# Fork truck + Texting + Concrete Wall



## solo (May 5, 2018)

Oops, Yep, He got fired. When will people learn?


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## kev74 (May 5, 2018)

Oops!  That concrete looks like its brand new.


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## GA Gyro (May 5, 2018)

Down here in GA (state)... the govt passed a 'hands free' phone law...
Starting July 1, 2018... the driver is not allowed to hold the phone while driving.  
If the phone is in a cradle, one can touch it... just not hold it.


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## Lordbeezer (May 5, 2018)

I would say at least 75 percent of motor vehicle accidents I investigated in my last 5 years of working were due to drivers paying more attention to their phone than driving...traffic is bad around my area..drivers texting.looking at phone.talking instead of driving..ought to be against the law..oh hell it already is..learned along time ago you can't fix stupid


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## Silverbullet (May 6, 2018)

Those same idiots vote too. No I'm not politicking just saying a saying. Ban the phones ban the cars. Like you said you can't fix stupid. And no one teaches common sense or pride .


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## rwm (May 6, 2018)

Drivers here are so bad, the only real solution is autonomous driving. Every one here on I85 is a Nascar driver. I got passed the other day by someone doing 100 mph on the right hand SHOULDER.
Robert


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## kev74 (May 6, 2018)

Before smart phones came out, people were crashing their cars while they were fiddling with the radio, drinking, eating, brushing hair, putting on make-up and yelling at their kids.  When I took drivers ed, one of the things we had to do was to use a map to navigate to a destination - does anyone else remember how much fun it was to use a 24"x36" paper paper map while you were driving?  Good times!

Blame the workman, not the tool.


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## Ferrous Turner (May 6, 2018)

I used to use Thomas Brothers maps all the time. Phones put them out of business. Map reading is becoming a lost art.


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## dlane (May 6, 2018)

Only one way to fix stupid , sometimes stupid fixes itself but other people get dead too


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## solo (May 6, 2018)

Oh, that concrete was only about 1 yr old. I hate when you get that first dent. I see at lot of people are miffed at all the stoopid  drivers out there. I'm 56, and I can say, I miss the old days. I'm in Summerville, S.C. and traffic is getting worse everyday. Once this remodel is done on the house we're selling and moving to the foot hills, into the quiet country.


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## kvt (May 6, 2018)

SA has passed the hands free law,   Then for a while there were more wrecks as people were trying to hide the fact they were on the phone,  Now they have gone back to do not care.   They cannot pull you over for just being on the phone,  They have to find another reason, and they do not do that.   They could spend all day just handing out tickets for other stuff,  but then they would have to give them selves tickets as well.


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## solo (May 6, 2018)

Yea, I see the police on their phones, and laptops all the time. 
When we were ready to sign for this house the seller and a group of friends were working at a military base, headed out for lunch on their motorcycles. A police officer, just dropped off his son somewhere, when they were stopped at a red light, he ran into the back of them, killing one on the spot. Her boyfriend never did recover. He's still laid up in a convalescent home. I can't remember how many got hurt. Turns out this wasn't his first accident. He drove into a concrete wall also.   Did I mention that he was drunk both times. Wow.


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## RWanke (May 6, 2018)

Life Is Tough It's Tougher When You're Stupid.  A saying that I pounded into my sons head since he was old enough to listen. I eventually shortened the saying into the acronym. 

LITITWYS

He now tells friends and strangers "A wise man use to tell me...."  
I'm so proud.


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## Lordbeezer (May 6, 2018)

There are stupid people working at every job there is.sometimes others are hurt or worse before they are labeled a stupid ass.a lot of times that's not enough to get them gone..


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## GA Gyro (May 8, 2018)

If we got rid of 'participation trophies'... and the mentality that goes behind them... and people had to suffer the consequences of their choices...
Well... 

OTOH... that is politics...
Never mind...


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## Lordbeezer (May 8, 2018)

Heard that


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## JPigg55 (May 8, 2018)

kvt said:


> SA has passed the hands free law,   Then for a while there were more wrecks as people were trying to hide the fact they were on the phone,  Now they have gone back to do not care.   They cannot pull you over for just being on the phone,  They have to find another reason, and they do not do that.   They could spend all day just handing out tickets for other stuff,  but then they would have to give them selves tickets as well.


Here in Illinois, if you're involved in an accident, the first thing the police do is check with your cell phone carrier  to see if you were on your phone at the time of the accident and ticket you if you were regardless of hands free or not.


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## jtrain (May 9, 2018)

Distracted driving with cell phones is a huge problem


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## TerryH (May 10, 2018)

I live in one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Traffic is just nuts. So many people are moving here that there is no way that we will ever catch up at the pace we are building/rebuilding the highway infrastructure. Every single day I see a huge percentage of the people around me in traffic are texting. The bad is I have to drive in that mess. The good is that I'm in the body shop business so there is a silver lining to the storm cloud. .


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## rickinlucas (May 10, 2018)

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Insurance Industry for Highway Safety gather volumes of data on crash causes. A relative works at one of them, and has access to data from both. Deaths by texting passed up death by DWI several years ago. If you toss in crippling injury with death the numbers are staggering. First half of last year ( last complete period)  data on death and crippling injury has it a 7 to 1 texting vs. DWI.
DWI included driving while under the influence of any intoxicants legal or illegal.


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## Aukai (May 11, 2018)

Maybe take away all warning labels, this may have an effect on the gene pool.


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## Eddyde (May 11, 2018)

Legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog made this powerful short documentary on the horrific cost of texting while driving.


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## pontiac428 (May 14, 2018)

I have chosen to live near enough to work to be able to walk or ride a bike as a daily routine for the last 18 years.  Every day on my way to the shipyard I watch people act inconsiderately about my safety as I dash through the lighted crosswalks and driveway approaches.  Apparently, being a pedestrian makes me a peon whose life isn't worth lifting a heavy foot off of the accelerator for.  I think that 1 in 5 drivers I see are doing something with their phone.  The combat vet part of me wants to punch through the window and wedge those smartphones somewhere uncomfortable, somewhere where it would take surgery to remove.  Yet I smile and refrain, and walk my ridiculously vulnerable self across the zebra stripes as quickly as possible.  Please drive safely.


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## Superburban (May 14, 2018)

kev74 said:


> Before smart phones came out, people were crashing their cars while they were fiddling with the radio, drinking, eating, brushing hair, putting on make-up and yelling at their kids.  When I took drivers ed, one of the things we had to do was to use a map to navigate to a destination - does anyone else remember how much fun it was to use a 24"x36" paper paper map while you were driving?  Good times!
> 
> Blame the workman, not the tool.


Yep, I remember back in the 70's, in Chicago area, not sure if it was the state, or Chicago, but they had a big debate over outlawing radios in cars. Too many teenagers messing with the radio, and causing accidents.

I understand all states have distracted driving laws, Why not enforce them? I don't have a problem with a driver using a cell phone on the highway with no traffic around. Why should that be an automatic ticket, yet another driver talking like crazy on the CB is ok?

20+ years of driving truck, I may have not seen it all, but nothing would surprise me anymore.





solo said:


> Yea, I see the police on their phones, and laptops all the time.


  About ten years ago, the city I lived in in Pa, passed a law banning cell phones while driving, but also specifically exempted police. Several of the council members asked what special training the police received that made them better, they never got a response. Another asked ordinary citizens could not get the same training, to be allowed to operate a cell phone while driving.

I'm so glad to be away from the East coast, and not driving truck every day.


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## hotrats (Jun 18, 2018)

We're in Saigon at present. You'd be surprised seeing Mom on a motorcycle, with 3 kids hanging on, a baby between her legs, texting in this crazy traffic.  I've been coming here almost 20 years, and still haven't figured out which are the red lights you run, and why you can run those lights.


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## hman (Jun 19, 2018)

Sounds like it hasn't changed a whole lot since I was there in '69 (wearing a funny green "suit").


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## hotrats (Jun 20, 2018)

Thanks for your service! Just more traffic. Less bicycles, more motorcycles, Bentleys, MB,BMW, Porsche, Ferrari added to the mix. Oh - did spot a (really nice) '68 Mustang.


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## starr256 (Jun 20, 2018)

A slightly different take. Today, it is too easy to drive a car. Its simple to drive down the freeway with your knee steering or a one finger operation. Maybe we need to eliminate power steering, automatic transmissions, and all the other "convenience" features. Keep the safety features (seat belts, air bags, unibody design), just remove those features that make the car "easier" to drive, forcing the drive to stay focused. Yeah, that's gonna happen. Oh, well........


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## savarin (Jun 20, 2018)

I remember one safety dude who thought every steering wheel should have a large sharp spike in the middle as he reackoned that would slow people down and make them take way more care.


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## Nogoingback (Jun 22, 2018)

starr256 said:


> A slightly different take. Today, it is too easy to drive a car. Its simple to drive down the freeway with your knee steering or a one finger operation. Maybe we need to eliminate power steering, automatic transmissions, and all the other "convenience" features. Keep the safety features (seat belts, air bags, unibody design), just remove those features that make the car "easier" to drive, forcing the drive to stay focused. Yeah, that's gonna happen. Oh, well........




I recently read that someplace in Europe, the local authorities have decided to remove all the stop signs, lights and other signs that regulate
traffic flow, which FORCES the drivers to pay attention and think about their driving.  The result has been a significant reduction in traffic
accidents.  What a concept: expecting people to be responsible for their actions.


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## Lordbeezer (Jun 23, 2018)

That would never work around here..


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## projectnut (Jun 23, 2018)

rwm said:


> Drivers here are so bad, the only real solution is autonomous driving. Every one here on I85 is a Nascar driver. I got passed the other day by someone doing 100 mph on the right hand SHOULDER.
> Robert


Had the same thing happen a couple weeks ago.  The only difference was that the yahoo did it where an entrance ramp was merging into traffic.  He went around me on the right, between 2 cars trying to merge, then a hard left through 3 lanes of traffic to the fast lane.  People were scurrying around like hamsters in a maze trying to get out of his way.  Scary to say the least.

The best part was his escapade didn't last long.  He went by a state trooper at about 100+ mph and that was the end.  About 5 miles down the road he was off to the side of the road surrounded by police cars.


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## rwm (Jun 23, 2018)

I think the police may be scared to patrol I85. Too dangerous for them. LOL.
Robert


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## KBeitz (Feb 25, 2020)

I think people should be tested to see how many tracks that have...
People with a one track mine should not be aloud to own a cell phone.


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## CJ5Dave (Nov 12, 2022)

I was sitting at a red light in a Ranger. Got rear ended  about 40 mph. Knocked Ranger about 50 feet. Got out, head was bloody. Found my cap on the toolbox. Finally registered that my head broke the rear window.


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## pdentrem (Nov 12, 2022)

The screen on the phone is the issue, just like radio knobs and dials and AC settings. There is no excuse for a cell phone screen to be working while it is moving faster than walking speed. The GPS can sense this and turn off the screen to force hands free. Just no will to do this by law is the only reason it has not happened.


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## rabler (Nov 12, 2022)

pdentrem said:


> The screen on the phone is the issue, just like radio knobs and dials and AC settings. There is no excuse for a cell phone screen to be working while it is moving faster than walking speed. The GPS can sense this and turn off the screen to force hands free. Just no will to do this by law is the only reason it has not happened.


Sounds like you don't have passengers with you.   How else are those bored teenagers suppose to entertain themselves in the back seat?


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## pdentrem (Nov 12, 2022)

They can look out the window and learn about the world instead of living in the basement with video games! Most SUVs have screens in the back for movies etc.


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## 7milesup (Nov 12, 2022)

pdentrem said:


> They can look out the window and learn about the world instead of living in the basement with video games! Most SUVs have screens in the back for movies etc.


My phone is attached to my Ram truck via Bluetooth or USB cable, which is the only way my truck has navigation.  I also listen to music this way also. 
These sorts of issues are related to the operator, not the device.   I am not defending the people that look at their phones while driving, but the issue is much broader than you may be realizing.  
On a tangent... The discussion of legalizing marijuana is back in the news after this last election cycle.  I find it interesting that the ones that want to outlaw its use are most likely the same idiots that are sitting in the bar drinking and slapping each other on the back after their lamenting about how bad the world is.  They then head out to their jacked-up trucks after all of those drinks, thinking that they are fine to drive.  There is a lot of hypocrisy in the world.


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## pdentrem (Nov 12, 2022)

The driver is the Single point of failure and there is no fix for that.


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## CJ5Dave (Nov 12, 2022)

Our state passed a hands free cellphone law. Came in right during the pandemic. Never inforced. Troopers did not want to stick their head into a car window for such a trivial law.


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