Harsher distracted driving penalties = Safer summer? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Harsher distracted driving penalties = Safer summer?

LePhillou

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Penalties are too soft. I look at it this way, distracted drivers now injure and kill more than impaired drivers. If the deterrent for impaired driving is 15 month suspension, that should be same for distracted drivers.

Getting killed by a distracted driver hurts the same as getting killed by a drunk. I can hedge against drunks by riding at night, not so for the distracted zombies.
 
We need stricter laws as I've read that distracted driving is as dangerous as driving drunk (.08% blood alcohol or 13 nanograms THC [marijuana] per litre blood). Some countries take it very seriously as in England the penalty is license suspension if driving for less than 2 years, in Utah and Trinidad it could mean a maximum jail of 3 months. Sweden amazingly is the only Western country where there are no distracted driving laws, but they have bigger "distractions" such as dealing with immigration and the sudden rise in rapes to where they are now twice that per capita compared to the rest of Europe. France and Germany won't even allow you to pull over. Rather you need to actually exit the roadway and find a parking area or gas station to make a call or reset a GPS. And this finally explains for me why when I pulled over in Germany and reset my bike GPS, everybody was honking at me as they passed. It's always good to find out the rules of the country before you ride there. Doh!
 
We need stricter laws as I've read that distracted driving is as dangerous as driving drunk (.08% blood alcohol or 13 nanograms THC [marijuana] per litre blood). Some countries take it very seriously as in England the penalty is license suspension if driving for less than 2 years, in Utah and Trinidad it could mean a maximum jail of 3 months. Sweden amazingly is the only Western country where there are no distracted driving laws, but they have bigger "distractions" such as dealing with immigration and the sudden rise in rapes to where they are now twice that per capita compared to the rest of Europe. France and Germany won't even allow you to pull over. Rather you need to actually exit the roadway and find a parking area or gas station to make a call or reset a GPS. And this finally explains for me why when I pulled over in Germany and reset my bike GPS, everybody was honking at me as they passed. It's always good to find out the rules of the country before you ride there. Doh!

As it should be. In Ontario you cannot just pull over and talk/text away. Car has to be parked and if you were smart, you'd remove the keys from the ignition.
 
Distracted driving IS worse than operating a motor vehicle under the influence in my opinion.

And it's only going to get worse. Both are. My generation is full of idiots addicted to being on their phones 24/7(esp. women) and substance abuse(marijuana and/or alcohol).
 
No. It won't be a safer summer. Even if people put down their phones they're become increasingly distracted by their own car's infotainment setups - which look more and more like touch-screen cellphones with each new model year. Laying the hammer down on something so pervasive in our society as the use of a cell-phone in a car which is for North America pretty well viewed as a RIGHT and NECESSITY to life is never going to work. It also does NOT address the root cause of the problem.

But that's okay - sorta. I suppose. Society is moving toward autonomous vehicles, because we want it that way. We want, and many may argue we need to use our cell-phones while driving. So manufacturers keep putting in newer safety features, etc.. etc.. as they move toward autonomy.

I'm also assuming the forum is all highly against automatic suspensions for stunt driving, but highly for automatic suspensions for car-driving texters? lol. Oh the hypocrisy and selfishness of it all.
 
Might help
Texting-While-Standing-on-Motorcycle.jpg
 
I mentioned this story before -- it so good I'll do it again.

Last summer a kid on a sportbike started riding with me along HWY 7 -- we didn't know each other, we just formed a 2 man group and crossed town. A woman texting drifted into my lane, nearly clipped me. At the next light I pulled beside her, politely gestured to put the phone away... she nodded, apologized, and in a animated way showed me her phone going into her purse.

Once we pulled off the light she picked up her phone, and again started texting (and weaving). At the next light, hwy 7 and Warden, the kid following me knocked on her window. When she rolled it down, he snatched her keys and tossed them across the road.

I snickered, waved and went on my merry way.
 
People are not getting the message. The fines should be higher and the province really needs to make some public service campaigns about it. Not the fines but the overall issue.


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Maybe a short range jammer, that switched on when the vehicle shifts out of park or neutral?
 
Maybe a short range jammer, that switched on when the vehicle shifts out of park or neutral?

Well, some apps, (Waze as an example), will disable the ability to input on your phone, UNTIL you confirm your the passenger, (even if your the driver)...lol. So a jammer, likely would never be accepted because it would also prevent the passengers from using their devices
 
Well, some apps, (Waze as an example), will disable the ability to input on your phone, UNTIL you confirm your the passenger, (even if your the driver)...lol. So a jammer, likely would never be accepted because it would also prevent the passengers from using their devices

Yeah, and you could likely jam other vehicles as you pass by them.

Wait, make it an option, that comes with a camera on the passenger side. I'd be fun to get pics of people as they get disconnected.
 
Treating this scourge with the same suite of penalties as an HTA 172 would get people's attention. Immediate seizure and suspension of the driver's license, tow and impound the vehicle and the applicable fine and/or jail time under 172(2). Plus they're reminded of their stupidity with insurance reaming they'll get for years afterward.

"Street racing" is all but gone; maybe similar penalties can do the same for device-induced distracted driving.
 
I mentioned this story before -- it so good I'll do it again.

Last summer a kid on a sportbike started riding with me along HWY 7 -- we didn't know each other, we just formed a 2 man group and crossed town. A woman texting drifted into my lane, nearly clipped me. At the next light I pulled beside her, politely gestured to put the phone away... she nodded, apologized, and in a animated way showed me her phone going into her purse.

Once we pulled off the light she picked up her phone, and again started texting (and weaving). At the next light, hwy 7 and Warden, the kid following me knocked on her window. When she rolled it down, he snatched her keys and tossed them across the road.

I snickered, waved and went on my merry way.

Shocked she didn't call the cops to report 2 men on motorcycles assaulting her and theft of property
 
I'm hopeful that these increased penalties will help, but I think it will take time. It's going to take a fair number of drivers getting caught, fined, go to court, get their license suspended, see their insurance rates go up AND share their tale of woe with their friends/family/coworkers before it starts to actually change behaviour. My hope is that once a large number of drivers have either been caught or no someone first hand who has been caught that it will change for the better.

Personally I'm fine with them fining and suspending the same as impaired driving. I have yet to ever text while driving as I rarely get more than 1 text a day and I have hands-free bluetooth in my van so it really isn't going to effect me any way but positively.
 
Penalties mean f-all if there's no enforcement. Enforcement is still focused on speeding because that's the easiest thing to prove in court. People abruptly changing lanes with no signalling or running red lights are of little concern to police as well (a big concern to us though).

As mentioned before, playing with your cellphone is being replaced with playing with your giant, built-in, touch display in the car. It's been already proven that talking on the cellphone while holding it in your hand (to your ear or on speakerphone) has about zero negative consequences. Taking your eyes off the road is what does it. There have always been distracted driving laws (for people doing their make-up or preparing their meals while driving) - they are extremely difficult to enforce.

Also, if drivers are to be fined, pedestrians should be fined as well.

I think overall we should start with basics. Training is inadequate, licensing is a joke (as in write a little test, jump on a fastest bike you can get and legally cause havoc on the streets), road etiquette is almost non-existent. There are vehicles out there like e-bikes that get away with "murder," cyclists seem not to follow any rules whatsoever either, etc.
 
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It doesn't seem to deter drunk driving, so why would it deter distracted (cell phone use) driving? It's all about enforcement, and not only do I not see the police enforcing this law with any consistency, but the few charges that are laid will be circumvented by our justice system. I think the best solution is phones that stop working when moving, and banning a person from owning or using a cell phone for a year. But you know that won't happen as long as politicians own cell phones.
 
[h=2]Harsher distracted driving penalties = Safer summer?[/h]

No.


My daily driver is a big ol' F150 so I sit a little, some times a lot higher up than many cars. 'Makes it easy to see what other drivers are doing.
The number of people I see texting and driving is incredible.
I don't think it matters what the penalties are... People don't think they'll get caught.
Perhaps public shaming would work... Every time you see a texting driver point and yell at them... 'Call them an a-hole.
 

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