I think there should be a $500 dollar surcharge if when an accident happens (even minor accidents). The phone records of the drivers can be pulled and if it shows they were texting then hit them with a surcharge. If thats too much than how about making texting unavailable unless the phone is moving under 5mph. Texting and driving do not go together.
Ed

I like your thinking, and would add " double that for 2nd offense" and possibly "suspending license for 3rd offense".

The only problem would be enforcement, same as it is with DUI.
You only really catch them AFTER the damage has been done.

How about a Friggin Wap upside the head for being an Idiot......

I think there should be a $500 dollar surcharge if when an accident happens (even minor accidents).
Ed

Agreed that there should be (hefty) penalties, maybe in the form of points, but expanded to any use of a phone while driving which results in an accident not just texting! At least until hands-free laws are passed.

5 minute clip from a British PSA, full version is 30 minutes...

YouTube - Texting While Driving - British PSA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0ukd7xTQ9g)


should be treated as harshly as DUI, as it has been proven that it impares you as much, some studies actually show it impares driving ability more than DUI !!

I think kids in Drivers Ed here should be shown the 30 minute version
of the British PSA... it just might make them think....

I think it should be triple.... Last spring I had a kid almost hit me head on,,, I went off the road to avoid the head on collision and took a hit right on the drivers side door.... Totalled my truck,,, just about tore the back off it,,, Ripped the rear axle off one side......

The kid admitted to me he was texting,,,,

I think kids in Drivers Ed here should be shown the 30 minute version of the British PSA... it just might make them think....


Agreed on showing to Drivers Ed but would also suggest it be shown to all legislators to get a damn law finally passed against mobile electronics usage (distractions in general) while driving. Time to end multi-tasking while driving...........quickest way to end traffic congestion and improve road conditions.

From a 30 year commuter on MA roads

I think kids in Drivers Ed here should be shown the 30 minute version of the British PSA... it just might make them think....

On seconds thoughts that is too easy, why not just incorporate cell phone usage while driving into the training:

YouTube - DON'T USE CELL PHONE OR TEXT WHILE DRIVING!!!!!!!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2Bu4U1ZWzA)

He says jokingly.

Remember this:
http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripertalk/stripertalk/60115-need-some-prayers-not-me-time.html

Should never of happened! It's got to be stopped!

How about a Friggin Wap upside the head for being an Idiot......

I am with TDF......a good ole' fashioned bitch slap for stupidity would be nice! After what happened to Piemma's bro' in law.......something serious needs to be done! More people are dying do to texting/cell phones while driving than driving drunk for cryin' out loud!!!!:smash::smash::smash::smash::smash:

And if you don't have insurance, you go to prison... PERIOD.

Somehow a "I'm sorry" and cliaming destitution doesn't pay the medical bills, or gets the victims their limbs back.

At what point will enough be enough?

It seems and sounds like something will only get done when it happens TO someone with connections (not because of them).

I'm all for texting while driving, drinking & driving, girls putting on their makeup driving, reading while driving, pretty much anything that distracts drivers.
It keeps me employed !!!

I'm all for texting while driving, drinking & driving, girls putting on their makeup driving, reading while driving, pretty much anything that distracts drivers.
It keeps me employed !!!

I had the same opinion about the above, people eating 10 meals a week at McDonald's and smoking 2 packs a day when I was an EMT.

You have to find judges willing to back up those hefty fines with findings of responsible when they appeal the ticket. Otherwise the same thing will happen as happens with all the other processes that take place in court.

A third of teens say they?ve texted while driving - Computers- msnbc.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33920495/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/)

A third of teens say they’ve texted while driving
Pew survey finds some are ‘blasé’ about it, others cite parents’ behaviors........

A third of teens ages 16 and 17 say they have texted while driving and 48 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 say they have been in a car when the driver was texting, according to a new survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

While those findings may not surprise some, Pew senior research specialist Amanda Lenhart said she was surprised "to hear (from teens) about how it’s often parents or other adults who are doing the texting or talking and driving, and how for many teens, this is scary or worrisome behavior."

"Teens spoke not only of adults texting at the wheel, but also fumbling with GPS devices and being distracted because they're talking on the phone constantly," she said. "And the reactions from the teens we spoke with ranged from being really scared by these behaviors to feeling as though it wasn't a big deal."

'Drives like he's drunk'
One teen boy quoted in the study said his dad "drives like he's drunk. His phone is just like sitting right in front of his face, and he puts his knees on the bottom of the steering wheel and tries to text."

Another boy, a middle-school student, was asked how often he is in "moving vehicle when the driver sends a text message." His answer? "All the time. My mom, sister or brother will sit behind the wheel the whole time and just text away."

A more daring teen driver said he thinks "it's fine" to text and drive, and that he wears sunglasses while doing it "so the cops don't see" his eyes looking down at the phone screen.

But another teen, who espouses a zero-tolerance texting policy, said he will "snatch the phone" out of drivers' hands if they text, telling them, "Don't be driving in the car with me and doing that. ... I want to live until the end of this car ride."


(more at link)

they are doing this already in california