Thursday, January 26, 2012

Driving and Talking on a Cell Phone

Most of us do it. Your phone rings and despite obvious safety concerns, you just can’t help but answer it. You rationalize your actions. What if it’s important? … I mean let’s be honest, 99% of the time it isn’t. It could have waited the 20-30 minutes it would have taken you to drive to your destination and call them back. But most of us can’t resist the urge to answer. Personally, I always answered, but I have Bluetooth. Huge difference.
Well the FMCSA recently came out with a law similar to what they have in California stating that you can no longer talk and drive if you’re in a semi-truck. It’s against the law. Personally, I think this is a fantastic law! How many times have you fumbled your phone trying to answer it before it goes to your voicemail? You bend down to grab it and CRASH! You swerve off the road and hit a pole. While that may not happen every time, it happens enough to raise concerns.
The FMCSA released an updated FAQ today on its new handheld mobile telephone ban to clarify that the use of the push-to-talk function on mobile phones is permitted, under certain limited conditions. Drivers can use their cell phones as long as they don’t have to physically hold the phone while driving. To me this makes perfect sense. There are so many car crashes every year; maybe removing handheld cells from the equation will make a difference. Happy Driving J

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