Distracted Driving Penalties

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

A recent news story reported that a woman in Melbourne was fined $496 and four demerit points for using her mobile while driving (she’s actually got a fairly good defense that she was holding an ice cream and not a phone). Had the offense occurred in Queensland, she would have been fined $1000. 

I was fairly well shocked, since the penalty for doing that here is just $80 and 20 points. But it got me curious. What are the distracted driving restrictions and penalties where you live, and do you think they should be more or less severe?

Boru

[brewer]

Nebraska Texting Law: No person shall use a handheld wireless communication device to read a written communication, manually type a written communication, or send a written communication while operating a motor vehicle which is in motion. Fines range form $200-$500 and three points against a driver’s license. Driving means operating a commercial motor vehicle, with the motor running, including while temporarily stationary because of traffic, a traffic control device(such as a stoplight), or other momentary delays. Texting means manually entering alphanumeric text into, or reading text from, an electronic device. Texting includes, but is not limited to, short message service, emailing, instant messaging, a command or request to access an Internet web page, pressing more than a single button to initiate or terminate a voice communication using a mobile telephone, or engaging in any other form of electronic text retrieval or electronic text entry for present or future communication.

I see cell phone use every time I drive yet I've never seen anybody get pulled over. If I'm in a pissy mood I'll fuck with them given the chance.

[onlinebiker]

Nebraska Texting Law: No person shall use a handheld wireless communication device to read a written communication, manually type a written communication, or send a written communication while operating a motor vehicle which is in motion. Fines range form $200-$500 and three points against a driver’s license. Driving means operating a commercial motor vehicle, with the motor running, including while temporarily stationary because of traffic, a traffic control device(such as a stoplight), or other momentary delays. Texting means manually entering alphanumeric text into, or reading text from, an electronic device. Texting includes, but is not limited to, short message service, emailing, instant messaging, a command or request to access an Internet web page, pressing more than a single button to initiate or terminate a voice communication using a mobile telephone, or engaging in any other form of electronic text retrieval or electronic text entry for present or future communication.

I see cell phone use every time I drive yet I've never seen anybody get pulled over. If I'm in a pissy mood I'll fuck with them given the chance.

If I see somebody using.a cell - my favorite is to pass them on the left or right depending on which lane they are in (4 or 5 lane ) - check to make sure it is clear behind me - then do an emergency stop with.tires squealing....

It usually gets their attention.


Extra points if they drop the phone....

[arewethereyet]

A few years ago I was driving to work early one morning. At the time I didn't have hands free in my car. I saw it was a call coming in from my sister...very unusual early on a workday. I figured someone had died and without thinking I answered my phone just in time to be in the middle of the school zone. DOH!

I got lit up and pulled over. I explained the situation to the officer. It wasn't a death but a dire medical diagnosis on a family member. I apologized profusely and he let me go. I was going the speed limit and wasn't swerving or anything.

Now I have hands free in my car and will answer a phone call but I have my phone mounted to the windshield most of the time so there's no texting going on.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Nebraska Texting Law: No person shall use a handheld wireless communication device to read a written communication, manually type a written communication, or send a written communication while operating a motor vehicle which is in motion. Fines range form $200-$500 and three points against a driver’s license. Driving means operating a commercial motor vehicle, with the motor running, including while temporarily stationary because of traffic, a traffic control device(such as a stoplight), or other momentary delays. Texting means manually entering alphanumeric text into, or reading text from, an electronic device. Texting includes, but is not limited to, short message service, emailing, instant messaging, a command or request to access an Internet web page, pressing more than a single button to initiate or terminate a voice communication using a mobile telephone, or engaging in any other form of electronic text retrieval or electronic text entry for present or future communication.

I see cell phone use every time I drive yet I've never seen anybody get pulled over. If I'm in a pissy mood I'll fuck with them given the chance.

If I see somebody using.a cell - my favorite is to pass them on the left or right depending on which lane they are in (4 or 5 lane ) - check to make sure it is clear behind me - then do an emergency stop with.tires squealing....

It usually gets their attention.


Extra points if they drop the phone....

So, your response to dangerous driving is to drive dangerously.

That makes sense.

Boru

[onlinebiker]

If I see somebody using.a cell - my favorite is to pass them on the left or right depending on which lane they are in (4 or 5 lane ) - check to make sure it is clear behind me - then do an emergency stop with.tires squealing....

It usually gets their attention.


Extra points if they drop the phone....

So, your response to dangerous driving is to drive dangerously.

That makes sense.

Boru

It's not dangerous to me. 


I am paying attention.


It probably IS dangerous to Joe Yaketyyak with his brain welded to his motherfucking phone.

That's the point. I am returning the favor.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

So, your response to dangerous driving is to drive dangerously.

That makes sense.

Boru

It's not dangerous to me. 


I am paying attention.


It probably IS dangerous to Joe Yaketyyak with his brain welded to his motherfucking phone.

That's the point. I am returning the favor.

Oh, I get it now. It’s ok to put another person at risk by doing exactly what they’re doing.

Boru

[Brian37]

A recent news story reported that a woman in Melbourne was fined $496 and four demerit points for using her mobile while driving (she’s actually got a fairly good defense that she was holding an ice cream and not a phone). Had the offense occurred in Queensland, she would have been fined $1000. 

I was fairly well shocked, since the penalty for doing that here is just $80 and 20 points. But it got me curious. What are the distracted driving restrictions and penalties where you live, and do you think they should be more or less severe?

Boru

Even in America those "distracted driving" laws vary from state to state as well as fines. So distracted driving can contain use of cell phone in some states, or or just texting, but not hands free cell. Other states can include eating too, depending on what the officer observes and how much you take your eyes off the road. 

I'd guess in any case, what an officer observes is swerving or drifting out of your lane. They pull you over, and maybe the first thing they think is you might be drunk, but standard, first question everyone knows is, "Do you know why I pulled you over"? Most people say, "no". Officer says, "you were swerving, or drifting out of the lane". Then maybe, MAYBE, the driver says, " I dropped my food" or "My smoke" or "my cd" or "my cell", and at that point the officer may charge them with distracted driving. But again, laws very from state to state.

But in general, anything that takes your eyes off the road, even changing the radio station, or lighting a smoke, or even turning to talk to your passenger, all that has the potential to take your eyes off the road and get into an accident. 

Even without that, the faster you go, the longer it takes for your vehicle to slow down. Which is also why I fucking hate tailgaters.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

In 2000 the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that you were seven times more likely to be in an accident if you had a cell phone in the car. It was phrased like that because nobody would admit to using a phone when they had an accident.