How About Cell Phone Cameras.......

[global1]

first let me say - I hate 'red light cameras'. They are not there for my safety - they are there for my city - Chicago - to make a whole lot of money under the disingenuous reason that they are there for my safety. Since having gotten a $100 ticket at one of these camera lights - I've changed my driving habits to the point that I believe I might be endangering others. I either speed up to make it through the light or slow down to get caught. If it turns while I'm right there - I slam on the brakes. I won't give another $100 to the city for this.

I would, however, support random 'cell phone cameras'. Chicago has passed a law to ticket people on cell phones - but it is rarely enforced and it is real hard to monitor. A 'cell phone camera' taking pictures of people on the phone while driving and then sending them their picture after the fact - I believe would be a deterrent.

I'm throwing this out there - what do you think about this idea?

I do make calls - but I use a hands-free bluetooth device. Those should be allowed - but people making calls, talking or texting while driving without a bluetooth device in my mind is dangerous.

[begin_within]

This is my newest pet peeve.

It's against the law in California to talk on a hand-held cell phone while driving, yet I see people doing it all the time - and they are clearly not paying enough attention to the traffic. Sometimes I honk at them but that doesn't get the point across, exactly why I honked. It really irritates me.

[Initech]

1. Texting while driving is EXTREMELY dangerous.

I'd be all for setting up something to prevent that. And I know from a little bit of first-hand experience. I dont think I'd be for this for people just talking on their cell phones because not all of us can afford bluetooth devices. They're coming down in price drastically but they're still a long way from being really affordable.

[BR_Parkway]

4. considering most have gps type monitoring - how hard would it be

to program them to turn off texting options if you were exceeding a certain speed - whatever the average walking speed would be?

[Angleae]

12. GPS is position only.

It does not calculate speed. To make a system capable of calculating such you would have to have a computer tracking every single cell phone in real-time and constantly calculating it's speed. It's technically possible (but would require a rather powerful computer), but it's also illegal without a warrent.

[Tesha]

18. Unfortunately, you're wrong.

GPS systems are quite capable of calculating the speed of the receiver.

That doesn't solve the problem, though, because it's entirely legal and
practical to use your cell phone while you are a passenger in a car,
bus, or train, it's just not legal if you're the driver, engineer, or
motorman.

Tesha

[customerserviceguy]

13. I would support putting something in vehicles

that disables texting while the vehicle in is motion. What about passengers? Well, if they haven't got anything better to do, tough shit.

[csziggy]

20. Studies show that it's the conversation that is distracting, not holding the phone

So use of bluetooth devices is not the issue. Even conversations between people in the car with you can be distracting, but they can more easily see if you are getting into a dangerous situation and stop talking, while someone on the other end of a phone cannot.

People on average do too many things in cars that distracts them from driving. It is just a fact of modern life.

[Initech]

27. Oh yeah definitely.

I see people doing all kinds of shit while driving - eating food, applying makeup, brushing hair, shaving, you name it. Yet for some reason cell phones get the worst rap out of all other possible activities you could do while driving.

[csziggy]

30. Cell phones are the 'new kid on the block" so easy to blame

My hubby used to read the paper while driving - he claimed it was OK cause it was 5 AM while he was delivering papers, but he'd be all over the road. When he nearly got sideswiped by another paper guy who was doing the same thing, he cut back on it, but never really stopped.

He'll still brush his hair and eat while driving - and read maps, even when I am there to navigate. And he won't fasten his seatbelt until he starts driving away - that's cause he won't use the seatbelt unless I am in the car with him and I nag him about it, but he's veering all over the place while trying to get it latched.

What bugs me are the people who will pull out of a parking space while talking on the phone - WTF don't they stay parked until they finish their conversation?

Oh well, no laws are going to stop stupid behavior, that is for certain.

[bobbolink]

22. Are there really that many phone emergencies that can't wait, or you can't pull over to talk?

Somehow, we managed pretty well before cell phones.

[cdsilv]

2. Do you plan to take a pic w/your cellphone while driving?.....n/t

[Eric J in MN]

3. A study using simulated driving in which people talked on a...

....handheld or hands-free cellphone found their driving was equally bad.

It's the distraction of the conversation. Not whether one or two hands are on the wheel.

[frylock]

14. how does that comport with race car drivers who are in constant communication with their crew?

who exactly are they testing? are they filtering the subjects by skill level?

[abumbyanyothername]

17. 80% of drivers believe that they

are above average drivers, which is obviously not true.

[frylock]

19. that may very well be the case..

and I do consider myself to be an outstanding driver. That still doesn't answer my question; how can a driver hit Turn 1 at 200MPH, 3 cars wide, and communicate with his crew chief if these "studies" show that the driver would be too distracted?

[tkmorris]

24. Crew chiefs aren't usually compelled to...

Begin animated conversations about what to have for dinner, cousin Linda's new baby (isn't she aDORable?), or go on at length about what an ass their boyfriend is. Furthermore if they did a professional race car driver would tell them to shut the hell up, they're rather busy at the moment.

Your average daily commuter does all of those things, usually while applying make-up and eating a breakfast burrito.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

32. the thing about race car drivers is that they

are talking ABOUT the drive/race...thus concentrating on it. The normal conversation a driver on the streets of the US has is not usually about their driving.

sP

[Skink]

5. Slamming on the breaks in Texas could ccause a major accident.

People here speed up from a hundred yards away to make lights.

[valerief]

7. People shouldn't tailgate. There should be room for people to slam on their brakes.

That's one of my pet peeves.

[global1]

9. Exactly My Point - These Red Light Camera Traps - Create More.......

dangerous driving conditions.

[ManiacJoe]

10. That very bad habit leads to accidents.

[Warpy]

6. Studies have shown that even hands free phones

greatly increase the likelihood of an accident, so that Bluetooth isn't buying you anything but a false sense of security.

As for snapping pictures of other drivers on the phone using your own phone, wouldn't that send you into irony overload?

I don't know what to do about cell phone clods who yack in the car and drive like they're drunk beyond just hoping the police to their jobs before they kill somebody.

I was hoping the lousy economy would reduce their numbers.

[global1]

8. Both You And The Responder In Response #2 Misunderstood Me.......

I'm not suggesting that I take a picture with my cell phone of another driver - I'm suggesting just like many cities have put up 'red light cameras'(they take pics of people going through a red light) - I'm suggesting that cities put up camera's to catch people talking on cell phones as a way of policing laws passed that say you'll be ticketed if caught on a cell phone.

For those of you that mentioned that bluetooth or hands-free devices are equally as dangerous - I didn't know that. That's why I went out and bought one.

Wow - if it's the distraction of the conversation and not whether one or two hands are on the wheel - what does that say for talking with someone else while in the car or singing to the music on the radio?

[Warpy]

25. Apparently a passenger or the radio aren't as distracting

as trying to cope with a telephone conversation. There's something about trying to keep up with a disembodied voice with no visual cues that absorbs much of the attention that needs to be directed toward driving.

The best bet with the cell phone is to pull into a parking lot to finish the conversation.

[Silent3]

29. Oddly enough, your odds of an accident go down when you have a passenger...

...in your car, by about 30% compared to driving alone. That statistic wasn't evaluated in terms of talking/not talking, but since conversations between drivers and passengers are pretty common, talking to passenger is either a fairly low risk or even a positive safety benefit. Hands-free cell phone conversations, however, increase your risk of an accident -- not quite as much as when holding the phone, but from what I vaguely recall reading, those two risks aren't that much different.

[armyowalgreens]

11. Is it really that hard to not run a red light?

I've ran a red maybe once. And that's because I wasn't paying attention. It's not that hard to drive safely.

I can understand your hatred of red light cams. But the OP is ridiculous.

[CRF450]

15. Agreed. I drove through a red light a couple times, myself.

The first, I wasent paying attention and to my luck, it turned green right when I went under the lights and the other way was clear. Another time I went through one was because I was behind an 18 wheeler so the light was blocked from my view, thankfully their was no red light camera at that intersection.

Hey, we're not all prefect at all times behind the wheel...

[Fumesucker]

21. A lot of places, when they put up the red light cameras, they shorten the yellow light..

It "enhances the revenue generation" of the red light cameras..

So yes, it can be difficult not to run the red light unless you immediately brake hard enough to be a danger to anyone behind you.

[abumbyanyothername]

16. Product liability lawsuits against Cell Phone makers and

service providers until they figure out a way to make them not work while you are driving.

[elocs]

23. To what lengths will we go to protect people from all safety hazards while driving?

A law against passengers talking to the driver because the conversation is distracting? Kids in the car because kids are distracting, they talk and babies babble and carry on? No eating or drinking in the car? No listening to music and talk radio in the car because that is distracting? The world outside the car is chocked full of all kinds of distractions for the driver that have nothing to do with safety such as billboards and hot chicks or cute guys walking down the street.

One might think that there were no driving distractions before cellphones and in that case one would be very mistaken.

[Silent3]

31. You're missing the point about different levels of risk.

All of those risks are different, and each has different avoidance costs. Asking a parent to never transport their own children by car is asking a much greater sacrifice than asking someone to wait until they're off the road to send the next "WTFLOL!" to their BFF.

Talking with a passenger may even improve safety, not reduce it. (Studies show the risk of driving with a passenger is 30% lower than driving alone.)

Fussing with an iPod or a radio too much while trying to find something to listen to can be a high-risk distraction, but if you just let the music play along the risk is low, and may even improve safety compared to a too-quiet environment that lulls a driver to sleep.

Our laws should be based on the best data available for assessing these different kinds of risks. The cost of avoiding risks also has to be evaluated -- we'd be 100% safe from car accidents if car were illegal, but that's a cost very, very few of us would want to pay. It's really a matter of mutual agreement between drivers how much risk they're willing to mutual impose upon each other whether they're driving to get to a hospital, driving to get to work or driving to go see a movie.

[county worker]

26. If the light turns yellow you are supposed to slow down and stop.

I think that people now think that if the light turns yellow it means step on the gas and get through the intersection. Now there are always 1 or 2 cars running the red light.

I am glad to have a camera to give those two a ticket. If getting a ticket means you drive worse I hope to hell you get your license taken away!

[Fumesucker]

28. You made these two statements..

"If the light turns yellow you are supposed to slow down and stop."

and

"If getting a ticket means you drive worse I hope to hell you get your license taken away!"

But the poster stated their intention to do exactly what you said in your first statement and then you say you hope they lose their license for doing so.

Let me just point out that it is quite impossible to always "slow down and stop" when you see the yellow light, sometimes you are simply too damn close to the intersection to do so within the laws of physics. I would think a motorcyclist in particular would understand that it's not always advisable to stop as rapidly as possible, a lot of bikes will handily outstop most cars.

[county worker]

33. I interprate the OP to say he runs red lights as a matter of course.

"I either speed up to make it through the light or slow down to get caught. If it turns while I'm right there - I slam on the brakes."

He either speeds up to make it through the light. That means the light turns yellow and instead of slowing down to stop he speeds up to make it through the light.

If he slows down he gets caught. Caught doing what? Running a red light of course. Again the light turns yellow and he does not stop he goes through the red light and gets caught.


If it turns while he is there he slams on the breaks. Turn what? Turns red. So he didn't slow down and stop for the yellow light he tries to get through before it turns red and has to slam on his breaks to not get a ticket.

In all the above cases he does not obey the law when the light turns yellow.

Of course if the light turns yellow at a point where you can't stop safely you go on through. Yellow means caution. In this case you will make it through before the light turns red.

In the OP's case, the poster does not care that when the light turns red the light for the other direction turns green. He does not have the right of way, he is breaking the law and endangering the lives of other people with his selfish driving habits.

The irony here is that he is concerned that some other driver may be unsafe texting while he us just as unsafe.