Reader comments
Utah scientific: Cell-phone driving risks affirmed

awsomeron | 3:26 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

On the Military Bases in Hawaii, you cannot use your Cell Phone and Drive, and they mean it.

oldman | 5:14 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Well the research is in. Probably ten years before anything is even done about it.

kitchy | 6:12 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

When is the State of Utah going to stop people from using cell phones while driving. I have had so many near misses and it is always someone talking on a cell phone. Legislators, we want change in this arena! We are tired of this being overlooked. Do something today! PLEASE! Lives are on the line. If you read this article you have a responsibility to not let this continue.

Comments continue below

Talk & Drive? | 7:02 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Safety is the 1st issue Don't talk and Drive,

You're Kidding, Right? | 7:23 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Driving up near the capitol, I was nearly been t-boned once, almost hit by a car leaving the underground parking lot, and stuck behind a car leaving the same parking lot - and all were because the driver was on a cell phone. The other similarity - all had House District X or Senate District X plates. Those bone heads who represent you and me have super egos to feed, and, as you read in the article, it's that ego that allows them to believe they are able to multi-task. If you think they are going to pass a law that limits what they do, you had better think again. Think "Ethics."

Former New Yorker | 7:25 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

When New York passed the law that banned using a handheld cell phone, many people no longer used teh phone while driving. Unfortunately, many people still refused to comply with the law. From what I've seen in Utah, many more people would ignore the law, believing they know better than anyone how they drive (unaware at how much they are deceiving themselves). It is unbelievable that so many people can't even back out of a parking place without first getting on the cell phone.

Like so many others, we have seen far too many people who are on cell phones and not aware of the problems they are causing. And once people have been used to using a phone while driving, they are very opposed to giving it up!

The sooner a law is passed, the better.

MMM | 7:34 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

The other day I was trying to get into the Fwy and it was impossible 'cause the lady in front of me was TEXTING!!!

Utah people PLEASE do not use your cell phone while you are driving, without cell phone you are the worsed drivers in US, with cell phone doesnt make any better!!!

Hands-free | 7:52 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Just go hands-free and ban texting while driving like we did in California. It's a simple solution.

uncannygunman | 8:00 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Hopefully this whole debate leads to a reevaluation of what we mean by "impaired" or "non-impaired" drivers. I'm certainly not going to take any lectures for driving after a few beers from someone who yaks on their cell phone while driving. On the flip side, I think it is probably a REALLY bad idea to talk on your cell phone while driving drunk.

GCF | 8:19 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Once elected, our state administrative and legislative feel little compunction to listen to the voice of those who elected them...they send out a sense of elitism...

Wwhile, I prefer fewer laws as better, there are sadly times when such are necessary to replace "good sense" when good judgment is missing...we need to have a law in Utah that (1) prohibits cell phone use while driving (recognizing anyone can pull over and stop in an emergency); (2) provides high monetary and public service penalties for those who feel they are the exception and not subjecet to the law; and (3) provides for the revoking of a licese when one is on his or her cell phone while involved in or has cause an accident, and when a death results provides for standard "criminal" penalties...

How sad it should have to come down to this...all of which would be totally unnecessary is good people would just use common sense (which, sadly again, is seriously missing in our great state)...

Stunned | 8:43 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

No offense to the article, but it's a no brainer that driving while on a cell phone is hazardous. They're excellent for emergencies but not for chatting.

NO ROAD CELLS | 8:59 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

I cannot count the times that we have had a near miss accident with some women out there texting on her cell phone who wasn't concentrating on her driving. Then when you honk for them to move and get out of the middle of the intersection they usually egnore you or turn and flip their middle finger at you. These bimbos are the worst drivers on the road and need to be ticked by a cop. I wonder how many deaths are caused from these bimbos texting?

THINGS NEED TO CHANGE.

woody | 9:08 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Hey "handsfree", the article says that is not any better. I was rear ended by someone on their cell phone. It is time to ban cell phones while driving period, no hands free, no texting, just 'shut up and drive'. And yes, Utah drivers are terrible, they don't need any other distractions.

Utah Driver | 9:23 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Woody, are you not a Utah driver?

What about eating while driving, or dealing with kids in the backseat while driving - let's ban those, too. In fact, let's outlaw anyone riding in the passenger seat and put a wall between the front seat and the passenger cabin like in cabs - that way there is nothing to distract the driver.

We should also pull out every radio in every car - every GPS device, even police scanners should be avoided. After all, lives are on the line here!

Linda F | 9:23 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

More than once I have pulled up next to another driver who has been talking on their cell phone and I have told them politely that they have weaving all over the road-they look stupified. I have seen so many drivers run stop signs and red lights. Sure I have a cell phone and last month I had a big 15 min of use on it and that was 100% non driving use. Something very serious needs to happen regarding talking and texting which is even more dangerous than talking. I suspect the good old boys of the GOP won't do anything because God forbid they don't want to take away someone rights.

EM | 9:25 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

What gets me are those air-headed "mothers" with kids in their oversized SUV's and talking on the cell and speeding down I-15. Whenever I come to Utah I see this happening and it's so frustrating. But it's not only in Utah, it's everywhere. We've become a society of non-caring people. I know it's a fantasy, but cell phones should be banned, period. We got on fine without them years ago, life was so much easy, less stressful. And those people who bring and answer their cell phones at church - I say shame on you. Unless you're a doctor on call, keep you cell phone at home. And when you do answer your phone, NO ONE CARES who you are talking to, so keep your voice down!!

Woody | 10:10 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Utah Driver, yes I am a Utah driver. I came here 3 years ago from AZ. I have never seen so many red lights run since I have been here. It seems if you are within a couple car lengths and the light turns red, not yellow but red, you still go through. The article said passengers were less distracting than cell phones. If children are a distraction then the driver should pull over and deal with the problem. I am applauded when I see police officers looking at their computers while driving. Radios and GPS devices can alert a driver of traffic problems in their route, I don't believe that equates to driving with one hand and talking on a cell phone.

JOE | 10:38 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

PLEASE - stop talking on your cell phones while driving. It's been proven over and over again that people can not talk on their phones without being distracted from their driving. Everyone thinks they are the exception but they are wrong. You are endangering me and yourself - not to mention being a complete pain to drive behind. While you are at it, please stop talking on your phone in public - we don't want to hear it - not in the stores, not in the movie theaters, not anywhere. Please hang up and get a life!

Selfish people | 10:50 a.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Hey Utah DRIVER...you need to make an effort to watch your kids or stay off the road, and off your cell. Quit feeling sorry for yourself! There needs to be regulations for cell phones used on the road rather you care about anyone else's life or not-- besides just yourself!

food for thought. | 12:23 p.m. Dec. 1, 2008

But it's still ok to eat a cheeseburger while i balnce my fries and try to open one of those darned ketchup packets, right? I think the point of safe drving is important but it's being taken out on cell phones. There are plenty of ways to be distracted - cell phones being just one of them. Why more anger over a phone than the fast food in my lap?
And BTW, cell phone use is banned on all Army installations, not just in Hawaii. The ban may be DoD wide actually.

Hah! | 1:15 p.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Correlation is not Causation, this study is in no way broad enough to come up with any definitive data, now if they had tested ten times as many people, in actually driving conditions that may be something, but simulators are not anywhere near accurate enough to test this theory.

Just A Little Respect | 1:37 p.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Some of you road delinquents with cell phones in hand need to stop making excuses for your negligence as a human being while on the road--- and get a life! And try to learn to hang up your stupid cell while driving. Try to respect the lives of others and not just your own.

Thoughts | 5:14 p.m. Dec. 1, 2008

Every state allows an individual to drive after having a beer or two - Utah has one of the most stringent DUI standards out there 0.08 - but this still leaves room for people to drive after drinking.

It is only if people who have had something to drink demonstrate impairment that they are pulled over. The same goes for persons driving on cell phones - Driving while talking should not, in and of itself be banned, but, like drunk driving, it should be discouraged and punished when it affects driving.

In Utah, the law increases penalties if there is an infraction that includes using a cell phone. We could possibly beef that up more to cause more severe penalties for driving while talking, but to outlaw the practice as a whole seems a little too nanny-ish. After all, we're not California.

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