In Connecticut the powers that be are thinking they should raise the fine for using a cellphone to $250 and give 10% to the local government that issued the ticket. Currently it’s $100 and 10%.
It may be the legislators are trying to entice towns to ticket. It seems to me no one is getting ticketed at $100. I had a pickup coming head on at me a few weeks ago, as he drove by I noticed he was on his cell. The law has been in effect since 10/05 and I see tons of people chatting away without handsfree. The law doesn’t seem to be sinking in.
Well, isn’t it dangerous to do anything while driving? The list of things to endanger your attention goes on and on. Children, mp3 players, food, preening yourself in the rearview mirror, sex...just a conversation. A truck driver and high school mate admitted how he had crashed his truck badly trying to eat a slice of pizza.
Why are people so concerned about cellphones and driving? It may be because they are so popular and growing in popularity. I think coffee drinking and driving may run a close second to cellphones and driving. How many people do both is plain scary. Anything that takes your attention away from the road is bad news.
Handfree laws with fines begin to remind me of gun laws. Make guns laws, don’t enforce them. Then make more gun laws because (obviously without enforcement) they don’t seem to work. Here in Connecticut just that seems to be happening with the proposed cellphone ticket fine increase.
Here’s a better idea that wouldn’t require hassling people for their money and time with tickets. Make a NATIONAL standard for cellphones. ALL future cells sold in the USA must be programmed by users through voice activation only. Dialing, taking a call, hanging up, redial, redial last call, phone number search ect. could only be accomplished via voice command.
I’ve always wanted cellphones to be phones. If the big phone manufacturers would focus on car safe phones first. After that’s accomplished Sony & Motorola could worry about how much more crap they could stuff into the smallest unit possible. My wish list for a good handsfree phone would be: ability to be LOUD if needed, large, clear and bright display for people with bad sight, a great built in microphone and obviously a powerful enough amp and speaker. Why should people buy handsfree kits, headsets and bluetooth crapola? The handsfree should be the ONLY way you could use your phone. Want privacy? In a crowded room? Buy a bluetooth headset, put the phone on vibrate and let it go to voicemail.
Back to the law and the legislators. They made a law making it mandatory in CT for vehicle drivers to buckle up. I most always buckle up, it seems to be a good habit. As I said, “most always”. A year or so ago I was leaving my bank, drove a couple blocks and came to a stop sign with a town police officer across the way. I immediately buckled up, realizing I hadn’t after leaving the bank. He pulled me over and gave me a ticket for $37. The bizarreness of the situation was the officer that ticketed me was driving a motorcycle. As I drove away, I pondered the $37 I’d have saved had I decided to ride my bike that fateful day. By the way, other than my very first bagphone. I’ve had a handsfree setup installed in my rig from day one.
It may be the legislators are trying to entice towns to ticket. It seems to me no one is getting ticketed at $100. I had a pickup coming head on at me a few weeks ago, as he drove by I noticed he was on his cell. The law has been in effect since 10/05 and I see tons of people chatting away without handsfree. The law doesn’t seem to be sinking in.
Well, isn’t it dangerous to do anything while driving? The list of things to endanger your attention goes on and on. Children, mp3 players, food, preening yourself in the rearview mirror, sex...just a conversation. A truck driver and high school mate admitted how he had crashed his truck badly trying to eat a slice of pizza.
Why are people so concerned about cellphones and driving? It may be because they are so popular and growing in popularity. I think coffee drinking and driving may run a close second to cellphones and driving. How many people do both is plain scary. Anything that takes your attention away from the road is bad news.
Handfree laws with fines begin to remind me of gun laws. Make guns laws, don’t enforce them. Then make more gun laws because (obviously without enforcement) they don’t seem to work. Here in Connecticut just that seems to be happening with the proposed cellphone ticket fine increase.
Here’s a better idea that wouldn’t require hassling people for their money and time with tickets. Make a NATIONAL standard for cellphones. ALL future cells sold in the USA must be programmed by users through voice activation only. Dialing, taking a call, hanging up, redial, redial last call, phone number search ect. could only be accomplished via voice command.
I’ve always wanted cellphones to be phones. If the big phone manufacturers would focus on car safe phones first. After that’s accomplished Sony & Motorola could worry about how much more crap they could stuff into the smallest unit possible. My wish list for a good handsfree phone would be: ability to be LOUD if needed, large, clear and bright display for people with bad sight, a great built in microphone and obviously a powerful enough amp and speaker. Why should people buy handsfree kits, headsets and bluetooth crapola? The handsfree should be the ONLY way you could use your phone. Want privacy? In a crowded room? Buy a bluetooth headset, put the phone on vibrate and let it go to voicemail.
Back to the law and the legislators. They made a law making it mandatory in CT for vehicle drivers to buckle up. I most always buckle up, it seems to be a good habit. As I said, “most always”. A year or so ago I was leaving my bank, drove a couple blocks and came to a stop sign with a town police officer across the way. I immediately buckled up, realizing I hadn’t after leaving the bank. He pulled me over and gave me a ticket for $37. The bizarreness of the situation was the officer that ticketed me was driving a motorcycle. As I drove away, I pondered the $37 I’d have saved had I decided to ride my bike that fateful day. By the way, other than my very first bagphone. I’ve had a handsfree setup installed in my rig from day one.
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