Boston1954

My phone is for talking, my camera is for pictures, and if someone wants communicate with me by word, I call it email. (a letter is nice too)

ArchaicArcane

We have a distracted driving law here. It's targetted largely at cell phone use. It doesn't work. First problem is that it needs to be enforced and it's not. It's certainly ticketed when an accident occurs if the person admits they were on the phone but few do. All it's really done is taken the phones from the steering wheel to their laps, meaning not even peripheral vision is on the roads. If anything, it's gotten worse. The government is even running a "Crotches Kill" campaign.

crafty pat

I heard on the local news last night a woman taking a walk was texting and wondered right into the highway and was struck and killed. Just awful.

linkd

I commuted through Hayward before they fixed the freeway (Caltrans got that one wrong for a long time - surface streets were better and faster) I could have used the entertainment!! I hope that this is part of the upgrades that are coming to the town. Silicon Valley money is moving over the bridge to the East Bay... the kids think that we are just slow, but we are smart enough to know what technology we can handle and when.

newbee3

what happened to common sense did it die???

MCH

First off, Hayward is NOT, I repeat NOT, a suburb of San Francisco. Hayward is on the east side of San Francisco Bay, i.e. east of San Francisco. Contrary to what those in the pit, aka San Francisco, would like to believe and continue to delude themselves into believing, SF is NOT the center of the universe, nor are those who live in that special place.
The Bay area, however, is home to hundreds of thousands of Silicon Valley geeks/ types. (I work with them, am married to one, and have raised two...)

That said, what these signs illustrate and demonstrate is that no matter how pervasive the nanny state is, there is no cure for STUPID x 1000. I'm waiting for someone to run into one of these signs because they were distracted / amused by it...and, well, who know what happens next.

And, lastly, it is most important to remember that while Hayward isn't a suburb of SF, it is in California. THAT alone should tell you everything you need to know. California already has laws on the books prohibiting talking on, holding, or texting via phone while driving. That legislative boondoggle is about as effective as an open screen door on Noah's Ark!

BTW, I don't live in Hayward, just nearby the town.

Stitchit123

My cousin's little boy was only 8 when he was hit and killed by a lady who did not see the stopped school bus. She looked up while texting- she swerved to fly around the bus. She fled the scene but an alert neighbor followed her home. She had her 2 kids in the car with her -ages 8 and 9. The oldest one told the police she was writing on her phone and not watching where she was going. With all the charges they brought against her - her first parole hearing should be some time in mid 2035. This was her 3rd accident while texting. One child died and 2 were left with no mother -2 entire family"s lives were all but destroyed because she could not wait 10 minutes to get home to send a text message.

Sew Krazy Girl

Sadly this is so devastatingly true. Several people have been killed here in the San Diego area in recent months. They were texting, walking and not looking at the on-coming train. Some people even walk around the barriers and never know what hit them. Frightening!

RuthiesRetreat3

That's funny. In Texas I noticed signs that read "Obey Warning Signs, It's the Law". And here I thought they were just suggestions......

tessagin

Texting while driving down here is against the law. It just isn't multi-task I am even thinking about mastering. Being on the phone while driving is also against the law, atleast in the city of Corpus Christi. I believe San ANtonio has implemented or wants to implement it. I get nasty when I'm riding with someone and they want to text while driving. Excuse me, you are not the only one in this one ton piece of metal. I was in the school zone and my ear itched, so I stuck my finger in my ear about the time a squad car saw me and pulled me over. I realized what it looked like so left my finger in my ear. He let me go when he realized what I was doing. That right there could've been a $500 fine. No ifs ands or buts about it. If you're at the school for any event and wantto be on the phone you had better be standing outside the vehicle with the engine off.