:Use of cell phone while driving ban.

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
17,467
139
63
Location, Location
If you make the effort, it is possible to use a cell phone and still pay attention to your driving.

It's a learned skill, however, you have to work at it.
 

Sporty883

Time Out
Feb 5, 2010
85
0
6
Edmonton Alberta
If you make the effort, it is possible to use a cell phone and still pay attention to your driving.

It's a learned skill, however, you have to work at it.

I agree. I have those skills as I am sure many do. I worked recently with a repo man driving, and when I wasn't he was, and he was on computer and cell, his car is his office.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
113
Vernon, B.C.
If you make the effort, it is possible to use a cell phone and still pay attention to your driving.

It's a learned skill, however, you have to work at it.

I'm inclined to agree with you, but I think it would be for a limited time, as long as nothing cropped up. But if some were allowed to (based on their skills) and some were not, can you imagine all the screaming (discrimination) you would hear from the idiots? There is one or two posters on here I'd dread to see driving while using the phone just from their attitude alone. They don't give a f_ _k.
 

lone wolf

Grossly Underrated
Nov 25, 2006
32,493
212
63
In the bush near Sudbury
If you make the effort, it is possible to use a cell phone and still pay attention to your driving.

It's a learned skill, however, you have to work at it.

It's the people who are just naturally inattentive who set the rules. With a cell phone ban, they'll just find something else to be the cause of their boo-boos....
 

countryboy

Traditionally Progressive
Nov 30, 2009
3,686
39
48
BC
I'm a truck driver with over one million accident free miles, mostly in Southern Ontario and Toronto, and my first cell phone was a Novatel. I have routinely eaten a sandwich, changed gears, talked on the phone, changed gears, written down info from dispatch, had another bite of said sandwich, changed gears, yelled at a really dumb twit car driver, changed gears, written down the remaining info from dispatch, had a quick slug of Coke, changed gears, hung up the phone and continued on my way accident free.
Learn to drive you TWITS and then you could talk on the phone and drive. The real problem is the TWITS in cars that never actually learned to drive.

Sorry for the rant people but really the actually phone is not the problem, it's the user.

I wouldn't apologize for the rant...everyone needs one now and then and I find they can usually get the thread moving along. Besides, you're telling us how you feel about the subject and why...can't be bad at all.

Now, I think you raised a very critical point in your post. You said, "The real problem is the TWITS in cars that never actually learned to drive." I agree with you. Some people don't seem to know how to drive, even though they passed the course on how to start the car, observe signs, and all the other stuff contained in the driving courses.

Here's why I say this...Last winter, I got a call from a friend in Vancouver who was planning to come up here (about a 6.5 hour drive) for a visit. He and I were chatting on the phone about the best route to take, as there are a couple of choices. I suggested the Fraser Canyon (No. 1 Hwy.) vs. the Coquihalla. I explained that the Fraser route would likely have less snow and better road conditions as it doesn't rise as high as the other route. There was a brief moment of silence on the other end and then he asked, "Is that important?" I began to explain about ice and stuff, and then I stopped and asked him, "Do you have any experience driving in snowy/icy conditions?" He said, "no." I asked, "Never?" He said, "Never." I then asked him if he had winter tires on his car. He told me they were good for all road conditions...i.e., "all season" tires. Oh boy...

The bottom line is, he didn't have a clue as to how to drive on a snow or ice-covered highway, and this was going to be in mountainous terrain - the worst possible place to have a first-time winter driving experience.

I started to give him a "driving course" on the phone, which probably scared the crap out of him...that was the objective. We both agreed that he should postpone the trip until late spring/early summer, which he did. We had a good visit and everything ended up OK.

My point is, how in hell (or shall we say, "Canada") can a person be legally entitled to drive in snow/ice conditions if they've never been trained on it? It's a very different experience than driving on dry or rain-sliced roads. And a hell of a lot more dangerous.

That's just an example of how some people really "don't know how to drive."

I would like to see a mandatory course for real driving that would include real, live emergency situations at all speeds, and a whole bunch more hands-on training to better prepare people for what really does happen out there on the roads. It would require some big changes to the training venue, but I think it would be well worth the expense to do it. Then we might see some real driving, real control of the vehicle in all conditions and situations, instead of just pointing the car in a direction and hoping like hell you get there in one piece, without anything going wrong.

Currently, dimwit drivers can be found in all kinds of vehicles...cars, trucks, motorhomes, school buses,...anything. Can't really single out any one group there.
 

JBeee

Time Out
Jun 1, 2007
1,826
52
48
Leaving for work one morning (about a week before the ban...Feb 1st?), I attempt to enter the main side road but luckily catch an on-coming van travelling at an abnormal hi-rate of speed under the circumstances....a 40k speed limit..I think, and watch in bewilderment as the driver merely slowed to about 20 or 25k and just glided right through the stop sign like there was no tomorrow.
That`s interesting, I thought.
Figured I`d catch up with the idiot and get a look-see at who in fact was behind the wheel. Once the driver decided on making `his` right-hand turn onto the 4 lane main street (which was clear of on-coming traffic for about 5 to 10 seconds before he moved), this was my opportunity to get a closer glance from a side view.

You guessed it.....he was hunched up and huggin that cell phone between his shoulder and ear, for what looked like dear life. At that point, I leaned on my ****ing horn in disgust at the idiot and I swear, the guy didn`t even acknowledge my presence while he stared straight ahead in the queer angle his phone dictated.
 

Ron in Regina

"Voice of the West" Party
Apr 9, 2008
29,834
11,125
113
Regina, Saskatchewan
The Cell Phone Ban came into effect in Saskatchewan on January 1st of this year.
Not a day goes by that I do not see several people on Cell Phones in Traffic, though
I do see the responsible and legally compliant using the hands-free Blue-Tooth units.

Most of the close calls I've had in traffic in the last several years (with myself being both
a Pedestrian or driving another vehicle) involve people using Cell Phones while driving.
Those that believe that they're above the law due to an imagined superiority behind the
wheel just haven't caused an accident or death yet due to their driver inattention, but are
working at it with their disregard for the law, and the safety of themselves as well as
others. It's just spooky....and the trend seems to be the youngest drivers with the least
amount of driving experience being the worst culprits, but arrogance is not confined to
youth when it comes to this subject or people assessing the level of their own abilities
behind the wheel.
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
25,756
295
83
and it's the so called "professional drivers" that are the cockiest and most arogant when it comes to "driving skills".
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
113
Vernon, B.C.
There are no other words ... unless you want to dig between lines. Log books are verification. Your word ... not so much.

Yep with the log book you have that old statistical evidence - the rest is just anecdotal...................:lol::lol::lol: (How am I doing S.J. :lol:)
 

VanIsle

Always thinking
Nov 12, 2008
7,046
43
48
lol That happens, yup. There was also a movie where Lee Marvin was drunk and on a horse that was drunk. Both were perfectly harmless leaning against a building passed out.
Great show wasn't it? That horse won an Oscar!! Cat Balou!