California Cell Phone Ban gets Poor Reception from this Writer
Posted: Tuesday, September 19, 2006
by Mike Fak
http://mikefak.com
When I first heard about California contemplating a cell phone ban while driving, I was surprised. I don’t place much stock in the people of that state having as much common sense as we Midwesterners do.
I mean, how can you consider people who build their homes right on a major fault in the Earth as having much intellect.
At least in the Midwest all we have to worry about are a few snow storms or a tornado here and there. We never have to face the possibility that an earthquake might mean our living room ends up in the Pacific Ocean and our dining room finally comes to rest somewhere in Utah.
All California is doing is banning using your hands to talk on the phone while driving and that is as worthless as a cell phone in a tin outhouse.
To be sure, two hands on the wheel are better than one, but it is the attention of the driver to what’s going on while driving that is, or should, be the key issue.
California waiting a year and a half to enforce the ban to make sure all the driver/phone yappers have time to buy hands-free phones also shows the law has no mettle in it. The fine of $20.00 in a state where it cost more than that for a cheeseburger and fries shows the state is just throwing another watered down pile of paper onto a continuous stack of meaningless legislation.
I find it absurd that CTIA, a Washington D.C. based group representing cellular technology companies, opposed this bill and opposes every similar bill either passed or proposed in the country. The group, states they have statistics showing cell phone usage while driving isn’t a factor in accidents. I can only imagine none of these people drive, because we all know those claims are bogus. Let’s look at a couple of studies that weren’t paid for by the cell phone companies and see their findings.
A study by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society published in their quarterly journal “Human Factor" states its research has shown that in 2004, 2600 deaths and 330,000 accidents in the United States can be attributed to inattentive drivers using cell phones.
The scientific study, having no agenda, showed that cell-phone-using motorists are 18% slower when reacting to brake lights and, while looking, do not see potential hazards until the last moment, if at all. The study went on to state that motorists having a conversation, even with a hands free phone, are less adept at driving than motorists with an .08 alcohol level-the standard for legal intoxication in many states.
Separate research at the University of Illinois in 2003 concluded that, regardless of what “yappy" motorists believe, they are not driving as well as motorists who take driving a 2000 pound vehicle at high speeds worthy of one’s attention.
Cell phone enthusiasts as well as the CTIA ignore the Harvard study that placed a grim set of statistics on cell phone usage while driving. Their study stated 800 of the 8000 highway deaths in 2004 were directly attributable to cell phone using motorist’s inability to react in time to a potential hazard. They went on to state that since many motorists hang up their phones when involved in an accident and police reports rarely include comments on phone usage, the actual numbers of cell-use accidents is probably much higher.
I remember an MSNBC poll last fall that showed an incredible 35% of motorists claim they talk “all the time" on their cells while driving. I think the percentage is much higher than that.
Everyday we have to bob or weave away from an inattentive driver with a phone stuck in their ear. What makes it all the more frustrating is more often than not; these people don’t even realize they almost caused an accident as they merrily chirp away, floating in and out of their lane on the highway, blowing stop signs, and pulling out right in front of us.
It’s getting to the point that like needing something to read when you go to the john, you need something to do while driving. The difference is few individuals are killed or maimed while on the stool, while driving a car or truck is serious business that requires serious concentration.
This silliness with using hands-free phones is making less and less sense every day. A recent trip to Chicago showed people not only in their cars but just walking around the city with these contraptions hanging off their ears. They look like one of those BORG that were the half-human, half-machine creatures on “Star Trek-The Next Generation". In my wonder of things to come, I ponder how long it will be before we actually do decide to become part machine. Hopefully the part of us that does become wires and conduits will be in charge of driving because the human side of the factor stinks right now.
What makes this entire issue all the more bizarre is that the majority of cell phone calls are not important. They are just calls to friends to pass the time away as one merrily drives home, causing other motorists to get the hell out of their way as they bob and weave down the road. Many times, the calls are to other motorists who are wreaking vehicular mayhem in another part of town.
Cell phones are a marvelous invention and I have personally found them to be of great use when used properly. My wife once broke down, and a call to me from her cell got me on the road to help her. Once lost in Dubuque, Iowa, a call to a brother-in-law got us the needed directions to find their new house. My wife on occasion has called from the IGA to tell me the deli has put out a fresh batch of fried chicken and should she bring home a sack?
All those situations, especially the latter, are what cell phones are supposed to be used for. They were not made for motorists to have something to do to help keep their minds off the tediousness of concentrating on not hitting someone with their vehicle.
I’m sorry California. Your new legislation is as worthless as are all the laws that don’t simply prohibit the use of a phone while driving.
You see it won’t matter when you are involved in an accident if the driver of the other car had their hands free or not. It will only matter that you have been injured or perhaps killed because someone thought it was more important to chat than to concentrate on what they were doing while in control of a proven lethal weapon..
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