Riding Safely

[itself]

Obviously a growing concern with road riding, is safety, particularly with cell phones and texting. Until someone intervenes and puts a device in a cell phone so it does not work when in a moving car, we all are at risk. A very popular women on Bentrideronline was hit by a car last week. She takes every precaution to wear bright clothing, and is a huge safety advocate.

State laws to prevent people from using cell phone while driving are useless. Are any cycling advocacy groups doing anything?

[OakLeaf]

State laws to prevent people from using cell phone while driving are useless. Are any cycling advocacy groups doing anything?

I don't know the answer to your question on a nationwide scale, but I have to disagree with your statement.

All laws - from speeding to murder - are useless unless they're enforced. Laws against killing people with vehicles are paltry in most states anyway, but there's a good and very recent example with the DUI laws. Organizations like MADD and SADD were considered prudish and obnoxious in their heyday, but they succeeded wildly in getting existing DUI laws enforced, and in getting stricter laws on the books.

Local cycling advocacy groups are definitely serving as courtroom monitors, family support, etc., when a cyclist is killed or maimed by a driver. I don't know that they've reached the "critical mass" that MADD and SADD had, but like those groups, it'll take a committed group who are willing to give their time and to be regarded as gadflies.

[Penny4]

A large group of motorcyclists rode past my friends and me today in the opposite direction. One of the motorcyclists was texting while driving!

Seriously? I can barely text when I'm sitting on my sofa, never mind while operating a 2 or 4 wheeled vehicle.