DUI-E

gggGary

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Washington State is changing the way they will enforce cell phone use and distracted driving. Not least is the name DUI Using a cell phone while driving is quite equivalent to drug, alcohol use.
Mia Culpa I'm guilty of GPS cell phone while driving use. I am working hard to get the electronic aid set up stowed away BEFORE I hit the road. It's a lifestyle change, heck, I am commonly guilty of belting AFTER I leave the driveway.
Hint; Here (we go) phone based GPS app helps this setup, An address texted or emailed to my phone account populates the "where to?" field semi automatically. As an incurable CL deal sniffer, I do a quite a bit of "off to unknown address" driving with attendant ETA notifications.

Lets get this out there DUI-E elevates the seriousness of this offence to where it needs to be.
Seriously the threat of a DUI class ticket would help me change my bad habits.
 
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very interesting... the statute might have some legal issues, honestly, but it certainly would cause a change. cell phone driving is the cause of most of the accidents that happen during traffic, my commute is significantly worse today than it was before smart phones. id like to see this go nation wide. i think the ticket for you gggGary, is to get one of those window mounted phone holders. just set the gps up before and youre good to go!!
 
Post up at social media sites, talk it up, this is something that can happen, sooner is better.
I went and found my local legislators and sent them this.

This is good. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/washington-state-driving-under-influence-of-electronics/

I am guilty of cell phone use while driving, elevating this to DUI makes a lot of sense, we need to stop the carnage distracted driving is causing. This summer I helplessly watched an innocent driver hanging from his seatbelt at a crash in front of my house here on Hwy 113. His truck was head-on hit by a distracted driver that simply failed to drive his car around a corner, he died 3 days later. As a motorcyclist I see distracted driving regularly, I SEE the phone, texting use as I go by cars. This has to be stopped. Attention to the the road needs to get back to the #1 (or only) priority. Wisconsin can do this too!

Gary Goetz ....

You can get this to YOUR legislators.
It's easy to find them on line.
 
- - - Lets get this out there DUI-E elevates the seriousness of this offence to where it needs to be.
Seriously the threat of a DUI class ticket would help me change my bad habits.

Hi Gary,
as the fear of getting a DUI ticket shouldn't be the only reason to not drive when drunk, nor should the lack of risking a Cell-phone use ticket be the only reason to quit yabbling down the thing when driving.
Here's a revised startup checklist to help you control your bad habits:-
Get in car.
Set the Garmin's voice to LOUD (if you'll need directions on the trip)
Turn cell-phone OFF and toss it in the back seat (my wife leaves her cell-phone in her purse, perhaps you don't carry one?)
Fasten seat belt.
THEN start the car and back out of your driveway.
 
Hi All. In Kansas (Topeka anyways) it is illegal to TEXT while driving but talking on the cell is not. Almost every cop you see is talking on the cell phone. I just figure he`s hitting on another cops wife. The police dept would be a good place to start! I have a couple of friends who drive dump trucks and they have a "hands free" headset & mic but the distraction is still there. I`m just as guilty as anyone else about talking but my antique, coal burning, steam powered Verizon Flip Phone does not TEXT. Good Topic!
 
Hi All. In Kansas (Topeka anyways) it is illegal to TEXT while driving but talking on the cell is not. Almost every cop you see is talking on the cell phone. I just figure he`s hitting on another cops wife. The police dept would be a good place to start! I have a couple of friends who drive dump trucks and they have a "hands free" headset & mic but the distraction is still there. I`m just as guilty as anyone else about talking but my antique, coal burning, steam powered Verizon Flip Phone does not TEXT. Good Topic!

Hi halfmile,
Flip Phone won't text even if you get it the Carbide drip upgrade?
BTW in Drumheller Alberta there's a crashed car parked upside-down next to the highway.
There's a legend painted all along it's side:-
"STILL TEXTING AND DRIVING?"
 
Cell phones have brought distracted driving to the limelight, BUT doing other things while driving has been a problem since day one.
Before cell phones I would see (from my vantage point in a large car) salesmen doing orders, women finishing their makeup (even watched one putting on her panty hose), drivers reading newspapers or other paper items. . . .etc. My humble opinion is the crux of the problem is just too much traffic/many people.
 
Fred how could I ever finish my coffee if I was doing all that stuff before I started driving? Until self driving cars are available to my stingy coin purse.............
I knew a traveling salesman that read books.
Probably best we CAN'T see what many big rig drivers are doing up there...
 
PS I don't have proof the driver in the accident above was on the cell phone. But it never left his ear as he wandered around post crash, while the other driver was hanging upside down, bleeding out internally from a crushed chest.
 
Cell phones have brought distracted driving to the limelight, BUT doing other things while driving has been a problem since day one.
Before cell phones I would see (from my vantage point in a large car) salesmen doing orders, women finishing their makeup (even watched one putting on her panty hose), drivers reading newspapers or other paper items. . . .etc. My humble opinion is the crux of the problem is just too much traffic/many people.
Hi WER,
nah, it ain't the overcrowded roads, it's the distracted drivers.
Thing is, the majority of distractions can't be ticketed.
Looking at your passenger when talking instead of looking down the road, for instance.
You see that a lot on TV which is OK because the actors are sitting in a stationary car with faked scenery going by
while in real life they'd be dead.
Alas that folks tend to learn how to do stuff from watching TV. Like holding a handgun sideways and expecting to hit something?
 
Fred how could I ever finish my coffee if I was doing all that stuff before I started driving? ...

Hi Gary,
that entire checklist shouldn't take more than a minute unless you've quit taking the anti-drooling meds.
You could always try getting up a few minutes earlier?
 
I live in a dense urban environment. Driving in city traffic is the worst! Some states have adopted laws that require hands free phone use only. They tried to get the Arizona legislature to adopt the same. They really came through for us and passed a new law that states if you are a minor in the first six months of having your drivers license you are not allowed to text while driving. HUH???!!! Boy I feel safer already.
It's clear that those in a position to change the laws are addicted to their electronic heroin also.
 
I live in a dense urban environment. Driving in city traffic is the worst! Some states have adopted laws that require hands free phone use only. They tried to get the Arizona legislature to adopt the same. They really came through for us and passed a new law that states if you are a minor in the first six months of having your drivers license you are not allowed to text while driving. HUH???!!! Boy I feel safer already.
It's clear that those in a position to change the laws are addicted to their electronic heroin also.

Hi Mailman,
it's ironic that the Az law only forbids texting by the one group of drivers most likely to be capable of doing so.
Meanwhile back in 'toontown my wife's co-worker paid a $500 ticket for answering her cell-phone while driving plus a $400 surcharge on her insurance.
Seems that the arresting officer didn't think "I thought it was my mother calling and she's not well" was a valid excuse.
 
If they only knew what mailmen had going on in that vehicle ESPECIALLY Rural subs. They'd give them a WIDE berth. Hint; From Thanksgiving til Christmas is simply :yikes:
 
Is it just about talking or does it include taking pictures?
drivingwhile.png
 
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