http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/02/study-shows-cell-phone-bans-may-not-prevent-crashes.ars

Funny to see it, but if you look also, how many ppl have a gps and are messing with it while driving. Or an Ipod. Or all those incar navagation systems.

They really need to look at all electronic systems. I agree that GPS's are useful (no looking at maps while driving) but you still gotta program them.

2/1/2010 6:25:52 PM

until heads up displays on the actual windshield and integration with steering wheel buttons becomes very easy its going to be a problem

do they even sell something aftermarket so that you can control things on your steering wheel?

[Edited on February 1, 2010 at 6:30 PM. Reason : and voice activation]

2/1/2010 6:30:21 PM

Many of the cell phone studies show only marginal improvement on average using hands-free device versus holding the cell phone to the ear. Apparently the conversation, not holding up the phone is the distraction. Will speaking with passengers be banned?

2/1/2010 6:40:44 PM

^^ A lot of car radios have controls on the steering wheel, but I havnt seen anything else. A few cars a couple years back that had car phones also had controls and some had voice controls for the phones. But most now just do the incar next to the steering wheel screen to control everything.

2/1/2010 7:30:20 PM

as long as people feel safe while they're driving, they're not going to make any real effort to limit distractions

2/1/2010 7:39:24 PM

Quote :

"Will speaking with passengers be banned?"

I think the argument to that is if something were to happen (e.g., car accident), the passenger would experience it too so it's not as much a distraction to talk to a passenger than it is with someone on the phone. At least I read that in a study. I definitely agree though that it's the conversation, not holding the phone that is the distraction.

2/1/2010 7:54:17 PM

the obvious solution is to just let people go ahead and use their gadgets and let the car drive itself

2/1/2010 8:50:16 PM

we were promised flying cars. people are angry.

2/1/2010 8:53:46 PM

How do they even enforce these types of laws? A cop would have to be practically nose to your bumper on a clear day to even see you texting on your phone, and you could just say you were sending a call to voicemail or something.

2/2/2010 12:09:02 AM

There's two options, as I see it:

1) ban driving while eating, then ban driving while putting on make-up, then ban driving while talking on a cellphone, then ban driving while texting, then ban driving while messing with the GPS, then ban driving while _____ whatever the next thing is, and so on....

2) simply ban driving while engaging in behavior that constitutes an unreasonable risk of harm. (And let the fucking courts deal with it.)

I prefer option 2.

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 12:35 AM. Reason : ]

2/2/2010 12:34:32 AM

so a study showing that these cell phone bans are ineffective makes you want to create more laws that are strikingly similar to the ineffective ones?

2/2/2010 9:09:42 AM

^^They already have option 2, it's called careless and reckless driving.

The cell phone/texting ban is meant to be a preemptive law that tries to prevent careless and reckless driving and therefore to prevent crashes. The problem is that the type of people that obey these laws are probably not the ones texting and wrecking in the first place. IMO laws like this end up being more of an "I told you so" (so to speak) and probably impacts you more monetarily insurance-wise in contributory negligence states like NC. Example: a car pulls out in front of you and even though you probably didn't have time to stop in the first place, it is now 100% your fault because you were texting at the time.

2/2/2010 9:17:30 AM

Quote :

"There's two options, as I see it: 1) ban driving while eating, then ban driving while putting on make-up, then ban driving while talking on a cellphone, then ban driving while texting, then ban driving while messing with the GPS, then ban driving while _____ whatever the next thing is, and so on.... 2) simply ban driving while engaging in behavior that constitutes an unreasonable risk of harm. (And let the fucking courts deal with it.)"

How about banning reckless behavior or getting into an accident? If someone wants to text, I don't care. Are you going to ban fidgeting with the radio? Daydreaming? Scratching your leg? There's a million things that could be distractions and could potentially be banned, but it doesn't make sense to do that. If someone commits a crime while driving, and actually harms someone else or puts them in harms way, then they should be punished at that point.

2/2/2010 9:28:22 AM

We should ban all driving unless done by a professional (public transportation, taxi, etc) and have strict rules and tests for the professionals. Otherwise you have to bike or walk. We would solve the careless driving problem and help address the obesity problems and pollution problems that plague us as well.

2/2/2010 12:00:45 PM

^good joke.

I'd love to have a car that can drive itself, maybe by 2030.

2/2/2010 12:25:42 PM

Quote :

"as long as people feel safe while they're driving, they're not going to make any real effort to limit distractions"

This is insightful. There will always be something to distract you, there will always be some gadget, some other person tapping on your shoulder, some hot chick on the sidewalk.

The only real way to resolve this problem is to make licensing about a billion times more difficult and test for concentration and attentiveness in all directions.

The only reason cell phones, etc, are even an issue is because people generally don't take driving seriously enough. Which is a product of how ridiculously easy it is to get a license to operate a motor vehicle at high speeds. And since that isn't going to change, get used to frivolous laws that do nothing. Those speed limit laws sure do work!

Quote :

"I'd love to have a car that can drive itself, maybe by 2030."

Hell fucking yes. It's 2010 for crying out loud. Where's my Auto-drive, flying cars and shit??

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 12:29 PM. Reason : .]

2/2/2010 12:28:08 PM

Quote :

"the obvious solution is to just let people go ahead and use their gadgets and let the car drive itself"

The thing is, many humans are more than capable of doing a number of things simultaneously while operating a motor vehicle, and doing it safely, but some people are just idiots who are going to wreck daydreaming in a stock Yugo with nothing more than a Bulgarian AM radio.

2/2/2010 1:18:13 PM

WHERE THE FUCK IS MY JETPACK?!?!

[/Wilson]

2/2/2010 1:56:10 PM