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Smartphone Distracted Driving [W:265]

Should smartphone distracted driving result in the same penalties as drunk driving?

  • Total voters
    63
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

Hawkeye10 said:
The link below site says that the average cost of the first DUI is $6,500, not including the $5,000+ in increased insurance rates.

No, I do not think that the penalty for distracted driving should be over $10,000.

THis is a no brainer in my opinion.


Will a DUI Lawyer Get a Better Outcome? Worth the Cost? - Lawyers.com
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In addition to monetary penalties, there's the criminal record. I rented a room from a guy that had a DUI that told me of multiple job offers that got cancelled after the conviction was revealed with a background check. Also, you are ineligible for entry in Canada with a DUI conviction.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

SDET said:
In addition to monetary penalties, there's the criminal record. I rented a room from a guy that had a DUI that told me of multiple job offers that got cancelled after the conviction was revealed with a background check. Also, you are ineligible for entry in Canada with a DUI conviction.
Click to expand...
Agreed, and that is another reason why the answer to this question is HELL NO.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

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...

Yes, in both cases the person makes a choice, thing is the Drunk is at least Trying to drive, the texters have given up the idea entirely.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

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...

It just seems kind of...basic...to me...that if you're looking at a phone while driving a two ton vehicle at 40mph+, that you're creating a particularly unsafe situation. Maybe I'm just getting old and fussy.



At least drunks are technically looking at the road.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

Casper said:
Yes, in both cases the person makes a choice, thing is the Drunk is at least Trying to drive, the texters have given up the idea entirely.
Click to expand...

Have you noticed that is seems every third driver on the Dallas North Tollway is texting while cruising along at 80 MPH?
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

SDET said:
Have you noticed that is seems every third driver on the Dallas North Tollway is texting while cruising along at 80 MPH?
Click to expand...

What is amazing is that there are not more crashes, luck will not hold out forever.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

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...

Wow! As a fellow cyclist, I can totally relate to what you went through. I certainly hope you recover fully. But it sounds like that will be a long time coming. Sorry to hear this. I wish you well, and a speedy recovery.

As for your poll question, yes. I believe texting while driving should be a crime which is punished as harshly as DUI. And texting while committing serious bodily injury as is the case with your wreck should be a felony, just like DUI injury accidents.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

SouthernDemocrat said:
Sleep is yes, but much, much less common than driving while intoxicated or smartphone distracted driving. The problem with smartphone distracted driving is that its extremely dangerous and tons of people do it.
Click to expand...

Do we do the same with putting on make up or messing with the radio?? Gotta be all or nothing.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

Btw, this thread is why I don't bicycle among car drivers. I've been hit myself, though nowhere near as badly as SD, and she wasn't even distracted by a cell phone. Frankly, it's stupid to put bicyclists and drivers in the same space. As a bicyclist I don't have a giant fortified roll cage around me when a driver decides to drive drunk, text, check instagram, fall asleep or decide that I'm that I'm the Antichrist reborn to bring about a thousand years of pain and darkness because he's schizophrenic (the driver, not the Antichrist, though he may be schizophrenic as well. I'm not judging).
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

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...

OMG dude I'm glad you're alive. Best wishes on your recovery, which I hope will not take too long.

A friend of mine got into a serious wreck when someone behind her decided it was OK to text and drive. She survived and did recover, but wow what a scary time that must have been.

It's not worth it. A text or a tweet is not worth someone's life. And I agree, there ought to be criminal liabilities in these cases. Your right to stay alive exceed's another person's right to instant communication.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

LaylaWindu said:
No need, if you think my scenario is idiotic then blame yourself since my scenario is based off the words you said. But it's obvious you made the idiotic mistake and poorly described how the law works and didn't like it being based on real life everyday scenarios. Next time you can avoid your idiocy by accurately describing the law. You're welcome. :)
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I accurately described the law - you idiotically tried to use a scenario that has ZERO to do with the application of the law or the reason the law is necessary and was created. There's a problem with idiots driving around in 2000 pound weapons with their heads up their asses playing with their phones. You, of course, are too butt hurt to admit your scenario was stupidly irrelevant, and so have to continue your nonsense. I'm not surprised at all.

And in case you didn't know it, or too butt hurt to admit it, similar to drunk driving charges, if you're impaired and you're behind the wheel of your car and the keys are in the car, whether or not the car is running, you're guilty of driving while impaired, even if you're out in the country with nobody around. But that, as well, depends on whether or not a police officer witnesses you in such a state. So is that an idiotic law too, because almost never will you be charged in such a situation because no police are around?

Your ignorance notwithstanding, such laws aren't avoided because a rare scenario may make them impractical to enforce. They're created to deal with the normal course of daily life that is observed and is dangerous to innocent people.

Considering what you've posted here already, I doubt you'll get it.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

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.
Click to expand...

When I broke my right collarbone eight weeks ago, I heard one bike accident story after another and they all involved cars in one way or another. cars hitting bikers - bikers dodging cars - cars running bikes off the road .... there was no end to it. I ran for 39 years 2000 miles per year up until a few years ago when I cut back to 1500. But that is three times around the equator and I loved it. But then my speed fell off from a ten minte mile to 15 almost overnight and I worked for several months to correct it and get it back but nothing worked. I finally accepted that 39 years may be the limit for me. So I took up liking and got up to 10 miles per day and then my accident caused by a car. So I can really sympathize.

Just heal and get well soon. I hope you can return to running.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

haymarket said:
When I broke my right collarbone eight weeks ago, I heard one bike accident story after another and they all involved cars in one way or another. cars hitting bikers - bikers dodging cars - cars running bikes off the road .... there was no end to it. I ran for 39 years 2000 miles per year up until a few years ago when I cut back to 1500. But that is three times around the equator and I loved it. But then my speed fell off from a ten minte mile to 15 almost overnight and I worked for several months to correct it and get it back but nothing worked. I finally accepted that 39 years may be the limit for me. So I took up liking and got up to 10 miles per day and then my accident caused by a car. So I can really sympathize.

Just heal and get well soon. I hope you can return to running.
Click to expand...

Luckily so far I am bouncing back pretty fast. I can get up without assistance now and am going on walks. My concussion symptoms are getting much better as well. I am hoping to be running again soon. Of course resuming weights and strength training will have to wait for my bone breaks to heal. 39 years is a lot of running. I have been a runner for 12 years and a cyclist for 6 or so. I run a lot too, usually around 40 to 60 miles per week depending on what I am training for. I love running trails and hiking as well.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

I think the penalties are too much, DUI charges messes people's futures up... I don't think that same kind of punishment should be issued to someone is using their cellphone. I even think the punishment for DUI is too harsh, as far as fines go. It impacts poor people SIGNIFICANTLY greater than rich people... and same with this cell phone charge you are proposing.

If you are already poor as crap and get a charge like this where you have to pay like 5000 dollars with probation and license getting taken away.... you might as well just sell drugs now... because now, you can't go anywhere, can't pay for anything, AND you can't get a job.
And for someone who's rich, it's almost meaningless, a mild hassle.

I think for both DUI and Cell phone use in car, IF you cause an accident, you should be charged being FULLY liable for your victim's(and victim's family') possessions and well-being.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

SouthernDemocrat said:
Luckily so far I am bouncing back pretty fast. I can get up without assistance now and am going on walks. My concussion symptoms are getting much better as well. I am hoping to be running again soon. Of course resuming weights and strength training will have to wait for my bone breaks to heal. 39 years is a lot of running. I have been a runner for 12 years and a cyclist for 6 or so. I run a lot too, usually around 40 to 60 miles per week depending on what I am training for. I love running trails and hiking as well.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear about your accident, I had a bad one about 30 years ago, I still don't have a right eyebrow.
anytime I get strange looks, I jokingly tell them it is a fencing scar!
I hope you heal up quickly!
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

SouthernDemocrat said:
Luckily so far I am bouncing back pretty fast. I can get up without assistance now and am going on walks. My concussion symptoms are getting much better as well. I am hoping to be running again soon. Of course resuming weights and strength training will have to wait for my bone breaks to heal. 39 years is a lot of running. I have been a runner for 12 years and a cyclist for 6 or so. I run a lot too, usually around 40 to 60 miles per week depending on what I am training for. I love running trails and hiking as well.
Click to expand...

Sounds good. Keep up the good work. You will make it and hopefully be stronger than ever.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

longview said:
Sorry to hear about your accident, I had a bad one about 30 years ago, I still don't have a right eyebrow.
anytime I get strange looks, I jokingly tell them it is a fencing scar!
I hope you heal up quickly!
Click to expand...

I am missing half of my right eyebrow. I am hoping it will grow back but I have my doubts considering the extent of the stitches there. Was yours a bike accident as well?
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

SouthernDemocrat said:
I am missing half of my right eyebrow. I am hoping it will grow back but I have my doubts considering the extent of the stitches there. Was yours a bike accident as well?
Click to expand...
I have been hit while on a bike, but no, mine was a car accident.
Thankfully on my bike accident, I saw them coming, and while the impact crushed the bike,
it threw me into a grassy area,(just missing a brick wall)
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

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...

OMG, I hope that you recover well! Best wishes there.

As for the topic, driving while texting is more dangerous than DUI amd should carry the same penalty.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

Ikari said:
OMG, I hope that you recover well! Best wishes there.

As for the topic, driving while texting is more dangerous than DUI amd should carry the same penalty.
Click to expand...

If it's more dangerous, shouldn't it carry a greater penalty?
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

Cardinal said:
If it's more dangerous, shouldn't it carry a greater penalty?
Click to expand...

I mean, there's only so much you can kill an individual. The punishments for DUI are so extreme at this point, that I dont think you need to go above it.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

Ikari said:
I mean, there's only so much you can kill an individual. The punishments for DUI are so extreme at this point, that I dont think you need to go above it.
Click to expand...

On consideration, I'd like to know the stats for this. Is there more emphasis on text-driving because there have been statistically greater numbers of deaths, or because it's a relatively new phenomenon? Genuinely curious.
 
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Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

Cardinal said:
On consideration, I'd like to know the stats for this. Is there more emphasis on text-driving because there has been statistically greater numbers of deaths, or because it's a relatively new phenomenon? Genuinely curious.
Click to expand...

I think we are starting to understand the dangers of distracted driving in general. I don't know how the aggregate numbers compare, but it's not insignificant.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

Ikari said:
I think we are starting to understand the dangers of distracted driving in general. I don't know how the aggregate numbers compare, but it's not insignificant.
Click to expand...

I'm not going to bet my life on this, but here is a claim:

Is Texting While Driving More Dangerous Than Drunk Driving?

According to one DWI attorney in Houston, the answer is yes. “In 2014, 3,179 people were killed and 431,000 were injured due to car accidents involving distracted drivers and the number is rising every year. Drunk driving claimed 9,967 lives in 2014 and was responsible for only 290,000 injuries, a number that decreases each year.”
Click to expand...

Is Texting While Driving More Dangerous Than Drunk Driving?

The increase of one and decline of the other is interesting, and a little baffling.
 
Re: Smartphone Distracted Driving

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...

uuugh!
well glad you are ok!!! Well not ok but not "worse"

I answered yes in general. They two are different so the system cant really be equal but I answered yes because there should be greater penalties than currently exist for ALL distracted driving,
 
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