Re: Cellphones and driving [Telecom]

In article <h4j678$vfa$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
diespammers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...

Thad Floryan wrote:
On 7/26/2009 1:56 PM, Steven Lichter wrote:
[...]
California enforces it and the fines add up, but more people are
violating it now then when it first passed, some claim they did not know
it was the law, others from out of state say the same; even though there
are ads on TV, Radio and billboards.
[...]

Locally (Silicon Valley) there's a column in the San Jose Mercury News
(SJMN) named "Road Show" (though we often joke it's "Road Kill" :-).
I'm in frequent email contact with the columnist, Gary Richards, and
feed him a lot of behind-the-scenes info (including what we discuss
here), such as the NY Times articles, especially the one about the
suppressed cellphone driving info.

The SJMN requires one to signup (free) to view their pages (and I must
reenter my password once a month or so when cookies expire). A story
in today's column is almost unbelievable.

If you have/want access to the online SJMN, the article is here:

<http://www.mercurynews.com/mrroadshow/ci_12908862>

Following is a formatted copy'n'paste of the specific story:

Q: The other morning, I was driving to work on Interstate 880, and
my little car was nearly sideswiped by a giant SUV that drifted
into my lane as if I weren't there. Furious at nearly being
squashed, I drove up next to the SUV, but before I could sternly
shake my fist at it, I spotted a young woman behind the wheel
holding a phone in one hand and punching in a text message with
the other. I rode alongside her for about 10 seconds, and I never
saw her look up at the road once. She was completely engrossed in
what was going on in her lap.

Bruce Newman
Los Gatos

A: Bruce is a Mercury News reporter whose desk is near mine. He's
a very calm fellow, so when I heard him talking about this
incident, I asked him to tell me more.

Q: Gary, I make it a practice to stay away from these texting
fools when I can, so I fell back several car lengths, still
fuming about what she had nearly done to me and the menace she
presented to others. Over the next couple of miles, she nearly
sideswiped a pickup and repeatedly drifted onto the left
shoulder. I fell behind an eighteen-wheeler and lost sight of her
for a while.

Bruce Newman

A: Unfortunately, it was not good riddance.

Q: Then as I approached the San Jose airport I saw her again,
sitting in the middle lane of the freeway, going about 20 mph
while cars and trucks whizzed by on either side. Traffic had
slowed, and when it picked up again, she was so consumed with
texting that she had no idea what was going on around her. As I
passed by, I saw her furiously pecking away at that infernal
thing.

Here's my question. I see those signs that say "Report drunk
drivers, call 911," and I really wanted to call and report
her. She clearly presented as great a hazard as any drunken
driver. But I figured if the CHP caught up to her and discovered
she wasn't drunk, they'd come after me for filing a false police
report. So I did nothing. Except fume. What should I have done?

Bruce Newman

A: This deserved a 911 call. When I asked the Highway Patrol if a
911 call was appropriate, here is how Cristina-the-CHP-Lady
responded:

"Absolutely. Sounds like a reckless driver to me. Call 911 and
provide the license plate, location, description of the driver
and the details of her recklessness. A log will be kept against
her plate and if she gets caught all the details will be on the
log, which will be attached to the citation."

To the woman driving the champagne-colored BMW X5, the CHP now
has your license plate number.

The Press-Enterprise had a writer like him. He used to report on the
roads and freeways around Riverside County. He had a thing for the 91
Freeway, which is the only roadway between Riverside and Orange County.
I have been using it since moving out here in 1977 and it was bad
then, but they have made it larger added carpool and toll roads and it
is still bad. He use to talk about traffic slowing down for no reason,
then going normal again, he used to say it was aliens scooping up the
cars. What it really caused it was people slowing down because a
section of the road was torn up and stayed that way for ten years and
thousands of dollars in damage claims.

Doesn't take much to slow down traffic. On a recent road trip to North
Carolina I noted traffic jams most often occured near toll booths. About
4 miles out you'd come to a complete standstill and then inch your way
to the tolls.

They have to do something about that.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Cellphones and driving [Telecom]
    ... Bruce Newman ... I see those signs that say "Report drunk ... Sounds like a reckless driver to me. ... provide the license plate, location, description of the driver ...
    (comp.dcom.telecom)
  • Re: Cellphones and driving [Telecom]
    ... my little car was nearly sideswiped by a giant SUV that drifted ... Bruce Newman ... I see those signs that say "Report drunk ... Sounds like a reckless driver to me. ...
    (comp.dcom.telecom)
  • Re: to the contrary
    ... The reporter is in no position to comment on why the car left the road. ... Why do you wish it to unfairly blame the driver when the cause is not yet ... > It's a shame that the news report isn't so honest. ... The report is entirely honest, ...
    (uk.rec.driving)
  • Re: to the contrary
    ... >>> The reporter is in no position to comment on why the car left the road. ... > The story says "the driver lost control", ... >>> The report is entirely honest, ... It tried to shift responsibility from the driver to the car, ...
    (uk.rec.driving)
  • Re: to the contrary
    ... > The reporter is in no position to comment on why the car left the road. ... > the drivers fault), it may have been entirely driver error. ... >> It's a shame that the news report isn't so honest. ...
    (uk.rec.driving)
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