I missed that show but I wish every state would ban texting and cell phone use while driving. It's scary to sit at a red light and look in the rear view mirror and see someone holding a phone to their ear. It's against the law here in New Jersey to use a hand held cell phone while driving but that doesn't seem to have worked very well.

I seldom use the cell phone while driving and my car is Blue Tooth enabled. I was rear ended at a toll booth by a man texting on his cell phone. I just feel that driving requires your full attention.

Ditto what Mcmann said.

I almost never use my phone in the car. It isn't just the dialing that distracts me, but the conversation itself. I don't even tell involved stories to my passengers; I listen and respond to their conversation, but if I have to think about what I'm saying I lose my concentration on the road. I'm sure I'm not the only one this happens to, and I wish more people would be aware of it and act accordingly.

What did Oprah have on her show.....examples of accidents caused by cell phone use?

I did not see the show.
I do not text on my phone, don't even know how. But I do talk a lot with my hands-free...some hand-held. Much of it business related.

I do not imagine Oprah ever drives herself anywhere. Is she willing to not talk or text, or use any type of communication whatsoever while she's in a vehicle?
I realize a passenger is really of no consequence when they are not committed to driving, but this is the best compromise I can think if she is promoting it with others that do not have the luxury of a chauffeur.

BTW, I think texting should be outlawed altogether. It is annoying how so many people are glued to their phones everytime it beeps. My niece cannot sit and have a one on one conversation without texting a friend in between.

I also think cell phone manufacturers should wise up and enable parents to password block text/picture funtions. Either altogether or for blocks of time.

She had people who had lost family members of all ages---not just teens---because someone was texting or talking while driving. One little girl who was riding her bicycle on the street where she lived was described as something like "15 pedals from home." :(

There were also compelling stories from people who were badly injured in accidents. There is more info on Oprah's site at the link below. You can watch episodes or clips on the subject.

I am guilty of justifying it as "I'm very careful" or saying it's "for business" or "only hands free" use, but I won't do that any more.

I don't mean to preach... just wondered if anyone else was as affected by the show as I was.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oprah's No Phone Zone

If they are going to ban cell phones then they should ban all the other stuff people do while driving. I see people drinking,eating,lighting cigarettes,combing their hair,putting on make-up,staring at their GPS screens,reading books and newspapers and turning their head to talk to people in the back seat.

We already have a cell phone law here and I see people ignoring it all the time.

I would much rather see a statute that increases the penalty for any accident that an avoidable distraction contributed to.

I didn't see the show. But it's illegal to use your cellphone here in Newfoundland while driving, unless it's hands-free.

It is illegal in Ontario too and Oprah had nothing to do with banning them here. I hope her show got the attention of those still using their cell phones because there are still tons of people ignoring the law and they sure are pretty careless drivers.

Georgia just past a law banning texting while driving and banning teens from texting or talking on cell phones while driving. It shouldn't take a law to stop texting. It's just common sense, something too many people are lacking.

Linda

Are we serious about this? Vehicles could have devices to jam transmissions while the vehicle is in motion.

People traveled for many years before they could make calls while driving. Business was conducted. People found their way to destinations.

Cell phones are a great convenience, but if a call is *important* you should be able to give it your attention. Talking or texting while driving is as dumb as driving drunk. It's much more lethal than minor distractions like talking to other passengers, eating, drinking coffee. Plus, there's no way to stop people from doing those things. There IS a way to jam phone transmissions. (A driver could be alerted to an incoming call, but not be able to receive it while the car is in motion.)

Your mind needs to be concentrating on driving that potentially lethal hunk of metal, not diverted to anything important. If it isn't of immediate, vital importance, it can wait until you pull over and stop.

That video on the posted link is really powerful.

I like your idea Chisue!

I get so frustrated when I see someone talking on their phone while driving. It's illegal here in CA as well but that doesn't seem to stop many people. I have an integrated hands free Bluetooth system in my car and still don't like to talk on the phone while driving. I would feel just horrible if I hurt somebody because I was talking on the phone. And texting while driving??? I can't believe anyone can do that with ANY degree of safety.

Jodi-

Some time back I read where a local man was killed while talking to a loved one on the phone. He said something like a truck was coming off the ramp and was crowding him and ten the phone went dead. Had he had both hands on the wheel and been paying attention, he might have been watching for and been alert enough to either speed up or slow down for the truck that was crowding him.

I too wish that the laws were enforced. Impounding the car, might get the attention of those that feel they are exempt from following the law. I also think that anyone caught driving with no license should have their vehicle impounded for a significant period of time, and the same for all those who out there driving without insurance.

I used to talk on the phone while driving and justify it because it was hands-free, but all the evidence I've seen says that doesn't matter. It's the distraction - and more particularly, the distraction of someone who's not there and doesn't know to shut up when driving gets tense. So I stopped talking on the phone while driving.

Once I quit talking on the cell phone while driving, I realized what a distraction it had been, though I didn't admit it to myself beforehand.

Chisue, I never heard about the idea of jamming cell phone transmissions, but I wish we'd do that.

Never watch her but the comments are interesting

I didn't watch the show, but last week while out driving a person talking on a cellphone almost sideswiped my car drifting into my lane, and another caused me to have to slam on my brakes because he was too busy talking on the cell to notice the yield sign. If you need to use your cellphone (or do anything else potentially distracting) while driving, pull into a parking lot or another safe place where you don't endanger anyone else.

I get so mad when my DD#2 calls me while driving. I have just gotten so I flat refuse to talk to her until she is at her destination.
I know that I cannot handle talking on my cell when driving. I always just leave it at home, unless I am on a road trip. And then only for safety issues.
I hope that all states make a no-cell-phone in use while driving law.

Trin

I'm certain that if we wanted it we could invent a phone-jammng system. I'm probably not the first to think of one.

Making laws that can't be enforced isn't an answer. A law prohibiting eating, drinking or phoning in a car cannot be enforced. A law requiring phone jamming equipment in a car could be enforced.

It won't happen. There's money to be made selling phones and service. When did a little thing like public safety win out over commerce?

We can hope that more people (like jodi and joanne) will wake up to the danger and stop using phones while driving. Trin's smart to discourage her DD from doing it.

Another means to significantly lower serious and fatal traffic accidents would be to stop licensing minors as drivers. Drivers under age 18 kill and maim themselves and other drivers and drive up medical costs at a frightening rate.

While driving I never use my cell phone, hands free or otherwise. I've managed to survive all these years without the need to have a phone attached to my ear everywhere I go. I'm old school I guess.

I think from here on out, I'll just refuse to talk to anyone who calls me as they are going down the road. It's not worth risking their life and the lives of others. I'll just tell them that they are cutting in and out, (which often times they are) and I can't understand them and ask them to call me when they get to wherever they are going. If they don't have time to call me other than while they are driving down the road, then it must not be very important.

If we would all do that, then maybe our loved ones would quit such a bad habit.

If I'm not driving, but riding in a car, I should be able to use the phone, email or text. A jamming device would prevent that.
I often see people driving as if they are drunk and nine times out of ten, if I get close enough, I see that they have a phone in their hands. Driving well takes enough concentration and both hands, so I don't use the phone if I'm behind the wheel.

Texting While Driving (Video)

This is going around on Facebook.

I hope a lot of young people as well as older drivers take heed.

I know many will say this was staged, not actual. Watch it for the message, and hope it reaches many drivers.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Texting

Didn't see it, but a friend of ours was killed back in October. He and his wife were riding their motorcycle and a young 20ish woman, while texting, crossed the center line and hit them head on. It killed him instantly and she wound up having to have a leg amputated and the other one was pretty mangled.

Just makes me sick that people don't take driving anymore seriously sometimes than what they do!

Sue,
That message was created as a public service announcement in the UK.
It's VERY powerful, isn't it?

Here is a link that might be useful: NPR story on UK PSA

Not long ago I tried answering a text while I was driving. When I looked up I was completely in the other lane going the wrong way. It really put the scare in me and I will never text and drive again!

I carry my cell phone when we go out,but it stays in my tote bag.I've never talked on it while driving,ever,and i don't even know how to text,nor am i interested in learning.I think SOME people think it makes them look important to be talking/texting while driving.

I think they should make all those who get caught doing so should have to tour a morgue or the critical care unit in a hospital.Maybe then their brain would click in to how dumb it is to do so.

I also like Chisue's idea.
Kathi

If you jammed the phone in cars then they would be useless in case of emergency. I agree the law is unenforceable.

A lot of things contribute to accidents. Everyone just love to be able to jump on one thing like the cell phone. If a study were done on other distractions I'm pretty sure you could come up with stats just as horrifying. The cell phone is just the latest scapegoat.

It kind of like saying those who eat tomatoes get cancer so therefore tomatoes cause cancer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cellphone Study

Wildchild hits it on the head. Granted cellphones are *another* distraction, and using the internet while driving is a pet peeve of mine. It's up to people to start driving more safely.

Parental controls on cellphones? There's already that option. Don't give the kid a phone with internet! Why do grade school kids need cellphones, iPhones, Blackberrys etc, anyway? I often wonder if people realized they may well have killed their own kid by giving them a phone and not teaching them responsibility when the kid dies in a crash while on the phone. Maybe a murder charge or two would wake some people up.

Every time I see or hear about an accident, especially fatal, involving young kids I wonder what distraction was involved. But that as said is just another issue, like eating, doing your hair, changing CDs, watching TV, giving a bottle to the baby, making out, programming a GPS (now THAT'S dangerous!), changing clothes, and so on. Yes it common sense but common sense ain't common.

I just don't understand why people can't let a phone call go unanswered (cell or landline) or a text wait to be read or replied. Are you truly that important? Is your world so boring that a call or a text is the only thing happening? Walking down the street, in the store, it doesn't matter where, people have to have that pacifier glued to their ear. It's silly.

Safe driving should be enforced more but it won't happen. At least until someone starts up a mothers against cellphone users.

I wish cell phones would be banned all together. What in the world do people have to talk about that they can't wait till they get home? Some people pull out of the driveway and pull out their phones. I just don't get it.

I think Oprah's goal was to begin educating people about the dangers. Whether you like her or not is irrelevant. She has a HUGE audience and the power to get a message out.

It took years for people to change their mindset about seatbelts when it became law, so maybe this is a place to START.

Many organizations joined her for the No-hone Zone campaign kickoff:

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA)
National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS)
FocusDriven
SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions)
RADD, the Entertainment Industry's Voice for Road Safety

What in the world do people have to talk about that they can't wait till they get home?

It depends where you live and work. A lot of jobs require cell phones. Techies are often on call 24/7. Repairmen need cell phones. Tow truck drivers need cell phones. Telecommuters need cell phones. Working parents need cell phones. The first thing you are asked now days when you require a service is what your cell number is. When I dropped off my DH for tests at the hospital I was able to leave and go about my business because I have a cell. Without it I would have to be sitting there for a couple of hours just waiting. When I am picking someone up I call them as I come down their street. No more waiting out in the cold for me. I maker dozens of calls on my phone. Very very few are longer than a couple of minutes. I have a hands free device. My phone has voice commands or I can call most people with one button. I get more distracted putting a CD in the player than I do on the phone.

Talking while driving is nothing new. Workers used to have to carry hand held chatterboxes. Remember when everyone had a CB? Talking while driving is even a way to stay alert on long trips by oneself. That's why truckers do it.

A lot of people have very long commutes. They don't have a 9-5 where they get home for dinner at 6. Multi-tasking is a way of life in some areas. It is often not a choice either. Not everyone can just up and relocate to "Pleasantville".

Presumably, after an accident the vehicle is stationary. My idea was to jam reception when a car was in motion. (I'll admit that Wiley Coyote couldn't phone while driving off his cliff. LOL)

It only seems reasonable to expect that a 'distraction' that occupies your mind (like an important phone call) is a greater distraction than sipping your Coke. It can distract your brain to a greater extent than the cells impaired by alcohol.

If the call is IMPORTANT, don't make it or take it while driving. If it's NOT of vital importance...why make it or take it?

Sorry, Ms. Passenger, IMO your 'right' to chat isn't as important as keeping drivers off the phone while the car is in motion.

Wildchild -- You've cited *conveniences*, not vitally important information conveyed. (A beeper would have alerted you to return to the hospital.) I'm fine with alerting people that a call is waiting -- just not with taking that call while the car is in motion.

I am starting to see more motorists pull over to the side of the road to make or take calls.

Well I find people primping in vehicles distracting. I have told my female passengers that my vehicle is a no primp zone. LOL I don't want make-up on my seats and I believe that vanity mirrors in vehicles should be outlawed.

It can distract your brain to a greater extent than the cells impaired by alcohol.

WHAT???? Please cite the science behind this theory.

People don't just sip coke. They eat entire greasy drippy meals while driving. They drink HOT coffee that can slosh ,spill and burn. I once sat at an intersection next to a police officer who was eating a huge ice cream sundae and driving with his elbows. No kidding.

I will stick by my belief that it is silly and unfair to single out cell phones and ignore all the many other avoidable distracting activities drivers engage in.

Driving is a responsibility. Common sense should prevail. You can't legislate common sense.

People still die because they refuse to wear seat belts. People die before their time because they refuse to quit smoking. People make bad choices. Some can talk on a cell safely and some can't. When I see some fool texting or driving erratically on a cell phone or doing ANY stupid thing while driving I just send up a little prayer that he lands in the ice plant and doesn't take anyone with him.

In my opinion talking on a cell phone in the car is no different than talking to another person in the car - should we also have legislation against that? In some cases in person talking is worse - I've seen drivers turning their head and talking to someone in the passenger seat or worse yet in the back seat. "Dialing", texting, and/or reading while driving is an entirely different matter and unacceptable in my opinion. Irresponsible, careless driving is the problem - no matter what the cause.

There is no way that I will text and drive. I have a hard enough time as it is. As for talking on the cell phone while driving..Yes I have been guilty of that, since watching Oprah I don't use it as often..But I still do.

I don't see my cell phone as being any more of a distraction in my personal car, than those 92 kids on my school bus..

For the record I DO NOT use my phone if I am on the bus!!

I could give a rat's a** about those (i.e., wildchild) who wish to justify why it's okay to text or talk while driving. If you die, so be it. I feel sorry for the innocent people who will die because you foolishly believed you were acting responsibly.

This thread wasn't about all the things that can distract or kill you. It was about talking or texting while driving.
Some of you got that. Some of you didn't.

And some people just like to stir the pot. :-)

I think those who try to justify it are deluding themselves.

I'm a car person. I've loved to drive since I was a kid. I'm a conscientious driver with a good feel for the vehicle under my control. I can honestly say that if I were talking on the phone I wouldn't trust myself to even change lanes safely on the highway.

I'm not saying everyone is like me, but I am saying I'm sure a lot of people are.

I think most of the other distractions are different. You can eat without looking at your food, for instance--and I'm not talking about spooning soup from a bowl while driving. Should a situation develop on the road, you can open your hand and drop the bagel or whatever in a nanosecond. Sure, one can argue that you can drop the phone, too, but it's not the same. Your mind is connected to that call, that conversation, in a way that it could never be connected to the bagel. Plus our natural inclination is to say something like, "Hold on." That several-second delay could prove to be critical.

People who are opposed to government regulations can complain all they want about the overprotection of the populace. Sure, people should be responsible for their own safety. They should wear their seatbelts without requiring legislation to make them do it. But as Okwriter has pointed out, cell phone laws protect not only the driver but innocent people who are put at risk by people who insist on indulging themselves with cell phone use.

It's like second-hand smoke, but a lot more violent.

Wildchild -- Sorry, I have to continue to disagree. The 'distractions' you cite (eating, drinking, applying makeup, whatever) cannot be stopped by a law.

We *could* have a law that requires cars to be equipped to jam phone calls while the car is in motion. Remember 'governors' to keep a car under a certain speed? (Yes, I know things like this can be circumvented but let's not throw out the good for the perfect.)

Of course, I also think you shouldn't be able to put a vehicle in gear until the driver's seatbelt is on -- just as you cannot start one unless the car is in 'park'. Silly Sue.

What? No crying about limiting driving licenses to adults?

I never once posted that I was for texting in a vehicle. Read my entire post before you respond.

It is interesting that so many of you feel it is OK to drink, smoke,put on make-up and and eat in a car. Guess we all have our priorities. I'm sure Oprah would never take a stance about food in a vehicle. LOL

Darn right you could make those illegal. Seat belt laws are pretty well enforced. Those required some driver education but they pretty much managed to get most people to comply. They enforce car pool lanes. they enforce all sorts of laws that aren't automatic.