Jalopnik 
Enter your username and password.
Detroit, 9:00 AM
Sun Nov 22
10 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
tips@jalopnik.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Ray Wert | Email | AIM
Road Test Editor:
Wes Siler | Email
Weekend Editor:
Murilee Martin | Email
Associate Editor - Houston:
Matt Hardigree
Associate Editor - Detroit:
Ben Wojdyla
Editor-at-Large:
Mike Spinelli
Contributors:
Mark Arnold
John Krewson | Email
Andy Didorosi
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/17/09
But unfortunately Dade county constituents are lost on terms such as; asphyxiation, diaphragm, thorax and air. Therefore Dade county will now consider scrapping the ban on text messaging whilst driving. #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
11/17/09
Dude...you're harshin' my textin' buzz. #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
Sufficient laws already exist. If a person causes a crash, I don't care if it was because they were texting, drunk, getting a "trouser-friendly kiss", or taking a nap. Regardless of why the driver was unable to control the vehicle, the fact is that the driver was unable to control the vehicle.
Eating a bowl of soup while driving is easily as distracting as texting, but do we need a law specifically banning eating soup while driving? If you are texting, eating soup, or reaching into the backseat to smack your unruly kids, and you crash, you were distracted and not doing what you should have been. I don't care why you crashed, you shall be punished for the effect; not the cause.
I would like to say that a bus driver should be "banned" from texting, because it places others at risk, but placing others at undue risk should be the infraction, and not a specific cause of the risk. The bus driver is there to drive, and should be doing just that.
BTW, I'm not condoning texting while driving, nor driving drunk. I'm only condemning the superfluous legislation. #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
The ban of texting is preventative.
We need laws in place that ban distracted driving. Texting, cell phones... READING A FUCKING NOVEL WHILE DRIVING (saw this one while on my motorcycle, wanted to murder the lady).
Seriously. Yes, there are laws for if/when you crash... if you rode a motorcycle, you'd want preventative laws in place too, because if/when you crash, you may kill someone. Lets not let it get that far... k? #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
@ Adam Spano
hitting the 'share' button once is enough. #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
And if people are too stupid to realize their texting and lengthy phone chats--you know the kind, when you pass them they are all settled down in the seat, oblivious--then by all means, have a law with staggeringly stiff penalties, especially for texting, that generally requires much more eye attention, certainly to read them.
Certain types of inattention--like drunk driving--do deserve their own laws. This doesn't mean you have separate laws for every type of distraction/impairment--only for egregious ones. #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
11/17/09
"I was on the phone" or "I was texting" should be neither an extenuating, nor a mitigating circumstance in the event of a crash. Subsequent punishment should be no different than if the driver intentionally steered into that parked car/pedestrian/telephone pole. #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
As I just wrote to Novaload regarding texting, I don't care why the driver can't stay between the lines. Only that they can't stay between the lines.
"I was drunk" is not an excuse to minimize your actions, nor should it be used exacerbate the consequence.
Everything done behind the wheel whether drunk or sober is intentional; If you drive your car into the broad side of your neighbor's barn, you're liable for the damages, whether drunk, sober, napping, or just an octogenarian who can't tell the brake from the gas. #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
There are a near-infinite number of ways to be 'distracted' while driving, laws can't be written for all of them.
This isn't to say lawmakers aren't going to try...and they'll be backed up by mass media doing all they can to scare people/keep ratings up.
When cars first appeared, and the tech existed, radios were not allowed because they were distracting. They still are, in many ways...some of the multi-hundred watt boom cars distract me to the point of looking for weaponry...even if it's just a rock.
However, technology obviously surpassed the human ability to multi-task some time ago. At least for a huge percentage of the populous.
It really, really hacks me off to see someone obviously oblivious to the real world around them while they have a piece of electronics in their hand(s).
I think some of this stems from what you've done in life. I used to drive both an airport shuttle and tour bus. Using a two-way is important, yet never, ever, overrides the real world. If you don't answer, they'll live for three seconds.
Those using telephones don't seem to understand this. #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
11/17/09
There shouldn't be a harsher penalty for the drunk; there should instead be a more lenient penalty for the driver who made an honest mistake.
I know that sounds contradictory, but if the drunk's penalty is equivalent to intentional causation, that is the maximum. That is the standard. You can only go down from there. And only if the circumstances can garner sympathy from a judge and/or jury. #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
"OMG, just did 3 more envelopes! H8 this job!"
So that's the tragic part: WTF pathetic lives do these compulsive texters have? #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
Sadly, most people everywhere are too stupid to realize that not-driving while driving is A BAD IDEA. If the average person was halfway smart, there would be no need for automatic transmissions or bans on distracted driving.
School buses need to go back to manual crashboxes. That'll weed out the poor drivers. #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
[en.wikipedia.org] #textingwhiledriving
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
@Amalgamated Stainless Headers, est.1978: #textingwhiledriving
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
These kids' days are ruined, and so are their books, their lunches, and whatever other belongings they had on them. You get a one minute laugh, but these kids may have to wear soaked clothes for hours and who knows what consequences they would have for missing a day of school which I assume they would. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye, I bet.
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
I always wondered if any of them got sick as a result of being drenched.
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
I'll be running around with a rifle and shooting randomly now hoping something funny happens.
10/14/09
Still unconscionably rude, reckless, and mean spirited.
10/14/09
10/14/09