Quote:
Originally Posted by RM7
Well, they are enforcing the laws that exist...the speed limit laws, by the cheapest and most efficient means possible.
But what exactly do you mean by "enforce" the texting laws? How are they going to determine that someone was texting? Because they are holding their phone? How do you prove it? Does the fact that the phone sends data prove it? Phones send and receive data all the time, updating apps, mail, etc.
Do you outlaw those dip**** phone mounts that you see everyone using? It seems it's either that or some idiot HOLDING their phone and talking in a vehicle that very obviously has bluetooth phone connectivity where it's not even necessary.
So how exactly do you "enforce" this? Do you make it mandatory for phone companies to install software that shuts off the phone if it detects movement? What about if they are passengers, or on a train, plane or boat?
If there's a reasonable chance you aren't going to get caught, it doesn't really matter, there is effectively no enforcement. Because everyone has a phone in the car now and quite literally, "everyone is doing it", the cat is out of the bag. How do you get it back in? How do you prove the things I was saying above, you going to let the police pull your personal cell data, see your text messages and such? Even then it'd be hard to prove, since you'd need to show while a text was sent a vehicle was being operated, that comes down to the seconds of when a text was sent.
Given all of this, the thing that makes accidents worse is excessive speed, so they are going in the place that will have the most payoff for the effort.
I think there should be recurrent driving tests, not some BS written test every 15 years, but an actual driving test with standards and you have to actually stop at the stopsign/light, not 10 feet out in the intersection, you have to use your blinker, you have to set your mirrors correctly, and so on. But ARP would never stand for that and people think the are way better than they are, including the politicians. When it comes down to it, most people don't want this.
It's going to take a pretty radical solution at this time to get that cat back in the bag now and any way it's done, it's going to impact on "personal freedoms"...
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I think having phone locked above 10mph is a start. You're a passenger? Sucks. Use a tablet.
I'm for a much higher standard for driving tests. You should have to recertify annually for the first 5, and then every 5 years going forward. There should also be classes of licenses, broken up by vehicle size and performance. The requirements to move up should be a mix of education, experience, and driving ability. You don't get to give your 16 year old kid a 500hp car to start off with just because you have money. They would have had to be training and studying for it beforehand. If a kid turns 16 and has had verified experience racing go karts, doing car handling classes, etc, they put in the work understanding the physics of a car, fine. The same goes for mid life crisis Fred, just because "I've been driving longer than you've been alive" doesn't mean you know what you're doing and can handle a 500hp.spprts car.
It will never happen, sadly.