Texting while driving?

[Bert Kemp]

I ride my motorcycle 95% of the time 15 to 20 K a year vs my truck which get about 3 to 6 , I'm always watching my rear view , always looking to see I have an out, I try to keep at least 100 ft from the car in front but cars always pass me then cut in and take my cushion. Sometimes I just gun it and get away from everybody, and I always ride the HOV on the interstate. I have an air horn on my bike and when I see people texting which is often they get a blast on the horn. Yes I'm older too and I know my skills are diminishing so I try to be extra careful and extra aware . Hey everybody ride safe out there and put the dam phones away.

[Brian Henderson]

I know there are laws against, but I see more texting while driving than ever before. It seems like if I am next to another car on a two-lane road, that there is about a one in ten chance that the other driving is texting. Under thirty-YO people, mostly.

It has altered the way I drive. I drive far more defensively than I used to. In the "olden days" I didn't like bumper to bumper traffic, but tolerated it. Now days I'll avoid bumper to bumper at all costs, trying to find a spot where someone is several seconds behind me and I've got a nice cushion in front.

But driving to/from Madison from Milwaukee, it sometimes seems like everyone is texting.

For those that really piss me off, I'll take a picture (or whoever is the passenger will) of them texting, then a picture of their license and e-mail it to the local Highway Patrol. I don't know if it does anything but at least I feel better about it.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I think the penalties for texting should be exactly the same as those for drunk driving - - those two groups of idiots have the same skill set behind the wheel, so they get the same hammer.

[David Falkner]

Doesn't Ford let you text and drive via their integrated program where you simply say what you want to say into a microphone and it transcribes it and sends it to the correct recipient?

My new Tacoma does that, too. Also reads text/email to you if you want. I turned all that stuff off, though. Ya' just never know what text is going to come through when you have a passenger riding with you!

[Pat Barry]

For those that really piss me off, I'll take a picture (or whoever is the passenger will) of them texting, then a picture of their license and e-mail it to the local Highway Patrol. I don't know if it does anything but at least I feel better about it.

I think that taking the picture is putting yourself in an equally compromising and dangerous driver situation, not to mention the road rage you are likely to be inciting. You just might become a victim with an approach like that

[Mike Cutler]

I think the penalties for texting should be exactly the same as those for drunk driving - - those two groups of idiots have the same skill set behind the wheel, so they get the same hammer.

So do I, and I've heard that some states are considering making the penalties just as stiff as a DUI and reckless driving. I have old riding buddies that are in law enforcement, and according to them the number of single vehicle accidents is really incredible.
The sad part about it is that virtually every maker of cellphones, and most new cars, can be paired so that there isn't a reason to have to manually type. Of course some of the "auto corrects" are hysterical.

I'm guilty of using the map app on mine to check for traffic jams, but I keep it rolling on the center console. Doesn't make it right though. I don't think I've ever tried to text with the car moving. I don't even like using the phone, and it's hands free.

[Gary Yoder]

I think I could text safer than take pictures.... both are dangerous!

[Brian Henderson]

I think that taking the picture is putting yourself in an equally compromising and dangerous driver situation, not to mention the road rage you are likely to be inciting. You just might become a victim with an approach like that

It's only done while stopped, at a stop sign or a light.

[Phil Thien]

Sometimes I just gun it and get away from everybody, and I always ride the HOV on the interstate.

I got a ticket for that.

Two lanes. Right lane was bumper to bumper. I was in the left lane. SUV behind me wanted to pass. There was room about four car lengths up front in the right-hand lane, but a long line behind me on the right, absolutely no room.

So I punched it, trooper lasered me right there. Funny thing is, the SUV had nowhere to go, I got to the "front" of the right hand lane and it had to pass me and get in front of me, to make room for the trooper.

The trooper asked why I was exceeding the speed limit, and I said it was the safest play for everyone around. She said that I should have slowed down and entered the right lane to allow the SUV to pass. She went to her car to generate a ticket and when she returned she started her lecture again and I (politely) interrupted and explained her advice was akin to Russian Roulette, that I'd rather be alive to pay the ticket.

My friend said it is all about the money for the troopers, that texting tickets are apparently only a fraction of the value of speeding tickets. So they don't bother enforcing texting laws, that the speeding laws are far more lucrative.

But my problem with her advice was I think it is fundamentally unsafe. Fifteen years ago, sure. These days? No way.

[Phil Thien]

I think I could text safer than take pictures.... both are dangerous!

It is all degrees of distracted driving.

Probably why I like being a passenger on occasion. I get to look around and enjoy the scenery. If there is a neat old structure or a store I've never seen before, I can train my eyes on it.

Can't do that while driving.

[Stan Calow]

Statistics show that hands-free is no safer than typing. Its the distracted thinking, not just looking down. If you're about to say, "what about talking to a passenger?", the passenger helps you see the road.

[Tim Boger]

For the most part ... you are correct sir.

However, occasional afternoon gully washers are no fun to ride through.

Tim

Tim your in SC weather allows you to ride 365 days a year

[Gary Yoder]

If you're about to say, "what about talking to a passenger?", the passenger helps you see the road.

Yea, I don't know how many times my wife has helped me by gasping when I'm distracted....

[Mike Berrevoets]

I occasionally follow a person in to work with a "don't text while driving" bumper sticker and she has her rear view mirror turned so she can put on her mascara. Every time I see her she is putting on makeup. Every single time. Get out of bed 5 minutes earlier. I'd be afraid of putting something that close to my eye if I was sitting still, let alone doing it in a moving car.

[Kent A Bathurst]

So do I...............the number of single vehicle accidents is really incredible.

Mike - Hey - been a while. You doin OK, I assume?

Anyway - on the single-vehicle accidents..........If I could be assured that entire class of morons would only take out inanimate objects [trees, for example] at high velocities, then I would applaud - Darwinism at work. Cull the gene pool.