Cell Phones,Insurance and You.

If you live in the United States and are like the masses and tend to use your phone while you drive, you need to be aware that many and eventually all insurance companies will hold you liable for all accidents you have while using said device. If it can be proven, and yes they have ways sometimes, that you were indeed using the phone while driving your policy will not cover the accident. The type of phone not withstanding. Hands free types are NOT discounted in this action.

So, you need to ask your insurance holder if there is a current policy regarding cell phone use within your coverage because many people are finding out belatedly that they are not covered after having their mishaps.

Your insurance company does have to have it in the policy but they do NOT have to make you aware of the portion pertinent to this.

My advice, before you get into a position to where you not only take the blame for the accident (anyone on the phone is automatically at fault) you will also have a ticket for not being covered by an insurance policy.

This hasn't happened everywhere yet, but it has in many States. Please be aware that you may be driving unlawfully even if there is no current law forbidding the use of phones behind the wheel.

Understandably, insurance companies are getting tired of the laws taking to long to be enacted, let alone enforced. Some states already have laws but the fines are seldom worth the effort beside the police are using them as well so.....

Has anyone besides me heard this yet and can you confirm that the action is occurring in your regions yet?

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I havent heard of this, but its a good thing. More incentive not to be an asshole.

Here, its illegal to drive while talking on a phone, you can get pulled over and fined for it (but that rarely happens). It's legal to use a hands-free kit, with earphones or whatever.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

I haven't heard about it, but I would never drive while talking on a cell phone. I'd like to live to see old age.

I view this concept as a positive way to enforce not using any phones while driving but I fear that its yet another ploy by the insurance companies to dig deeper into our pockets somehow.

I remember when I was a kid that it was not necessary to have insurance to get license plates for a new car. Now it is, which in theory is a good thing but the catch is, now that its law the insurance companies hiked the rates because you now have to use them.

What I am trying to say is, this can be ripe for abuse from those that be. Personally I think all insurance should be, the less you use them the lower the rates until it reaches a point where you are simply covered until you have need of them. Then you begin the process once more.

Also, another funny thing about insurance. I can drive but one car at a time. Why do I need insurance on each car? If I have 3 or 4 cars I need 3 or 4 policies yet, I can but drive them one at a time. I think this is an example of how a theory can be abused and this new cell phone one can also end up handled poorly.

Lets hope not because something must be done to prevent the phones used and if this goes badly any future attempt may not work if this one is used as an example.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I've not heard of this. Sounds just like those JERKS to disclude ANOTHER thing from thier policies so they dont ahve to pay any more money than they have to

Insurance is the biggest scam EVER... The gov't MAKES you buy it, then its REALLY EXPENSIVE for poor ppl like me!

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Nickelplate said:
I've not heard of this. Sounds just like those JERKS to disclude ANOTHER thing from thier policies so they dont ahve to pay any more money than they have to

Yeah, this is kinda my fear too, as in my previous posting but, what else can be done? People won't stop using them and the law is taking ages to do anything. Whats left? My premiums go up all the time to compensate for some jerk who wrecked another Mercedes while on his phone.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

Boycott cars?

Don't have a cell. Problem solved.

Gorbachev said:
Don't have a cell. Problem solved.

Yeah, thats gonna catch on real fast.

I know people who say they will pay any fine incurred to retain their phone. A very sad thought when you contemplate it long enough.

What bothers me most in all this is, I look beside me when I drive and wonder which people have the insurance companies that already have the in practice the "cell phone use clause" and wonder if they hit me, what will I do when their insurance doesn't fix my car? What recourse will I have as the victim of the accident?

I also wonder how many know about it and drive anyway. Would this be considered "premeditated"?

I want to see something done, but not at the expense of the ones not at fault.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I once saw a woman at the wheel of a car taking a very wide 90*
left turn in a crowded intersection while talking on her cellphone. She was rotating the
steering-wheel with just one hand and, since she couldn't rotate
the wheel fully from just one "swing" she would make, a tossing-like
move, making the thing rotate inertially.� If she died, good, but
the street was full of innocent bystanders. I hope none of YOU are capable of such a stupid thing.

Although I am 100% against any form of cell phone use while driving this was not my purpose for posting this thread. I would rather it not degrade if possible.

My main reason was to pass on information that I had heard recently from my own insurance agent in the hopes of forestalling any of my friends here the heartache of finding out belatedly that you now bought someone else's car because your insurance didn't cover the accident you just had.

Sadly, cell phones are no longer the only piece of electronics being abused. I saw quite a few people actually watching movies while driving this year. The advent of the miniature DVD player has created a whole new breed of offensive driving habits.

What happened to the good old days where we only had food and drinks to contend with. :sad:

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I haven't heard about it, but I would never drive while talking on a cell phone. I'd like to live to see old age.

Absolutely. Several years ago my ex-boss used to give me a lift to
work. He'd always talk on his phone while driving and I knew it was
only a matter of time he was involved in an accident. So, I actually
decided to put up with the inconvenience of getting the bus to &
from work instead.

As it happens, he didn't cause an accident, but FOUR in the space of
a fortnight! The first three were minor bumps; talking on the phone
while reversing out of a supermarket parking space and not noticing a
car behind him etc, but the fourth was a motorway pile up involving
several cars, all which were written off as scrap. He was banned from
driving for about a year.

But that's not all; when he was finally eligible to drive again, he
bought a brand new car. He was driving it out the car showroom and busy
talking on the phone to his wife about just having collected the car,
when another driver (actually, a cop car believe it or not) had to
swerve out of the way and almost knocked over a pedestrian.

Not sure if anyones said yet, but driving and using a mobile phone is illegal in the UK, but handsfree is fine because your hands are in the right place. I just think the whole driving thing is a joke in the US, so poorly moderated.

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

Myrk- said:
I just think the whole driving thing is a joke in the US, so poorly moderated.

Thats a topic worthy of debating. IMO, it wouldn't help to increase the level of law enforcement on the motorways because so few of the law actually cover the areas they are supposed to. You have local traffic cops on the interstate and drug enforcement there as well. Why would either be on the freeway system when everyone knows there is more drugs and traffic violations inside the cities?

Also, from my limited observations, the law themselves are breaking at least as many laws as the people they are ticketing. From speeding or improperly changing lanes to cell phone usage and believe it or not, laptop use. I would rather not share the highway system with even more of these law enforcers. :sad:

Another point, how exactly are you aware of the "poor moderation" within the states? Can your information even be first hand experience?

Lastly, its a fact that the amount of hands on the steering wheel are not the general cause of the accidents in question. A hands free device will not prevent any accident. One may question how much attention goes into a conversation but the act of the conversation is the cause in every case. The only difference between each accident is, how much distraction each individual can take before the mishap eventually occurs.

Anyone who thinks a hands free device can prevent anything is only fooling themselves. Anyone who really feels its OK to drive and talk on the phone is more than likely the ones who least need be on them as being unaware that they are the problem usually is not a good thing.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I'm terrible at doing more than one thing at a time while driving, I
know it and abide by that. I barely like pushing a button outside of my
direct view.

Gorbachev said:
I'm terrible at doing more than one thing at a time while driving, I know it and abide by that. I barely like pushing a button outside of my direct view.

I am not laughing at you but, this brings up an interesting point. Some states know that people are this bad and have taken measures to put rumble strips not only on the edges of the roadway to assist people in preventing driving off the edge but also have them in between the lanes to help stop drifting into other peoples way. I am not talking about the little reflectors but actually grooves that make a loud growly sound when you drive on them.

Its a nice feature but can be annoying if you need to swap lanes. Its a shame that everyone need pay the price for the few.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

Yeah, I know what rumble-strips are. I've driven across most of Canada
before. (Vancouver, B.C. to Niagra Falls, Ont.) Saw lots of them and
other fun things on my travels.

The centre lane ones are pretty lame, my problem is more with people
(and society for that matter) believing that everyone has a right to
drive. Somehow not everyone can read, write or grasp basic concepts,
and yet everyone can manage a 2000lbs+ object that travels well in
excess of 50Km/hr. There are certain things some people cannot manage.

The way I see it, insurance companies make more money and there are fewer complete retards on the road. Everybody's happy (except the retards, obviously).

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Better to be in denial than to be human.

Bill Gates understands binary: his company is number one, and his customers are all zeros.