It's about stinking time we had a country wide ban. Your need to text should not be allowed to put my kids lives in danger.

Lots of people text and drive and have never got into a car accident.

Lots of people drive drunk and have never got into a car accident.

Doesn't mean it's safe, or smart. Just means probability doesn't adhere to our time schedule.

It is interesting when I posted on seatbelts being compulsory, months ago, there were those who raised the "rights" as a reason to not have them compulsary. they didn't care about safety. I wonder if they cry the same tune over cells.

Yay!  We also put a ban in place this year in Manitoba.

There have been so many times I've been cut off by someone who was on a cell phone.  There have been so many times I've seen a near accident because someone was on a cell phone.

They put some stats on the commercials in Manitoba, let's see if I remember them correctly (and feel free to correct me if I've got them wrong)...

- Talking on a cell phone while driving increases your risk of an accident by 4 times.

- Texting while driving increases your risk of an accident 23 times.

I agree with Witch; we need a country-wide ban.  Other countries (like the UK) have had a country-wide ban for years.

BC has recently put in a ban. It might not quite be in effect yet, but soon.

I think it is a great thing.

Ontario has the same ban in place.  Now I just need to get that equipment that reads your e-mail to you!...cms

WE have the ban in Ontario, though right  now I think you only get a warning. 

The issue of hands free phones though appears to be a bit of a red herring.  It appears that the talking to someone outside the car is the issue.  When we are in the car and talking, I can see the road is suddenly backed up and stop talking to let you concentrate.  I can't do that when I am on the phone with you.

I think cell phones were targetted but I see alot of distracting things being done, and certainly a big one is eating/drinking.  Let alone the people who have computers propped on the wheel, dogs in their laps, books propped on the wheel, music so oud they can't possilby here a car horn, .......

I hate the way that people have become techno-zombies who don't watch where they are going and live in their own little virtual world.  It's a nuisance when they wander around in a trance on city sidewalks but it is a threat to public safety when these gawdam fools play with their gadgets when behind the wheel of a moving car.

Recently, I heard a news story about a woman in England who was sent to prison for 2 years because she ran over somebody while texting. Good!  She deserves it!

I don't own a cell phone or pocket computer and i hate what they have done to human social behaviour and traffic safety.

You  forget that they have had mostly positive influences on human behavior save for a few idiots who insist on doing stuff while driving ....

no but red wine is good for the heart and so is booze in moderation ..... it's all about excess right ?

Cellphones and pocket computers have adversely affected human interaction, and are a hazard when driving.  It is a fact and it is absurd to argue otherwise.

Maybe absurd to you ..... lots of things affect human interaction you're just picking on a new medium .... it's okay to be a Luddite .... you won't get stoned or anything ....

jesouhaite777

I'm not talking about cell use in cars but texting in general  is fantastic. My daughter and I went to Vegas for 4 days over Halloween. It didn't cost her one extra penny to text message her son x number of times in Toronto and he would text her back. She does have a $5. a month plan for unlimited text messages. Long distance phone calls using a cell are expensive.

Technology......wow ......iphone, ipod,blackberry, GPS- sp- ......bring it on...the more the merrier 

Technology......wow ......iphone, ipod,blackberry, GPS- sp- ......bring it on...the more the merrier 

Amen sistar i was responding to someone elses drivel LOL not urs

I text and drive.  One of my former boyfriends, a professional truck driver, taught me how.

The laws are useless in the face of text madness because these text messages are reeeally important..

click for Texting While Driving: SuperNews!

Disclaimer: 

The posting of this link does not reflect my views on law enforcement.  Donuts and coffee are essential food groups.  Some scenes may be offensive to the humour impaired.

I'm happy with the hands-free, though still I will pause the conversation if I have to do something like drive near a concrete construction barrier or turn a corner or change lanes.  The conversation is a distraction as much as the handheld phone, but the handsfree is a huge improvement. 

Texting is STUPID while driving.  Absolutely impossible for brains to register from the text activity to the road/hazard fast enough.  If Serena says many  have not had accidents, then it is because they've been lucky, or they've only caused some major scares to this point.  This is a useful false arguement for getting at the important issues.

It only takes once to be a disaster, and if I used that logic for parenting, my kids would play in the street and try drugs most of the time without worry and hitchhike because nothing bad has happened the millions of times.  Acceptable risks might include things that only affect one person, but this is way beyond that, and we have some useful solutions.

BTW - I nearly lost  my sweetheart to a freak accident that happened on a sunny day on a dry road with only the radio and a friend to be a distraction.  Shit happens - lets not play russian roulette when we have other Good options.

As for Marzo's comment - yes cellphones etc are changing society and they drive me nuts.  But now I know my teenage girl is able to call for help and that is just one small reason that they are valuable.  Overused?  Badly used?  Rampant?  Yes, but it isn't a black or white issue.

Which just shows that professional drivers do stupid and unsafe things too.  It is dangerous unles you can text with one hand and never look at the device you are using.  ANd even then it is dangerous because of the focus on what you are doing...

Interestingly, some research has shown that hands-free devices can actually impair attention more than hand-held devices. They thought a possible explanation for this might be that people are more aware of doing two things at once while holding a device and thus make an extra effort to divide their attention. In principle though, it seems to me that hands free is just as distracting. Of course, so is trying to break up a fight between your three kids in the back seat while driving in busy traffic. We will never be able to prevent all potential distractions.

Don't even get me started on the people who floss their teeth while driving...we may ban some activities but we will never be able to stop ALL of the creative idiocy.

agreed Kappa - the handsfree doesn't eliminate the distraction, because our brains are still tied up with hearing, reacting, responding to the conversation.  I think its important to remember to say 'hold on a minute - I have to make a turn here..." and then put full attention on the paths of the cars around us, or the people trying to cross, and everything else that is chaotic and uncontrollable.   Sometimes I even forget I was talking to someone, and then a moment goes by before I remember to rejoin the conversation.  

The reality on the road is that no matter how talented I am, or how attentive I am, or how great my car is, the person driving near me might be distracted, have a heart attack, change their mind, pull a stupid move, lose a tire - it isn't about just cruising along chatting/texting - its about being able to react instantly and capably to an extraordinary surprise.  It isn't about me...

Please don't text and drive.  I have my kids in the car.

 It is like drunk driving in that we don't have enough regard for others to refrain from doing something so obviously hazardous.  So they have to hit us in the pocketbook instead. Our greed is a bigger motivator against doing something stupid rather than our conscience.

 How many times have I heard. "Don't get caught" Or  "Don't get an Impaired charge" when someone is going to drive home after a few?

It should be:  "Don't do it because you may injure or kill an innocent person"!

Whew! I've been waiting a long time to say this!

Best line I heard that drove it home - Stop treating people like pylons.  Drive like those cars are filled with people.

I nearly got clipped  yesterday - stopped my heart for a moment.  I was signalling a lane change to the slow lane, but waiting to pass a slower car in that lane.  Just as I started to move over, the A******* behind me whipped into the slow lane and flew past -he must have nearly taken the front end off the car in the slow lane, and  very nearly took out my back end as he passed.  No texting, but no brain either.  UGH.

I support cell phone bans while driving. Driving is serious!!! People can die!!

Sometimes nature comes to our rescue. It would literally be impossible for me to text whilst driving. This is what it would take:

1. Reach over and grab my handbag from the passenger's seat. (or the floor, if I've had to brake suddenly).

2. Open the handbag zipper with one hand (try it!) and fish around inside amongst combs,sunglasses, old bus tickets, tissues, last week's church notices, half a packet of peppermints, etc, etc, etc.............

3. Take my reading glasses out of their case (with one hand) and my cell phone.

I contend, that after all that, I would have forgotten what it was I wanted to say anyway.

Yes possums, there are advantages in being a senior!