Here and Now: Driving in Arizona

Sunday,my friend Ilan was hit by a women who some think was texting. He, his mom, and his brother were crossing the street and a car went through a red light,hitting all three of them. They found Ilan and his mom unconcious on the road, while his brother suffered from a broken leg and other minior injuries. His mom is fine, but he is now in a drug induced comma. Even though I know this, I am still scared and worried. My name is Emily Rosenbaum and I am 13 years old.

We need vigorous enforcement of an outright ban on sending or receiving text messages while driving.
A ban on using a cellular phone while driving is also ncessary. If our legislators do not have the courage to do what so many other governments have done, perhaps they can muster the strength to at least limit it.
Rather than “hang up and drive,” require motorists to do three simple things when talking on their cellular phones:
1. Drive in the far-right lane.
2. Drive the posted speed limit.
3. Use the vehicle’s four-way flashers.

Then when the conversation is over, resume driving 10+ miles over the limit and lane-changing without signaling.

In January I was stopped in a traffic jam on I-10 when an 18 year old woman driving her car at 70 mph. and talking or texting on her phone hit me and two other vehicles. The only injury was mine, and I am recovering. But there was many thousands of dollars in damage, lost time, lost resources (fire department and highway patrol) and months waiting for auto repair.

In October of last year my wife was hit from behind by a 20 year old male who was driving while talking/texting on his cell phone. Her car was totaled, and his significantly damaged. Luckily nobody was badly injured.

My question - why is there even a DEBATE over this issue??? These drivers were impaired, and my wife and I have both had to deal with their lack of responsibility - yet neither driver was punished - only we suffered and yet the legislature makes excuses for why there should not be a law. Thanks to the Phoenix City Council - now let the legislature come to its senses before there are more injuries and deaths.

Why do we fill the legislature with so many piece-meal Statutes, when a catch-all piece of legislation will cover a multitude of things.

We need an all embracing, "Driving without due care and attention", and let the courts sort it out for each case.

Once set with a prosecution, "Texting" or whatever, becomes part of the precedence where "Driving without due care and attention" builds its own precedence.

How can we expect the public to be better drivers when Local Police (in non-emergency situations) don't follow the rules (U-turns at signed intersections, lane changes across 2 or more lanes - without signaling, no less, left turns from the right lane, etc.) or even the most common expectations of courteous driving?

Shouldn't the Police departments be held to a higher expectation?

Is there a phone number for each locality where these officers can be reported for their dangerous traffic moves? Where does one find these numbers?

I look forward to today's topic, and hope the issue of driving distractions is discussed vis-a-vis the rampant excessive speeding in the Valley, which is a serious, dangerous and ubiquitous problem.

Distraction issues aside, I'd be happy to see a start towards MUCH more thorough speed monitoring and enforcement. It seems that other than in other than photo enforcement areas, it's a free-for-all out there. Lawless, really.

I drive McDowell Road 4 times a day, every day, between 40th St and Hayden Rd. An approx 1 mile stretch at the Papago Hills is posted at 50mph, and I routinely see drivers racing through that area in excess of 75 mph. Actually driving the speed limit invites an accident. Speeding and aggressive driving is out of control and should be prioritized--let's start there! Busting drivers for distractions has to be a secondary issue.

Lisa Weeks

Lets look at the bigger picture:

Driving is dangerous, expensive, and causes pollution.

We should be talking about how to LIMIT THE NEED to drive. I love New Urban neighborhoods and dense walkable places like ASU.

For how long will we sprawl????

the valley would be a much safer place if everyone rode SCOOTERS!

we should pass a law banning all other vehicles.

You cannot legislate all distractions. How about animals in the car; rambunctious children; a heated conversation with a passenger; music so loud it can be heard blocks away?

I wonder if the pending legislation will address law enforcements' use and viewing computer screens while they drive. It seems this is at least as distracting and potentially dangerous as using a cell phone. It seems rather duplicitous to regulate one segment of the driving population and not another for the same unsafe activity.

Just wanted to thank all the those who posted questions. Great comments and questions. We had so many callers, it was hard to work them in the show.

I work for a DUI defense attorney. I constantly see repeat offenders and it is frightening how many people continue to drive despite the penalties that they are well aware of. I wonder if the fact that a DUI (unless it is aggravated) is a misdemeanor has the effect of making people believe the offense is not that bad. I often wonder if first, second and extreme DUIs were felony offenses, if people might rethink driving impaired.

My friends and I do not drink and drive so when we go out we take a cab, etc, we plan ahead. However, the wait 2 Saturday nights ago for a 15 minute ride home from central Phoenix was 1 hour (which we waited for). The lack of public transportation in the Phoenix area adds to this problem.