Distracted Driving is more dangerous than "assault weapons"

[Lithium381]

at least according to this link http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/highwa...-government-hold-distracted/story?id=11681681
it's from 2010 but i'd imagine the numbers are similar.

5,500 deaths a year from someone breaking the law and not paying attention to their driving. Texting and cell phone use, eating, reading the newspaper and putting on makeup should be made illegal across the country. First violation, 6 months suspension of your license, 2nd violation, permanent revocation. There is simply NO EXCUSE.

I'm safer at a gun show with hundreds of gun nuts and hundreds of AR-15's than out on the highway. Fewer than 300 deaths with rifles each year and it's a big deal. . . yet 5,500 people are simply forgotten by our lawmakers. Article also mentions almost 450,000 people were injured. How many were debilitating injuries? That put someone in a coma for years? Maimed faces and limbs?

Seriously we need to get our priorities straight.

 

[HumblePie]

FACT
Cell phones kill more people every day in America than AR15's.

Actually, I think cell phones kill more people in a day in America than any firearm type.


Are we going to have common sense federal level legislation banning iPhones anytime soon please?

 

[SpatiallyAware]

But.... That doesn't fit the agenda!

 

[piasabird]

I had some woman ram into me while I was slowing down for a Red Light. Pushed my car into the car in front of me and pushed that car into the intersection. Some people have no brains at all. It took several weeks before all the effects of that accident went away. Nothing like your head being rammed into the top of the car and landing wierd and not even being able to find the brake pedal. My wife was also in the car. Made me a believer in seat belts.

 

[blankslate]

Are we going to have common sense federal level legislation banning iPhones anytime soon please?

When Cell phones are capable of accommodating hi-cap mags...

but seriously

Most states have passed laws about driving and cell phones. For example texting is illegal in many states
http://www.iihs.org/laws/maptextingbans.aspx

It's enforcement as gun enthusiasts say. Personally I'm wary of even having hands free phone conversations while a person is driving.

But sure it's dangerous... even if only because they're distracting to a person operating a vehicle who should be paying as much attention as possible to the task at hand.

The analogy deliberately ignores the fact that cell phones are, in the vast majority of cases that involve only the phone by itself, nowhere near as dangerous as a loaded gun can be.

For instance what would you let a toddler play with? Your cell phone or the gun in that holster under your shirt?

In conclusion I would support a law that states you must only use hands free devices while talking on the cell while driving... because I think that's what could be passed as a Federal level.

My dream law would be you have to pull over and park the car if you want to take a phone call. If it's not important enough to do so then you can call back.

 

[HumblePie]

When Cell phones are capable of accommodating hi-cap mags...

but seriously

Most states have passed laws about driving and cell phones. For example texting is illegal in many states
http://www.iihs.org/laws/maptextingbans.aspx

Texting while driving in certain places in some situations is illegal. But so is shooting people with a gun in many situations illegal as well. If the gun laws aren't enough and aren't doing enough that we have to enact laws to ban guns, maybe the same can be said for cell phones. Despite laws making it illegal to text and drive we still have it happening every day. People are dieing and being harmed by the iPhone criminals everyday! It's just COMMON SENSE legislation that needs to be enacted at the federal level everywhere. We need a national registry requiring all cell phones to be tracked by GPS along with registration of their owners. Anytime a cell phone is in use while the GPS shows it's moving more than 20mph, we KNOW that the person is acting in a criminal capacity and needs to be sent to jail before they kill others. We have the technology to make this happen! It MUST happen!

 

[piasabird]

Texting ability and cameras should be removed from all phones.

 

[piasabird]

It is so funny to see the Phone zombies walking around at school. Just pretend you are a football player and knock them down.

 

[Midwayman]

Enforcement isn't enough. Extreme punishment isn't enough. The real solution is pushing autonomous cars and assistive driving techs as hard as possible. That'll get the people who would rather be doing anything other than driving a car out of control of a car as soon as possible.

 

[blankslate]

People are dieing and being harmed by the iPhone criminals everyday! It's just COMMON SENSE legislation that needs to be enacted at the federal level everywhere. We need a national registry requiring all cell phones to be tracked by GPS along with registration of their owners. Anytime a cell phone is in use while the GPS shows it's moving more than 20mph, we KNOW that the person is acting in a criminal capacity and needs to be sent to jail before they kill others. We have the technology to make this happen! It MUST happen!

Passable satire...

Sure I'd support a federal law banning all texting while driving for everyone. I don't think anyone should be talking on the phone while driving either. but that's less likely to be passed.

 

[Tom]

This is not a proper comparison.

To consider how dangerous txting while driving is you have to consider the frequency of deaths given the number of miles driven.

Not sure what comparable measure could be made for assault weapons since its difficult to define what the scope of use of assault weapons is. Even if that could be figured out there's no statistics collected to come up with a number.

 

[waggy]

testing and driving is insane. i don't understand why people do it.

and yeah it does fit the comparison. to say it doesn't because the frequency vs miles is fucking stupid.

 

[HumblePie]

This is not a proper comparison.

To consider how dangerous txting while driving is you have to consider the frequency of deaths given the number of miles driven.

Not sure what comparable measure could be made for assault weapons since its difficult to define what the scope of use of assault weapons is. Even if that could be figured out there's no statistics collected to come up with a number.

Consider how many guns and how often they are fired every day versus how many people actually die everyday. The federal government goes through 750 million rounds a year at a minimum. Then we need to add in how many law abiding citizens shoot at gun ranges, shooting competitions, hunting trips, and what not. Then cross compare all those shots every day versus gun related deaths and injuries. Then we can cross compare THAT figure to cell phone usage versus miles driven while cell phones are being used versus deaths and injuries occurred.

Hey, if you are looking for your next college level grant for a research project there you go.

But as a whole raw number, cell phones kill and injure more people everyday. I'm going to venture a educated guess as well that cell phones are a higher occurrence of injury or death versus usage than guns do versus their usage level. That would be my hypothesis I would put forward before going into such a research project.

But hey, since we aren't proposing any common sense research projects like that to actual find factual information that would be useful to public safety, but instead just pushing through knee jerk feel good reactionary COMMON SENSE legislation. Why not the same thing for cell phone usage? I want Universal Cell Phone GPS tracking. I want a Youth Safety Cell Phone usage Brady style bill that prevents reckless teens and youths from obtaining highly dangerous cell phones that cause thousands of deaths and injuries per year by that age category group. We ban them from drinking because of the same thing. But they are allowed a pass with cell phones that have proven to be much more deadlier?

 

[Tom]

Consider how many guns and how often they are fired every day versus how many people actually die everyday. The federal government goes through 750 million rounds a year at a minimum. Then we need to add in how many law abiding citizens shoot at gun ranges, shooting competitions, hunting trips, and what not. Then cross compare all those shots every day versus gun related deaths and injuries. Then we can cross compare THAT figure to cell phone usage versus miles driven while cell phones are being used versus deaths and injuries occurred.

Hey, if you are looking for your next college level grant for a research project there you go.

But as a whole raw number, cell phones kill and injure more people everyday. I'm going to venture a educated guess as well that cell phones are a higher occurrence of injury or death versus usage than guns do versus their usage level. That would be my hypothesis I would put forward before going into such a research project.

But hey, since we aren't proposing any common sense research projects like that to actual find factual information that would be useful to public safety, but instead just pushing through knee jerk feel good reactionary COMMON SENSE legislation. Why not the same thing for cell phone usage? I want Universal Cell Phone GPS tracking. I want a Youth Safety Cell Phone usage Brady style bill that prevents reckless teens and youths from obtaining highly dangerous cell phones that cause thousands of deaths and injuries per year by that age category group. We ban them from drinking because of the same thing. But they are allowed a pass with cell phones that have proven to be much more deadlier?

cell phones almost surely save lives every day as well.

The raw numbers are meaningless in determining how dangerous something is.

Your study would be flawed because as I said its difficult to determine what use of an assault weapon is. There's use that would not involve firing, eg. brandishing. Or displaying it at a gun show.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

When Cell phones are capable of accommodating hi-cap mags..

Yet you can't say that a person who is distracted can't kill as many people as a person with a high capacity mag rifle. If said person is distracted by texting causes a school bus to wreck with 20+ children killing them all would be any different than someone shooting/killing all in the same bus.

 

[Tom]

testing and driving is insane. i don't understand why people do it.

and yeah it does fit the comparison. to say it doesn't because the frequency vs miles is fucking stupid.

I agree that txting while driving is insane.

What is stupid is trying to compare it to assault weapon deaths.

Nobody died from an atomic bomb last year, that doesn't make atomic bombs less dangerous than txting while driving.

 

[shadow9d9]

Guns are made for the purpose of efficient killing. To compare it to car accidents is preposterous.. stop trotting out this insanely bad talking point. We get it.. you love your killing machines...That is why we are right next to Zimbabwe when it comes to firearm related homicides.

 

[HumblePie]

cell phones almost surely save lives every day as well.

The raw numbers are meaningless in determining how dangerous something is.

Your study would be flawed because as I said its difficult to determine what use of an assault weapon is. There's use that would not involve firing, eg. brandishing. Or displaying it at a gun show.

Guns surely save lives every day as well. I can show videos, statistics, and any other proof you need to that effect as well.

 

[HumblePie]

Guns are made for the purpose of efficient killing. To compare it to car accidents is preposterous.. stop trotting out this insanely bad talking point. We get it.. you love your killing machines...That is why we are right next to Zimbabwe when it comes to firearm related homicides.

No, guns are made to hurl a projectile. Nothing more nothing less. Just a tool. Cell phones are designed to make phone calls and allow for long distance communication. Just a tool.

Both can be used in fashions that cause injury and death to the operator and others. Cell phones cause more injuries and deaths per year than guns. Clearly the common sense legislation from our common sense politicians needs to be focused upon reducing cell phone related deaths and injuries.

 

[PokerGuy]

Passable satire...

Sure I'd support a federal law banning all texting while driving for everyone. I don't think anyone should be talking on the phone while driving either. but that's less likely to be passed.

No texting while driving laws already exist in many places, but obviously it doesn't work. By the same idiot logic that Biden and others espouse, it's time to start banning phones.

 

[blankslate]

Yet you can't say that a person who is distracted can't kill as many people as a person with a high capacity mag rifle. If said person is distracted by texting causes a school bus to wreck with 20+ children killing them all would be any different than someone shooting/killing all in the same bus.

The Hi-cap mag in cell phone remark was obviously a joke.

That being said I do support banning the use of cell phones while driving.

No texting while driving laws already exist in many places, but obviously it doesn't work. By the same idiot logic that Biden and others espouse, it's time to start banning phones.

Get back to me when a cell phone is capable of launching a projectile at a velocity of several hundred fps. and that is its primary purpose.

 

[HumblePie]

The Hi-cap mag in cell phone remark was obviously a joke.

That being said I do support banning the use of cell phones while driving.

Get back to me when a cell phone is capable of launching a projectile at a velocity of several hundred fps. and that is its primary purpose.

Just because a tool is designed to move an object at a rapid speed doesn't make it inherently any more dangerous than any other tool designed to move another object at a rapid speed. Engines for vehicles are designed to move large objects at rapid speeds. Those are a tool designed for one specific purpose. To provide the energy needed to propel an object at rapid speeds. A gun is an object designed to propel an object at rapid speeds too. See how simple that analogy works?

A cell phone is designed to propel objects at rapid speeds to technically. That's how it works in case you didn't know that. And yes that is a fact that a cell phone as a tool works by moving objects at rapid speeds.

All three can kill or injure under the right circumstances.

 

[davmat787]

But but those things aren't designed like firearms so any resulting deaths from them don't count as they don't serve the agenda.

 

[blankslate]

Just because a tool is designed to move an object at a rapid speed doesn't make it inherently any more dangerous than any other tool designed to move another object at a rapid speed. Engines for vehicles are designed to move large objects at rapid speeds. Those are a tool designed for one specific purpose. To provide the energy needed to propel an object at rapid speeds. A gun is an object designed to propel an object at rapid speeds too. So how simple that analogy works?

A cell phone is designed to propel objects at rapid speeds to technically. That's how it works in case you didn't know that. And yes that is a fact that a cell phone as a tool works by moving objects at rapid speeds.

All three can kill or injure under the right circumstances.

Engines in cars do propel a car. However, unlike a gun the car hopefully is usually guided by a competent, non-idiotic operator in the form of a human driver.

A car moving at 80 mph per hour is moving over a hundred fps, but nowhere near several hundred fps as a typical bullet which is unguided as soon as it leaves the barrel.

Cell phones recieve and project radio waves which is made up of energy that yes consists of particles moving at the speed of light.

However, those particles for all intents and purposes have no mass (well none compared most object we can touch and hold) so they are missing a major component that makes bullet moving at several hundred fps dangerous to a person in its path

The "projectiles" used by a cell phone are so different than the projectiles used by firearms that the comparison is quite frankly nonsensical for this discussion.


See how your simple analogy is too simple and discards important differences for the sake of bringing up a terribly weak point?


The above being said... I support banning cell phone usage while driving. At best however it seems like the strictest law that may be passed on a federal level is a nation wide prohibition of texting while driving.


*edit*

Just because a tool is designed to move an object at a rapid speed doesn't make it inherently any more dangerous than any other tool designed to move another object at a rapid speed.

In a vacuum yes very true... however as I've said in a previous post.

The analogy deliberately ignores the fact that cell phones are, in the vast majority of cases that involve only the phone by itself, nowhere near as dangerous as a loaded gun can be.

For instance what would you let a toddler play with? Your cell phone or the gun in that holster under your shirt?

 

[Tom]

Guns surely save lives every day as well. I can show videos, statistics, and any other proof you need to that effect as well.

I'm sure you're right but if I said it you wouldn't have been able to.