States considering Laws banning teen Cell Phone use.

[HarlequinBoy]

I'm a teenager, and I always try to avoid talking on my phone while driving.. simply because driving doesn't come easy to me and I'm really bad at it. If I tried to fumble with the phone I would probably have had a few more wrecks than the few minor ones I've been in.

But some of my friends talk and drive with seemingly no trouble.

I don't really know if a law is a good idea. I can kind of see why though. Especially if there are a lot of drivers as bad as me out there! =]

[WindRunner]

I'm gonna have to disagree with most of you...really don't see the big deal with talking on your cell phone while driving. I mean...it's no more of a distraction then turning the radio, eating a sandwich or looking at your GPS...are they going to make that against the law too? I'm not saying that those things don't cause accidents...they do, but it mostly comes down to how well of a driver you are.

I think scientific studies have proved that talking on your cell and driving is as dangerous as drunk driving.

Science can prove any number of things, both right and wrong . . . I'm sure you have seen the graphs correlating the decreasing number of pirates worldwide with global warming. Is the data behind it accurate? Yes. Does it mean anything? No, of course not.

I know I'm not in the majority here, but personally I don't think it's too much worse than talking to someone in the car seat next to you. Most people can drive normally with one hand for a period of time, so what difference does it make what the other one is doing? Adjusting the radio, holding a drink, smoking a cigarette, hanging out the window, talking on a cell phone . . . it's all just as dangerous. The real problem comes when people are poor drivers to begin with, and then do something to distract them slightly and make their marginal skills dip too low.

The other problem is enforcement. I know Virginia's law about this went into effect July 1, effective for drivers under 18, but made these violations secondary offenses - so if you aren't doing anything else wrong, they can't do anything about it.

[Aslkahuna]

I've had to take evasive action and/or hard braking to avoid slamming to some Yahoo talking on a cell phone while driving in traffic to have a really serious burn about the practice.

Steve

[Brent]

I NEVER use a cell phone while driving. I almost had a bad wreck a few months ago because some girl on a cell phone was not paying attention and almost pulled out in front of me.

[Dionne]

Watching women put on make-up while driving is alot more frightening than cell phone use while driving.

[MississippiHurricane]

I have seen some scary stuff like that for example: im at a red light thats been red for about oh 40 seconds and this woman in the other lane does NOT even slow down and goes through the light doing about 55 mph. Now, what would have happened if someone was coming through their geen light? a BAD WRECK thats what. We also had a young girl killed recently while texting on her cell phone while driving and just yesterday a guy on a phone at a stop sign was looking around in his truck and started to come out on me. There NEEDS to be something done about this problem this cant keep going on or people will continue to get hurt and killed over a stupid call or text message.

[Ptarmigan]

Cell phone jammers would be cool, especially on the road. Yes, I know they are illegal, but it would be cool to have one.

[azsnowman]

Phoenix passed an ordiance banning EVERYONE from texting and driving....I mean GESUS, I can hardly drive and talk to someone in the car let alone TEXT and drive!

UNFORTUNATLY I have to drive and talk at times with my job....

[lurkey]

Coulda been one of this year's Darwin Award nominees:

Man Texting While Driving Hits Train

Posted: Oct. 16 8:06 p.m.

EUGENE, Ore. — When Robert Gillespie looked up from his text message, he saw a freight train. EOM. ("End of message," that is, for non-texters.) Eugene police say Gillespie's car crashed into the side of the Union Pacific freight train about 2 a.m. Tuesday.

When officers arrived, they found him alert and talking, but trapped in the car. They learned about the cell phone and text message as they worked to rescue him.

Gillespie, who had turned 38 the day before, was charged with drunken driving and careless driving, police spokeswoman Kerry Delf said. His injuries were described as not life threatening, and no members of the train crew were hurt.

Delf said officers believe he was driving faster than the 35 mph speed limit as well as using his cell phone to send a text message. She said he tried to brake for the train, but it was too close.

"There are all kinds of ways to get distracted these days," said police spokeswoman Kerry Delf. "We don't recommend any of them while you're driving."

[Derek Ortt]

texting while driving...

That is almsot as foolish as not evacuating the Florida keys during a major hurricane