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If it wasn't Frazzled, then which one of you did this? It has to be one of us.

As The Tampa Tribune reports, Humphreys brought a cellphone jammer along on his commute every day for two years. You know, to ensure that his fellow commuters remained focused on the road. Until two local sheriff’s deputies caught him in the act and slapped him with $48,000 worth of fines, which he must pay or otherwise respond to within a month.

It turns out that Humphreys would have gone undetected if it hadn’t been for a local carrier noticing that something was messing with its towers. MetroPCS (which is owned by T-Mobile) notified the Federal Communications Commission that there was a peculiar outage on a certain patch of the Interstate 4 highway and downtown Tampa exactly a year ago. The FCC looked into it and discovered that wideband emissions — broadcast activity with wide frequencies or wavelengths — were emanating from a blue Toyota Highlander.

Still, Humphreys went on jamming for another year until two county sheriff deputies pulled him over. They were able to confirm his use of the cellphone jammer before they even searched his vehicle and found it behind a seat cover. As they approached his SUV, their two-way radios were disconnected from their dispatcher.

I knew a guy at a small retail store that had one he kept near the register. If a customer came up on a phone and just tossed the items at him without looking he would turn it on.

Sneaky dude...

Need one at every movie theater.

Wouldn't Frazzled's wieners just jump out and into nearby cars to take their phones instead?

 n0t_u wrote:
Wouldn't Frazzled's wieners just jump out and into nearby cars to take their phones instead?

Exactly. Thats too technie for me. I lock rocks and pointy sticks.

Good idea though.

 whembly wrote:
Sneaky dude...

Need one at every movie theater.

All of this.

I never knew you could be fined for jamming cellphone signals.

Can I fine Telus when my internet slow? I'd like that a lot.

 Easy E wrote:
I never knew you could be fined for jamming cellphone signals.

I'm guessing cause it could probably stop emergency calls too, but that they wouldn't care if it were limited to your own property.

 n0t_u wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
I never knew you could be fined for jamming cellphone signals.

I'm guessing cause it could probably stop emergency calls too, but that they wouldn't care if it were limited to your own property.

This, it was cutting out all mobile communications within it's range. The article said that it affected the police radio, so it makes sense for it to also affect fire and ambulance service radios too.

 Easy E wrote:
I never knew you could be fined for jamming cellphone signals.

The cell companies pay for their spectrum allocation. You block that (by jamming/blasting their portion) the FCC won't be happy, and neither will the cell company you are basically stealing from.

Is driving while using a mobile phone illegal in the US?

 Medium of Death wrote:
Is driving while using a mobile phone illegal in the US?

Depends on the state and what you are doing. No talking/texting/distracted driving mostly.

 Medium of Death wrote:
Is driving while using a mobile phone illegal in the US?

In some places yes, in some places no.

It should be illegal everywhere.

 Medium of Death wrote:
Is driving while using a mobile phone illegal in the US?

In British Columbia it is illegal unless you have a hands free system and you have your full license. We have a graduated license program that takes three years to go from a learner's to a full license.

 Medium of Death wrote:
Is driving while using a mobile phone illegal in the US?

It should be, and it is in many places.

Driving on a cell phone, texting or otherwise, has been proven to be at least as inhibiting as driving under the influence of alcohol.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Medium of Death wrote:
Is driving while using a mobile phone illegal in the US?

It should be, and it is in many places.

Driving on a cell phone, texting or otherwise, has been proven to be at least as inhibiting as driving under the influence of alcohol.

And yet an Apache pilot routinely flies his aircraft and works works several radio nets.

As a tank commander/platoon leader I actively talked on two nets, plus the intercom, worked the FBCB2/IVIS system, and controlled where the hull and turret of the tank pointed, and scanned my sector.

Sorry, I really don't see how talking on a cell phone is going to mess me up as much as driving under the influence. If you are not coordinated enough to talk and drive you should not be behind the wheel.

Huh, and how much highway traffic of other distracted drivers do tank commanders and Apache pilots deal with, again?

Apples and oranges, Jake.

The difference is that you've probably trained to handle that, and you aren't overly concerned about causing a crash that would kill a bunch of people.

You also have a headset and aren't holding a cell phone.

And how fast do those tanks go? I doubt you are going 60mph in a crowded place.

The amount of training and scrutiny behind becoming an aircraft, plane or VTOL, pilot is much greater then that of vehicle driving. I've also noticed that pilots have mics in their helms, making them hands free, which is usually legal on roads. Having a phone be a seperate entity is where the problem typically arises when talking. Texting is much different that hands free radio communication as well. That is just being fairly generic with the differences.

Where does eating while driving fall in to the list of driving nonos?

 Dreadwinter wrote:
Where does eating while driving fall in to the list of driving nonos?

I don't think it is illegal, but it is frowned upon. I think the only time it would make a difference is if you run into someone and it is found you were eating at the time of the crash it may be used to prove distracted driving.

Do you guys want to put forth the position that carrying on a conversation with people inside the vehicle is okay, but talking with someone outside the vehicle via a phone is some how more distracting? Or is it just the device used which is your issue? I know I've passed folks driving while looking at the guy in the back seat they are talking to.

And as for hands free because of a boom mic? Not really. You need to manually switch between what net you will transmit on, are likely listening to 2-3 different conversations at once and switch to talk to the correct one.

In one respect the 'apples to oranges' comment is pretty legit, flying an aircraft is a lot more effort and things to monitor and control than driving. Operating a car is a ton easier.

 CptJake wrote:
And yet an Apache pilot routinely flies his aircraft and works works several radio nets.

And you know what the key difference is? Pilots are talking on the radio while flying, but only within a limited set of formal interactions which keeps the distraction level down significantly. You aren't spending your attention on the conversation because your training allows you to process it in the background, as long as nothing deviates from the standard procedures and requires you to think about it. And even then pilots aren't talking on the radio at the times when focus matters most: landing, dealing with emergencies, etc.

Oh, and want some more proof? Commercial airline regulations ban non-essential conversation, including within the cockpit, below a certain altitude. And it's because of accidents involving pilots chatting about random stuff instead of flying the airplane. So don't tell me about how a cell phone is so obviously safe.

As a tank commander/platoon leader I actively talked on two nets, plus the intercom, worked the FBCB2/IVIS system, and controlled where the hull and turret of the tank pointed, and scanned my sector.

You were also in a tank, which means you didn't have to worry about hitting anyone. The risk of driving while talking on a cell phone isn't that you'll just drive off the road and crash, it's that you'll have slower reaction times when someone hits their brakes in front of you, a deer runs out across the road, etc.

Sorry, I really don't see how talking on a cell phone is going to mess me up as much as driving under the influence.

Thankfully your personal opinion isn't really relevant here. I'll trust the experts who have studied the problem over your feeling that you aren't really distracted too badly.

 CptJake wrote:


Do you guys want to put forth the position that carrying on a conversation with people inside the vehicle is okay, but talking with someone outside the vehicle via a phone is some how more distracting?

And as for hands free because of a boom mic? Not really. You need to manually switch between what net you will transmit on, are likely listening to 2-3 different conversations at once and switch to talk to the correct one.

In one respect the 'apples to oranges' comment is pretty legit, flying an aircraft is a lot more effort and things to monitor and control than driving. Operating a car is a ton easier.

Sure, I'll take that position, and so will a few studies:

http://unews.utah.edu/old/p/112608-2.html
http://www.distraction.gov/download/research-pdf/passenger-cellphone-conversations.pdf
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/02/AR2008120201066.html

Sooooooo yeah. A cellphone is more distracting than talking to a passenger.

Ninja'd.. not once, but twice!

Except that the environments that these machines operate in are vastly different.

If the cell phone was perhaps integrated into the dashboard or radio area, then perhaps you'd have a point.

Also nobody is saying that the conversation itself is the problem, simply using the phone.

 CptJake wrote:
Do you guys want to put forth the position that carrying on a conversation with people inside the vehicle is okay, but talking with someone outside the vehicle via a phone is some how more distracting?

Actually that's exactly how it works. As I understand it the difference is that when you're talking on the phone your brain is busy trying to imagine the other person, while talking to the person next to you doesn't require that extra work.

And as for hands free because of a boom mic? Not really. You need to manually switch between what net you will transmit on, are likely listening to 2-3 different conversations at once and switch to talk to the correct one.

That's an occasional button press, not constant use of your hands. Having actually flown a plane and talked on the radio while doing it I can tell you that it is much more hands-free than talking on a cell phone while driving a car.

In one respect the 'apples to oranges' comment is pretty legit, flying an aircraft is a lot more effort and things to monitor and control than driving.

No, actually it's the exact opposite unless you're flying military aircraft at extremely low altitude. A well-trimmed airplane is pretty much hands-free, and there's nothing to hit when you're a mile above the ground. Taking your hands and attention off flying the plane for a moment isn't really a problem as long as you remember to keep looking back often enough. The only exception is at certain critical moments, like when you're landing, but those are also the times when you aren't talking on the radio.

 CptJake wrote:
Do you guys want to put forth the position that carrying on a conversation with people inside the vehicle is okay, but talking with someone outside the vehicle via a phone is some how more distracting?

No, we are saying that all research shows talking on a cell phone, not hands free, or texting while driving is far more distracting and dangerous then people would believe. This isn't just a gut feeling, you can look this stuff up. There are numerous reports and they all pretty much come to same conclusion.

 CptJake wrote:
And as for hands free because of a boom mic? Not really. You need to manually switch between what net you will transmit on, are likely listening to 2-3 different conversations at once and switch to talk to the correct one.

In the civilian world, and in Armed Forces media, this a boom mic:



I'm doubting they have those in F-14's, or any other so I am not sure what you are referring to specifically.

And again, much more training and time is put into piloting. You don't file a flight plan to go to the store. You also tend to not run into traffic jams in the sky, or construction, school zones, or planes parked along the side of the air with a flat tire. You don't have before and after action meetings for a run to the store. Nor does it take a college degree and millions of dollars worth of training to become a licensed driver. The other pilots are often people you know, whereas most of the time the people in traffic are strangers. The number of deaths in tank related or plane related crashes every year isn't even a blip on the radar compared to car deaths.

When I was in Ireland a few years back, every car i saw had a dashboard mount for a cellphone that turned it into a hands-free unit, so you could talk and drive without being too distracted. I've seen adds for something similar here, but it seemed to be standard-issue over there.

 CptJake wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Medium of Death wrote:
Is driving while using a mobile phone illegal in the US?

It should be, and it is in many places.

Driving on a cell phone, texting or otherwise, has been proven to be at least as inhibiting as driving under the influence of alcohol.

And yet an Apache pilot routinely flies his aircraft and works works several radio nets.

As a tank commander/platoon leader I actively talked on two nets, plus the intercom, worked the FBCB2/IVIS system, and controlled where the hull and turret of the tank pointed, and scanned my sector.

Sorry, I really don't see how talking on a cell phone is going to mess me up as much as driving under the influence. If you are not coordinated enough to talk and drive you should not be behind the wheel.

That's the point, a lot of people aren't coordinated enough to do those things which is why it's illegal in places. It's a blanketing effect.
You know how you can go to the mall or whatever and there will always be that one person with the phone up parallel in front of their face slowly tapping away a novel with one finger? It's people like that that make laws such as that required.

In most cases normal people are barely trained enough to operate that car in the first place.