Reader comments
Elderly-driver issue moving on to House

This bill should allow and hopefully allow for the reporting of any driver someone else determines is a driving risk. Including those on cell phones while driving. These cell phone driver are a higher risk than the elderly and the state liceninig bureau already has laws and requirements in place for age related driving so why the duplication? I'm hoping so I can report drivers running red lights and making illegal turns and using their cell phone while driving. I'll even take their picture to present to the courts. Cell phone drivers and drunk drivers deserve the same punisments of driving violations. Too bad this law doesn't direct more attention to the drugie drivers that are not given the criminal treatment of drivers having had a drink or two. Drivers that are tested for drugs and prove they are on a high are never charged with the DUI's they deserve nor given the criminal treatment they deserve. Yet the laws can target the elderly and call them a driving risk? More elderly are killed as pedestrians than in accidents while driving, the auto seems the safest place for the elderly to be when they leave their homes.

Great! So if we're mad at someone we don't like we can complain and complain about their driving until we get their license revoked. It would be a cheap and easy way to destroy a person you hate's life by making it hard for them to get to work etc. Look out romantic rivals, your wings are about to be clipped!

Cell phones aren't distracting unless you let them be. If you have a hands free set pushing answer would take as much time and attention as messing with the radio. When you get a new cell phone don't they usually come with an earpiece you can plug into your phone so you can have your hands free? As far as drivers under the influence of ANYTHING the punishments should be far stricter than what they are. For the people who drink and drive...they know how their body and mind reacts to drinking and they get in the car anyway. They are completely aware of what they are doing when they put that substance into their body if they want to drink and drive knowing that they are not compentent enough to drive, they deserve whatever is coming to them.

I feel this is a good law, while older dribers may have a lot of experience, they often are the cause of wrecks that they are not involved simply by not getting up to speed when merging into traffic or driving slowly causing others to take un necessary risks of passing them. As for teens, at least their refleses are faster and eyesight better

Lets consider all drivers who slow down or don't signal when they turn because they are talking on their cell phone. Then consider the teen ager in the car with other teens not paying a bit of attention to traffic or anyone else on the road, then we can work to get the senior driver off the road who is just being cautious.

what ever

I certainly agree with the comments re cell pohone drivers. In a fairly recent study, those drivers who talked on either handheld or hands-free cell phones drove slightly slower, were 9 percent slower to hit the brakes, displayed 24 percent more variation in following distance as their attention switched between driving and conversing, were 19 percent slower to resume normal speed after braking, and were more likely to crash.

for whoever was defending cell phone drivers...There's actually a study done by the UofU that talks about cell phone drivers vs. drunk drivers. if you look at it, in a lot of areas, cell phone drivers are just as dangerous as drivers that have a .08 blood alcohol limit, which is the legal limit in Utah. People know it's dangerous to talk on a cell phone and try to pay full attention while driving. But it's convenient so we do it anyway. That doesn't make it any safer than other distractions/impairments like drunk driving.