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* Shaw Local…
Throughout the month of April, Illinois State Police took part in the Distracted Driving Enforcement Program, which provided extra patrol coverage to enforce distracted driving laws.
On May 2, ISP Troop 3 Commander Captain Patrick Manno announced the results of the month-long program held in Cook, DuPage, Kane and Will counties.
Throughout April, ISP officers wrote 149 citations for hand-held phone and device citations, with an additional 20 violations specifically for texting while driving. Officers also provided three written distracted driving warnings, according to a release from ISP.
* The Question: Do you or anyone close to you still manually read and/or send text messages while driving? Be honest! Explain.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, May 3, 24 @ 8:45 am
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while driving, nope.
Last year a local county board member on the public health and safety committee did get a ticket for this though.
During the pandemic, a local state rep was posting pictures he was taking on his phone while driving around town. It was clear the pictures were being taken from the drivers seat while the car was moving. Once about a dozen people pointed out he was obviously breaking the law, he removed all the pictures from public view.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Friday, May 3, 24 @ 8:55 am
No, but many of the police officers on I-55 on my way back from Springfield were. Most were going about 80 mph.
Comment by Proud Papa Bear Friday, May 3, 24 @ 8:59 am
Only when gridlocked (on Jefferson) by the Amtrak unloading / loading passengers. Not moving, but technically a violation.
Comment by Anyone Remember Friday, May 3, 24 @ 9:00 am
No but as this inquiry pertains to safe driving/ does anyone know why the Illinois SOS no longer does anything to verify insurance coverage when issuing plates or the annual sticker. They went from requiring you to bring proof of insurance when buying stickers/ then requiring you provide the Company and policy number to now doing nothing. As you are legally required to have coverages- why is the State not policing whether drivers have coverage. I renewed my insurances today and the agent strongly recommended I raise my uninsured coverage limits as they are finding a significant increase in policy holders being SOL when involved in an accident with uninsured vehicles?
Comment by Sue Friday, May 3, 24 @ 9:01 am
No, though to be fair I’ve upgraded vehicles and the tech reads the texts out. The only old vehicle I have us a stick so it does it’s own job of deterring that. I can’t honestly say I’ve changed so much as tech has made it more of a hassle.
Comment by Mason born Friday, May 3, 24 @ 9:13 am
Nope.
Comment by JoanP Friday, May 3, 24 @ 9:16 am
I can use my Bluetooth in the car that reads the messages out loud and I can voice text through the car too. Works great and I’m not looking down or holding the phone looking.
Comment by Frida's boss Friday, May 3, 24 @ 9:16 am
=I renewed my insurances today and the agent strongly recommended I raise my uninsured coverage limits as they are finding a significant increase in policy holders being SOL when involved in an accident with uninsured vehicles?=
Reminds me of an accident I got into four years ago - the other driver ran a red and smashed my front end.
Turns out the other vehicle was a rental, and the driver’s insurance had lapsed. My insurance company notified me last year that they were no longer going to pursue damages, which meant I was still on the hook for the deductible I paid for an accident I was not at fault over.
In two months, that company will be losing my business.
Comment by The Dude Abides Friday, May 3, 24 @ 9:16 am
The IL SOS implemented an electronic insurance verification program several years ago. Insurance companies are required to send their book of business showing all of the insured vehicles to the SOS. If insurance is not on file with the SOS, then a person will be denied a renewed vehicle registration until they obtain the required insurance. It’s actually an effective program and has reduced the uninsured motorist rate.
https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/vehicles/mandatory_insurance.html
Comment by danray Friday, May 3, 24 @ 9:47 am
I plead the fifth.
Comment by New Day Friday, May 3, 24 @ 9:50 am
This is all too common. I have to put my phone in the glove box to prevent the urge to look at emails when they buzz in. A textalyzer similar to the breathalyzer needs to be deployed with controls for the privacy concerns. It is not youth issue, it is a total society issue.
Comment by NotSoCivilEngineer Friday, May 3, 24 @ 9:51 am
I connect my phone to a bluetooth speaker and only use it for podcasts (which I setup a playlist before I take off). I then lay it face down on the passenger seat so I can’t see what’s happening. I do have a special tone for my partner so if that goes off, I look for a safe spot to pull off the road (parking lots mainly), stop, park and check it out.
Comment by cermak_rd Friday, May 3, 24 @ 10:12 am
I never text and drive. But I am amazed at the number of people around me while I’m driving looking at their phones while they are driving. or just sitting at a red light because they are too busy on their phones to notice that the light changed. Drives me a bit nuts.
Comment by Shevek Friday, May 3, 24 @ 10:13 am
Whoops, that was supposed to say sitting at a green light!
Comment by Shevek Friday, May 3, 24 @ 10:14 am
Not going to lie, I look at my phone at essentially every red light. I try to not look at my phone while in motion, albeit I do sometimes fumble with my phone to change a song or podcast that I’m streaming to my car radio while driving, though.
Comment by TJ Friday, May 3, 24 @ 10:20 am
I can neither confirm nor deny looking at my phone while driving.
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Friday, May 3, 24 @ 10:24 am
No. I do talk hands free. I see a ton of people on their phone reading their screens out here in rural Illinois. It is surprising.
Comment by JS Mill Friday, May 3, 24 @ 10:49 am
I turned on the feature that I don’t get texts or calls when I’m driving, so not usually. However, a big part of my daily commute is construction and I check when I’m just sitting there.
Comment by Just Me 2 Friday, May 3, 24 @ 10:59 am
Sort of related;
After Lockport saw all the money the state was pulling in last month on issuing distracted driving citations *under state law*, the city is now contemplating passing a duplicate local ordinance to instead write these tickets under.
The purpose obviously being to allow the city to keep more of the fines under an ordinance than they would issuing the exact same tickets under the state law.
How it was actually written as a headline, is a combination of both sad and hilarious.
https://www.shawlocal.com/the-herald-news/2024/05/02/lockport-considering-lower-fines-for-distracted-driving/
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Friday, May 3, 24 @ 11:08 am
Thanks Danray
Comment by Sue Friday, May 3, 24 @ 11:08 am
My phone links to the car radio by bluetooth so I can hear text readouts over the speakers. I pull over and park for emails.
The gray area is when using the phone as a GPS. I have the directions read out through the car speakers but I also keep the phone handy in case I need to glance at the map. If a one second glance isn’t cutting it, then I pull over.
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Friday, May 3, 24 @ 11:10 am
What New Day said.
Have new vehicle with hands free capabilities which will read an incoming text and make hands free calls. Trying to learn how to use it.
Comment by Huh? Friday, May 3, 24 @ 11:11 am
“Do you or anyone close to you still manually read and/or send text messages while driving?”
Nope.
I plug the phone into the dash and use the GPS. Scratches the itch of checking my phone. The system also reads aloud any incoming texts and transcribes my very short responses.
But the biggest reason I don’t text and drive is because I mostly text with MrsJM, and 1) she’s often in the car with me, and 2) she doesn’t text me when she knows I’m driving.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Friday, May 3, 24 @ 11:19 am
I do not. Nope.
When I was 18, I was riding with a person, and suffice to say, I ended up with a broken neck as he avoided a dog and hit a tree going 60 mph. I flew through the windshield.
I now wear seatbelts religiously, and do not touch my phone while driving.
On the other hand, my wife is constantly talking with others on the phone while driving. I honestly see that as distracting while driving, but I realize I am the outlier on that idea.
Comment by H-W Friday, May 3, 24 @ 11:28 am
Being honest. I do.
I limit my reading of texts or trying to type a quick one while on the open interstate and in good weather. It’s a bad idea and certainly dangerous but I admit my faults.
I do not read texts or send them in city traffic or busy highway situations. I don’t own a car with new enough Bluetooth and android auto, so I don’t have that option. I’ll text back in 15 or 20 minutes.
And in the few years run-up to my first teen driving, I absolutely never touched my phone while driving with them in the car. You can’t preach one thing and do another and expect them to listen.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Friday, May 3, 24 @ 11:54 am
Re: The Dude
If a rental company allows an uninsured drive to rent a vehicle, isn’t the culpability upon the rental company to verify that the driver is insured? “Anyone can lie” should not hold the rental company harmless.
Comment by H-W Friday, May 3, 24 @ 1:42 pm
Get back on topic, please.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 3, 24 @ 1:44 pm
My car reads them to me, and I usually don’t respond but if I do I use the voice option.
Comment by ChicagoVinny Friday, May 3, 24 @ 1:51 pm
I admit I do, sometimes… less than I used to but yep I’m guilty.
Comment by Vote Quimby Friday, May 3, 24 @ 2:06 pm
I’ve gotten better but am still guilty of this occasionally. It’s mostly work related when I’m traveling on interstates, but still a very dumb thing to do.
Comment by Excitable Boy Friday, May 3, 24 @ 2:12 pm
I do not…when I drive, I just drive.
I often wonder who is in charge between cell phones and their operators?
Comment by Dotnonymous x Friday, May 3, 24 @ 2:29 pm
For the record, i do not text and drive.
Comment by danray Friday, May 3, 24 @ 3:30 pm
I had a couple close calls years ago that got me to stop and if my daughters are in the call there is screaming about how they don’t want to die (fair).
I did get a warning in Quincy because I had not put my phone back on the stand for navigation and he saw me as I did. The officer was right and very professional.
Comment by ArchPundit Friday, May 3, 24 @ 3:52 pm
I do not text while driving and to my knowledge I don’t know anyone who does. I’ve looked at my phone a couple times when it’s giving me directions and the voice isn’t cutting it for me, not quick enough or I want to check to make sure I heard right, but I’d say that’s extremely rare.
Comment by Perrid Friday, May 3, 24 @ 4:04 pm
I use bluetooth to receive phone calls when driving, and occasionally use the phone as a visual navigation aid (I try to be stopped at an intersection before looking at it). Years ago, a state trooper gave me a warning when he pulled me over and told me about his observations when he saw me looking at my phone, and it made a lasting impression.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Friday, May 3, 24 @ 4:16 pm