Survey: Most drivers support regulation of cell phones in cars
A new study by Nationwide Insurance found that U.S. drivers are largely in favor of laws that would restrict the use of cell phones - for texting, e-mail, and talking - in cars. The results are pretty interesting when you consider that most states aren’t doing all that much to stop distracted driving.
The survey of 1,008 adults was conducted in early August. Among the findings:
- 80 percent of respondents support a ban on text messaging while driving.
- 80 percent of respondents support a ban on e-mailing while driving.
- 67 percent of respondents say they are supportive of laws restricting phone calls while driving.
Nationwide’s safety officer, Bill Windsor, said the survey should bolster the arguments of those who have been pushing for more laws targeting cell phone use by drivers.
At present, no state bans cell phone use by drivers. Half a dozen required drivers to use hands-free devices.And only 18 states, including Illinois, ban text messaging by drivers. In Missouri, only divers under 21 are barred from texting while driving.
“The new information in this survey also indicates that many drivers are either in denial about their DWD habits or resistant to changing their behavior,” said Windsor. “This suggests that legislation may not be enough to eliminate distracted driving and highlights the need for a technological solution that can prevent cell phone usage in moving vehicles while still allowing people to stay connected.”
Tim has covered a wide range of topics, including tourism, crime, aviation and gambling, since becoming a reporter in 1990. The Oklahoma native joined the Post-Dispatch in 2007 after spending nine years in Orlando. In his spare time, he's often exploring one virtual world or another. He can be reached at tbarker@post-dispatch.com. 
How in the world can anyone NOT support a ban on texting and e-mailing while driving? No one should be texting and e-mailing while driving. Anyone texting or e-mailing when driving should be pulled out of their car and kicked in the face. When you are barreling down the highway, in control of thousands of pounds of deadly metal and glass, you should be focused on controlling it. Idiots.
You nailed it, b. I think drivers should be restricted to using a hands-free device of some kind. I wish I had a quarter for every fool I see driving down the interstate with a phone plastered to their head. You can’t properly watch traffic and scan for hazards when you are that encumbered, and most of the people on phones are wandering out of their lane because they can’t walk and chew bubble gum at the same time.
Should people with ADD be allowed to drive?
I, like many others, have been on the very dangerous receiving end of drivers texting, dialing and participating in intense conversation while operating their vehicle. I might suggest that the auto insurers band together and create an addendum to all vehicle insurance policies that if an accident occurs while the driver at fault is distracted (i.e., texting, dailing, driving while talking on phone) they should refuse to pay the claim and all damages are paid out of the at fault driver’s pocket.
If the driver refuses to pay the other party’s damages, options like wage garnishment, tax refund garnishment, refusal to renew driver’s license or vehicle license or time in jail could be enforced.
Trust me it wouldn’t be long before people would get the message.
Also, putting an age limit on who can and can’t text, talk on phone, etc. is ridiculous. No one should be exempt from these new laws.
What we really need a ban on is “stupid”.
Great, more un-enforced laws, may I have another. We don’t need more laws for this, what we need is the right to shove said device up the rear end of the person doing the rear ending while texting. I call it the rear end for the rear end law. If you are on a motorcycle and get rear ended by one of these texting idiots(and can do so), you can beat them with parts of your motorcycle that get knocked off, until such time that arm cramps do not permit further beating. So be the laws of King Fluffy the great.
No law restricting speech will be held up in court. Texting while at a stop light, while in stopped traffic, while a deserted roadway, all entirely safe and harmless. Idiots who can’t figure out how to turn the radio station without crashing are the same idiots who can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. Some people don’t have the mental capacity to do more than one thing at a time. Others can steer with their knee while feeding a baby a bottle and talking on a cell phone and using their left hand for turn signals. Texting and driving are safe, legal, righteous, decent and wonderful things to do, as long as you aren’t an idiot and don’t test the limits of your mental and physical capacities. This law is horse manure, and any officer who attempts to enforce it will find himself on the short end of the stick when the accused fights back in court. People these days are so afraid of everything, that they’d vote away their own voice for a little peace of mind. It was Benjamin Franklin, one of the most wise and prominent founding fathers who is know to have said, “Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.” If other drivers are so busy looking out their side windows to see what other drivers are doing, perhaps it is they who are more likely to be the cause of a severe accident. These nosy imbeciles are the fools that old Ben spoke of over 200 years ago. Let them eat cake.
Mr. Paradise,
Please let me know where you are going to be. I wish to stay as far away as possible. Perhaps you can manage all those activities 99% of the time but I don’t want to be there the 1% when you can’t.
What about police officers running license plate and criminal record checks on their computers while driving? That is also dangerous.
Salvatore:
Let’s have the state do it this way: ban all cell phone and texting, EXCEPT for people like you who have demonstrated magical powers to multitask behind the wheel. We could call it the “Salvatore Exemption”.
Yes, I wish we lived in a world where the nanny state did not legislate every waking moment of ours. But too many of us have demonstrated they are incompetent in activities of daily living, and actually have caused some horrific destruction of life and property as they exercise their “rights”. So naturally the lawmakers will step in.