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U.S. Goverment Shames Texting Drivers on Twitter (theverge.com) 293

An anonymous reader writes: "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the federal body tasked with automotive safety," reports the Verge, adding "If you look at NHTSA's Twitter feed right now, you'll find that it's just a non-stop stream of burns aimed at people who admit -- sometimes gleefully -- that they text and drive."

For example, seeing a tweet that read, "I have no problem texting while driving, but I won't text while going down stairs, the NHTSA replied "You might not have a problem with the texting & driving...but we do. Stay off your phone and #justdrive - it's not worth it." And seeing a tweet that read "I text and drive way too much," they responded, "Um, agreed... Please realize you're putting yourself and others in danger, and a silly text isn't worth it. #justdrive".

The Verge argues "For what it's worth, NHTSA is right: countless studies have linked texting in the driver's seat with higher accident rates... Getting shamed online by a government agency is far harsher than getting shamed by a friend -- but it's still a lot better than getting killed over an email." To which the NHTSA responded on Twitter, "Thanks for the shoutout, .@verge! #justdrive"
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U.S. Goverment Shames Texting Drivers on Twitter

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  • by 110010001000 ( 697113 ) on Monday April 25, 2016 @06:09AM (#51981475) Homepage Journal
    My ex-girlfriends shame me all the time on Twitter. Just not about texting and driving.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 25, 2016 @06:51AM (#51981575)

    My dad was killed by a texting driver while he rode his bike. The whole thing was caught on his camera, and in the video from his rear-facing camera, you can even see, in crystal clear high definition, that the driver's head is looking down towards her lap the whole time.

    She got a ticket for failure to yield right of way. That's it. No manslaughter despite her obvious negligence.

  • by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Monday April 25, 2016 @07:40AM (#51981789) Homepage

    I wish they would pull over texting drivers and then punch them in the face.

    there is NO REASON.... to text while driving. NONE... and if you do it you deserve a punch in the face for risking others with your selfish behavior.

  • by tkrotchko ( 124118 ) on Monday April 25, 2016 @08:56AM (#51982199) Homepage

    The headline:

    "U.S. Goverment Shames Texting Drivers on Twitter "

    Is what should be shamed. Stare at it for a while, boys.

  • by King_TJ ( 85913 ) on Monday April 25, 2016 @09:01AM (#51982235) Journal

    I wish more people would at least stop and think first.

    In more and more cities, I'm seeing situations where a person is given a citation for "texting while driving" even though their vehicle is stopped at a red traffic light. These are often the folks who were trying to COMPLY with the law by not touching their phone until they knew they reached a red light, where it was finally safe to take a quick look at what was sent to them.

    For example, in the DC metro area, we recently had a cop dressed up like a homeless person on the side of the road begging (except the sign he was holding explained that he was a law enforcement officer). He was handing out "texting while driving" tickets to people at the intersection, at the red light!

    When I pointed this out to a girl I know who was ranting about the "need to lock people up and throw away the key" for texting while driving, she just shot back, "Good! The people using their phone while sitting in the car ANYPLACE should be punished! Anything to make us safer!" That's the mentality in America that always scares me.

    • Drunk driving laws similarly punish those who are trying to do the right thing. If you leave the bar thinking you're good to drive, then at some point on the highway realize you are not, the responsible thing to do is pull over and sleep it off. However, that makes you a sitting duck for cops looking for drunk drivers. There have been people who, after the bar closed, went to sleep in the backseat of their car (while still in their parking space) and were hit with drunk driving charges.

      Thus the "safer" (

      • by King_TJ ( 85913 )

        Really? Wow.... That's an utterly stupid interpretation of the law. I was always told that in order to be issued a DWI or DUI, they had to find your keys in the ignition. (That seems a little arbitrary in and of itself. I don't see how it can be construed that you were operating the motor vehicle if the engine isn't even running AND you weren't even necessarily in the driver's seat.) But at least that's an easy enough thing to remedy. Just make a mental note that if you're going to "sleep it off" in your ca

    • I'm seeing situations where a person is given a citation for "texting while driving" even though their vehicle is stopped at a red traffic light.

      You mean the assholes who text through most of the green light so they are the only ones who make it through?

      Fuck them just as much, they are just as dangerous since they end up causing road rage for the 20 cars behind them

  • Insurance companies should create a smartphone app that monitors whether you text while driving and gives a discount to drivers who don't.
    • But... but... but... I don't have a smartphone.

      One major reason is because of stupid ideas like "if you have nothing to hide, just let everyone (not just the government) spy on you."

  • by SirMasterboy ( 872152 ) on Monday April 25, 2016 @09:07AM (#51982273)

    Doesn't every phone have voice control these days?

    Between Google Now, Siri, and Cortana everyone should easily be able to send off a text completely eyes-free via voice. I use Siri to do it and haven't had a problem dictating or hearing her read the incoming. It's built right into the vehicle's own CarPlay system.

  • I'm not seeing any correlation in the data
    https://imgur.com/Ooa6Etr [imgur.com]

  • > you'll find that it's just a non-stop stream of burns ... "You might not have a problem with the texting & driving...but we do."

    Oh, snap! Harsh!

    Regardless, I agree with the sentiment. Each time you're stopped the punishment so double. First time $200, second $400, etc. with no cap. Will it stop the problem? Not entirely. But it'll get awfully expensive for the asshats who insist of sharing whatever the hell it is they're texting.
  • A large part of the problem is diverting attention from driving, which applies to yapping on the phone, fiddling with the stereo, eating, reading, swilling coffee, and quite a few other things some drivers do. But I've noticed that most of the horrible incidents in my corner of the world (yeah, no scientific data here) have accompanied looking down and texting or looking down at the stereo, etc. So at the expense of increasing texting, at least all of these diversions could use displays routed to the windsc
  • The Verge argues "For what it's worth, NHTSA is right: countless studies have linked texting in the driver's seat with higher accident rates... Getting shamed online by a government agency is far harsher than getting shamed by a friend -- but it's still a lot better than getting killed over an email." To which the NHTSA responded on Twitter, "Thanks for the shoutout, .@verge! #justdrive"

    If the government does something "harsh" to a citizen, that's a punishment. The problem here isn't that the harsh action i

  • Cops have normally 2 phones, laptop and a radio. They will be looking up information while driving, calling other officers about issues and incidents, and talking on the radio. They are multitasking WAY too much in the car.

    The average person will most likely use bluetooth or have a car read texts now, so the issue is going away. But not for police.

    So you want to give a felony to citizen drivers but allow cops to text. Thats interesting.

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