Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hand held devices and the law?

My Friend,,

It is my observation that law enforcement people are not any more capable of multitasking while driving than anyone else. The years I worked patrol I would pull over to read my MDT (computer). Handling the radio is one thing, but attempting to read call notes while dodging extremely unpredictable cars/drivers who tend to do virtually anything when the overhead lights come on, is exceedingly dangerous.

The dispatchers used to get extremely irritated with me when I was running code, as I would ask for info over the radio.

Their reply was "check your call notes"

My typical reply would be: "I am running code, I am not going to take my eyes off the road".

It made them mad and a few times they complained to my bosses.

Zero fuggs given was pretty much my answer. I am not going to wrap up a car, injure myself, someone else, and/or not make it to the call, all because I was distracted.

If it was something that was sensitive and could not be broadcast, then you simply pulled over and read it.

The punchline is that LE people crash frequently due to being distracted due to cell phone, MDTs, etc. A lot of guys earn days off without pay, letters of reprimand, etc, all due to these things.

Humans are humans, no matter their job, or to paraphrase "I am the only one profeshunal enough to handle dis Glock Fortay"...

Merry Christmas!

The only time I shot out the window of a moving vehicle with a handgun while driving drunk, I lost the handgun. It's a Jennings .22 in case anyone found one.

Mackey.

Darn shame more of your brothers don't have your humility.


That topic has often been on my mind regarding hands free laws.
If I was king,
Any device moving 10 mph would go into sleep mode.

Travis ( Dave ) izatyou ( is that you ) ?

Thanks Mackay. Well thought and well written.

April 2013
NTSB: Pilot's texting contributed to medevac crash,( incident date August 26, 2011, concerning AS350 B2, N352LN )
NTSB issued a safety alert after accident investigators ruled that texting by the pilot of an air medical helicopter
contributed to a crash that killed all four people on board.

The five-member board that looked into the cause of the August 2011 crash unanimously agreed that it was caused by
a distracted and tired pilot who skipped preflight safety checks, which would have revealed his helicopter was low on fuel.

Investigators believe Freudenberg engaged in an extensive text conversation with a colleague about dinner plans while
he was conducting mandatory pre-flight checks of his helicopter.

Because of those distractions, Freudenberg missed two opportunities to detect that his helicopter did not have sufficient fuel
for his mission, investigators said.
When Freudenberg finally noticed his fuel was low, he was half-way through the first leg of his flight.
He arrived at the hospital, picked up the patient, and looked for an alternate, closer destination to refuel.
But his 13-minute stop was again disrupted by a private text conversation, and he took off after miscalculating
that he could reach his destination.

The pilot, James Freudenberg, 34, of Rapid City, S.D., sent 25 text messages and received 60 more during the course
of his 12-hour shift, including 20 messages exchanged during the hour and 41 minutes before the crash.
As a former Army helicopter pilot who served in Iraq, had worked for the company just under a year.

He misled his company's communications center that he had adequate fuel for the mission, radioing from the hospital
that he had 45 minutes of fuel when he had only 30 minutes.

The NTSB said other factors leading to the crash included the pilot's inability to perform a crucial flight maneuver
[transition to autorotation in prescribed time] after he ran out of fuel.

Pilot likely was fatigued, having failed to take advantage of his adequate off-duty hours to get sleep.


from NTSB;
Distraction due to non-operational use of personal electronic devices during flight and ground operations:

The pilot’s texting, which occurred while flying, while the helicopter was being prepared for return to service,
and during his telephone call to the communication specialist when making his decision to continue the mission,
was a self-induced distraction that took his attention away from his primary responsibility to ensure safe flight
operations.


NTSB Safey Alert 025 , May 2013.
https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-alerts/Documents/SA_025.pdf

Well Girlhunter, how about it ? Are you Travis ( Dave ) in disguise ? Write like he does.

Thanks for that relevant post. Pretty sad news, and not an isolated case. Anyone interested can also google Chatsworth commuter collision.

Laws like those banning hand held devices are more about enhancing the revenue stream than they are about promoting public safety

I could believe that, if they were actually enforceable. Actual citations with any real cost seem to be rare.

Yep!!!

PREZACTLY

Couldn’t be. He didn’t mention TX sucks. 😜

for the record, in my area, cyclists running red lights are [by far] more common than people texting while driving.
in fact such type cyclists are a daily occurrence plague...one can see individuals, or various size groups of them
running the red as a staggered or strung out pack, on their commute to work.

1999

5-speed Blazer , hamburger in my right hand, kyocera phone on my shoulder, 20oz mt dew in my lap. Right light to red light

Grover-IV aka silent Bob...packin the bowl. I told him it's your turn bitch.

I had cognivities to spare.

Seen some chicks do some great juggling acts with steering wheel, phone and lipstick-
..all while looking in rear view mirror to apply such, ..

The irony of a poster who defends pedal bikes on highways complaining about someone delaying his commute. TFF

What pray tell would be the appropriate charge for the arrogant homo coasting along in his spandex on a bicycle delaying traffic and endangering everyone else on the blind turns etc?

Followup - Idaho will most likely soon have a handheld law. It just passed the senate 30-5 and it's highly likely it will soon pass the house, too. It not only prohibits hand held phones but also prohibits driving with with headphones or while watching a video.

It was earlier commented that Idaho had nullified a hand held law in Boise. They nullified all local laws to avoid a patchwork of laws that confused drivers. They're going for a single state-wide law.

I cant honestly say that we have seen an increase is MVA's since the proliferation of cell phones.

We predicted that the roads would turn red. Has not happened here.

The Idaho bill outlaws headphones. I wonder if that includes the goofy looking bluetooth gizmos that I see sticking out of people's ears.