Should phone ban include all U.S. drivers?
The National Transportation Safety Board says it’s time for all U.S. drivers to ditch the cell phone when they’re behind the wheel.
The federal agency, which can’t make drivers do so on its own, says there have been too many traffic accidents, many of them fatal, that could have been prevented if drivers had only put the phone away instead of dialing or texting.
The NTSB wants Congress to ban all hands-free and hand-held phones in a move that would significantly exceed any existing state laws restricting texting and cell phone use behind the wheel, according to an Associated Press report.
Last year, Georgia made it illegal for anyone to read, type or send a text message while driving. And “driving” includes being stopped at red lights or awaiting an arrow in a turn lane. A violation can cost up to $100 for adults. Adults, however, can use the keypad to dial a phone number. Young drivers with provisional licenses are prohibited from all cellphone use while driving. If they are caught, the fine is $150.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, two out of 10 U.S. drivers say they have thumbed messages or emailed from the driver’s seat, and nearly 1 in every 100 texted, emailed or surfed the Web at any given moment last year.
Many countries have bans on using hand-held phones while driving, including France, Germany, United Kingdom, South Africa, China and Spain.
Should the U.S. join the list?
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Guides
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2012 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
167 comments Add your comment
Johnny Verizon
December 13th, 2011
3:34 pm
First !!
Stuart
December 13th, 2011
3:34 pm
To answer the question, yes the US should join the list…
put down the phone and drive
December 13th, 2011
3:36 pm
phone in one hand, ticket in the other. no exceptions
Goldendawg14
December 13th, 2011
3:37 pm
Why not the more laws the better.
Ray
December 13th, 2011
3:37 pm
Oh yea, I always get caught behind these people. I cant stand when someone is in the fast lane going 45 MPH, and you pass them to only see them on the phone, or texting. Makes me sick, Pull over and talk. Go Congress!!!
Jay
December 13th, 2011
3:38 pm
Sure, so long as we also ban eating, drinking, tuning the radio, applying make-up and talking to your kids in the back seat while looking in the mirror.
MH
December 13th, 2011
3:39 pm
I don’t need the gov’t telling me when I can talk on the phone.
Pamela
December 13th, 2011
3:39 pm
I pray that this law pass for this entire country. Also I pray that the police officers start doing their job and pulling people over for doing this! About 99% of drivers that I see everyday are either texting, reading a text, talking on their cell phones (with and without blue tooth) and they are NOT paying attention to the road. They are wreckless drivers. Some of them even have expired tags on their cars. In the State of Georgia if a person has a GA tag and it’s expired their auto insurance is also expired! They drive crazy. They either drive too slow for the fast lane, too fast, or they just cut you off in traffic…I also see a lot of MARTA bus drivers talking on their cell phones while they are operating a bus. I see this all the time. Too many people died or have been really hurt because of this. I pray this law pass and that EVERY state hire more officers to enforce this law. A law does not work if it isn’t enforced as it should be!
bc
December 13th, 2011
3:42 pm
Please, please pass the law to ban the operation a cell phone while driving a vehicle.
signed,
Motorcyclist
Ray
December 13th, 2011
3:44 pm
Word BC. I hear that!
taboo
December 13th, 2011
3:47 pm
YES! Pass this law NOW! Heck. I wish someone would invent a phone that would automatically shut down when a car is in motion or turned on. Not even operational when there is an emergency. Why create ANOTHER emergency calling in your moving vehicle about an emergency?!
Marlboro Man
December 13th, 2011
3:47 pm
Take the phone and hold it until the fine is paid.
taboo
December 13th, 2011
3:47 pm
Yes BC! I agree 100%!
Jeff
December 13th, 2011
3:49 pm
1) The pickup driver had less than 5 hrs sleep the night before the wreck. (So are we going to see a law mandating ALL drivers get x number of hours sleep before driving, should this ban become law?) 2) ALL THREE BUSES (INCLUDING the one used to transport kids to the hospital) had their breaks fail at once. (Yet nary a word about any sanctions against the school system and specifically its bus maintenance department for gross negligence.)
If neither one nor two happen, texting isn’t an issue in this case. As a former long distance driver (drove 100 miles one way to work as recently as this time last year), I can tell you that MANY mornings and evenings, that cell phone was the ONLY thing keeping me even moderately awake. Furthermore, Ga’s own law (and most others, as I believe the AP article points out) have done NOTHING to make us safer, only LESS safe due to texters having to hold their phones lower.
But nah, let’s further surrender our liberty because one kid didn’t get enough sleep and we’ve got to pass an emotional ips post facto law (which are RARELY, if EVER, good or effective).
taboo
December 13th, 2011
3:50 pm
MH and any other idiot in a moving vehicle needs a responsible adult of authority, or otherwise, to tell them NOT to use a phone while driving!
Ghost
December 13th, 2011
3:53 pm
Yeah, 2 out of 10 means ban it for everyone. Cut it with this socialist, communist crap!
And those that die from an accident while doing it should have known better. But let’s be nanny to the 10’s of millions of others who haven’t been so stupid.
Freedom
December 13th, 2011
3:53 pm
When I drive, I prefer to talk on the phone and look around for cops to make sure I don’t get caught, rather than simply talking on the phone while I drive. I prefer my attention to be split three ways instead of just two. So, pass the law. I’ll continue to talk on the phone while I drive, but I’ll also have to watch more than just the road in front of me.
Hands Free
December 13th, 2011
3:56 pm
If the government had its way we wouldn’t be allowed to listen to the radio or talk with passengers while driving. They don’t need to outlaw phones while driving, just make hands free devices mandatory. It makes a big difference and is proven to be much safer.
Really!!
December 13th, 2011
3:56 pm
I bet if someone they loved died because of a talker or a texter, it would be a different story
See no evil
December 13th, 2011
3:58 pm
Don’t we already have a texting ban in GA? Is it even being enforced?
Chris
December 13th, 2011
4:00 pm
While am not sold on a ban on hands-free use of a cell phone while driving, I do feel a ban against handheld use of cell phones is appropriate for the safety of all drivers.
Sunraynews | Top US news
December 13th, 2011
4:03 pm
[...] of AmericaUS calls for ban on in-car phone use … even with Bluetoothmsnbc.comAFP -Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) -Sydney Morning Heraldall 939 news [...]
Leigh
December 13th, 2011
4:08 pm
Driving is not a right-people need to realize that. I was hit not once but twice in the same year by stupid people not paying attention. The first time at a red light. Then almost got hit again at a red light and guess what…she was on her phone. Get off your phone and drive.
Mark
December 13th, 2011
4:10 pm
People against are like those who were against seatbelt laws.
Big Bad Bob
December 13th, 2011
4:16 pm
YES PLEASE! You people think you can drive just fine with your phone glued to your ear, but you are like the little old lady going 40 in the left lane…oblivious to the mayhem you are causing around/behind you.
Big Bad Bob
December 13th, 2011
4:21 pm
Hands Free: “If the government had its way we wouldn’t be allowed to listen to the radio or talk with passengers while driving. They don’t need to outlaw phones while driving, just make hands free devices mandatory. It makes a big difference and is proven to be much safer.”
Umm, no!!! We have been talking and listening to radios in cars for decades, and nobody has tried to stop it. Cell phone use is a real threat, thus the move to ban it. Hands free is minimally better if at all…it’s not the driving with one hand, it’s the driving with only a part of your brain (when a lot of folks have trouble driving while using
ALL of their brain!)
Weekly driver
December 13th, 2011
4:22 pm
Please pass some legislation that prohibits a driver from cell phone usage while operating a motor vehicle.Being from the nothern part of the state, I have to transport my elderly father a minimum of twice weekly down I-75 south into Atlanta for medical treatment. His appointment times usually coincide with peak morning or evening commutes. I can’t tell you how many times I had feared for his and my safety encountering a distracted driver on the interstate. Especially, when they drift into my lane, absorbed in text or conversation, usually exceeding the speed limit.The young texting drivers are the worst offenders.
Park it and talk or text. Your call should not risk my welfare.
Just another example of the “me” generation. Rules of civil behavior apply to other people.
I’m dreaming though, the state does not have the manpower to enforce speed regulations on the highways, much less cell phone use.
Big Bad Bob
December 13th, 2011
4:33 pm
Ghost, u r an idiot! Most drunk drivers don’t cause wrecks either, so should we just arrest them AFTER they kill someone? I mean, maybe it’s the same 2 out of 10?
huskerdawg
December 13th, 2011
4:34 pm
I followed someone weaving back and forth between two lanes while apparently texting today. Nobody could get around them and they caused a huge “rolling” traffic jam. So frustrating and DANGEROUS!!!! Yes I do think there should be stricter regulation of cell phone usage!!
mike
December 13th, 2011
4:37 pm
Why don’t we have enough common sense to NOT text/talk on phones to begin with? I have never sent a text from my phone, period, and I have never driven while on the phone. If you don’t want a law banning this practice then don’t text/talk while driving. It ain’t rocket science. I am against these endless laws that governments pass to “protect us from ourselves” but the reason they do it is because we don’t use common sense. As if government ever does.
KimZ'sPackage
December 13th, 2011
4:42 pm
BS………Some people can do both. If that is the LAW then EVERYBODY has to live by the LAW. Cops don’t use Seat belts and I can promise you they will keep using cell phones too. Issue a ticket IF an Accident happens not because the cops/county/city needs money from the ticket. Cops need to STOP real crimes like the Home Invasions and Robberies not the POSSIBILITY of a car wreck because somebody was on the phone.
william
December 13th, 2011
4:44 pm
Exactly what you expect from brain dead government employees.
Let’s justify our useless jobs by making more LAWS!
Then what do we need to enforce them?
MORE government employees!!!
Yeah!!! great idea.
Mike
December 13th, 2011
4:46 pm
I’m sure the next step is to ban radios in cars – after all, most talk radio is conservative and might inspire people to tell the nanny state to mind their own business.
Mrs De Leon
December 13th, 2011
4:48 pm
YES. I have personally witnessed accidents one as recent as a week ago with a driver on the phone who just rolled right into the back of another driver all the while talking on the phone. I remember a time when people drove down the highway listening to the radio and singing along. Not screaming into a phone flailing arms at someone who cannot see their antics, unless they are both on an iphone. Ban it, make it all hands free and lets get back to safe driving.
KimZ'sPackage
December 13th, 2011
4:48 pm
BigbadBOB you are the IDIOT. the Government doesn’t want to STOP DUI. It makes Too much money. If we want to stop DUI it is really easy. All new cars must have a Breathalize hooked to the ignition. DUI’s drop drastically, but then so does ALL THE MONEY THE GOVERNMENT can make.
KimZ'sPackage
December 13th, 2011
4:53 pm
Driving is not SAFE. It has never been safe and it will never be Safe. It can only be safer. 2000lbs moving at 35 mph will never be SAFE because Accidents happen. That is why it is called an Accident.
Fine
December 13th, 2011
4:55 pm
I think that if you ARE involved in an accident, your phone records should be pulled automatically, and if it is found that you were on your phone at the time of the accident, you should be fined an amount of money that would make even Bill Gates squirm! In other words, the fine should be so incredibly severe that a bankruptsy filing is automatically included in your routine court proceding! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!
400Hell
December 13th, 2011
4:58 pm
DAILY – I sit behind drivers in the 65mph lane of 400 who are going 5-10 mph UNDER the speed limit, yapping away on their phones.
DAILY – I sit behind drivers at green lights who failed to notice the light change, yapping away on their phones.
Informally – I note the phone/nophone habits of passing cars. At any given time, between 10 and 25% of drivers are talking on their phones.
I am, frankly, FOR a cell phone ban. Barring that, I am for limiting cell phone talkers to the right lane of any multi-lane (same direction) road. You want to talk? Get in the right hand lane.
Weekly driver
December 13th, 2011
4:59 pm
It’s a two prong problem. First, you need enough social awareness that the act is frowned upon in society. Like smoking is looked upon now. Second, is enforcement. Put some “teeth” into a penality. Plus, have the manpower on the street. However, with the current shortages in our state budget, the manpower to enforce traffic current speed laws are not even enforced. Our state highways are woefully short of troopers.
dre
December 13th, 2011
5:00 pm
Look…you’ve got technologic simpletons like Johnny Verizon above who will always think it’s cool to be on them thar newfangled gizmos like telephones and computers, where he can talk to momma and claim to be “first” like a retard. He just can’t believe his luck! So cellphones and cars will always be an issue, esp down here in the backwoods south.
dre
December 13th, 2011
5:01 pm
I know….Delta is ready when I am. Thanks Lewis Grizzards and Mike Luckoviches out there.
Neto
December 13th, 2011
5:03 pm
I agree. Yes. Great idea.
KimZ'sPackage
December 13th, 2011
5:06 pm
To make it better for everyone in the US we need to pass a law that only people with a certain IQ can have kids. If there were not so many Stupid people in the US then we wouldn’t have 80% of the problems we have now. That would eliminate so many Government programs and we could keep more of our money and play less taxes. Sterilize Felons too while we are at it.
Matt
December 13th, 2011
5:19 pm
How about instead of assuming we are all terrible and distracted drivers, we put in place a more comprehensive driver testing program designed to determine who among us are capable of multi-tasking while still operating a vehicle within a certain margin of safety? But of course that wouldn’t happen because the majority of all drivers would fail this, and probably fail the driving portion if it were truly more comprehensive. Most people shouldn’t even be allowed to operate a radio while driving, much less a cell phone. #JustSaying
southgate
December 13th, 2011
5:25 pm
I just ran into a pole checking my text messages! this sucks.
Ralph
December 13th, 2011
5:28 pm
FIRST….(I always wanted to do that)…..DRE go back from where you came from. No one is making you stay here in our “backwoods south”. I’d gladly (and I am sure there are others who would) contribute to a one way ticket to wherever you would like to go as long as you promise never to return. Cell phones, computers, guns, and most other “gizmos” are not the problem, its the people who use them that create the problem. If you have to be on the phone while in the car, get a hands-free device. There are plenty to pick from. Write and ENFORCE a law that if you are on the phone in the car (or truck or bus) that it be hands free, pretty simple. ENFORCE the “No Texting”, if we all can see it happening, then I can only believe that the police can see it too. Please remember driving is NOT a right, it is a privilege…..Just like living in the south……
Sid
December 13th, 2011
5:32 pm
seems like it would be pretty simple to mandate a software update to phones that would disable sms completely & only allow bluetooth while the phone detected it was moving. I know the sms part would affect passengers but I’m willing to accept that. I do have a hard time believing that talking on speaker is worse than talking to passenger – that just doesn’t pass smell test. it would be interesting to scrutinize the methodologies of those comparisons – I know they’ve all “concluded” that but I also wouldn’t be at all surprised if there isn’t serious flaws (intentional or not) in their tests…
KimZ'sPackage
December 13th, 2011
5:32 pm
Driving is a RIGHT. Without a car and being able to drive I can’t pursue happiness because I can’t get to a job.
KimZ'sPackage
December 13th, 2011
5:35 pm
SID you are crazy. What if i am kidnapped and in the trunk of the car I can’t use my phone? I am a passenger in a car and i can’t use my phone or a bus or train.
yelling at kids in the backseat is more distracting than talking on a cell phone.
ls1z28chris
December 13th, 2011
5:36 pm
Ray LaHood has been calling for this for a long time. That man is a fascist, plain and simple. “Eight hour road trip? Pull over, poor person.” As these bureaucrats and their ilk fly over us in planes on our dime.