Smartphone Distracted Driving [W:265]

SouthernDemocrat said:

Last Monday I went for a ride on my road bike over lunch. I work downtown and chose a route that I have biked many times before. Just a few minutes into my ride, I was stopped at a stoplight on a broad boulevard that doesn't get much traffic during the day. While I was stopped at that red light a woman was driving while looking at her smartphone and plowed into me from behind at about 40 mph never even seeing me or the red light. I was rendered unconscious at the point of impact, however this has been verified by the driver as well as witnesses. As a result of being hit, I was thrown against the wind shield, then thrown forward a number of yards before being ran over by the same vehicle. I sustained a significant head injury with bleeding on the brain and a severe concussion, a broken scapula, broken ribs, a broken lumbar vertebrae, some damage to my right eye, a tear from my right eye to the top of my forehead that extended clean to the skull and required over 100 stitches (thus disfigurement), muscle damage throughout my body, multiple lacerations and road rash, and some nerve damage on my upper face, head, and lower back. I spent 2 days in ICU and nearly 4 days in the hospital. It may be weeks before I can return to work, and of course my beloved carbon fiber road bike has been destroyed.

So this got me thinking about distracted driving and I looked up the statistics on it. Distracted driving now results in more injuries every year than even drunk driving. I am sure that the person that hit me is not a bad person. However, this would have never happened had that individual not been looking at their smartphone rather than watching the road. So I was thinking as dangerous as smartphone distracted driving is, why are the penalties for it not as bad as drunk driving? There are a lot of people now getting killed or seriously injured by drivers that are looking at their smartphones rather than looking at the road. It seems to me that we really need to crack down on it for public safety.

Is Texting While Driving More Dangerous Than Drunk Driving?

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SDET said:

I presume that you didn't see my post that Massachusetts got it right. It seems Ontario went nuts on this issue. Pile up enough draconian laws with teeth, and you'll eventually get bitten.

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CanadaJohn said:

Funny, and ironic, that you'd use the term "overkill" to trash a very sensible law that is designed to avoid killing innocent people because some people today are too ****ing selfish and stupid to concentrate on driving when they are operating a potential killing machine. Unfortunately, "overkill" is what's needed to get the attention of the forever brain dead and self centered of our society.

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AlbqOwl said:

IMO deliberately driving under the influence of ANYTHING that causes you to be a hazard to others should be a criminal offense. And that would include being under the influence of various controlled substances in addition to alcohol, or any distractions that you voluntarily take on such as reading, texting, etc. while driving. If your negligence causes injury or death or property damage to another, you definitely should be held liable for that and be prosecuted for violating laws intended to prohibit that kind of activity.

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SouthernDemocrat said:

Last Monday I went for a ride on my road bike over lunch. I work downtown and chose a route that I have biked many times before. Just a few minutes into my ride, I was stopped at a stoplight on a broad boulevard that doesn't get much traffic during the day. While I was stopped at that red light a woman was driving while looking at her smartphone and plowed into me from behind at about 40 mph never even seeing me or the red light. I was rendered unconscious at the point of impact, however this has been verified by the driver as well as witnesses. As a result of being hit, I was thrown against the wind shield, then thrown forward a number of yards before being ran over by the same vehicle. I sustained a significant head injury with bleeding on the brain and a severe concussion, a broken scapula, broken ribs, a broken lumbar vertebrae, some damage to my right eye, a tear from my right eye to the top of my forehead that extended clean to the skull and required over 100 stitches (thus disfigurement), muscle damage throughout my body, multiple lacerations and road rash, and some nerve damage on my upper face, head, and lower back. I spent 2 days in ICU and nearly 4 days in the hospital. It may be weeks before I can return to work, and of course my beloved carbon fiber road bike has been destroyed.

So this got me thinking about distracted driving and I looked up the statistics on it. Distracted driving now results in more injuries every year than even drunk driving. I am sure that the person that hit me is not a bad person. However, this would have never happened had that individual not been looking at their smartphone rather than watching the road. So I was thinking as dangerous as smartphone distracted driving is, why are the penalties for it not as bad as drunk driving? There are a lot of people now getting killed or seriously injured by drivers that are looking at their smartphones rather than looking at the road. It seems to me that we really need to crack down on it for public safety.

Is Texting While Driving More Dangerous Than Drunk Driving?

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KevinKohler said:

Sorry this happened to you. I hope you'll come out of this without too much permanent damage.


Personally?


I thinking if you get busted using the phone while driving, the cop should be able to take your phone. You get it back after watching a horrendously boring, 2 hour video, and then passing a test after on it.

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LaylaWindu said:

Like I said if you stated the bolded part right it's completely asinine and there's nothing very sensible about it. What you described was, if I got a flat, got lost or was having some type of trouble so then I pulled over, decided to leave my car running (maybe its winter, i think you have those in canada haha) and I use my phone to call for help I'm guilty. That is insane and overkill, there nothign sensible about it. Now if you state that inaccurately you are free to correct it.

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RetiredUSN said:

My passenger side mirror is cracked all to hell from some azzwipe texting while pulling into a WaWa parking spot. I watched him all the way, and he had the balls to deny it.

I watched a air head lady walk right off the pier at my marina while texting. I had to pull her up out of the water while trying not to pizz myself.

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SouthernDemocrat said:

Last Monday I went for a ride on my road bike over lunch. I work downtown and chose a route that I have biked many times before. Just a few minutes into my ride, I was stopped at a stoplight on a broad boulevard that doesn't get much traffic during the day. While I was stopped at that red light a woman was driving while looking at her smartphone and plowed into me from behind at about 40 mph never even seeing me or the red light. I was rendered unconscious at the point of impact, however this has been verified by the driver as well as witnesses. As a result of being hit, I was thrown against the wind shield, then thrown forward a number of yards before being ran over by the same vehicle. I sustained a significant head injury with bleeding on the brain and a severe concussion, a broken scapula, broken ribs, a broken lumbar vertebrae, some damage to my right eye, a tear from my right eye to the top of my forehead that extended clean to the skull and required over 100 stitches (thus disfigurement), muscle damage throughout my body, multiple lacerations and road rash, and some nerve damage on my upper face, head, and lower back. I spent 2 days in ICU and nearly 4 days in the hospital. It may be weeks before I can return to work, and of course my beloved carbon fiber road bike has been destroyed.

So this got me thinking about distracted driving and I looked up the statistics on it. Distracted driving now results in more injuries every year than even drunk driving. I am sure that the person that hit me is not a bad person. However, this would have never happened had that individual not been looking at their smartphone rather than watching the road. So I was thinking as dangerous as smartphone distracted driving is, why are the penalties for it not as bad as drunk driving? There are a lot of people now getting killed or seriously injured by drivers that are looking at their smartphones rather than looking at the road. It seems to me that we really need to crack down on it for public safety.

Is Texting While Driving More Dangerous Than Drunk Driving?

Click to expand...

Hawkeye10 said:

This is on the right track, but to work the cop needs instant access to the phone to prove that it was used while driving, and needs to be able to search the car for phones, both of which are problematic. However, so far as magnitude of the penalty goes I think this is right on.

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CanadaJohn said:

At least here, and I assume elsewhere, if the matter goes to court the police can subpoena the phone company records to determine if the phone was actively on and/or in use at the time of the infraction.

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SouthernDemocrat said:

Last Monday I went for a ride on my road bike over lunch. I work downtown and chose a route that I have biked many times before. Just a few minutes into my ride, I was stopped at a stoplight on a broad boulevard that doesn't get much traffic during the day. While I was stopped at that red light a woman was driving while looking at her smartphone and plowed into me from behind at about 40 mph never even seeing me or the red light. I was rendered unconscious at the point of impact, however this has been verified by the driver as well as witnesses. As a result of being hit, I was thrown against the wind shield, then thrown forward a number of yards before being ran over by the same vehicle. I sustained a significant head injury with bleeding on the brain and a severe concussion, a broken scapula, broken ribs, a broken lumbar vertebrae, some damage to my right eye, a tear from my right eye to the top of my forehead that extended clean to the skull and required over 100 stitches (thus disfigurement), muscle damage throughout my body, multiple lacerations and road rash, and some nerve damage on my upper face, head, and lower back. I spent 2 days in ICU and nearly 4 days in the hospital. It may be weeks before I can return to work, and of course my beloved carbon fiber road bike has been destroyed.

So this got me thinking about distracted driving and I looked up the statistics on it. Distracted driving now results in more injuries every year than even drunk driving. I am sure that the person that hit me is not a bad person. However, this would have never happened had that individual not been looking at their smartphone rather than watching the road. So I was thinking as dangerous as smartphone distracted driving is, why are the penalties for it not as bad as drunk driving? There are a lot of people now getting killed or seriously injured by drivers that are looking at their smartphones rather than looking at the road. It seems to me that we really need to crack down on it for public safety.

Is Texting While Driving More Dangerous Than Drunk Driving?

Click to expand...

CanadaJohn said:

See post 22 for a response to your idiotic scenario. And just in case your ignorant as to how laws are enforced, a police officer has to witness the offense in order to issue a ticket/fine. But hey, if you want to play dumb, more power too you. Just a guess? Do you spend a lot of time on your phone while driving and think you're really good at it?

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SouthernDemocrat said:

Last Monday I went for a ride on my road bike over lunch. I work downtown and chose a route that I have biked many times before. Just a few minutes into my ride, I was stopped at a stoplight on a broad boulevard that doesn't get much traffic during the day. While I was stopped at that red light a woman was driving while looking at her smartphone and plowed into me from behind at about 40 mph never even seeing me or the red light. I was rendered unconscious at the point of impact, however this has been verified by the driver as well as witnesses. As a result of being hit, I was thrown against the wind shield, then thrown forward a number of yards before being ran over by the same vehicle. I sustained a significant head injury with bleeding on the brain and a severe concussion, a broken scapula, broken ribs, a broken lumbar vertebrae, some damage to my right eye, a tear from my right eye to the top of my forehead that extended clean to the skull and required over 100 stitches (thus disfigurement), muscle damage throughout my body, multiple lacerations and road rash, and some nerve damage on my upper face, head, and lower back. I spent 2 days in ICU and nearly 4 days in the hospital. It may be weeks before I can return to work, and of course my beloved carbon fiber road bike has been destroyed.

So this got me thinking about distracted driving and I looked up the statistics on it. Distracted driving now results in more injuries every year than even drunk driving. I am sure that the person that hit me is not a bad person. However, this would have never happened had that individual not been looking at their smartphone rather than watching the road. So I was thinking as dangerous as smartphone distracted driving is, why are the penalties for it not as bad as drunk driving? There are a lot of people now getting killed or seriously injured by drivers that are looking at their smartphones rather than looking at the road. It seems to me that we really need to crack down on it for public safety.

Is Texting While Driving More Dangerous Than Drunk Driving?

Click to expand...

jet57 said:

No, reckless driving would be more appropriate; that's really what it is.

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Truckstop said:

I have told my wife for years I can't believe that people still bike on the streets. Not a day goes by I don't see someone on their phones drifting all over the lanes. So sorry this happened to you. Phones are so much of a distraction that something has to be done or it will only get worse. Hope you heal quickly and completely. If you go back to the street riding though your crazy.

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SDET said:

Your approach is already covered under current law: Reckless driving, Reckless endangerment, Involuntary manslaughter and more. More often than not, knee jerk laws take common sense out of the justice system. Whenever you hear "zero tolerance", think tyranny.

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NonoBadDog said:

You experienced a life changing event because of a person that had a disregard for anyone's safety. They probably thought that they were that person that could get away with it. Nothing would happen because it was them and they are special. Man, I can't even imagine. You work out, take care of yourself, take pride in your physical condition and are out of work for who knows how long. It could have killed you. You worked hard to pay for that bike. You might never want to ride again and that would be a shame tho totally understandable. This happens to people every day. So much gone in a flash because someone had their head up their ass. Sorry to hear it.

What was the reaction of the person that hit you? Were they ticketed? Did they have insurance?

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SouthernDemocrat said:

Reckless driving at least in Missouri where this happened is a much less severe charge than driving while intoxicated.

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Hawkeye10 said:

The vast majority of DUI's dont cause any injury, so when you say "just like DUI" you are saying that you want someone who gets caught by the cops on their phone to be rung up for $10,000 in costs as a penalty. If you changed your position to "with an accompanying significant injury" I would be more receptive.

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SouthernDemocrat said:

Why not, if you don't have a hands free device in your car, you have no business staring at your phone rather than driving. The whole point of severe penalties for driving while under the influence is to dissuade people from doing so. This is why rates of drunk driving have reduced substantially over the last few decades. I guarantee you that if you were looking at it costing potentially thousands of dollars in fines / increased insurance rates if you sent a text or were checking out facebook while driving down the road, few people would do it.

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SouthernDemocrat said:

Why not, if you don't have a hands free device in your car, you have no business staring at your phone rather than driving. The whole point of severe penalties for driving while under the influence is to dissuade people from doing so. This is why rates of drunk driving have reduced substantially over the last few decades. I guarantee you that if you were looking at it costing potentially thousands of dollars in fines / increased insurance rates if you sent a text or were checking out facebook while driving down the road, few people would do it.

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SouthernDemocrat said:

She admitted to the police that she was looking at her phone at the time and had no idea what happened. She was insured with the liability minimums which unfortunately won't even fully cover my hospital bills. However, I have medical insurance as well as uninsured and under-insured motorist coverage so I will be OK. I don't think she is a bad person or anything like that, it was an accident and when you get down to it she was only doing what half the people on the road are doing these days, glancing at her phone rather than looking at the road.

I have been a runner longer than I have been a runner and a cyclist so once I am healed I will probably go back to just being a runner again. As much as I like to ride too, its not worth the risk these days with me having a wife and 3 kids at home. The doctors told me that being so strong and fit quite possibly saved my life and certainly saved me from some surgeries because my musculature held broken bones in place.

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