Reaching out for anyone to do something...

[kygen]

Really?! It's too easy to reject the fact you shouldn't be sleeping at a traffic light?! Me thinks you might have been one of my victims!

First premise was you can only text where you nap, that was the weak one I was talking about, not the sleeping one

[kygen]

And once again, me being in my phone, I didn't realize this was the LEO forum....

[Chunky_lover]

just start honking horns more often now

if they look like they are driving slow, honk
if they look like they are on a phone, honk

[stilly]

This.

And why didn't you just honk?
You do know that your horn isn't directional per say

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

Wow. For ONCE it seems that I may have actually gotten out my message/story and told it correctly and in an understandable fashion...

Although I appreciate EVERY answer so far, I will respond to this one because I do not intend to be that guy that responds to every comment. Although I DO like what I see. Maybe on my days off I should hang out around traffic court and hold up signs that say things like "TEXTERS NEED TO PAY!" or something and wave it around as people walk through the doors...

Okay sorry. I will address TWO things here. The first is the cushion of space and the second is the horn.

1. About that cushion: Although I agree that it is a good thing to have a cushion of space in case you have to move up, I think that about 20' + while you are at a light is wrong and inconsiderate. I grew up and have it stuck in my head that when you come to a traffic light you are in the right if you can see the bottom of the rear (or closest set) of tires and the pavement around them of the car in front of you. That means you are about maybe 5'-10' back and you are okay. Some folks want a little more because they are either extra cautious or LEO so I give that to them and I am okay with that. (I recall LEO and DD training I had and it was mentioned that as an officer you should consider an additional car length in case someone walks up on you you can pull forward and then get out if you are caught by surprise or something. Or maybe it was just have an additional car length to pull forward if needed. I forgot exactly, I did not think it really pertained to me at the time but I started doing it in the vehicle I drove when I was on the clock.) So I am okay with giving someone space, but why do they need that space at a drive-thru? Yes some person in a prius or some car some time ago actually left about 15' of space between her and the car in front at the damn drive through. I had to wait for two people to pay and leave because she was giving so much space. I countered that by pulling up as far as I could and being right on her bumper since I was trying to place my order while she was patiently waiting with a huge space in front of her... Now at the time, I did not think that she was texting. She was just one of THOSE people... When I start seeing large gaps between cars though, especially on turning lanes, it screws things up. S/bound Towne Ave turning onto the 10-E freeway in Pomona for example. You go UNDER the freeway and then start to turn a little to the left and wait, at least by the lines. But some folks can not see those lines and line up about 7-10' behind the limit line. Then if one or two makes a HUGE gap, you are getting about maybe 2-3 cars under there where you would normally get about 5+ and I think I have seen that large cushion of space influence the timers on more than one occasion (everywhere actually). I got stuck waiting to cross just to get under the freeway and I was watching the cars to see what the holdup was. Now though I see more and more that these texters will leave a large cushion of space, and SOMETIMES slowly inch up as they are typing like they never bother to stop, just slowly inch forward and trickle towards the light- SOMETIMES. So now I have come to associate large amounts of space with texting and it is usually accurate about 95% of the time lately.

2. The horn. One thing I HATE is when someone honks at me because they are overly paranoid. I was going down the stret and slowing down coming to the intersection of my side street and a larger street and I was going to make a right, but apparently I pulled out about two inches too far and some ***** in a minivan honked at me. It was one of those annoying high pitched Toyota sounding honks too. As I looked around and then at her I saw she was staring at me with this look of disgust on her face and I was like, "Oh you stupid woman, how dare you! I did not even make it into the street yet!" and I politely gave her the finger, but she had already passed and I was left asking my passenger- Was she really honking at ME?

So yeah, I hate to use the horn in some cases because in this case that started this thread, I felt that it would have made me look like some ******* that was just too impatient sitting behind cars honking at them because another lane had moved but mine had not. CLEARLY I need to start using it and if I am ever behind someone that waits oh yeah, I will certainly blast them. I will give them a good 2+ second blast too. I just hope that the horn does not become over used and then becomes ignored and then starts to mean nothing, like the word Awesome (because everyone seems to use it for every little thing)... I also DO feel that for the most part, if you are sitting in traffic, the horn IS for the people ahead of you only. That is my knee-jerk reaction. I need to train myself more to not think that way clearly. That is a good point.

As far as the SO CAL driving comment from dmcmillenfv. I was wondering about that. I had heard that drivers are different in other parts of the country. And I was trying to think if my line of thinking meant that I was a bad guy or just another ******* out there. And I came to the conclusion that I never saw this kind of behaviour except once in a great while while growing up and driving with my parents or even just driving around until the past few years. People were always WAY better drivers it seemed and every now and then my parents honked at someone, but it was once in a great while. Now when I get into the car with my parents and we are going to dinner or to an event and my dad is driving, I see he gets so frustrated at everything on the road. He HATES those lane splitting bikers and comments on how he wants to open his door on them and he hates people that are right on his bumper and he is so angry. I keep asking him why he hates lane splitters so much because it is legal to do and as long as they do not hit him he should ignore them. He always goes back to things never were like this in the past...

So then if society is changing as rapidly like it is and there are a great many more poor drivers out there, how accepting do we need to be or do we need to keep fighting it and do out best to start honking and correcting people when in other cases we should myob?

Maybe a few PSAs are in order here... Okay I need to raise a few million for airtime at the next Superbowl...

[hermosabeach]

OP-

I think Off Topic would have been a good home for this thread

Calguns LEOs LEOs; chat, kibitz and relax. Non-LEOs; have a questions for a cop? Ask it here, in a CIVIL manner

[CinnamonBear723]

It's a little on the rantish side but it was civil enough. If she posted it in off topic it would have just turned into another anticop, cops don't know how to do there job, thread.

[jaybirdjtski]

Cell phones in cars should be dealt with just like firearms in cars. Remove the battery. Place in a locked box. Place said phone in separate locked container. Just like with guns, people (except those who make the laws) don't know what is good for them. Oh yes! You must be 18. You must possess a cell phone safety card.
OR!!!! Treat distracted driving (texting, on the phone) just like a DUI. On your record. Wallet is $10,000 lighter. Insurance goes up.
Dead is dead correct??!! Doesn't matter if someone is killed by an enraged psycho with a gun or a person texting while driving. But logic and reason does not apply here. Am I correct?

[cbsdd00]

I hear ya man. I hate this as much as you. Texting and driving or texting while at a light is moronic. Last year a guy I work with almost died on his way to work when some dumb teenage chick plowed through a stop sign and t-boned him at full speed on his driver's side. She said she was looking at the gps on her phone. BS. He was in the hospital for a long time and had damage to his brain.

[Chunky_lover]

Cell phones in cars should be dealt with just like firearms in cars. Remove the battery. Place in a locked box. Place said phone in separate locked container. Just like with guns, people (except those who make the laws) don't know what is good for them. Oh yes! You must be 18. You must possess a cell phone safety card.
OR!!!! Treat distracted driving (texting, on the phone) just like a DUI. On your record. Wallet is $10,000 lighter. Insurance goes up.
Dead is dead correct??!! Doesn't matter if someone is killed by an enraged psycho with a gun or a person texting while driving. But logic and reason does not apply here. Am I correct?

yeah I dont think so
operating my touch screen stereo in my vehicle is harder then my phone
so now I shouldnt be allowed to mess with the radio or gps ?

I also plug my phone into the stereo to stream music, and im sure many others do too

might as well make using the stereo illegal at the same time and any controls used by your hands

[cbsdd00]

Cell phones in cars should be dealt with just like firearms in cars. Remove the battery. Place in a locked box. Place said phone in separate locked container. Just like with guns, people (except those who make the laws) don't know what is good for them. Oh yes! You must be 18. You must possess a cell phone safety card.
OR!!!! Treat distracted driving (texting, on the phone) just like a DUI. On your record. Wallet is $10,000 lighter. Insurance goes up.
Dead is dead correct??!! Doesn't matter if someone is killed by an enraged psycho with a gun or a person texting while driving. But logic and reason does not apply here. Am I correct?

Yes!! I agree. The amount of people that are killed every year in cars because of other morons is staggering. Imagine if the msm had every car death on the news, that's all it'd be 24/7. Think of the children. But guns are bad and evil. I hate society.

[artb]

If you think it is bad now, wait til they legalize pot. ...

[CinnamonBear723]

They did a study that showed texting and driving is catching up, if not already surpassed, the amount of collisions and deaths caused by DUI drivers.

We had a pretty bad fatal where a guy was snapchatting and recording himself going over a hundred miles an hour down a small curvy road and was pronounced dead at the scene after he smashed head first into a cement light pole

[RedFord150]

This is why I use my horn all the time now.....seriously my horn use has increased tenfold the past few years, up to several times a day.

I give the drivers in front of me a second or two to react to a green before I hit my horn.

^^^Same for me.

Green light sitters are about the only time I ever use my horn. I got tired of sitting through multiple cycles because those in front are busy with their phones.

[CinnamonBear723]

If you think it is bad now, wait til they legalize pot. ...

It already is legal if you ask me

[wrestlingnrj]

Cell phone use while driving is my pet peeve. I almost always cite for it.