Cell Phone Bans Not Reducing Crash Rates, Study Says

I found this story on KTLA News.
California’s law against using hand-held cell phones while driving did not help reduce accident rates, according to a new study. Insurance claims were compared from Cali, NY, Connecticut and D.C. before and after the cell phone law took place. The report says, “HLDI found no fluctuations in collision rates.” Adrian Lund said, “The laws aren’t reducing crashes, even though we know that such laws have reduced hand-held phone use, and several studies have established that phoning while driving increases crash risk.” Lund thinks the lack of decreased accidents is because of hands-free devices instead which “may have the same accident rates as hand-held devices.”

My first opinion about this is how making a law to not use cell phones (talking or texting) while driving is probably a good idea. My second opinion is, the accidents may not have decreased because people may not have followed the law to its full extent.

There are so many people who drive and text, or who talk on their hand-held phones while driving. However, this should be a law, I think they are going way overboard with the whole thing. Although in California and other states it says that it’s using any type of cellular device while driving, I think I would have to disagree to some extent. I bet half the people in California still use their cell phones while driving, and that is probably a huge reason the car accident rate has not moved after the law was set in. California now thinks it is the hands-free devices as well that play a role together with cell phones. Not sure how true or factual this is, but if people can’t drive with an ear piece in and talk and still have both hands on the wheel for driving, then people probably shouldn’t be driving at all. Having an ear piece in to talk on the phone, would be no different than having a passenger sitting next to you in the car talking. Texting while driving would be as dangerous as changing the radio station in your car while you are on the road. There are so many things that are the cause of accidents, but unless you take radios, passengers and other distractions out of each and every vehicle, I’m not sure how they can make people not use their cell phones while driving.

I’m not saying that cell phones are not the cause of accidents, nor that accidents aren’t cause from cell phone use; but there are so many other things that do the same thing. I agree with the fact that there are so many teens nowadays texting and driving and they are so inexperienced with driving as it is, they probably don’t need to be multitasking in such a dangerous situation, when they are still learning. It seems like in this report they are trying hard to make up an excuse to make a new law for driving. Although they are trying to make the roads safer, I think they are trying too hard. Since the “hand-held” devices didn’t change the accident rates, they moved on to “hands-free” devices. I have a feeling they aren’t going to stop until there is nothing left to take away. Let’s just hope that the next law helps.

I Need To Vent

My mother left when I was 2 years old, and my brother was 4 years old. We lived with my father who did what he could to raise us. When I was 9 or 10 years old my dad married my step-mom Loretta, who I fell in love with and who loved me as well. This woman has been my everything, the only mother figure I had and needed, and paid attention to me since my father wouldn’t. I grew up with a father not around and a step mom who worked long hours and spent every second home with us. I had two step brothers who were both younger than my brother and I, and we fought just like any other brother-sister relationship would.

My biological mother started to come around when I was 17 years old. I wasn’t sure what to think, but was happy at the same time. I had always been so curious about her, and wondered why she was never around. When her and my dad were married, she got pregnant with someone else’s baby. She left my brother and I with my dad, and went with the new guy (who was an old boyfriend) and raise their baby together. She had her perfect little family and wanted nothing to do with her past (us).
I am 22 years old and Loretta and my father are divorced as of about 9 months ago. Loretta is still my mother and loves me like I am her child despite the fact that legally we are not. She loves and accepts my children as her own grandchildren, and would do anything for us. My dad left her for someone 15 years older than he is. Mind he is 45 and his new girlfriend is 60. My father believes I would be a “threat” to him and his new relationship because I still talk to Loretta, who has been more of a parent to me than he ever was. I have not talked with my father for the past 8-9 months now.

My son is turning 1 on February 5th. I’m confused as to if I should invite my father and my biological mother. He doesn't know anything about my son. Wasn't there when he started crawling, or standing up, or took his first steps, or even when he got his first teeth. Does he deserve to be there? Loretta will be there for sure and I think it will ruin the party if my dad showed up with his new girlfriend and started a fight. As for my biological mother, she has been trying so hard to be grandma, and I have pushed her away. She didn’t want anything to do with me and my brother as we were growing up because it was the hard thing to do at the time. But now she wants to be grandma because it’s the easy part. She can come and go as she pleases and not have any full responsibility. Being grandma would be so much easier than being parent. I have a lot of anger built up over the past 20 years from her, and I feel like she doesn’t deserve to be a grandmother to my son. I don’t want her to back out of his life like she did mine when it gets hard. So I think I will probably not invite either of them.

It’s sad that I have no biological parent on either side (mother/father) that is worth a shi*t. My dad is the most selfish person I know and will ever meet, and my mom thinks everything is everything else’s fault. She even tried to blame my husband for keeping her away from our son, even though I was the one who told her not to call anymore. Officially the only family I have is my “real” mother, Loretta. I talk to my Aunt and Grandma occasionally, and my brother barely wants anything to do with me due to my fighting with my father. It sucks that my kids won’t get to meet my whole family, and how I don’t have a father to introduce to them as grandpa. I feel so alone sometimes and I am very fortunate that my husband has such a close, big, excepting family who loves me. Just not sure what to tell my kids when they get old enough, “sorry kids, you don’t have a grandpa on my side because your grandpa is a d*ck.” That’s exactly what I don’t want to tell them. I guess it’s a good they are young and haven’t caught on yet.

Just needed to vent, and typed twice as much as I thought.

Update!

It's been 4 weeks since my husbands surgery and he is doing very well. He still has pain of course but he has good pain meds that help him deal with it. He thinks the back pain before the surgery is now gone, but we'll have to wait a few more weeks to see.

Christmas was great this year. We bought our 7 and 4 year old kids each a four-wheeler, they were so excited. He took like 13 steps in a row by himself, we were so excited. I bought my husband a Call of Duty XBox, and he bought me a Dooney and Bourke purse and some knee high boots. And my youngest son is 11 months old today, and he was opening his presents by himself. Although he tried to eat the wrapping paper as he pulled it off his presents. He also just started walking on New Years. He was sitting in the room with me while I was wrapping the kids presents and his, and I let him see the Tickle Me Elmo we bought him and when he saw me wrapping it, he started crying. He loves his Elmo. lol

New Years was fun. We had both my step children and my 11 month old son and we all stayed up and ate pizza, played the Wii and waited for the countdown. This was the first time my kids were up late enough for the countdown, so it was really fun.