Alberta's new distracted driving legislation will come into effect September 1,

Lazybones · June 23, 2011, 03:01:27 PM

Quote from: Mr. Analog on June 23, 2011, 02:13:14 PM
C'mon, this is totally ripe for abuse, hence the cash grab statement, if the police feel like it they could pull you over and give you a ticket regardless of what you were doing.

They don't need this law to do that, they could just as easily claim you where swerving, or doing something else stupid.. However if you where staring at your crotch texting and it goes to court your phone records / chat log is going to show this and it will be hard to explain away.

I want these people with their blackberries face down, texting with both hands OFF THE ROAD.

Mr. Analog · June 23, 2011, 03:22:17 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on June 23, 2011, 03:01:27 PM
Quote from: Mr. Analog on June 23, 2011, 02:13:14 PM
C'mon, this is totally ripe for abuse, hence the cash grab statement, if the police feel like it they could pull you over and give you a ticket regardless of what you were doing.
They don't need this law to do that, they could just as easily claim you where swerving, or doing something else stupid.. However if you where staring at your crotch texting and it goes to court your phone records / chat log is going to show this and it will be hard to explain away.

I want these people with their blackberries face down, texting with both hands OFF THE ROAD.

Well, again, if they can already do that then why bother with a new law?

Darren Dirt · June 23, 2011, 03:43:37 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on June 23, 2011, 03:01:27 PM
They don't need this law to do that, they could just as easily claim you where swerving, or doing something else stupid.. However if you where staring at your crotch texting and it goes to court your phone records / chat log is going to show this and it will be hard to explain away.

Not quite true. You can claim that just before you got pulled over by the cop, you were in a parking lot and did that text/phonecall. Since times are not universally synced among services and cops, there's no way of using that at conclusive proof. In fact, it really can only come down to "his word against yours" in situations like this.

I imagine since this is open to subjective abuse, there might be a few civil lawsuits if someone feels victimized by a cop and they are innocent and the unjustified stop[/search/charges] result in them losing a client or a job or whatnot.

Quote from: Mr. Analog on June 23, 2011, 02:13:14 PM
The Police get to look like they're doing something about a serious issue (while asserting authority) meanwhile it doesn't actually prevent anything.

DING! Winner! What I was trying to say earlier ITT.

Quote from: Thorin on June 23, 2011, 01:41:10 PM
There's more than one level - there's driving dangerously, and driving without due care and attention. With this new law, there'll be another level, driving distracted.

Driving dangerously has much bigger penalties than driving without due care and attention, which has bigger penalties than the driving distracted law will have.

Very good point -- and one that is certainly not being mentioned in the media, so far anyway. btw I wonder what driving while sleep-deprived, or driving while angry at your boss/kids/spouse falls under? Cuz muttering to yourself, or talking out loud planning a big speech or rant or argument = a level of distraction that takes away from driving focus. TBH singing along with a song on the radio even reduces focus and awareness of the road and other drivers.

Lazybones · June 23, 2011, 05:35:47 PM

Greyhound Driver Caught Using iPhone While Driving http://t.co/i8ehUji

Mr. Analog · June 23, 2011, 08:06:13 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on June 23, 2011, 05:35:47 PM
Greyhound Driver Caught Using iPhone While Driving http://t.co/i8ehUji

lol, that's brutal, saw it yesterday

Lazybones · September 01, 2011, 12:17:49 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8Tx4Ktzz2I

Its now Sept 1 in Alberta.

Mr. Analog · September 01, 2011, 07:03:18 AM

Let the ticketing BEGIN

Darren Dirt · September 01, 2011, 08:33:09 AM

Quote from: Mr. Analog on September 01, 2011, 07:03:18 AM
Let the cops camping out at intersections BEGIN

fyp.

Mr. Analog · September 01, 2011, 08:47:46 AM

Quote from: Darren Dirt on September 01, 2011, 08:33:09 AM
Quote from: Mr. Analog on September 01, 2011, 07:03:18 AM
Let the cops camping out at intersections BEGIN

fyp.

Same exact thing.

Thorin · September 01, 2011, 10:14:38 AM

After being cut off twice on my drive to work today, I gotta say I wouldn't mind a few more police cruisers mixed in with traffic. One was a brand-new-ish BMW 335, the other an Acura RL (probably a year old).

I'm at the point where I'm looking at the value of my 88 Volvo and that brand new BMW that just cut me off and thinking about just ramming them off the road. Oh, and he had a phone up to his ear and didn't shoulder-check or signal before slapping his car over from one lane to the other. His rear bumper was about three feet from my front bumper after that maneuver, and of course he was travelling slower than me.

At least the Acura was traveling the same speed as me.

Mr. Analog · September 01, 2011, 10:29:54 AM

It'll be interesting to see if these new laws have any effect without significant enforcement

Melbosa · September 01, 2011, 11:56:31 AM

As I understand it, hands free devices are not part of the new law, so your cutoff guy would have to get a ticket for failure to shoulder check or driving with undo care or attention. but you are right to say that more police looking for this stuff should help.

Thorin · September 01, 2011, 12:25:24 PM

No, he'd get a ticket under this new law because he was holding a phone up to his ear.

I'd rather he get a driving without due care and attention, though, that'd be six demerit points.

These fines without demerits (distracted driving, photo radar) are terrible ideas. Rich people just pay the fine and they won't care, because it doesn't affect them. Seriously, when you're making $20,000 a month, what's a couple of $120 speeding tickets? Throw in demerits, though, and suddenly rich and poor alike will lose their license after a few speeding tickets or distracted driving tickets. Now it'll have some teeth.

Melbosa · September 01, 2011, 01:04:14 PM

Sorry read that wrong bud. Really should be paying attention to these sessions here in Vegas rather than reading the forums.

Lazybones · September 01, 2011, 01:41:19 PM

Quote from: Thorin on September 01, 2011, 12:25:24 PM
No, he'd get a ticket under this new law because he was holding a phone up to his ear.

I'd rather he get a driving without due care and attention, though, that'd be six demerit points.

These fines without demerits (distracted driving, photo radar) are terrible ideas. Rich people just pay the fine and they won't care, because it doesn't affect them. Seriously, when you're making $20,000 a month, what's a couple of $120 speeding tickets? Throw in demerits, though, and suddenly rich and poor alike will lose their license after a few speeding tickets or distracted driving tickets. Now it'll have some teeth.

The difference is this:
If you are going after demarits you really have to catch them and prove that they where doing something stupid at the time of the incident... IE Cop sees the guy cut you off while on the phone. Then he could charge the person with both really.

The new low allows a cop to pull the same guy over while he is driving in a strait line, yacking on his phone before or after the fact.

The new law could be preventative in some cases where the other is reactive to the result.

The amount of bitching about this law is insane, if you want to bitch about something pay attention to the lobbied DMCA type laws and crazy CRTC rulings that could turn you into a criminal for what is current fair use, and could sink all competition on the internet markets.