Eating while driving is also impossible but why nothing said about that.

by kk on May 5, 2012 12:35 pm • link • report

Like everything else, it has to do with your speed and what is around you. Is it impossible to text while stopped at a red light? How about when stuck in gridlock? What annoys me about these one-size-fits-all rules is that they ignore context. Sure you can't text while weaving through traffic unless you are a trained stunt driver. Most of us 70% or whatever the latest statistic is aren't actually doing that.

by movement on May 5, 2012 2:35 pm • link • report

I think this approach by the driving group in Belgium will help these young drivers get the message. It has to start with the end user, the driver…deciding not to partake in distracted driving and this will help drive that message home.

I also decided to do something about teen (and adult) distracted driving after my three year old daughter was nearly run down right in front of me by a texting driver. Instead of a shackle that locks down phones and alienates the user (especially teens) I built a tool for teens and their parents called OTTER that is a simple, GPS based, texting auto reply app for smartphones. It also silences call ringtones while driving unless you have a bluetooth enabled. I think if we can empower the individual then change will come to our highways now and not just our laws.

Erik Wood, owner
OTTER app
do one thing well… be great.

by Erik Wood on May 5, 2012 3:04 pm • link • report

+1 movement - do we mean when stopped at a light too?

by Michael Perkins on May 5, 2012 3:20 pm • link • report

@movement: Some people, at some speeds, in some settings, can drive while drunk. Aren't drunk driving laws a similar one-size-fits-all approach?

by Tim on May 5, 2012 5:56 pm • link • report

I've definitely shot off quick texts at red lights, not to mention use Google maps to check traffic on alternate routes in gridlock.

by King Terrapin on May 5, 2012 6:30 pm • link • report

I don't think these were simulated tests. These were just driving lessons on a closed circuit, where the students were informed of a new rule. I started my driving lessons on a very similar circuit in the Netherlands.

It is not surprising that the students did not know about the law. First, they are starting students who by default know less about traffic law than seasoned drivers. And second, this is Belgium, the country with 95 government layers, where recently I-am-not-sure-what-part-of road management has been transferred from the national government to one of the many regional governments.

Getting a driver's license is much, much harder in Europe than in the US. Just as an example, I looked up the passing percentages for the driver's test. In Belgium, it's about 2/3, in Holland it's 40% (at first attempt, 75% at second). Generally, people take about 30h of driver's lessons before they attempt the driver's test.

by Jasper on May 5, 2012 9:14 pm • link • report

Aren't drunk driving laws a similar one-size-fits-all approach?

Yes, but it's also fair to say that there are aspects of drunk driving laws that are ridiculous. For example, it's considered drunk "driving" if your key is in the ignition, regardless of whether you are moving or your car's transmission is in "drive". This is a fact, although the following story may be urban legend -- someone was arrested for sleeping off their drunkeness in their car because they had the car running so they could have the heat on in the car.

by Falls Church on May 6, 2012 12:41 pm • link • report

@ Falls Church

Actually Drunk Driving laws do vary by state. An uncle of mine, who SHOULD have been arrested for drunk driving wasn't because the law didn't allow it. He was completely drunk asleep in a fast food drive-through area with the car on between the order window and pick up window. The law in their state did not allow him to be arrested for drunk driving. The car was not moving AND its considered private property?? (He was picked up on some other lesser charge).

Sidenote: this is a relative that I do not associate with. My best friend in elementary school was killed by a drunk driver, and I am sure most of us agree its a serious offense.

by Tag on May 7, 2012 10:36 am • link • report

Sure, there is a range of what people are able to do. As someone commented, some people can drive perfectly fine sometimes while drunk but the statistics show that drunk drivers kill.

Driving a car is operating heavy machinery which can maim/kill and there is a certain responsibility that goes with that. Texting at all while driving (even stopped at a light) should be outlawed. Not only is it unsafe, it's also rude - I don't want to have to wait for you to finish typing your text. I can't count the times I've sat at a light which was green for quite a while before the texter in front of me noticed.

And, finally, I'm sure, like drunks, some texters can drive/text just fine. But the woman who rear ended me (at a slow speed so thankfully no damage to my car) about a year ago in stop-and-go traffic was texting when she hit me. How do I know? I was paying attention and saw her doing it in my rear view mirror.

by Bumped on May 7, 2012 10:42 am • link • report

That's why I filter to the right at stoplights in traffic when I'm on my bike (and not in a protected lane). Too much risk of getting bumped from behind by a texting driver not looking up to see a bike, even with my clown-suit high-vis gear and flashing lights. They just don't look, and they assume that since they're going slow they won't hurt anyone (not reckoning bikes or walkers or children or whatever). I followed a texter for 3 blocks once on D street in Capitol Hill. She never looked up, drove via peripheral vision only, and almost ran into the back of a taxi. But I'm sure she was a very important person, doing critical work. Or something.

by Greenbelt on May 8, 2012 5:40 pm • link • report

@Jasper: the "ministerial circular" setup is a prank done for the purposes of the video, hence the hidden cameras, etc. The real Belgian law bans non-handsfree mobile use while driving, so such a law would be specious.

If getting a driver's license here were as difficult as it is in Europe, then we might see their vastly lower road death rates.

by Payton on May 9, 2012 8:48 pm • link • report