying to get everyone to forget the drunken driving charge against their former leader.
PJLouis PJLouis
12/23/2011
 
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