Muhlenberg grad moved from accident to activism

The last thing Jacy Good remembers before the accident is her father struggling to tie a mattress to the roof of the family station wagon, and her mother telling her to make sure she got every last thing out of her apartment on Chew Street.

[Whooo Cares]

this law needs to be passed there are to many unsafe drivers on their cell phones, the other day i rolled up on a cop car to look over and there he was chatting away on his cell...

[cell phone use]

Whooo Cares wrote:

this law needs to be passed there are to many unsafe drivers on their cell phones, the other day i rolled up on a cop car to look over and there he was chatting away on his cell...

Great point about the cop on the phone. I have been in states where cell phone use is against the law. I have seen cops in those states on the phone while driving. Is this new law just for the public or for "every" driver, including cops. How about truck drivers on cell phones or cb radios??

[tan]

Stay strong Jacy and fight for your beliefs. I lost my father 2 years ago because of a car accident, not because of him being on a cell phone but from speeding on a city side street. I don't remember what happened but I don't want to remember either. I was hospitalized but I only had a fractured hip and pelvis, what you have to go through is heart wrenching to see. Stay strong and God will watch over you and give you the strength to move forward.

[Easily Amused]

With all due respect to this woman and the tragedy she endured, legislating in the wake of tragedy is ALWAYS a bad idea.

I appreciate her search to make sense of this accident. I'm not sure that turning a quick call to my wife to say I'm stuck in traffic into a criminal offense honors her parents at all.

The kid who did this was driving irresponsibly which caused the accident. It wasn't the device that he allowed to distract him.

[LongGoneFromAtwn]

cell phone use wrote:

<quoted text>
Great point about the cop on the phone. I have been in states where cell phone use is against the law. I have seen cops in those states on the phone while driving. Is this new law just for the public or for "every" driver, including cops. How about truck drivers on cell phones or cb radios??

I'm sure law enforcement would be open to suggestions as to how they are to receive vital, confidential information while enroute to a call.

Not everything can be done by radio. The bad guys have scanners too.
MDTs (laptops)? Provide an even greater distraction to the driver.(Just ask APD)

And if the city said they were going to equip all their cars with Blueray, hand free devices, everyone would be screaming about tax increases.

The only alternative for LE is to ban personal cell phones while on duty and provide them with ones owned by the municipality. That way calls can be monitored to assure no personal business is being done.

[Common Sense]

[QUOTE who=" I'm not sure that turning a quick call to my wife to say I'm stuck in traffic into a criminal offense[/QUOTE]

If you are stuck in traffic and not moving that is not a problem. However you might not be stuck in traffic due to accidents as much if people put down cell phones and would focus on safe driving. This law is common sense, people should not have to die because you just had to chat on your phone while driving.

[Easily Amused]

Common Sense wrote:

<quoted text>
If you are stuck in traffic and not moving that is not a problem. However you might not be stuck in traffic due to accidents as much if people put down cell phones and would focus on safe driving. This law is common sense, people should not have to die because you just had to chat on your phone while driving.

I agree. My point is that even in stopped traffic it would be a crime. It is silly. Reckless driving is already illegal. Does it matter if the recklessness is caused by a phone, or a newspaper, or an argument, or a tube of lipstick?

The law is redundant but it will pass. Not on it's merits but on sentimentality. The advocates will continue to parade those disfigured in accidents before the legislature and they will cave.

[J of PA]

I agree this law needs to be passed. I almost got hit by a driver who ran a stop sign-she was yakking on her cell phone. However, regardless of the law, if the cellphone must be used while driving, use an earpiece or the speakerphone!!

[Whooo Cares]

LongGoneFromAtwn wrote:

<quoted text>
I'm sure law enforcement would be open to suggestions as to how they are to receive vital, confidential information while enroute to a call.
Not everything can be done by radio. The bad guys have scanners too.
MDTs (laptops)? Provide an even greater distraction to the driver.(Just ask APD)
And if the city said they were going to equip all their cars with Blueray, hand free devices, everyone would be screaming about tax increases.
The only alternative for LE is to ban personal cell phones while on duty and provide them with ones owned by the municipality. That way calls can be monitored to assure no personal business is being done.

well i guess if they needed to be on the cell they would have to buy one that goes in the ear like alot of people use, you know like when you think the guy walking behind you is talking to himself only to turn around and see the ear piece he's wearing...lol

[Common Sense ll]

I feel so sorry for Jacy. Cell phone usage while driving should be stopped.. not only once but several time I have been short cutted or someone pulled out in front of me and would you believe the ones that did this were teenagers which most likely are inexperienced drivers and they were all on their cell phones. If stopped in traffic that is another thing but not while driving. In conversations with other people I was amazed as to how they had similar things happen to them. I say BAN THE CELL PHONE USAGE WHILE DRIVING!

[Momx2]

My thoughts are with this young lady.
Although what should we do about every other idiotic thing people do while driving? As in...Stopping on the on ramp to the highway as traffic screeches to a halt behind you or driving like loons now that the weather is starting to get nicer?
I have accidentally run 2 stop signs in my driving career and I was not on a cell phone either time. It was purely an accident.My distraction was my own brain and the thinking that every adult does everyday.

[Amstersdan]

Maybe they need to ban radios in cars too because they can be mighty distracting, Oh what a GPS's they can be bad also. Two year olds can also cause accidents. Women and asian and old drivers also classically make the roads unsafe. Lets get rid of it all! I love causes!

[Matty]

Whooo Cares wrote:

this law needs to be passed there are to many unsafe drivers on their cell phones, the other day i rolled up on a cop car to look over and there he was chatting away on his cell...

Many of the states that outlaw cell phone usage while driving have examptions for emergency personnel.

[Matty]

exemptions. Oops.

[NeffsDeadHead]

I cannot begin to tell how many police officers from different departments around the valley I have seen chatting on their cell phone as they drive on duty in their patrol car; allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Catasauqua, whitehall, south Whitehall, coplay, northampton, hellertown, freemansburg, wilson, pburg, NJ, macungie, tamaqua, nazareth, windgap, quakertown, souderton, telford, bally, boyertown, including the Pennsylvania State Police.
BAN THE CELL PHONE USAGE WHILE DRIVING!!!!!! Including the men & women in uniform. I have been conducting this survey for the past 4 months.

[comment]

I admire the Good and Johnson families very, very much.

On Friday, while I waited to turn left, two drivers in a row were texting while driving past my car. They were utterly thoughtless of the risks they were taking with others' safety. Also, banning drivers from holding cell phones won't entirely solve the problem. It isn't just a matter of keeping hands on the wheel. Drivers also need to keep their brains on driving.

And, yes, cigarettes and radios and passengers and coffee cups can be distracting, but not nearly to the extent of cell phones. And at the rate cell phones are being used and causing tragic accidents, it is unconscionable to wait until a tragedy occurs to charge the driver with reckless driving.

[StaberDearth]

Easily Amused wrote:

The kid who did this was driving irresponsibly which caused the accident. It wasn't the device that he allowed to distract him.

Obviously some of the more weak minded and self centered amongst us need to have that temptation taken away... You and I might be able to drive forever and never take or initiate a cell phone call while we are driving. Obviously, this young kid didn't ever give it a thought... A lot of cell phone users are too into their own lives and themselves to much care about what goes on around them...

[will]

NeffsDeadHead wrote:

I cannot begin to tell how many police officers from different departments around the valley I have seen chatting on their cell phone as they drive on duty in their patrol car; allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Catasauqua, whitehall, south Whitehall, coplay, northampton, hellertown, freemansburg, wilson, pburg, NJ, macungie, tamaqua, nazareth, windgap, quakertown, souderton, telford, bally, boyertown, including the Pennsylvania State Police.
BAN THE CELL PHONE USAGE WHILE DRIVING!!!!!! Including the men & women in uniform. I have been conducting this survey for the past 4 months.

You ever think some or actually alot of the use by police is work related. How about next time your family member is sexually abused or your child is, that the police give your name , address and what the nature of the call is,etc. over the radio. Alot of sensitive calls are giving out by cell due to the stupid people with scanners and the newspapers who are looking for stories.
If you talk to police officers there are more crashes caused by people smoking in the car, changing radio stations or eating then talking on cell phones. If you want to ban the phone, ban everything else to.

[StaberDearth]

more accurately... A lot of cell phone users WHO ARE DRIVING

[dennis]

All the law will do in the event of an accident the cell phone is found.. the first thought will be for another charge.

Personally, I do try to pull over to the side ofth road.. as I do 90 percent of my business off the thing. Answering it means money to me. So I do try to be safe. Though I have been cut off and even had one person almost come to a dead stop on a on ramp.. Chatting and not really watching how they were merging in to traffic. A pain most definite.

Reckless driving definitely. banning cell use is not going to end people answering the phone.

And I hope she does get to work for an environmental group. She sounds like she has a very good head on her shoulders.