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oldsaw
oldsaw Reader
10/5/09 1:38 p.m.
914Driver wrote:
andrave wrote: I text while driving and if I got pulled over I'd take it to court and make em prove I was texting. Gonna be pretty hard to do, IMO.
The guy in Cali that crashed a train full of people got caught because they looked at the time of the crash vs the time of his last outogoing. It's not rocket science.

Any good lawyer could figure that one out.

Oh, wait.........

andrave
andrave HalfDork
10/5/09 4:12 p.m.

Not joking. shrugs

I'm on the road all the time and all my work email goes through my black berry.

I wonder how many people on here have ipods and aftermarket touch screen stereos and navigation units and radar detectors and all sorts of other distracting E36 M3.

If youre alone on the interstate in the middle of nowhere with the cruise control set I just can't come up with the scenario where being distracted from looking down at your hand for a second is a problem.

Joe Gearin
Joe Gearin Associate Publisher
10/5/09 4:31 p.m.

In reply to andrave:

The scariest thing is I'm assuming you are a car enthusiast if you are on here. So I'll also make the leap of faith to assume that you pay more attention to your driving than the average person. (at least when you are off the highway)

If an enthusiast is doing this.......what are all the "regular" folks doing while driving?

Deer, dogs, raccoons, debris on the road, broken down cars on the shoulder, potholes, cars towing trailers without lights.....etc. etc. etc.

There are hundreds of scenarios where being distracted can cause major problems. I'm glad you have been lucky up to this point.

AngryCorvair
AngryCorvair SuperDork
10/5/09 4:45 p.m.
andrave wrote: Not joking. *shrugs* I'm on the road all the time and all my work email goes through my black berry. I wonder how many people on here have ipods and aftermarket touch screen stereos and navigation units and radar detectors and all sorts of other distracting E36 M3. If youre alone on the interstate in the middle of nowhere with the cruise control set I just can't come up with the scenario where being distracted from looking down at your hand for a second is a problem.

because it isn't "for a second" that you're looking away while burning processor effort and fine motor skill.

andrave
andrave HalfDork
10/5/09 7:50 p.m.

no more than you'd use to tap in a radio station, bring up a city name on GPS, push the climate control down to the number you want, or smoke a cigarette while eating a sandwich, putting on makeup, and juggling.

Strike_Zero
Strike_Zero New Reader
10/6/09 2:09 p.m.

The local tax revenue agents are going love this.

4cylndrfury
4cylndrfury Dork
10/6/09 2:15 p.m.
EastCoastMojo wrote: Personally I feel that if you are doing anything other than driving while driving I should be able to punchi-size your face for free.

youre way or mine...whatever, they both work

Spinout007
Spinout007 Reader
10/6/09 6:44 p.m.
oldsaw wrote:
914Driver wrote:
andrave wrote: I text while driving and if I got pulled over I'd take it to court and make em prove I was texting. Gonna be pretty hard to do, IMO.
The guy in Cali that crashed a train full of people got caught because they looked at the time of the crash vs the time of his last outogoing. It's not rocket science.
Any good lawyer could figure that one out. Oh, wait.........

unless they confiscate your phone on the spot as they pull you over it will be neigh impossible to prosecute this one, of coarse getting someone to hand over their phone without all kinds of arguments is going to be a pain. I don't have texting on my phone, gasp I know, my wifes younger cousins couldn't believe it while she was up with a family emergency earlier this year.

Dr. Hess
Dr. Hess SuperDork
10/6/09 8:06 p.m.

All those text messages leave a trail right through the servers. Piece of cake for The Man to get a copy of that. They'd have to want to, though, and just texting while driving probably wouldn't be worth the trouble. But if you were in an accident and someone got hurt/killed, you bet young Mr. D.A., Esq. will get a copy of that while you get reamed.

andrave, how far do you travel, in feet, at 75MPH while not looking at the road as you "text" or "sext" or whatever it is you do in your car? If you had a heads-up display, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it, but driving in traffic sexting or whatever it is you do is dangerous to those around you. Just because other idiots are not paying attention doesn't make your not paying attention any better. There was a young man here in town driving a truck down a 4 lane road. He just fiddled with the radio a second. While he wasn't looking at the road, he hit a guy in his 40's on a Harley head on and killed him instantly. I believe he is still in the state pen, getting reamed. Vehiclular manslaughter.

joey48442
joey48442 SuperDork
10/6/09 8:26 p.m.
andrave wrote: I text while driving and if I got pulled over I'd take it to court and make em prove I was texting. Gonna be pretty hard to do, IMO. And when I don't text that doesn't mean I'm not emailing, playing texas hold em, or browsing facebook. Kinda hard to legislate all of that. What are you gonna do, criminalize me holding a cell phone? I'm 27, good driving record, consider myself a safe driver. But like last night, drove from asheville nc to morgantown, wv, all interstate, set the cruise control and played a few hands of poker. Cause the alternative was falling asleep.

Even without the rest of your post, I would say you probably are not a very good driver. We all think we are above average, but we are not. I would say about the time you are getting enogh experience to be a good driver, you start gettng senile.

As for the rest of your post... Cruise control? Cmon man! Don't you know that makes you complacent???

Joey

oldsaw
oldsaw Reader
10/6/09 11:08 p.m.
Spinout007 wrote:
oldsaw wrote:
914Driver wrote:
andrave wrote: I text while driving and if I got pulled over I'd take it to court and make em prove I was texting. Gonna be pretty hard to do, IMO.
The guy in Cali that crashed a train full of people got caught because they looked at the time of the crash vs the time of his last outogoing. It's not rocket science.
Any good lawyer could figure that one out. Oh, wait.........
unless they confiscate your phone on the spot as they pull you over it will be neigh impossible to prosecute this one, of coarse getting someone to hand over their phone without all kinds of arguments is going to be a pain. I don't have texting on my phone, gasp I know, my wifes younger cousins couldn't believe it while she was up with a family emergency earlier this year.

Some things to keep in mind:

One, Andrave is an attorney and as one, he should know a prosecuter has the ability to prove guilt based on recorded data. As Dr. Hess noted, electronic records are readily available to either prove or disprove if the accused was texting before getting the ticket.

Two, at this point no one knows if LEO's will be given the power to confiscate phones, or use some other means to uncover the accused's phone records.

I dislike the idea that government may have even more access to personal records, but I equally dislike people behind the wheel of a car (they are not "drivers") who pay more attention to a keypad than the road ahead.

The best solution is, and always has been, hang up the effing phone and drive!

EastCoastMojo
EastCoastMojo Dork
10/6/09 11:14 p.m.
andrave wrote: no more than you'd use to tap in a radio station, bring up a city name on GPS, push the climate control down to the number you want, or smoke a cigarette while eating a sandwich, putting on makeup, and juggling.

You didn't really think that you could post on a car enthusiast forum that you regularly play poker while operating a car and not get flamed for it did ya? Smells like bait to me.

NYG95GA
NYG95GA SuperDork
10/6/09 11:26 p.m.
EastCoastMojo wrote: You didn't really think that you could post on a car enthusiast forum that you regularly play poker while operating a car and not get flamed for it did ya? Smells like bait to me.

We used to call it bait. Now the PC term is "Sushi".

Xceler8x
Xceler8x Dork
10/7/09 12:41 p.m.
oldsaw wrote: Two, at this point no one knows if LEO's will be given the power to confiscate phones, or use some other means to uncover the accused's phone records.

If an officer wants your phone he'll take it. You'll play hell getting it back too.

New Orleans Mayor Admits Illegal Gun Confiscation

VA will conduct “top to bottom” investigation of illegal confiscation

andrave
andrave HalfDork
10/7/09 1:20 p.m.

ok, so I'm an average driver who sinks to below average while using my mobile device.

all I'm saying is that if they want to press charges they better be ready to spend the money putting some man hours in and proving their case. I have a feeling it would be like most traffic court things... you show up, he says "I saw you using your phone and I rest my case" and you say "I was using my phone, but not texting as specificed in code 432423.2.432.423"

on the other hand, I use my phone for GPS on a weekly basis, and that could easily be mistaken for texting. In fact, I think that "excuse" along with showing the officer the turn by turn GPS app on my phone, would probably keep me out of getting cited for that offense in the first place.

And yes I use my phone for poker. I've seen aftermarket stereos with a "stay awake" feature where you have to push a button every time it beeps or it will blare an alarm to keep you awake. Thats pretty much how my poker works.

Keith
Keith SuperDork
10/7/09 1:32 p.m.

Don't try that in Quebec. Gotta say, I do think this is a fairly legitimate interpretation. If your toy can be a telephone, it is a telephone regardless of what you're doing with it.

Quebec highway safety code said: 439.1. No person may, while driving a road vehicle, use a hand-held device that includes a telephone function. Presumption. For the purposes of this section, a driver who is holding a hand-held device that includes a telephone function is presumed to be using the device. Exception. This prohibition does not apply to drivers of emergency vehicles in the performance of their duties. 2007, c. 40, s. 58.

Want to know what momentary distraction can do? Watch Le Mans McQueen has his big crash when he glances over at the flames from the Ferrari and then OH CRAP THERE'S A 911!

andrave
andrave HalfDork
10/7/09 1:52 p.m.

Thank god I don't commute at Le Mans.

Joe Gearin
Joe Gearin Associate Publisher
10/7/09 3:22 p.m.

This thread makes me want to see all handheld devices banned from car use.

Folks in the U.S. are bad enough drivers without any more distractions.

You are safer driving drunk, and we all know what a good idea that is.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/yoon/1163

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