Armed with statistics and with emotional pleas, senators testified before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in Annapolis yesterday that the time is long overdue for Maryland to join the ranks of states with strict cell phone laws.
"It makes good common sense and is a very important public-safety measure," said Sen. Mike Lenett, D-Montgomery, one of the sponsors of legislation to ban the use of a hand-held phone while driving.
The Senate...
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Everyday - 2009-02-22 08:39:55
I only know this, during my morning and afternoon commute, from Annapolis to Tyson's Corner, VA, I see a lot of interesting behavior while operating a motor vehicle. However, I can firmly say that about 90% of the time, someone who almost causes an accident on 495 and rt 50, due to what appears to not paying attention, as I drive by them, they are on cell phones. I curse them under my breath everytime. Another thing, for those people who do pull over and stop to use your cell phones I applaud you, but really, use common sense while doing so; don't stop in an acceleration lane or in the middle of the road.
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Johnathan Locke - Edgewater, MD - Karma: Excellent
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Cell users don't get it.. - 2009-02-21 18:47:31
B Kibbey: You scare me! The fact that you are doing anything but driving is part of the problem. It is impossible to use your phone responsibly behind the wheel, don't you get it? Until you you understand this we will always need to spoon feed people like you with extra laws like this. Just Drive! Don't multi-task.
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Scott McDiarmid - Arnold, MD - Karma: Neutral
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An improvement - 2009-02-11 20:43:21
Just because the government can't fix all of our bad behaviors, doesn't mean it can't help with one of them. Studies and statistics show that driving while using a cell phone reduces your awareness and reflexes to a level similar to a DUI. Usually I'm not sitting changing my radio stations continually for 30 minutes straight during my drive home, but I have used my cell phone for that long, knowing I'm not as aware of the world around me as I should be.
Having learned what I have, I'm trying not to do that as much (I used to call someone on my ride home just about every day). I think the state would do well to pass the ban. Even if the ban reduces calls by a little, if it saves lives, both of victims and of guilty drivers, I think it is worth it.
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Eleanor Fox - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Absolutely Unnecessary - 2009-02-11 14:08:37
Every time I drive my car I do little things that are distracting... I sip my coffee, swap a cd, navigate with my gps, hand a toy to my child in the backseat, and yes, I take a call or two on my cell phone. So, what will this law do? It will allow a cop to pull me over for using my cell phone... but it ignores all of those other distractions. So should we create laws for all of the little distractions we face while driving? I don't think so. As a matter of fact, there are some catch all laws on the books already that could be used when those distractions turn to safety issues or accidents. One of them is called Negligent Driving. I got ticketed for it once as a teen when I flashed my high beams at a police officer. I deserved it. Why can't we just use that law to enforce unsafe / distracted driving. Passing a law like this just gives the state more right to pull me over and invade my life. The second I cause an unsafe situation due to my phone use or my milkshake or whatever it is that is distracting me, pull me over and ticket me... until then, LEAVE ME ALONE... I use my phone responsibly, even behind the wheel.
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B Kibbey - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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