Cell phone talkers worse than drunk drivers
Whenever I see a vehicle swerving wildly toward me I think “drunk driver.” But after pulling out of the way to let that vehicle pass, most often I find it’s piloted by someone with hand to ear, the ultimate distracted driver.
He or she would swear they had perfect control: never mind crossing the double yellow line; never mind almost clipping the slowly opening door of a parked car; never mind not pulling over for an emergency vehicle with siren blaring and lights flashing.
“But officer,” they’d say. “How could I hear your siren with the boss yelling in my ear?”
As Steve Chapman wrote recently on ChicagoTribune.com, multitasking is a myth: The human brain is not wired to do two cognitively demanding things at once.
“If you think you can talk, text, tweet or play Angry Birds while safely driving a 2-ton SUV, you are deluding yourself,” Chapman writes. He suggests not waiting for the government to pass laws to protect you from yourself, because “you might not live that long.” Good point.
The National Transportation Safety Board in December issued its most sweeping recommendation yet: a total ban on drivers using mobile phones, including “hands-free” devices. But for that to become the law of the land, it would have to pass both houses of Congress. Good luck with that. They have proven themselves incapable of agreeing on the most benign proposals.
Statistics show operating a vehicle while talking on a mobile phone or, worse yet, texting is more dangerous than driving drunk. The Montana Highway Patrol says more traffic deaths last year were linked to cell phone use than drunk driving.
Having given up on federal regulation, several states have now banned texting and hand-held cell phone use while driving, including California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
The states that staunchly support individual freedoms take a different view. Idaho has no limits on its books, while Wyoming is among 35 states that ban only sending or reading text messages. Colorado also prohibits drivers from using handheld phones.
In Montana they may never pass a statewide ban, considering the state didn’t even have speed limits or open container laws until a few years ago. The Montana State Senate rejected a 2011 bill that would have criminalized operating a vehicle and a handheld phone simultaneously anywhere in the state.
Instead, it has been left to the five largest cities to pass their own laws. Helena, Missoula, Billings, Bozeman and Whitefish have enacted such laws. Most are giving drivers one month to get accustomed to the idea: “Just a warning, ma’am, but next time it’ll cost $100.” Bozeman’s law, which goes into effect Jan. 17, also bans GPS data entry and use of other handheld devices and laptop computers by drivers.
So, here’s the problem. In order to drive back to California to visit my family I have to drive from Bozeman through Idaho, Utah and Nevada, all with different laws. Usually there’s a sign, such as “Welcome to Utah,” but it’s not always at the state line. Trying to remember all the different laws can be more distracting than answering a call.
Since I don’t have GPS, smart phone or other electronic gear in the car, it should be no problem. My new mobile is just a phone; no camera, no Internet access, nada. Great for old people. Big numbers, easy to read, yadda yadda. And I only use it for emergencies, like when I skid off the icy road into a ditch.
Which brings up another question: I may still be “behind the wheel” as several laws describe, but I’m definitely not moving, so am I still a “driver” and banned from calling? And what can I do if a problem is imminent and there’s no shoulder on which to pull over? In Idaho, okay; in Utah, okay but no texting; in Nevada, hands-free device only. Good grief.
Several years ago, in early anticipation of California implementing its new law, I bought a Bluetooth thingy that was linked to the phone I used to have. Now I have no idea if it will work with the new mobile, and putting that thing in my ear was royally annoying. Even though I have no desire to multitask or drive distracted, I may inadvertently break the law of one or the other state as I’m passing through.
What a nuisance. I wish Congress would act on the NTSB recommendation and pass one law for all the states. Well, Utah and Wyoming might have to secede, but that’s their problem.