So you know the people who text and walk at the same time…

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

And fall into fountains, walk off cliffs, run straight into a stop sign?

 

Me = ow.

 

[Rick Munroe]

Don't do that.

[bigvalboy]

And fall into fountains, walk off cliffs, run straight into a stop sign?

 

Me = ow.

 

 

Guilty as charged.....I will even text while in the car. Stops lights in FTL are notoriously long. I will routinely fire-off a text while waiting. That doesn't make me a bad person does it?

[Diverdan]

Not a bad person, BVB... but you can get arrested in Florida for doing that and also it is very dangerous to your health. An increasing number of folks are in accidents, many seriously because of texting while driving. I would not want that to happen to you, my friend. I also don't text unless I am standing or sitting still, because I love watching people and if I were texting, I would probably miss a lot of eye candy that is available !!!

[gallahadesquire]

In massachusetts, not only is it illegal:

 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/07/gov_patrick_to_4.html

 

but the penalty can be severe:

 

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-06-06/massachusetts-texting-driving-sentence/55431460/1

 

I either ignore the text, or pull over. I cheat, sometimes, at long stop lights, but never while the car is moving.

[bigvalboy]

Not a bad person, BVB... but you can get arrested in Florida for doing that and also it is very dangerous to your health. An increasing number of folks are in accidents, many seriously because of texting while driving. I would not want that to happen to you, my friend. I also don't text unless I am standing or sitting still, because I love watching people and if I were texting, I would probably miss a lot of eye candy that is available !!!

 

Thank you DD for the kind thoughts of concern, very sweet of you, but to be clear, I do not ever ever ever text while the car is moving. Only at stop lights.

[+ LIguy]

About 8 months ago while I was stopped for a red light I was rear ended(not in a good way) by a young man that had just gotten his drivers license that day and was so excited that he was texting his buds that he was on his way to pick them up in mom's new lexus to go to dinner. I know that because he called his mom right away after begging me to hold off calling police and when mom arrived she was trying to play on my sympathies to not call police and report the accident. Well,ok i gave in. The young man was so freakin cute and parents paid for repairs and car rental. I should've had them throw in a night with son LOL!

[Professor Mitch]

Chris: I thought I already told you a story about a guy in London who was walking and texting that had a reallybad ending.

[instudiocity]

About 8 months ago while I was stopped for a red light I was rear ended(not in a good way) by a young man that had just gotten his drivers license that day and was so excited that he was texting his buds that he was on his way to pick them up in mom's new lexus to go to dinner. I know that because he called his mom right away after begging me to hold off calling police and when mom arrived she was trying to play on my sympathies to not call police and report the accident. Well,ok i gave in. The young man was so freakin cute and parents paid for repairs and car rental. I should've had them throw in a night with son LOL!

PERVERT!

I'd have paid my own car repairs for a weekend with a cute 16 year old!

[Phil_musc]

About 8 months ago while I was stopped for a red light I was rear ended(not in a good way) by a young man that had just gotten his drivers license that day and was so excited that he was texting his buds that he was on his way to pick them up in mom's new lexus to go to dinner. I know that because he called his mom right away after begging me to hold off calling police and when mom arrived she was trying to play on my sympathies to not call police and report the accident. Well,ok i gave in. The young man was so freakin cute and parents paid for repairs and car rental. I should've had them throw in a night with son LOL!

 

I think you missed a golden opportunity here (actually 2):

 

1) if he was really that cute, well . . .

 

2) If he wasn't really that cute but you were thinking with your little head instead of the other, you've passed up an opportunity to teach a young man that actions do have consequences.

[instudiocity]

but the penalty can be severe:

 

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-06-06/massachusetts-texting-driving-sentence/55431460/1

severe? FUCKING HARSH!

 

FWIW, California has a bill in the General Assembly that makes it illegal to even hold a cell phone while driving. What next, holding a burger? drinking a soft beverage? picking your nose. At some point, common sense is going to be criminalized...

[bigvalboy]

severe? FUCKING HARSH!

 

FWIW, California has a bill in the General Assembly that makes it illegal to even hold a cell phone while driving. What next, holding a burger? drinking a soft beverage? picking your nose. At some point, common sense is going to be criminalized...

 

I thought that was the law now. Maybe it is only LA county? All cell phone devices have to be "hands free" My friend just got a ticket for that, well that and no seat belt.......ouch!!!

[instudiocity]

I thought that was the law now. Maybe it is only LA county? All cell phone devices have to be "hands free" My friend just got a ticket for that, well that and no seat belt.......ouch!!!

BVB, right now it's hands-free talking, and NO texting - but you can still hold it in your hand when you're not talking on the phone. Looking at a smartphone may require mirrors, smoke and advanced gymnastics in the future.

 

Interestingly, unless the seatbelt law changed recently, your friend would not have been ticketed for the seat belt violation alone. There would have needed to be something else to initiate the stop. At least, that's the way I understand it.

 

Obviously, I live in LA County. In my neighborhood, non-hands-free usage of a cellphone is second to FAILURE TO STOP at a stop sign (I refer to them as "Slow To Observe Police" signs. If I see 30 cars run the 4-way stop outside my house, I see 15 of those drivers holding their cellphones in speaker-phone mode - it's not hands-free but it's not upside theys hed either.

[bigvalboy]

Interestingly, unless the seatbelt law changed recently, your friend would not have been ticketed for the seat belt violation alone. There would have needed to be something else to initiate the stop. At least, that's the way I understand it.

 

Actually he was in the left hand turn lane on Sepulveda blvd south bound at Ventura Blvd, waiting for the green arrow to allow him to go east on Ventura. Two cops were on bicycles working the intersection. They came off the curb and right up to his window, and told him to pull over when the light changed. They then rode across the street to wait for him....Busted for no seat belt and talking on his cell phone.

 

You probably don't want to hear what I think of this whole situation....