http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/ Engadget Comments for DOT bars bus drivers and commercial truckers from texting while driving http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 26th 2010 5:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 27th 2010 12:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 26th 2010 5:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
You do not need to see a truck driver txt'ing. The DOT can check the time that the txt was sent to the truck drivers log book. That is all they need to prove the txt with. ]]>Jan 26th 2010 7:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
1. The law doesn't ban RECEIVING texts... The law only bans SENDING texts.

2. Sending TXT's isn't going to be in a truckers log book. Unless the text is "WORK" related. PERSONAL txt's won't be logged.

3. DOT... Will need a WARRANT to view a drivers phone. Or in the process of getting pulled over. The driver can hide his "texting" phone, and only SHOW another phone to the officer. The officer checks this "Second" phone and sees no txt's were sent or received to it.

Again very very hard to ENFORCE.

It's again'st the law for COMMERCIAL Truck drives to have or use Radar detectors. Yet I know ALOT of truck drivers STILL use them & have yet to get a ticket for a radar detectors.

One other note on a Non commercial level. Radar dectectors are illegal in Virginia for EVERYONE. Yet I routinely drive though VA on a regular basis for the alst 15 years & have yet to get a ticket for my Radar Dectector. I do have Texas Plates, & it is a $2000 radar detector that is installed in my vehicle & meant to not be easily found.

Texting, or phone use will be very easy to skirt around the law & almost impossible to enforce.

TGC]]>Jan 26th 2010 8:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/So you are saying most truckdrivers are not only texting but doing it while going over the speedlimit.
I wonder what happens if you get in an accident though and logs show a text sent at that moment.
]]>Jan 26th 2010 8:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
Well when you get in a wreck, you have alot more things to worry about then a ticket for texting, or speeding. Besides that if your dead it won't really matter.

Please keep in mind. I am NOT supporting, nor am I saying that anyone SHOULD speed, or text, or smoke, or anything else, or even any combination of those activities. They shouldn't do anything except drive. ALL I am saying is that just short of a wreck it will be hard to, if impossible to enforce. This applies to commecial drivers as well as the thought to private vehicles as well.]]>Jan 26th 2010 11:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 26th 2010 5:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 26th 2010 5:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 26th 2010 5:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/no phones, period. make this happen. why the hell hasn't it yet.]]>Jan 26th 2010 6:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
Ummm, no. I don't think I'm the biggest talker in terms of minutes but if I get a call and I'm available, I want to receive it. Especially since I have family overseas in some not so safe places so if they have the opportunity to call me, I'm taking it, even if driving.

It's only thing to text and drive, your eyes aren't on the road. If you can't talk and drive, then that's a problem with yourself. You need to practice and get better at it or update your brain OS*.



*coming soon]]>Jan 26th 2010 6:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]]>Jan 26th 2010 6:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
UK laws and enforcements on the roads are ALOT different than in the USA. There are alot of things our police officers can't do in our country that your law enforcement officers can do.

Just curious though... How do you all enforce it?

]]>Jan 26th 2010 8:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
It's a fallacy that you can be trained to talk and drive at the same time. Unanimous international studies prove otherwise. Various research also illustrates that humans (particularly males) do not handle multi-tasking well at all.

From my own experience, in the majority of times I see someone driving erratically, they are on the phone. You must be the exception.]]>Jan 26th 2010 8:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
Hence our ridiculously high number of fatalities. Texting or holding the phone while driving has been banned for a good 15 years in so many countries. ]]>Jan 26th 2010 8:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Oh boohoo, you got family killing people in foreign places so you can endanger people too, yeah right.
]]>Jan 26th 2010 8:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 27th 2010 11:54AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while//wonders what the world is coming to.]]>Jan 26th 2010 5:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
No apparently. I've read of bus drivers texting and getting into accidents. And the train engineer in that one fatal California crash was texting supposedly.]]>Jan 26th 2010 5:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 26th 2010 5:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 26th 2010 5:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
Its economics, plain and simple. You'll get more money stopping people for texting and driving than you will for "inattentive driving."

Not to mention the fact that if your caught texting while driving, that's that case closed your guilty, but there is no definitive way to prove that you were "inattentive" while driving.

If a cop pulled me over and said I was "inattentive" I would say prove it and it would get thrown out, but If I'm texting its hard to beat that if my last sent message was while I was on the road.]]>Jan 26th 2010 5:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 26th 2010 5:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
I think this is going to become a very big issue, especially when these laws start applying to the masses.]]>Jan 26th 2010 5:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 26th 2010 5:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
So now we have a cop confiscating my phone? Are they going to subpoena my phone records? I highly doubt that is going down road-side.

I would say "prove I am texting"? It still goes back to the cop seeing you do it - just as he sees you swerving or otherwise driving inattentively. I am not arguing this adds to the visibility of the problem and I commend that. I just can't get over the "it's about time" attitude as if there was never a hammer in place.]]>Jan 26th 2010 6:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/In this part of the world they simply made it illegal to hold a phone while driving, doesn't matter if you call or text or watch youtubes or read the latest tablet rumors or whatever.
Seems a pretty simple fix if you think about it huh.
]]>Jan 26th 2010 8:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/19411812/detail.html]]>Jan 26th 2010 6:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 26th 2010 6:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
Same with California. I see people driving while texting/talking on cell phones all the time.]]>Jan 26th 2010 6:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
Here's when it'll get enforced more vigorously. After enough accidents where someone dies, unfortunately. THAT'S when it'll get seriously enforced, just like how drunk driving eventually was treated. Drunk drivings laws at one time were very lenient. That's how it always is, sadly. I see distracted drivers in Chicago doing the same thing and it's illegal to talk on the phone here. Enough people just haven't died from distracted drivers yet to make it serious.]]>Jan 26th 2010 7:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
Being that I am a paramedic... I have seen MANY accidents AND Deaths because of SMOKING while driving, & EATING while driving.

One other point.... HOW ARE YOU GOING TO ENFORCE THIS?????

While we would like people to drive safely and not use thier cell phones or text....

YOU AIN"T GOING TO BE ABLE TO ENFORCE THIS very easily.

Especially if your using handsfree devices, voice control, ear pieces AND have TINTED windows.

Suffice it to say.. I beleive if you CAN"T ENFORCE it... then it won't do anygood to pass the laws.

TGC]]>Jan 26th 2010 8:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/]]>Jan 26th 2010 8:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
Not really.... I could careless if you, or anyone else kills themselves slowly by smoking, doing drugs or drinking excessively.

As long as your not doing it anywhere that will HARM myself, or the ones I love then please feel free.

TGC]]>Jan 26th 2010 11:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/heartbreaking_country_ballad

well played, engadget.]]>Jan 26th 2010 10:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/1) you are brethalysed - you can refuse, but then you are assumed guilty
2) you are phonealaysed - you consent to your phone records being polled to answer the question "were any texts sent during a given time window?" - again, you can refuse in which case you are assumed guilty.
The law does not need to know who you texted, nor the content of the text, so no real privacy concerns - just a yes/no to the question "were any texts sent?"]]>Jan 27th 2010 5:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/dot-bars-bus-drivers-and-commercial-truckers-from-texting-while/Jan 28th 2010 12:10PM