I don’t know where you drive, but in S Fla, Anarchy IS what’s happening on the roads. That’s my point.
Enforce what we have and raise the penalty so it’s not worth the risk. If the penalty for no insurance is $5K, insurance only costs $3K, people would actually buy insurance. Right now it’s only $500, so it’s ‘worth it’ to risk it. Plus the so-called law that says if you cause an accident and don’t have liability, it’s $1200 fine? I’ve personally reported 2 people who hit me and known of 3 others that were reported, and guess what? NOTHING. OUR insurance companies paid for damages while the drivers with no insurance walked away.
And no license? 15-25 times picked up is the average for one person before they do a few days in jail. (or they kill someone)
The ONLY people who will be affected by a cell phone ban is the people who work, have insurance, have tags, and care about fines and points. And, IMHO, is what’s wrong with it. Easy money for municipalities. They won’t target the car with no hood or tags, because they won’t pay anyway. They’ll target us. And, yes, I’ve had cops tell me point blank that if a ‘nice’ car is going 95 vs a POS going 95, the nice car will get stopped because they will pay the fine. The POS probably has no insurance, no license, but it’s a ‘cost’ to the municipality because they will never pay the fine until they are pursued. (which costs money) And the fines aren’t high enough to justify further legal action, even if you could find them. (which a lot of them just disappear)
If they’d get the others off the road, the number of accidents would drop. Again, not rocket science.
Dawn,
I agree 100%….raise the fines! When CA imposed a “cell phone” fine last year, I couldn’t beleive it. If you look at my earlier post, I stated that I got a ticket for parking in my OWN driveway ($85.00-not only once, but 3 times in the same week…that’s another subject,though). I can’t understand why the fines don’t fit the infractions. the bluetooth/hands-free device is a no-brainer. The only way to get drivers to continue using them is to increase the fines…..I bet they would think twice!
Cheli,
No need to shout….I can read you :)
Sorry for your loss…..
I apologize for assuming, but you have to understand my frustration with the cell phones (bluetooth/hands free not included-perhaps I should have clarified) but c’mon. What did we do BEFORE there were cell phones, faxes, etc? We had made do. All I am saying is that if you MUST use your cell phone, pull over. 3 mintues of your driving time is nothing compared to the time you lose if you get into an accident….not to mention the anxiety if someone actually gets hurt.
Also, I wish the kids would utilize voicemail more often…I have trouble having my own kids use it. Perhaps we can lead by example?
The drivers that have no license or insurance cause more deaths then people on blue-tooth. Those are the fines that need to be tripled. Along with jail time before the 25th offense. Or they kill someone. Like I said, it’s estimated that 1/3 of the cars shouldn’t be on the road at all.
I’m all for a law for hands-free. But there would be no way to enforce a law against bluetooth- especially through sync, or Onstar, or any of those programs. Some cities down here already have a law against hand-held devices. I use my iPhone. I listen to music on it in the car, and it automatically cuts off the music when I activate my blue-tooth, which I put on before I start the car. When I turn it off, the music starts again. So even if you saw me on the road, there would be no way for you to tell if I was talking on my headset at any given time. Neither could a cop.
I thought you gave up already? I’ve been driving for years chit chatting on my cell between my ear and shoulder and eating with one hand and changing the radio station with the other hand and driving with one knee while turned around tending to “Mary & John” ALL while driving…and I have never caused a accident….however, some one ran into me one day as i was driving changing my shirt..lol..guess he was too busy being a peeping tom..so looks like nosey people are still on my list
I use bluetooth and voice dialing. but i can remember life without cable/24 hour tv,and computers and gps. i could live without it but its nice to have.
I think you are all missing the point. Some people can drive safely with cell phone and some can’t. so now we are going to remove another right? You walk your dog down my street and he does his business on my lawn – NO MORE DOGS ON MY STREET. Big Brother is taking away ALL our rights one after another. What happened to “self responsibility”? After all, I can no longer eat strawberries – REMOVE THEM FROM ALL STORES.
Signed, Big Brother
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I don’t know where you drive, but in S Fla, Anarchy IS what’s happening on the roads. That’s my point.
Enforce what we have and raise the penalty so it’s not worth the risk. If the penalty for no insurance is $5K, insurance only costs $3K, people would actually buy insurance. Right now it’s only $500, so it’s ‘worth it’ to risk it. Plus the so-called law that says if you cause an accident and don’t have liability, it’s $1200 fine? I’ve personally reported 2 people who hit me and known of 3 others that were reported, and guess what? NOTHING. OUR insurance companies paid for damages while the drivers with no insurance walked away.
And no license? 15-25 times picked up is the average for one person before they do a few days in jail. (or they kill someone)
The ONLY people who will be affected by a cell phone ban is the people who work, have insurance, have tags, and care about fines and points. And, IMHO, is what’s wrong with it. Easy money for municipalities. They won’t target the car with no hood or tags, because they won’t pay anyway. They’ll target us. And, yes, I’ve had cops tell me point blank that if a ‘nice’ car is going 95 vs a POS going 95, the nice car will get stopped because they will pay the fine. The POS probably has no insurance, no license, but it’s a ‘cost’ to the municipality because they will never pay the fine until they are pursued. (which costs money) And the fines aren’t high enough to justify further legal action, even if you could find them. (which a lot of them just disappear)
If they’d get the others off the road, the number of accidents would drop. Again, not rocket science.
Dawn,
I agree 100%….raise the fines! When CA imposed a “cell phone” fine last year, I couldn’t beleive it. If you look at my earlier post, I stated that I got a ticket for parking in my OWN driveway ($85.00-not only once, but 3 times in the same week…that’s another subject,though). I can’t understand why the fines don’t fit the infractions. the bluetooth/hands-free device is a no-brainer. The only way to get drivers to continue using them is to increase the fines…..I bet they would think twice!
Cheli,
No need to shout….I can read you :)
Sorry for your loss…..
I apologize for assuming, but you have to understand my frustration with the cell phones (bluetooth/hands free not included-perhaps I should have clarified) but c’mon. What did we do BEFORE there were cell phones, faxes, etc? We had made do. All I am saying is that if you MUST use your cell phone, pull over. 3 mintues of your driving time is nothing compared to the time you lose if you get into an accident….not to mention the anxiety if someone actually gets hurt.
Also, I wish the kids would utilize voicemail more often…I have trouble having my own kids use it. Perhaps we can lead by example?
The drivers that have no license or insurance cause more deaths then people on blue-tooth. Those are the fines that need to be tripled. Along with jail time before the 25th offense. Or they kill someone. Like I said, it’s estimated that 1/3 of the cars shouldn’t be on the road at all.
I’m all for a law for hands-free. But there would be no way to enforce a law against bluetooth- especially through sync, or Onstar, or any of those programs. Some cities down here already have a law against hand-held devices. I use my iPhone. I listen to music on it in the car, and it automatically cuts off the music when I activate my blue-tooth, which I put on before I start the car. When I turn it off, the music starts again. So even if you saw me on the road, there would be no way for you to tell if I was talking on my headset at any given time. Neither could a cop.
SFOInsuranceLady,
I thought you gave up already? I’ve been driving for years chit chatting on my cell between my ear and shoulder and eating with one hand and changing the radio station with the other hand and driving with one knee while turned around tending to “Mary & John” ALL while driving…and I have never caused a accident….however, some one ran into me one day as i was driving changing my shirt..lol..guess he was too busy being a peeping tom..so looks like nosey people are still on my list
I use bluetooth and voice dialing. but i can remember life without cable/24 hour tv,and computers and gps. i could live without it but its nice to have.
I think you are all missing the point. Some people can drive safely with cell phone and some can’t. so now we are going to remove another right? You walk your dog down my street and he does his business on my lawn – NO MORE DOGS ON MY STREET. Big Brother is taking away ALL our rights one after another. What happened to “self responsibility”? After all, I can no longer eat strawberries – REMOVE THEM FROM ALL STORES.
Signed, Big Brother