Texting Bans for Drivers Not Putting a Dent In Accident Rates

[jayfish]

Source: Ars Technica

Study after study shows that distracted drivers are far more likely to get into accidents, which has led a number of states to craft laws intended to limit one of the most significant distractions: the cell phone. Initial efforts focused on keeping both hands on the wheel by mandating hands-free use, but more recent versions have cracked down on texting while driving. Now, a study of accident rates indicates that the bans may not be having the desired effect, as accident rates may actually be increasing in some states that have enacted them.

Read more: http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/09/texting-bans-for-drivers-not-putting-a-dent-in-accident-rates.ars

[KT2000]

1. WA banned cell phones in July

I still see many people talking on their cell phones while driving.

[Tempest]

2. Very few drivers have stopped using their cell phones or texting devices

I see it all the time when driving or walking.

[COLGATE4]

3. It won't start to come down until there is vigorous enforcement

by police, as was true with seat belt enforcement. There need to be heavy fines, not just inconvenient ones for using these or texting while driving. Until you get peoples' attention with tickets and fines, there's no incentive not to do it.

[Igel]

4. It strikes me as odd that anybody thought a law would change anything.

The words and signing of a bill matter not a jot if nobody follows them.

Enforcing a no-texting ban, like a no-cell-phone ban, is difficult.

[proteus_lives]

5. You know what will?

If a cop sees you on your phone in a moving vehicle, you get arrested and your car is impounded.

[Psephos]

12. Vigorous authoritarianism on a liberal board is a contradiction in terms.

You can be authoritarian or liberal but not both.

[proteus_lives]

14. Yeah, arresting idiots before they kill someone is "authoritarian"

I bet you think drunk drivers are just misunderstood.

[Psephos]

15. Who's next?

Old people with slower reflexes?

People who keep pushing radio or CD buttons looking for a song they like?

Moms with two fighting kids in the backseat?

Drivers who've already had an at-fault accident in the past?

Depressed people?

Every one of these groups show statistically demonstrable increases in accident probability.

Authoritarians are easy to spot. They try to force their views on others under threat of badge and gun. Liberals are easy to spot, too. They understand the history of forced views and want the smallest amount of coercion compatible with free society.

Read the article. The accident rate is going UP in jurisdictions which have passed this law. Why? Because people are now holding their devices lower to avoid detection, which means less eye time on the road. Typical authoritarian blow-back.

So, you are advocating something that in the real world is actually raising the probability of accidents and/or deaths. Time to impound your car and get you a room in the greybar inn.

[proteus_lives]

16. This is great.

"Authoritarian"

:rofl:

Look up my posts honey and see if I match your definition of an authoritarian.

Were drunk-driving laws a slippery slope?

This is a dangerous habit and it's killing people.

Most people don't like your solution. Why? Because doing nothing isn't a solution.

[Psephos]

17. Calling me honey is an attempt to assert authority by belittling.

You aren't very hard to figure out.

Check what I said again. I am not in favor of TWD. Quite the opposite. I am not in favor of doing nothing, either - where did you get that idea? From your ass. I am, however, opposed to the authoritarian mentality that thinks it can force whatever puritan impulse is au courant uphill against human nature.

It's telling that you did not respond at all to the utterly predictable blowback effect on accident rates this petty tyranny is having.

[proteus_lives]

18. Puritan now.

:rofl:

Not wanting to people to mow down people while texting is "petty tyranny"

:rofl:

Wow, how sheltered you are.

Ok, what should they do about TWD? This should good.

P.S.

Since you ignored what I said about drunk driving, how are anti-texting laws a slippery slope?

[Psephos]

23. Shoe. Foot. Looks like your size. n/t

[proteus_lives]

27. No answer?

How terribly unsurprising.

[Historic NY]

6. Because enforcement has been ramped up, plain & simple...

sometimes the cops are too busy yacking on them too.

[slackmaster]

7. There are way too many idiots out there pretending to drive

:nuke:

[Gman]

8. It won't do a damn thing to decrease accidents

but it's good for lots of political points for members of local town councils.

[valerief]

9. Oh, yes, they'll stop texting while driving because there's a law against it.

Just like they'll stop drinking while driving and cellphone-blathering while driving.

Can't they jam signals along highways where it's illegal?

[Ter]

13. Bad idea

If a nut is following you with a gun, you should have the right to dial 9/11 without stopping.

[valerief]

19. Hell, I've had crazy tailgaters follow me because I put on my blinkers!

Maybe cars should be equipped with a special unjammable signal for 911. Jam the rest!!!!

[Ter]

20. I still don't like it

I don't text while driving, but I sneak a call in every now and then. Doesn't affect my driving at all, and I miss the days 10 years ago when it was legal and no one cared.

[LanternWaste]

21. And I miss the days prior to advent of cell phones...

And I miss the days prior to advent of cell phones, and prior to the perceived need of people to talk on the phone whilst driving... in a school zone or not... and no one cared.

I have heard many people justify that many particualr things don't affect their driving skills... and few may even be correct.

[valerief]

22. And I don't like the risk you pose. nt

[PSPS]

10. It will if they enforce the law

They have such a law where I live, but I see people talking on their phones all the time even while passing cop cars.

[quakerboy]

11. Thats because they are hardly enforced

We have bans here. I still see at least 10 people a day talking and driving, often quite a few more than that.

As for texting, I am guessing that a lot of people just keep the phone below dash level, thus being more of a distraction(having to look further off the road). That would account for your increase's right there.

[arikara]

24. Aside from the obvious foolishness of texting and trying to type

while driving, the reason that people have problems with the cell phone is that the electromagnetic frequencies of the cell phone disrupt brain function. And sitting inside a car which serves as a big metal antenna increases the effect. Which explains why using hands free doesn't help. The only thing that would help is to pull over to the side of the road, get out of the car and keep the conversation to less than a minute.

And no, I am not going to look for a link. This was explained to me in person by someone who studied the use of cell phones.

[killbotfactory]

25. It's extremely difficult to enforce

If you want to influence human behavior banning activities that are widespread and difficult to detect will never be that effective.

[struggle4progress]

26. Nobody knows what such studies mean. Here are some comments from January:

... Six states and the District of Columbia ban talking on a hand-held device for all drivers, while 19 states and the District of Columbia ban texting while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

The Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said its findings “don’t match what we already know about the risk of phoning and texting while driving” and said it is gathering data to “figure out this mismatch.”

It said one explanation could be an increase in the use of handsfree devices in places with bans on handset use while driving.

Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the governors association, said the new study “raises as many questions as it answers.” The group is concerned that bans on handheld devices simply encourage more drivers to use handsfree devices, which, it says, are just as risky ...

http://axiomamuse.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/study-texting-ban-distracted-driving-laws-dont-stop-crashes/

[cbdo2007]

28. So this article is blaming the ban on texting on INCREASING accidents??

That's just stupid.

[DerBeppo]

29. not so much...

assuming that those texting haven't stopped, they just try to do it on the sly--in their lap or low on the seat next to them. This could, in fact, lead to more accidents with an added level of distraction in not getting caught.

[ProudDad]

30. Perhaps because they are still texting? (n/t)