Cell Phone Legislation: Don’t Drive and Text in New Jersey

I wish Kansas would wake up and do the same!

Why in the world is it LESS of a violation to type (head down, thumb working furously, no eyes on the road at all) while driving, than it is to talk on the phone? It should be at least as big a fine if not double, or more. I’d feel safer with people drinking while reloading pistols behind the wheel as opposed to typing.

Talking on a cell while driving is an offense in itself. Drivers are distracted to a point where they are as dangerous as drunk drivers. Ticketing a driver for talking on a cell phone only if the driver is stopped for another infraction is a ridiculous concept. It’s akin to stating that you can only pull over a drunk driver AFTER he runs a red light.

The cellphone carriers are making enough money with their lousy service that they don’t need whatever meager revenue they derive from drivers which can come at the expense of property damage, injuries and lives lost.

If sellers of guns and alcohol can be held liable in the death of a person who is killed at the hands of a drunk driver or a trigger-happy felon, then let’s hold all the cellphone carriers liable for all property damage, injuries, and deaths resulting in crashes caused by drivers talking on cellphones.

Maybe we should hold the NJ Legislature equally liable as the cellphone carriers for passing such a awful law.

Does it really make a difference? I vaca in CT with a friend that lives there and they passed a law against cell use while driving. Now we play a game to see how many Suburban Housewives driving in there SUV we can count while going down the road. I can’t even get out of the parking lot at the grocery store without counting to at least 3 or 4 :-P

When will we learn that you cannot legislate stupidity away? First it was seat belts, then cell phone usage, next they’ll be telling us how many squares of TP we can use per visit to the john. When NYS passed the seat belt law, they said they wouldn’t pull people over just because they didn’t have their seat belts on… now they have campaigns that warn you they’re specifically going after the seat belt scofflaws (statistically, most of which are non-affluent rural males driving older pickups out where accidents are fewest). Is wearing a seatbelt smart? You bet. Is NOT wearing it a crime, Hell no! It’s a personal choice!

Back to the cell phone, I have made driving errors while legally fumbling for my headset so I could be legal… but NEVER when I just answered the thing. It’s legal to talk on a 2-way radio (CB/VHF/HAM) - how is that different?

I forgot what book it was…. Atlas Shrugged (Rand) or 1984 (Orwell), or the like… but it was pointed out that the government cannot control (or drain the wallet of) an innocent man… so hundreds of stupid little laws are passed so that Everyone is guilty of something, they just have to dig a bit. And then you can pay up or say hello to the funny bracelets.

Anti-Cell-Phone Laws - like seat belt laws and so many others - are just another example of what government is really about (for the last 40 years or so). Money and Power. Anybody who tells you different is either a liar or too naive to listen to.

It seems that there is no law concerning the use of hand held cell phones while driving in N.J. I have seen school bus drivers with a loaded bus on the phone 18wheelers just gabbing away ambulance drivers with lights and sirens going with the phone in use even cops just driving marked units gabbing away i was a police officer for 25 years and have never seen a law violated as often as this one not that i wish any one any harm but i hope i get hit by a bus driver talking on a cell phone i’ll never have to work again

most people cant walk and pass gas let alone drive and talk on a cell phone what is so important that you need to talk all the time on the phone what did we ever do before we had them

[...] The lawmakers might as well include this in their legislation. Some states are legislating against cell phone use, including text messaging, while driving. You just know that there are going to be some people who will be catching up with their latest videos, while motoring down the road. [...]

It is absolutely outrageous and unconstitutional that there are laws against talking on a cell phone while driving. First, the issue regarding hand held phones vs head sets is a misguided one as the real problem is not how many hands are on the wheel but rather a state of mind known as ‘divided attention’. Yes, it is certainly true that many people are not adapt at multi-tasking - and those people should have the insight to know what they are and are not capable of doing and make responsible decisions. But where do the lines get drawn in terms of the law?? There is no difference between the brain’s attention during conversation that is over the phone vs conversation that is with a passenger in the car. Does that mean that all conversation should be outlawed while driving? Is the driver permitted to talk but not change the radio station? pick his nose? where does this kind of dictatorship end?

Use of a cell phone in an auto that is moving is a dangerous thing to do. how often, after being on a cell phone , do you realize that you have traveled many miles and do not remember where you have gone. you can get into an accident very easily and hurt someone. using the ear piece is like talking to a passenger who is in your car and that can be a distraction also. but you can not legislate everything in life.

Okay, to all the people out there talking about 2-way CB, Ham, and other band radios… how many DECADES have truckers (i.e. my dad, trucking from 1971 until today) used 2-way radios?

CB chatter is much more sporadic, and with automatic retracting mics, you can just release the mic if you wind up needing to make evasive actions to avoid a wreck.