As a child did you dream of growing up to be a law breaker but were too scared to conquer your fears of committing more serious crimes like murder and robbery? If this sounds like you, you might be in luck. Rep Garland Pierce (D-Robeson) is sponsoring legislation that will make otherwise respectable citizens run from the law. If it passes, House Bill 31 – Unlawful to Use Mobil Phones While Driving–will ban all use of cell phones while operating a moving vehicle.
The bill takes the ban on cell phone use currently applied to drivers under the age of 18 and applies them to the rest of the population, especially school bus drivers. If it passes, talking and driving will be a class 2 misdemeanor.
Banning cell phones for school bus drivers is not the egregious aspect of this bill. Crashes involving school bus drivers (public employees entrusted with the safety of our children) on the phone have come to light as a problem and HB 31 would address that.
The significant problem with HB 31 is that it criminalizes a peaceful activity conducted by adults. In today’s society cell phones are everywhere, and for most people that includes their vehicle. Realtors, salesmen, soccer moms, even legislators need to talk and drive sometimes—they should have the freedom to do so. In a free society, individuals are free to decide for themselves whether or not to engage in risky behavior.
Moreover, if it passes HB 31 would be near impossible to enforce. For those that are randomly caught talking on the phone while driving, the penalty would only be $100. The infraction would not add points to the rulebreaker’s license or raise his insurance rate. People caught talking will just write off the fine as a cost of doing business and continue to talk and drive.
HB 31 places an unnecessary and unreasonable burden on responsible adult drivers, especially those who need to drive and talk on the phone for work. This bill would make almost everyone a potential criminal and will be impossible to enforce in an even and fair manner, all without providing incentives for anyone to actually change behavior. That is why HB 31 is this week’s bad bill of the week.
The opinion here is insane. If dialing a cell phone from a car is “private activity” then so is driving while doing Jello shots. Private activity ends roughly when people start getting killed. And we passed that threshold some time ago.
Taylor Holgate wrote “The significant problem with HB 31 is that it criminalizes a peaceful activity conducted by adults.”
Wrong! This “peaceful activity” of driving 45-70MPH and chatting on your cellphone is killing and maiming people. What is so peaceful about this! Common sense is surely lacking today. Talking on your cellphone while driving clearly distracts you from devoting your full attention while driving.
Pass this bill.
All of your reasons do not address the safety of all of us on the road. We are all endangered by these distracted drivers and it will get worse. You seem to think that we should be exposed to death or injury because people “need?” to talk while driving. I do not see that it is a need! We must do something to protect each other from distracted driving. There is no way you can drive and talk on the phone without being distracted from both. The definition of focus, attention, and other words lend credibility to this argument. Just how much attention is required by a person to drive without an accident where innocent people are killed or injured. The “questionable needs” you mention,devalues life and places at risk all on the roads so people can have a convenience that is unnecessary. I think the fine is too low on this bill, it should have teeth and it should be enforced, which it can if we want to do it.How many will have to die or be injured until we see how irresponsible this is?
A person’s right to be distracted ends when it interferes with my health and well-being. I’ve been hit 3 times in the past few years by people talking on cell phones. If a call is that damn important, do what any intelligent person would do – pull off the road.
We do need to eliminate people texting and in general talking on their cell phones and not paying attention to their driving. It will save many lives. There should be a way in which we could talk without having to hold the phone in our hands or look off road to do so. There should be a device voice activated that can be plugged into the cigarette lighter and hooked up through the car radio which could be voice activated so you can talk without undue distraction. Why not pass a law requiring this type of device and someone will make one that will work. Problem solved!
Several of the above comments are based on a flawed premise – that talking on a cell phone necessarily distracts a driver from focus on the road. I am aware of no objective study (one that wasn’t financed by someone who would benefit from the “research”) that has ever shown that talking on the phone causes more accidents. Texting while driving – yes, you’re looking away. But talking — I am no more distracted from task of driving while talking on the phone than I am when talking to a passenger in the seat beside me, or than singing with the radio or listening to talk radio. In fact, I find that the activity keeps my mind engaged rather than it lulling into a “highway hypnosis”. Are we going to now outlaw having passengers in the car while adults are driving, because that it just as distracting. Just because some of the media may say that talking while driving is unsafe doesn’t make it so.
Some people drink soda while driving, that’s distracting. Some people eat food while driving, that’s distracting. Some people talk to passengers while driving, that’s distracting. Some women put on makeup while driving, that’s distracting. Some people daydream while driving, that’s distracting. Some people get road rage and cuss out other drivers, that’s distracting. Some people are lousy drivers, and shouldn’t be on the road at all. Let’s just outlaw all the above activities, and any other that the idiots above deem necessary so they can feel “safe”… In fact, let’s just stay at home, or walk everywhere we need to go so we can all feel “safe”. Better watch out though, we might bump into each other every now and then. I am so sick of people requesting to live in a nanny state that I can puke. Life is risky people, just deal with it!
There should be exception for any hands-free use of cell phones.
Most of the opinions above are completely out-of-line and rediculous.
Talking is not distracting any more than talking to a passenger or listening to the radio.
For all these comments advocating an overreaching government money grab that will be impossible to enforce, why not outlaw radio’s, passengers, GPS systems, rain, singing/praying while operating a vehicle,and flowers along side the road as well. All of these “distractions” put the public’s safety at risk and might cause undue stress/accidents involving those above who feel safety is a right rather than a condition. They can pass all the laws they want and it will not take the “risk” out of driving, walking down the road, eating out, going to school/church/shopping, etc. Someone above mentioned “common sense.” I suggest they get some.
How many would guess that the comments made endorsing talking on the cell phone while driving are the same people that do it. My husband and I were in two-lane traffic the other day and a SUV kept swerving over the line into our lane (just like a drunk driver). As we finally passed it, I looked at the driver and sure enough they were talking on the cell phone. When what you do puts someone else in danger, it is wrong. It is being self-centered and selfish. What did people do before there was a cell phone? They waited. There is no business that is so important that it cannot wait for an hour or so.
Enforcement may be difficult, but it is a good bill. The law might deter many from using cellphones while driving. The dangers of cellphone use while driving are too well known by everyone.
The bill does not go far enough! Those caught diving and using a hand-held phone should be sentenced to a weekend in jail for the first offense. Thirty days in jail sounds about right for conviction of the second offense. If one just must make a phone call while operating a motor vehicle, the driver should pull over to the side of the road and stop the vehicle. The lives of those in
other vehicles are more important than having distracted drivers on our roadways.
It’s a BS bill, and the mealy-mouthed supporters of it don’t take into consideration the number of people that SUCCESSFULLY talk on cell phones (and in general) every day. Hey, while we’re at it, let’s make it illegal to place ones head in any position but “forward”? That’s right ! Turn your head briefly to the right to talk to a passenger – go to jail ! Turn your head even further (god forbid) to glance at a back seat passenger/child – hang ’em high ! Less than one hand on the wheel – sentence ’em to both !!!! Pushing a heater control button – cut a finger off. Eating a burger – cut their tongue out. Hey, got a spouse having a cardiac event or bleeding while you’re on the way to the hospital? Tuff ! It can wait…or just “explain” it to the police as they pull you over for…God forbid…’driving while talking’… What a bunch of freakin’ idiots.
Never mind there would could be a family emergency, or life and death situation, you’d need to respond to, or something that could save or make you money with a brief call. To these idiots, EVERYTHING can wait, and I believe it’s probably true – in their cases… For those that don’t have a clue – cell phones actually support commerce, business, and save countless lives every day.
Get a life people. The world is full of bad drivers and this bill not only shows we’ve elected idiots to public office, but that these idiots have a…fan base ?
Enforce the present laws covering this problem, Operating a vehicle in an unsafe manner, Careless and reckless operation of a motor vehicle on a state highway. Quit trying to micro write laws for each and every little thing. I don’t care what you are doing to be unsafe to others or be careless or reckless! I just want law enforcement to enforce the laws that already cover this problem.
If driving without wearing a seatbelt (which endangers nobody except the driver) is illegal, then how can driving while dialing/chatting/texting (which puts all other drivers on the road at risk) be legal? I have had too many near accidents with others on their phones. Ban the damned things already!
Why haven’t the control-freak politicians banned turning on your radio and tuning in to Rush Limbaugh or NPR, too?
Why are there makeup mirrors in the driver’s side visor?
Most cars have cup holders for both the driver and passenger, implying that at some point the driver is driving one-handed to drink.
Why haven’t we banned these things? Where does it stop? Past the point of absurdity?
Of course there are more accidents related to talking on cellphones, but that’s because the number of people with cellphones has swelled in the last few years by millions!
When the same happened for car ownership, that is more people owned cars, car accidents went up, we didn’t ban cars. We implemented better safety features to accommodate car ownership.
Any limitations to cell phone usage while driving should be limited to requiring hands-free operation via ear pieces our built-in-dash systems. Anyone visibly holding the phone to their ear for long periods, or trying to text, is not doing the job of driving. However MILLIONS of people drive and talk every day without having an accident. Most of us can drive and talk at the same time.
Let common sense prevail.