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Distracted Cellphone drivers

gixxerjeff said:
Can we start a thread about Prius drivers? They scare me too.....and women putting on make-up....one almost hit me one day.
Sarcasm aside, as long as you don't get too complacent you'll be fine.
As said before, people were trying to kill us long before cell phones showed up.
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Prius drivers are very real
 
As mentioned, this topic was already discussed recently. First, agencies don't have a quota, but we are expected to issue citations to help reduce traffic accidents, so for instance at my department we focus on speeding and cell phone usage while driving.

Second, a video of an infraction is useless and an officer wont issue a citation based on your video. The fact of the matter is, there are more bad driver's then officers employed. lol Factor in we are responding to calls for service, robberies, burglaries, disturbances, and traffic accidents, there is often very little time to do traffic enforcement.

Today though, I went out for an hour at a popular busy intersection and I wrote 6 cell phone tickets. Im sure I missed many of the people using their cell phone. Im also sure there were many motorists that saw these people using a cell phone and wondered "why aren't the police ever around when we need them". In every city there are tickets being issued, but again almost every city is very understaffed. Ride safe, be aware, and do you're best to make it home safe.
 
Thanks for at least getting those 6. Maybe they'll each tell 10 friends.
 
Since the law went into effect, California Highway Patrol officers have increased the number of citations they are giving to motorists. CHP data show citation issuance jumped from 66,000 in 2016 to more than 98,000 in 2017. The first ticket a driver receives for an infraction likely will exceed $150.
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https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/article198691174.html

I don't give warnings for cell phones because it's one of the few violations where the fine is disproportionately low relative to the danger. If a driver is so distracted that I saw them on their phone before they saw me in my fully marked car, they earned it.
 
what?? distracted, texting, prius? Yeah I got you (in best Wanda voice)

 
Thanks for sharing in my frustration everyone. I realize credible ticketable video evidence of cellphone drivers isn't feasible. I appreciate LEO who are on lookout for offenders. And for those who say "go about your ride", that's exactly what I do. But, that doesn't mean that I cannot be frustrated and want perpetrators be fined, especially when their behavior is illegal and dangerous to me and others. Multiple ways to solve this problem
1) Increase fines. Distracted cellphone driving is worse than DWI, but we fine and prosecute both very differently.
2) Increase public transportation in the area. You can text and talk as much as you want on Bart and buses. Will also decrease traffic congestion
3) Set good examples for younger drivers. I've seen so many parents use their phones while driving with impressionable kids.
I am sure there are other ways as well. Just the few I could think of.
 
biomorph said:
1) Increase fines. Distracted cellphone driving is worse than DWI, but we fine and prosecute both very differently.
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Can't agree with this. If you're fiddling with your phone and recognize a problem ahead, you can put it down and deal with it. You can't become unintoxicated.
 
ScottRNelson said:
Can't agree with this. If you're fiddling with your phone and recognize a problem ahead, you can put it down and deal with it. You can't become unintoxicated.
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Having been rear-ended by someone who was fiddling with a phone, didn't recognize a problem and didn't deal with it, I'm not very persuaded. A bit of comparative data:

Drunk Driving
10,265 deaths in 2015
290,000 injuries in 2015

Distracted Driving
3,477 deaths in 2015
391,000 injuries in 2015

Source

Drunk driving is more common at different times of day than distracted driving. There are a variety of other factors too, but distracted driving is a big problem and drivers don't seem to be solving it by "recognizing a problem" and putting the phone down.
 
ScottRNelson said:
Can't agree with this. If you're fiddling with your phone and recognize a problem ahead, you can put it down and deal with it. You can't become unintoxicated.
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I've heard the opposite argument; when a drunk is behind the wheel, at least someone is looking at the road.
 
ScottRNelson said:
Can't agree with this. If you're fiddling with your phone and recognize a problem ahead, you can put it down and deal with it. You can't become unintoxicated.
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An awful lot of 'problems' happen in a second or two or less.

From observation, I'd guess most people who are clutching and staring at their phones while driving wouldn't dream of taking a second to put the phone down before attempting an emergency stop or other evasive action.
 
ScottRNelson said:
Can't agree with this. If you're fiddling with your phone and recognize a problem ahead, you can put it down and deal with it. You can't become unintoxicated.
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I think its the issue of recognizing a problem ahead, you're distracted to a point where you aren't able to recognize a problem till its too late. Sure you maybe able to react faster on account of being sober, but you've taken away that advantage by being distracted.
 
We're comparing them as if it's one or the other.

I imagine plenty of intoxicated drivers are playing with their phones.
 
Junkie said:
We're comparing them as if it's one or the other.

I imagine plenty of intoxicated drivers are playing with their phones.
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Exactly. Which makes DUI always more dangerous. IMO
 
biomorph said:
1) Increase fines. Distracted cellphone driving is worse than DWI, but we fine and prosecute both very differently.
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I disagree with this. Increasing the penalty for undesirable behavior won't reduce that behavior if the chance of getting caught is low. A more severe penalty is effective only if the perpetrator thinks it is likely that it will be applied to him. And most drivers don't think they're going to get caught talking on the phone.

ScottRNelson said:
If you're fiddling with your phone and recognize a problem ahead, you can put it down and deal with it. You can't become unintoxicated.
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I do agree with this. A reasonable person--and most of us ARE reasonable--understands the danger of distraction and would not use the phone while driving when risk is high. Alcohol or weed, OTOH, makes you stupid, so you're unable to distinguish high from low risk, or just don't care.

tzrider said:
Having been rear-ended by someone who was fiddling with a phone, didn't recognize a problem and didn't deal with it, I'm not very persuaded. A bit of comparative data:

Drunk Driving
10,265 deaths in 2015
290,000 injuries in 2015

Distracted Driving
3,477 deaths in 2015
391,000 injuries in 2015

Source
Click to expand...
Beyond the source you linked, the distraction data difficult to track down, but it apparently came from NHTSA's Distracted Driving 2015.

Trouble is, "distracted" doesn't mean what you think it means.

In a quick-and-dirty tally of 2015 distracted driving victims from my copy of the same database, I found 260,000 injuries. However, that was only occupants of the vehicle with the distracted driver--I didn't get peds or other vehicle occupants. It would take additional effort to verify the 391,000 victims reported by NHTSA. That said, here are the top 5 kinds of distraction in my count:

type|count
inattentive, details unknown | 81,418
looked but did not see | 48,898
outside person, object or event | 20,760
distracted, details unknown | 16,729
cellphone | 16,135

IOW, the anti-cellphone literature falsely conflates "distraction" and "cellphone".

For another data point I looked at CHP's SWITRS database for 2017 crashes. Less than 1% of drivers are reported to be inattentive due to cellphone.


DISCLAIMER: I regard cell phones as the spawn of the devil. I have one of course--a very dumb one--but never use it while driving or riding. Or even while bicycling and seldom while walking.
 
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