Talk about adding insult to injury (seriously); DeKalb County, in Georgia, has recently passed a law that would fine drivers at fault for auto accidents if they were talking on their cellphone at the time of the crash. You'd think someone who just got in an accident might have already learned their lesson about paying attention to the road while on the phone, but hey, why fine preventatively (or ban alltogether) when you can just monetarily punish people who may also have to live with the unbearable conscience of possibly having severely injured or killed someone else?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tohru @ Sep 5th 2006 12:48AM
Yes, this is one of those personal sob stories:
Coming from someone whose wife was in the middle of a five (yes, 5!) car pile up on an exit ramp off of I285 here in Georgia, I say more power to them! The person driving the car that rear-ended my wife was on their cellphone at the time. And was traveling at over 60 miles per hour before meeting the dead-stopped (and beautiful ;P) rearend of my wifes car.
Moving to the point of banning all use of cellphones while driving, I have three points to make: 1. in and around Atlanta (replace Atlanta with the name of local metropolis), most people seem to have their phones glued to their head and 2. the police seem to have a hard enough time caring about other meaningless (probably meaningful ones as well) infractions to crack down upon. Lastly, hardly anyone around here seems to pay attention while driving anyway, it's a wonder how some people possess a license let alone a working brain to operate a vehicle past their driveway.
By the way, yes I do use a phone while driving, but I chose a Nokia 6270 with probably the best speakerphone setup. I just answer with one button, press another button to switch to speaker, and then throw the phone where ever I please, all the while having maybe once looked to see who was calling.
Since my first Motorola DPC-550 when I was 16 years old to over 11 years later with my current Nokia 6270, I never once had a single incident related my use of cellphones while driving. I can only wish for a day when more people realize that driving is a skill that you learn and not an automatic ability.
Funny to think that the same people who have a problem communicating a blinker or paying attention to other drivers, probably have some of the best verbal communication and social skills.
/longwinded_rant=off
drjones @ Sep 5th 2006 10:26AM
Your first mistake is assuming they created this as a deterrant. Call me cynical, but this is one of those magic scenarios where politicians can create a new tax, and the majority of people are happy about it.
ostewart @ Sep 5th 2006 10:26AM
Knowing I put my life at risk for posting this question, I post it anyway. Why does everyone need their own cellphone? Five people in one house yields five cellphones. Why do children under the age of ten need a cellphone? Have you ever wondered what people talk about on their phones, the folks who look nearly clueless? And being that so many callers are talking more than every before, does this mean that life's eternal problems are being solved just that much faster?
I like gadgets as much as anyone, but really guys...
CodeMonkey @ Sep 5th 2006 11:35AM
"people who may also have to live with the unbearable conscience of possibly having severely injured or killed someone else"
(personal anecdote warning)
You're assuming the driver has a conscience - the guy who hit me head-on didn't. He finished his call whilst dragging my motorcycle to the side of the road, then moved his 12 ton truck out of the way to prepare his story to the cops.
Luckily forensics proved me in the right, but he was never punished for using a phone while driving. For all I know he's still driving trucks through London whilst on the phone - scares the hell out of me anyways!
And yes I use a phone in the car, but only witha complete handsfree setup, and only to receive calls. Any time I feel like making a call I remember the 2 years of physical rehab I went through, and pull over.
Mr. F1 @ Sep 5th 2006 12:23PM
how about 'crash while dealing with child in back seat, $500" or 'putting on makeup $500' I see many more issues with the above 2 things than I do cell phone drivers..a Passenger or child takes as much or more attention than a cell phone...
Ed Hardy @ Sep 5th 2006 1:42PM
I propose a $1,000 fine for reading a newspaper or magazine while driving, something I see at least once a week. I'd say the same fine is appropriate for people watching movies while driving. I've only seen a few people doing this, but it's truly frightening.
Matt @ Dec 18th 2006 6:02PM
How bout we sum this up real simple...?
Let's make it $XXX.XX (whatever amount) for anyone who gets in an accident while "distracted" so we cover all our bases here?