Thursday, December 1, 2011

Drivers should only be allowed to use hand free devices while driving motion only

All municipalities and state should banned all cell phone while in driving motion use unless it is a hands free device.  In my home state of Washington State it is a $248 fine which is a magic number for small violations in the Socialist Republic of Washington.  In the Socialist Republic of Oregon they exempt taxi cab drivers, delivery trucks and tow trucks.  Oregon you need to toughen your law are these drivers any safer than any other drivers.  I tell you working in a taxicab dispatchers we get complaints from taxi drivers tall the time talking on their cell phones while driving with passengers in the car.  Let's add another idea to this to make these laws tougher.  We need to apply murder and assault charges to people who kill or injured somebody while talking on a cell phone while in an accident.  The exception if it does not put yourself in danger is to call 911 to report a road hazard.  If you want the streets call your legislature, assemblyman, city council member and county commissioner tell them you can an ordinance that prevents people from talking on cell phones while driving unless it is a hands free device.  Distracted driving causes accidents.  Most insurance will no longer cover accident caused by a person talking on a cell phone unless it is a hands free device.  Hands free devices make it safer everybody.   Recently, I just read an article about a Collier County, Florida deputy was reading his laptop while driving plow into a co-workers vehicle and the driver receiving the citation.  I hope the county apologizes and pays her for her car repairs and dismisses her ticket.  I hope they reprimand this deputy for misconduct.  Let's also include taxi cab drivers and restaurant delivery drivers if hook to a computerized dispatch must be pulled over before they are able to use their machine.  Most taxi companies and restaurant delivery services could modify their program to prevent their drivers from using their computer unless the driver is in park to bid on a trip or bid on a delivery if delivering food.  Recently in Anchorage in December Anchorage Ordinance 2013-109 prohibits a taxi driver from talking on a cell phone with a passenger in the car during their trip and speaking a foreign language but English to emergency responders, to dispatch and booking into a dispatch computer until the customer has stepped out of the car and unloaded the customers stuff.  In this ordinance unless the cab driver has a medical problem must load and unload their vehicles.  They must be empty to operate their dispatch computer.





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