DOT bans texting for drivers

[Bruno]

The Dot has banned texting for all truck drivers. The fine can be $2750.00 if caught texting when driving.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/26/trucks.texting.ban/?hpt=T2

 

[morningstar55ny]

i know at least 3 drivers .... personaly..
whom seem to think..... they can text and drive.
why cuz. they are experinced drivers......... NO problem....
2 of them been driving 30 yrs or better... the other less.... 1 of them even has 2 different log books....... the good one and the fudge one.
well............ one of these days....... i already told them my thoughts on this... there still a friend.... but im shaking my head at them.
i tell everyone whom tex's me........ that IF i dont answer bk .. means im driving.
call ..... instead if you really need to talk..... i wear my blue tooth .. religously. while driving... heh i have been known to even forget it was on when going to bed at night.. LOL

 

[Humble2drive]

... that IF i dont answer bk .. means im driving.
call ..... instead if you really need to talk..... i wear my blue tooth .. religously. while driving... heh i have been known to even forget it was on when going to bed at night.. LOL

Studies are showing that the distracrion of concentrating on a phone conversation is the actual distraction versus the holding of a phone in your hand. I would provide the reference if I could remember where the heck I read that.
Not picking on you, but since you brought it up. Seems like many drivers get a false sense of security because they are not actually holding the phone and they are unaware of the distraction of the conversation.
For some reason (bad connections,etc.) phone conversations are more of a distraction than conversations with a passenger.
At least the passenger can tell you that you are going off the road.
As for me, I am unable to chew gum and drive at the same time so talking on the phone is not an option.

 

[morningstar55ny]

how can talking on a phone be worse then.. Texting??
texting makes u take your eyes .. away .. from the road ??

anyways.... here is a talk show that is open for truck drivers .. and well other drivers.
and there opinions. about this ban and the accident near buffalo..... involving a trucker and a car that was way off on the shoulder....... which this story is on another thread...

WBEN NewsRadio 930 : Buffalo & Niagara Falls, NY - Tom Bauerle
the phone no to call ........ is
*930 from cell
716.803.0930 ..phone..
800.616.WBEN toll free

 

[LDB]

2 of them been driving 30 yrs or better... the other less.... 1 of them even has 2 different log books....... the good one and the fudge one.

Ah, so one of them is a criminal you should be reporting to the authorities....

 

[buddy]

Texting should be illegal for all drivers of any vehicle.... Technology is an amazing thing.....but it has its limits. I have a hard time accepting how some people have lost all common since when it comes to driving in regards to using these devices.
In our truck, the driver does not use the phone.

 

[mjolnir131]

Ah, so one of them is a criminal you should be reporting to the authorities....

Great point.

How many of us would or do call when we see somebody carry a 12 pack of beer from inside the pilot and put it in there truck?

 

[greg334]

Technology is an amazing thing.....but it has its limits.

People don't evolve with technology, that's a fact of life. Human development hasn't reached the stage that we are able to multitask in a vehicle as we may have at work.

Multitasking in a car has proven since the 20's a near impossible thing and we as humans haven't changed in the 70 years since they have found that out.

So what should we do is not depend on things that are not there to keep us safe and to push hard to put things in the vehicle to keep us safe. We need better lighting, better brakes, better drivers behind the wheels. We don't need Nav systems that tell us we are approaching an exit after we paid for that huge 15 x 20 foot sign on the side of the road that says Exit coming up. We don't need entertainment systems that infterface with our homes to tell us the cat's litter box needs to be empty or the coffee is on.

We have progressed into a very lazy society, we now have nav systems that replace our thinking - telling us to turn left where we always turned left to get to gradma's house - or we now have entertainment for the brats while we listen to NPR and read the latest weather on our in dash to determine if it is going to rain or snow in San Diego. We haven't had some transformation with added braincells or implants that give us super computing capibities to handle all of the input to still make us safe drivers, but rather I feel a majority has devolved into rather dumb people.

Get rid of the phone, the nav system, the entertainment system that interfaces with the iPod and the cable system. Go back to making it a no phone zone for the population who doesn't need to talk to someone while driving their 4000 lb crossover at the same time eating a sandwich.

 

[cheri1122]

I agree with all of Humble's points, and most of Greg's - except the navigation systems. Not every street [much less building] has a big sign - some have none at all. Some have signs that are fine in daylight, but near invisible in the dark, which is often when we're looking for them. The nav system can see them, making it far safer than creeping along searching for signs, no?
Texting, handheld phones, and speeding have one thing in common: they are easily proven, and that's why the focus is on them - not because they're 'more dangerous' than other forms of distracted or aggressive driving, IMO.

 

[greg334]

I would agree with you Cheri but here is the problem.

There are two groups that use these Nav units, one is with professional driver - taxis, expediters and so on, and the other is the consumer, it is the consumer I'm talking about.

How many of them do anything beyond an occasional "let's got to a new store" or visit aunt Mame?

Not many.

What's the use of them in a car, SUV or something else where the consumer is?

Not much.

People are getting too dumb using devices that they focus on and not using their head.

 

[highway star]

People are getting too dumb using devices that they focus on and not using their head.

I wonder if the driver of the T/T that was wedged under a bridge in Chicago that was very clearly marked 12'4" last week was "just following my Garmin"?