Why is the use of a device, not equivalent to a DUI, to say the least? Why aren't MADD fighting as hard for this problem? I've read that it now causes more deaths than alcohol. I'm sad for the realization of alienation. Therein lies the ultimate culprit. We live in a lonely country. Consumerism and no jobs, no money and only shallow relationships have driven us to faux relationships. We are "The Lonely Crowd." Communities?
2
How about a $200 fine plus 30 day confiscation of the phone if caught texting. For emergencies they can rent a talk only dumb phone for the time of the suspension.
3
Honolulu passed a law on "texting" 8 years ago.
ONLY it wasn't JUST texting--if a cop sees you even HOLDING any device in your hand you are ticketed $500. No warning ticket.
Trying to figure out if someone is texting while driving is too difficult....does that mean playing Angry Birds is okay? Plus finding the phone records is humbug (Humbug is a local expression--as in "The worst!")
I found out when I was in a traffic jam--Honolulu is a one million car traffic jam--I answered my cell phone. IMMEDIATE sirens and flashing lights! One day AFTER the law went into effect. I apologized, pleaded, --no help. That $500 ticket worked. Eight years later I have never even been tempted to pick up my cell phone in the car. If I am speaking with someone and realize THEY are driving I say "Bye, I'm gone!" and disconnect.
Research keeps showing over and over that even talking with a headset is as distracting as drunk driving.
In America we accept death on the highway as inevitable--like with guns!
Drive like a NASCAR driver! Both hands on the wheel, 10 and 2. No radio, no music, nothing except 100% concentration. Defensive driving--pure concentration looking at side mirrors, rear view mirror, always moving your eyes and you will NEVER hit a pedestrian or get in another collision. It works.
Let's be adults about this. I've worked in ERs for over 40 years--the damage to humans from being crushed in a 1500# vehicle or being struck in a crosswalk is usually fatal.
ONLY it wasn't JUST texting--if a cop sees you even HOLDING any device in your hand you are ticketed $500. No warning ticket.
Trying to figure out if someone is texting while driving is too difficult....does that mean playing Angry Birds is okay? Plus finding the phone records is humbug (Humbug is a local expression--as in "The worst!")
I found out when I was in a traffic jam--Honolulu is a one million car traffic jam--I answered my cell phone. IMMEDIATE sirens and flashing lights! One day AFTER the law went into effect. I apologized, pleaded, --no help. That $500 ticket worked. Eight years later I have never even been tempted to pick up my cell phone in the car. If I am speaking with someone and realize THEY are driving I say "Bye, I'm gone!" and disconnect.
Research keeps showing over and over that even talking with a headset is as distracting as drunk driving.
In America we accept death on the highway as inevitable--like with guns!
Drive like a NASCAR driver! Both hands on the wheel, 10 and 2. No radio, no music, nothing except 100% concentration. Defensive driving--pure concentration looking at side mirrors, rear view mirror, always moving your eyes and you will NEVER hit a pedestrian or get in another collision. It works.
Let's be adults about this. I've worked in ERs for over 40 years--the damage to humans from being crushed in a 1500# vehicle or being struck in a crosswalk is usually fatal.
8
My favorite are the drivers who text while making a left at a nearby left-turn signal. But the best was the motorman on the SI Railway who was texting while bringing his train into the Dongan Hills Station, which he overshot by one car, requiring him to reverse the train back into the station.
1
The driver behind my car was obviously texting during stop & go traffic on the roadway to the incoming Triborough bridge. Looking through my rear view mirror I could see that at times he took both hands off the steering wheel. Too much traffic for me to change lanes to get away from him. Was extra glad when I got home safely!
4
The list of traffic related offenses that go unenforced is almost endless. I see street sweepers operating their machines while texting, limousine drivers, taxi drivers, regular car drivers texting. The other day I saw the driver of a large bus texting as he crawled across West 3rd Street. But if the city has no interest in raking in revenue from some obvious violations as the ubiquitous disregard for the "Don't Block the Box" regulation, why would it make any effort to stop texting or phoning? Indeed, the city has all the earmarks of a highly populated third world city, with traffic congestion and its attendant honking make NYC more inhospitable by the day.
7
Spending half this article talking about the dangers of texting and walking in the context of "Distracted Driving Awareness Month" is disappointing and irresponsible. Let's put the onus of traffic safety onto those driving the multi-thousand pound metal objects flying through the city, instead of promoting that attitude that anybody walking around New York should be on high alert at all times or they're being irresponsible.
I would expect a column like New York today to not be part of the pervasive pedestrian blaming attitude that leads to near daily pedestrian carnage being accepted as normal and drivers rarely being held accountable for their actions behind the wheel by the NYPD.
I would expect a column like New York today to not be part of the pervasive pedestrian blaming attitude that leads to near daily pedestrian carnage being accepted as normal and drivers rarely being held accountable for their actions behind the wheel by the NYPD.
4
It seems to me that you have missed the point. The texting while walking was only and extension of the original point, texting while driving. Texting has become far and away the most annoying habit that humankind has developed, possibly surpassing smoking! I'm sure we could all name specific instances of texting while driving, but the texting while walking problem is almost worse. People with their collective heads in their tails, completely oblivious to their surroundings wandering across the face of the planet as if they are the only ones there. That describes both the walkers and the drivers. You see the column as a blame on the pedestrians. I see the column as an expansion of the awareness of the problem itself. We used to worry about the phone talkers being unaware of their surroundings. Now it has grown to ALL electronic device users at all times. Absolutely NOTHING is so important that it can't wait. And if it IS so important, then stop, STOP, and deal with it. Don't drive, and don't walk~
6
Paul I think the problem you see is one of ethos; the problem that I think Mike S. and people like me see is one of life and death safety/hazard/endangerment issues. I'm not saying you're unaware of that side of the issue. But as I say in the two other comments I've posted here, the reason so many people so often have their faces in their phones is that most of them are engaging in human communication, which is very appealing to an otherwise under-challenged brain, which is what driving and walking to a specific destination often create. And I don't blame people in the least for that. So I quite disagree with your more philosophical objections to so much face-to-phone time. You (and plenty of others) may find it depressing that so many people look like that so often but I don't think it's anywhere near a truly bad problem. Until it's engaged in by someone operating a multi-ton piece of equipment that can reach, at the low end of its capabilities, lethal speeds, in the midst of pedestrians. (And even there, I think one day there might be room for it to be legal--IF we can in some way force drivers to stay below speeds that are injurious to bystanders while they're doing it.
if my driver is texting or even on the phone, I let them know that I will get out at the next traffic light without paying. let them call a cop and see who wins that argument.
8
I refuse to move aside when a texting zombie is walking directly at me. If I'm feeling in need of entertainment, when they are inevitably 2 feet in front of me I make a loud noise, perhaps an imitation of a large animal or machine. Though I haven't gotten anyone to actually drop their phone (I've gotten close!) the shocked looks are priceless.
10
Police crash investigators need to subpoena cell phones of drivers in all circumstances. The "Textalyzer" Bill in the NYS legislature is a step in the right direction.
Driving is a privilege, not a right. Only when there is accountability will this stop.
Driving is a privilege, not a right. Only when there is accountability will this stop.
7
Seeing energy spent on the supposed problem of "distracted walking" incenses me. The inclination to allow oneself to be distracted by information (a text, a news item) coming from or needing to be sent to other human beings is human. That's why it's so pervasive among drivers and pedestrians alike. If concern about distracted walking stems mainly from the fact that there are cars that could hit you, then for goodness's sake, can we once and for all renounce the "punching down" at distracted pedestrians? Can the people on the most pedestrian-dense streets in all of America for once NOT be admonished that they should act like they're living, walking, and going about their business on some interstate highway?! Can we for goodness's sake from now on punch only UP at the people in the urban mix who by every imaginable measure--ethically, physically logically, legally, etc.--should have a far greater duty to the general safety, i.e., drivers? My god our street use ethics have been so upside-down for so bloody long.
1
How about AT&T, Verizon, Sprint work in tandem with insurers to develop a scheme in which consumers who accept cell phones that are permanently programmed to deactivate texting while the vehicle is in motion, will benefit from heathy reductions in automobile coverage.
3
What do you call a bike rider, going the wrong way, without a helmet, with earphones on and texting?
Natural selection.
Natural selection.
10
Of course the more frequent source of injuries, driver behavior puts an interesting reverse-spin on natural selection: the unfit driver takes others, not only himself, out of the gene pool. But people prefer to focus on the much less harmful phenomenon of bad behavior by bike users.
2
Don't disagree. FWIW, I'm an avid cyclist and have commuted by bike in the City for years on and off.
NOT SO SMART
Texting zombie
On the phone
The life you waste
May be your own.
Texting zombie
On the phone
The life you waste
May be your own.
9
Texting while driving is illegal and those who break the law do so willingly with complete disregard for the consequences of their actions and the danger it poses to others... Texting while driving is complete selfishness and should be considered as a form of Terrorism
5
Agreed, perhaps texting while driving needs to be elevated to criminal charges.
3
'Distracted Driving Awareness Month'??? -- Good idea.
Too bad those who would benefit most from it are probably too distracted to notice it.
Too bad those who would benefit most from it are probably too distracted to notice it.
13
According to a true crime documentary I saw, a young woman was shown in police custody a few hours after shooting her boy friend dead and asked the detective interviewing her: if I do have to go to prison, can I take my phone?
9
No doubt prison advocates will soon demand it as a necessity and right!
2
Sadly hysterical. And wonderfully telling. Alienation from each other, some sense of safety and control with gadgets! She was in love with her phone, so she kills him, who came between them. Perfect!
The odds of injury or death from texting seems to exceed the odds of being summonsed. It's fairly simple to observe the offenders. They rarely drive in an even course and lane drift like mad. I've seen more than one car leave the road entirely while texting away.
11
Car makers and Smartphone companies (and the following suggestions aren't that kind of an impossible task) should be OBLIGED to:
- Bluetooth always activated. No possibility to switch it off
- Integrate with any car (a few dollars per car on a large scale) a connection system that connects on every dashboard the cellphone and its features. Ford is already on top of this for example.
- Once connected all the operation a part from answer the call will be possible only with the car steady and the shift in parking (simple software addition). Most of the navigation system doesn't allow any input when the car is moving.
It is just a matter of good will. And for the sake of our safety stop thinking for a while to make profit over any small adds on we would like to install on our cars.
Pedestrians is a case a part. If you drive in New York you have to keep the eye wide open at every crossing. It seems that the colors of the traffic light has been inverted or that most of the pedestrians are colorblind and that the red is green or vice-versa, because they cross in front of your hoods or they literally jump in front of your car. Blaming you in addition...
So the texting and walking is just an addition to the jungle.
- Bluetooth always activated. No possibility to switch it off
- Integrate with any car (a few dollars per car on a large scale) a connection system that connects on every dashboard the cellphone and its features. Ford is already on top of this for example.
- Once connected all the operation a part from answer the call will be possible only with the car steady and the shift in parking (simple software addition). Most of the navigation system doesn't allow any input when the car is moving.
It is just a matter of good will. And for the sake of our safety stop thinking for a while to make profit over any small adds on we would like to install on our cars.
Pedestrians is a case a part. If you drive in New York you have to keep the eye wide open at every crossing. It seems that the colors of the traffic light has been inverted or that most of the pedestrians are colorblind and that the red is green or vice-versa, because they cross in front of your hoods or they literally jump in front of your car. Blaming you in addition...
So the texting and walking is just an addition to the jungle.
3
The article states: "(Governor Cuomo) also signed a law that promised a four-month license suspension for young or inexperienced drivers convicted of texting while driving, followed by a possible revocation for a year." Why does this penalty only apply to YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED DRIVERS? Why not to all drivers?
Also, I have read that talking on a cell phone, hands free, is just as dangerous as talking on the phone when the driver is holding the phone. The mind cannot process two various actions at once.
My taxi drivers sometimes lock their seat belt behind their seat and tell me that there is a special law that excludes taxi drivers from having to buckle up.
Also, I have read that talking on a cell phone, hands free, is just as dangerous as talking on the phone when the driver is holding the phone. The mind cannot process two various actions at once.
My taxi drivers sometimes lock their seat belt behind their seat and tell me that there is a special law that excludes taxi drivers from having to buckle up.
3
I wondered about that too....I can only guess that the Gov believes that the young do not vote, or vote for his opponent.
1
"• Learn about the spaceship we call earth at Astronomy Live at the Hayden Planetarium on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. 7 p.m. [$15]"
When could I say that?
#WetHotAmericanSummer - am I wrong? Is this just a coincidence? If not, hats off to the author of this blurb, I got your reference.
When could I say that?
#WetHotAmericanSummer - am I wrong? Is this just a coincidence? If not, hats off to the author of this blurb, I got your reference.
1
I live in Florida and find it hilarious that many people up north get crazed about assault rifles and don't seem to care about texting while driving. Any of you ever driven down here? It's a thrill and not really suited for any distractions. The odds of me being killed or injured by someone texting while driving are massively greater than my chances of being killed by an assault rifle. And yet no one seems willing to address distracted driving.
5
Both are dangerous to taking lives.
3
Unless i missed it the car companies or phone companies have been slow to develop an app that connects driving to the phone and when a driver is in the driver seat and car is in gear it does not allow texting or emails etc. instead a message is sent in response to any received text " I am driving now will text you when I can". Is that so hard? Young people today are mostly concerned with fomo and i think would be comforted knowing someone who texted them knows why they did not respond.
As for walking and texting, people should pull over just like driving and respect that someone else should not have to worry about bumping into them.
It is the self absorbed society we have become enabled by big business.
As for walking and texting, people should pull over just like driving and respect that someone else should not have to worry about bumping into them.
It is the self absorbed society we have become enabled by big business.
18
Firstly, its not the responsibility of the car companies to come up with such a system. People need to be accountable for their own conduct. Secondly, assuming such a system is needed, how will it differentiate between the driver and the passengers - not illegal for them to talk, text, etc. How about calling 911 while driving say to report the drunk who's weaving all over the road and almost hit you?
3
The risk/reward ratio for texting while driving isn't calibrated correctly. Texters know the odds of getting caught are extremely low, and whatever benefits these jerks think they're getting is worth far more than the risk. Time to seriously increase the penalties for this deadly behavior to make that ratio line up with the risk of harm presented to the rest of us.
Impound the car at a minimum. Mandatory 1 year loss of license for a first offense; jail time for a second offense. People need to understand that the risk of getting caught isn't worth it. Clearly, the idea that they might actually kill someone isn't enough.
Impound the car at a minimum. Mandatory 1 year loss of license for a first offense; jail time for a second offense. People need to understand that the risk of getting caught isn't worth it. Clearly, the idea that they might actually kill someone isn't enough.
31
Mets ropolitan Reds
2
Do you people really need to text while you're driving? Really it's that important. Do us all a favor, pull off the road and send your texts you are a menace out there.
13
We simply cannot continue with to assume individual driver's have more rights to privacy in a post-crash investigation than do operators of trains or other public conveyances.
The sheer number of injuries and deaths caused by individual drivers dwarfs any number of injuries or deaths caused by public conveyance operators.
There is an emerging technology that would allow investigators to determine whether a phone in the driver's control was used for texting but w/o obtaining the content.
We need to start the long and difficult process of writing laws allowing investigators to determine a driver's use of a cell phone while preserving as much privacy and 4th Amendment safeguards as possible.
When I operate a motor vehicle out on a public highway I give up some of my privacy rights folks. As long as investigators operate within a limit of investigating my texting, I can live with it.
Go ahead and scream all you want about my position, until you or a loved one has been injured or killed by someone texting while driving.
The sheer number of injuries and deaths caused by individual drivers dwarfs any number of injuries or deaths caused by public conveyance operators.
There is an emerging technology that would allow investigators to determine whether a phone in the driver's control was used for texting but w/o obtaining the content.
We need to start the long and difficult process of writing laws allowing investigators to determine a driver's use of a cell phone while preserving as much privacy and 4th Amendment safeguards as possible.
When I operate a motor vehicle out on a public highway I give up some of my privacy rights folks. As long as investigators operate within a limit of investigating my texting, I can live with it.
Go ahead and scream all you want about my position, until you or a loved one has been injured or killed by someone texting while driving.
21
I agree with you. A driver's right to privacy should not take precedent over safety for all. If they are putting others at risk and cause an accident while using a phone then charges should follow.
3
Please remind the NYPD that using cell phones while driving is illegal too. They ticket for this offense yet are guilty of it.
11
I just love the feeling of safety one gets while bicycling on the street and getting passed by somebody holding a phone, looking up every few seconds.
13
Good on the china town precinct for trying to be proactive but I am guessing given budgets the prizes are nose bleed seats at a Met or Yankee game.
1
“It is not a good look; these smartphone zombies were recently nicknamed “smombies” in Germany.”
A serious matter, but still maybe worth singing about?
Tune of “Broadway Baby”
I’m just a Smartphone Zombie
Looking down near Lafayette
Captive of the internet
Eyes glued to my pho-one
Smartphone Zombie
Walking here at eight-oh-two
Hoping that I’ll hear from you
Right here on my pho-one
Me
I like to be
Where I can see
What’s happ’ning online
What next?
I’m so perplexed
That cop says a text
Can get me a fine
Call me Smombie
But please don’t forget to call
Now I’ll go post to my wall.
Seeking a connection
In this busy intersection
On my great new tiny phone.
A serious matter, but still maybe worth singing about?
Tune of “Broadway Baby”
I’m just a Smartphone Zombie
Looking down near Lafayette
Captive of the internet
Eyes glued to my pho-one
Smartphone Zombie
Walking here at eight-oh-two
Hoping that I’ll hear from you
Right here on my pho-one
Me
I like to be
Where I can see
What’s happ’ning online
What next?
I’m so perplexed
That cop says a text
Can get me a fine
Call me Smombie
But please don’t forget to call
Now I’ll go post to my wall.
Seeking a connection
In this busy intersection
On my great new tiny phone.
13
@freddie
WUNDERBAR!!! ....(could that be the next song next song???)
WUNDERBAR!!! ....(could that be the next song next song???)
2
I see no way to combat the texting/driving problem. There are too many people that believe that it is their personal right, and would no more stop breathing than stop texting at any time. When you mention that they might temporarily turn-off their I-phone, they look at you, honestly amazed, and as if you have two heads. Not using their I-phones at all times is simply not a consideration. they will accept a prison term before they would cease. And the auto industry is not helping with distracted driving as they add more and more communication features to the dashboard.
The danger will only abate when technology allows instant verbal communication without reading a screen or touching a keypad.
The danger will only abate when technology allows instant verbal communication without reading a screen or touching a keypad.
18
Another generation or two and we will just be brain activated pods. Our tongues will be the first to go, since everyone will have forgotten the lost art of verbal communication. Come to think of it, those brain activated pods will probably have fingers, since people are so active from all the texting. It does disturb me that people communicate on their phones through texting, email, Facebook, and Instagram but not talking.
7
"Verbal communication without reading a screen or touching a keypad." Kind of like talking.
9
Then possibly the solution is prison. If you start locking people up for texting while driving I'd imagine it would cease eventually.
I think it is terrific that Governor Cuomo is stepping up enforcement of all these laws.
And yes, as the Times points out, pedestrians need help also.
I live in Manhattan. I have a car. I drive very carefully. I don't run yellow lights, never speed and am courteous to other drivers and to all pedestrians.
Recently I saw a young woman crossing the street against traffic pushing her stroller while texting on her cell phone.
I stopped my car, blocking traffic so she could cross safely and told her nicely that what she was putting herself and her child into serious jeopardy.
I won't tell you her response but it was not,"Thank you."
The City and State must issue summons to pedestrians who jaywalk. Remember jaywalking.
The Times's article clearly points out the problem of individuals crossing a street while texting or just not having an situational awareness.
When I was a kid (I'm 68 now) we were taught in my public school how to cross the street. Literally.
And all those corny slogans work. "Cross at the green, not in between."
We all need a massive public education campaign, complete with corny slogans, to prevent such horrible and preventable injuries.
It is a public health crisis and it's great something is being done to stop it.
And of course more is needed.
And yes, as the Times points out, pedestrians need help also.
I live in Manhattan. I have a car. I drive very carefully. I don't run yellow lights, never speed and am courteous to other drivers and to all pedestrians.
Recently I saw a young woman crossing the street against traffic pushing her stroller while texting on her cell phone.
I stopped my car, blocking traffic so she could cross safely and told her nicely that what she was putting herself and her child into serious jeopardy.
I won't tell you her response but it was not,"Thank you."
The City and State must issue summons to pedestrians who jaywalk. Remember jaywalking.
The Times's article clearly points out the problem of individuals crossing a street while texting or just not having an situational awareness.
When I was a kid (I'm 68 now) we were taught in my public school how to cross the street. Literally.
And all those corny slogans work. "Cross at the green, not in between."
We all need a massive public education campaign, complete with corny slogans, to prevent such horrible and preventable injuries.
It is a public health crisis and it's great something is being done to stop it.
And of course more is needed.
49
Pedestrians have right of way. You should know this already if you "drive very carefully" and "are courteous to others"
3
Pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way if they are jaywalking.
3
Steve, I do hope you realize that pedestrians DO NOT have "right of way" to cross the street on a red light (or DONT WALK sign). The pedestrian in the comment above was crossing "against traffic."
5
Texting while driving is breathtakingly stupid, but I see it many times a day on my commute from NJ. These drivers are distracted and cannot drive safely. They slow down, drift, and do many unpredictable things. It is a menace.
It is an inconvenience too. The reason it takes so long to move when the light turns green these days: drivers absorbed in phones and not their drive.
It's so scary. Penalties should reflect the real danger these drivers represent.
It is an inconvenience too. The reason it takes so long to move when the light turns green these days: drivers absorbed in phones and not their drive.
It's so scary. Penalties should reflect the real danger these drivers represent.
42
Penalties should be at least as severe as DUI. It has been shown in several studies and test that a driver texting is at least as impaired as a drunken driver. Large fine, time in jail, and a suspended license for at least a year might (and, I repeat, might) get people's attention.
8
The technology exists to disable cell phones in a moving auto.If you must text/talk,stop the car.Guess too much money at stake.
15
although it might not work on city streets, the solution to texting while on the highway is to run a cable on the median that blocks the signals associated with texting.
Yes, doctors complain they wont get emergency messages...let them go back to pagers.
But the State would have to spend money doing this. We know it's in the State's better interest to collect money from violators than to actually address the problem.
Yes, doctors complain they wont get emergency messages...let them go back to pagers.
But the State would have to spend money doing this. We know it's in the State's better interest to collect money from violators than to actually address the problem.
6
Oh the irony. We have to inconvenience doctors in receiving literal life-or-death messages because 'Tiffany' doesn't have enough self control to not text 'Taylor' about her amazing new nail polish!
3
Permanent loss of license. Texting while driving is conclusive proof of lack of the responsibility necessary to drive safely.
45