When is whoever is in charge of traffic laws going to raise the fine for talking on a cellphone when moving in or on a vehicle with a motor? I think it’s likely to be the same time helmet laws get stricter and that particular fine increases.
Dealing with “idiots” on the road is bad enough but I’m fed up of nearly getting hit by some idiot because she or he was talking on his/her cellphone. How many local drivers/riders actually realise it is punishable offense?
It’s a punishable offence? 
The “punishment” is a fine of about NT$1000 from memory.
I do it all the time - not a great habit, but nothing I feel too awkward about. Anyway, I get a lot of business taken care of behind the wheel. I drive one-handed most of the time anyway - with an automatic, small-sized car, it’s no big deal.
PS It’s been proven that “hands-free” and speaker phone units do nothing to improve driver safety. It’s not the physical telephone in one’s hand that distracts, but the conversation.
[quote=“Maoman”]I do it all the time - not a great habit, but nothing I feel too awkward about. Anyway, I get a lot of business taken care of behind the wheel. I drive one-handed most of the time anyway - with an automatic, small-sized car, it’s no big deal.
PS It’s been proven that “hands-free” and speaker phone units do nothing to improve driver safety. It’s not the physical telephone in one’s hand that distracts, but the conversation.[/quote]
Yes, and it’s also been proven that using a cell phone while driving kills over 3500 people a year in America alone. I went back to Canada for a few weeks and we stopped at a crosswalk to let some people cross and the car in the next lane over came to a screeching halt…slid maybe twenty feet on locked up tires…look over and sure enough he’s still got his cell phone in his hand.
Why don’t you admit to driving drunk while your at it Maoman. I guess the saftey of others comes second to your “buisness”.
Yes, but nothing comes between me and good spelling. ~ahem~
I also rarely wait an hour after eating before going swimming. 
I watched this thing on alcohol where they took some average people (males and females of various ages) and a professional motorcycle driver. Had them do a driving test, liquored them up above the limit and they went at it again.
They all failed, except for the pro. who got a 100 both times. Even though some people might be able to handle it, I think most would agree that drinking and driving should not be done.
No matter what the skill level, I would recommend driving, talking or having sex while driving because it WILL reduce your focus on the road.
Yes, but nothing comes between me and good spelling. ~ahem~
I also rarely wait an hour after eating before going swimming. [/quote]
Thousands of people dead every year in America alone thanks to something you freely admit to doing. But at least you can joke about it :loco: . The swimming comparison is a stupid one because that endangers yourself…unlike driving recklessly which endangers others. I wonder if the driver in Yang-Mei that killed the young girl in front of the school was some hot rodder trying to show off…or just a normal adult who wasn’t giving driving the proper respect and concentration that it deserved.
On a side note…I find it interesting that if terrorists kill a few thousand people by blowing up a building, America goes crazy…goes to war…and spends a few billion dollars beefing up security. If cell phones kill a few thousand people EVERY SINGLE YEAR…oh well, that’s fine.
They could spend some of their defense budget on putting cell phone jamming devices in all new cars…and possibly old ones as well. Or they could buy more bombs from companies the president owns stock in and send thousands of young kids off to their deaths.
[Moderator’s note: “Just ride a bike…” comments and replies split to this thread:
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?p=357611 ]
P.S. A lot of forums have rules specifically about not insulting other people’s spelling…why?..because it’s pretty much the lamest insult there is…“You say I endanger people’s lives with my selfishness?!? Well…ummm…you spell badly!!! Haha…I rule”
You see?..it doesn’t translate well in a mature discussion.
ok guys, everyone has their opinion. Yes, driving while talking on the phone is responsible for many accidents resulting in serious injuries and sometimes death. All one can do is pass the good word around and try to lead by example. Besides, it’s not like the hicks in govt are close to doing anything about it!
Yakking on the phone without a hands-free kit is illegal in Taiwan. The cops in Taipei certainly used to hand out hundreds (if not thousands) of fines a week from their telephoto-lens camera teams. More than a few of my friends here in Taichung have been ticketed for it.
Sure, it’s not the ‘offense-of-the-month’ any longer, but the law is still in place. BTW, you can make it hard for people to chat on the phone in traffic with lots of unnecessary and gratuitous horn use. 
The correlation between cell phone use and traffic accidents in the US is coming under scrutiny from many quarters. I wouldn’t be surprised if some legislation doesn’t come about. Of course it’s going to take some time and study. The civil rights groups and motoring associations will (quite rightly) wonder where the line will drawn, changing CDs while moving?, scratching your balls?, chatting with a backseat passenger? It’s not something that the federal government can move on overnight without a lot of backlash.
Oh, and Mordeth, will you get off this anti-car trip of yours already? A lot of people are carrying more than one passenger and/or more stuff than be safely carried on a motorcycle. Give the ‘cagers are stoopid’ thing a rest ok? The way you wank on this issue makes it sound like there’s no possible excuse for using any other form of transport save the one you have a hard-on for. 
I’ve met Taiwanese who won’t use their cellphones when they are driving/riding. They pull over, stop then talk, simply ignore the phone or turn it off. This is something I do too.
In New Zealand it was made illegal to converse on a telephone in a moving vehicle maybe nearly ten years ago. The odds of hitting someone and causing further injury have to be far less in a country with an incredibly small population. Here the odds go up, obviously.
I feel guilty if I runover a small animal when I’m riding.
[quote=“Maoman”]I do it all the time - not a great habit, but nothing I feel too awkward about. Anyway, I get a lot of business taken care of behind the wheel. I drive one-handed most of the time anyway - with an automatic, small-sized car, it’s no big deal.
PS It’s been proven that “hands-free” and speaker phone units do nothing to improve driver safety. It’s not the physical telephone in one’s hand that distracts, but the conversation.[/quote]
Just like the stupid selfish twat who hit me this very morning. Bet he wouldn’t feel awkard if he killed me either.
You think using a mobile phone is equal to eating before swimming?
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”][quote=“Maoman”]I do it all the time - not a great habit, but nothing I feel too awkward about. Anyway, I get a lot of business taken care of behind the wheel. I drive one-handed most of the time anyway - with an automatic, small-sized car, it’s no big deal.
PS It’s been proven that “hands-free” and speaker phone units do nothing to improve driver safety. It’s not the physical telephone in one’s hand that distracts, but the conversation.[/quote]
Just like the stupid selfish twit who hit me this very morning. Bet he wouldn’t feel awkard if he killed me either.
You think using a mobile phone is equal to eating before swimming?[/quote]
Agreed :bravo: :bravo: :bravo:
hoo boy it’s gettin’ warm in here.
I haven’t seen a debate like this since the great smoking debate of '05.
How is it better if you’re using a hands-free device? If bad driving weren’t blamed on phones it would be blamed on something else.
[quote=“21p”]How is it better if you’re using a hands-free device? If bad driving weren’t blamed on phones it would be blamed on something else.[/quote]Of course drivers occasionally take a hand off the wheel with one hand to do something else, momentarily. Change a CD, fiddle with the AC settings, adjust the mirror etc. etc. They could need that hand on the wheel if the situation suddenly demanded it, but given that they would have both hands on the wheel at all times, it would be bad luck if were caught out.
OTOH, I see people all the time who are trying to hold hour-long chat marathons while driving. Some of them are trying to have business meetings with day planners, PDAs and file folders, as well as hold the phone, and somehow control the car. At least with a hands-free kit you still have both hands on the wheel if the shit hits the fan during your telethon.
Of course you’re probably right that some people are so scatter-brained as to be unable to walk and chew gum at the same time. In fact, I think that should be part of the driving test 
You mean like drinking? Ignorance? or driving while tired? Yes, how silly of us it would be to blame things like that… 
You mean like drinking? Ignorance? or driving while tired? Yes, how silly of us it would be to blame things like that… [/quote]
You mean like excessive speeding as well. Surely that cannot have any impact on the accident figures
Driver’s of cars and other large vehicles have a huge cage that surrounds their body and passenger/s. As a driver myself, sometimes this is forgotten. Driving often means the vehicle becomes you.
‘The bastard hit me?’ means different things to different users of the road.
Be it replacing a bumper, or reconstructive surgery, it’s easy to forget as a car driver that others don’t have the same luxuries you have.
Everyone has a fair share to the road, and it’s responsibilities. This means don’t drink at all when driving, don’t talk on the phone, the list goes on. The whole point of defensive driving is you never know when something will happen. Distracting yourself whilst driving gives you a far better chance of involving yourself in an accident.
Like I said, ‘The bastard hit me’ might mean a whole lot more to the other motorist.