I can think of no good reason to use a Cellphone while a car is in motion? One could always pull over if they just can't suppress the urge to transmit or view their wife's cat Animoji! Maybe if I were being chased by a madman in a car behind me to call the Police, but I would be too busy trying to outmaneuver him and the Police would never get there in time anyway!

I have been self-employed for over 40 years and I have never even owned a Cellphone! The last thing I need is another Ball-and-Chain. As an outsider to the human race, I have listened in to these "conversations" when at restaurants, at the gym, etc. and have yet to overhear one word that needs to be transmitted - in fact, it seems like for many people the Smart-Phone is the only thing smart about them! Just another addiction.

You even watch these crowds that go through the Hell of attending say a Presidential speech and the like. For some it may represent the only time they get that close to a President. You look at the audience and EVERY SHEEP THERE is holding up a SmartPhone to record the event - 2 feet away from the President and they do not even glance at him, they are staring at him through their postage-stamp sized screen (or worse holding up an iPad)! Like they are somehow going to record something that 4,000 other phones somehow missed?

I recently spoke with a Professional Photographer that was hired at a high price to photograph a wedding. He said, that was his last try at a wedding shoot. In spite of the request that everyone turn off their phones, he could not even get a shot of the bride and groom walking down the aisle for all the iPads and cellphones sticking out in the aisle from family and friends! Ruined the whole event and the married couple were not happy!

I don't see why I can't let my dog steer my car when I go out, he seems to enjoy it and it is a Free Country.. right?

 

It seems that ever since you got yur Corvette, women have been hiiting on you. Seriously, sorry for your bad luck. There is too much texting while driving going on. Good luck with the repairs.

 

Hey! I never thought of it like that.

Your right, I am a STUD!

 

tough luck for sure. the front ends are low there is no doubt about it, but the back end is like a slab of concrete its hard not to see that one....

 

Michael - Glad that you weren't hurt and that it sounds like your Vette is repairable. Wishing you well with your paint job!

While I agree that phones can be an issue or concern, I disagree with a manufactured fix (something to force the cell phone off). First of all, it will only open up the market for an electrical whiz to create a "turn on" device that defeats the "turn off" device.

Secondly, and more importantly, there are times people may really need to receive or make a call while in their car. I received a call from my sister, while driving to work, that my father had died; seven weeks later, I received a call from my sister my mother had died. In each instance, I was making two hour drives for business. Do I think I needed to know about these deaths - Yes! I did not need to be two hours from my home so I could turn around, go back, pick up my wife and make an additional 2 1/2 hour drive to my parents' nursing home.

On another occasion, I called in a roll over accident in the opposite lane. I suppose I could have waited until I got to a safe location to turn around, then drive to the site of the accident, turned my vehicle off, gotten our of my car and then called for police/medical assistance, but I felt the urgency to call in potentially life threatening injuries was of much more merit than a device in my car and/or phone that would keep me from using it.

As an aside, I'm not sure if I'm considered old or young, (since that appeared to be the concern in one response); but I am in my late 60s, and as far as the term, "Uncle Tom", I am only aware of negative connotations with this. According to Wikipedia, "The term "Uncle Tom" is also used as a derogatory epithet for an excessively subservient person, particularly when that person is aware of their own lower-class status based on race". Hence the reason, I and others perhaps chose not to use the term.

Again, are cell phones a concern in driving as well as restaurants, movie theaters, et al? Yes, however, the cure to every concern is not new "big brother" intervention. Double the fine if an accident occurs while the person is on the phone. Have a license suspension if the driver has an accident while on the phone (and texting is a greater concern to me than using the phone). DON'T interfere with the ability to receive/make truly important calls.

 

I'd wager a cell phone was involved.

 

Yeah, the Uncle Tom reference was a bad one by me...the term I was thinking of was big brother...and yes, there are times when a cell phone would need to be used while in a vehicle, but I can't think of any way to allow people to use it only in an emergency without being able to use it anytime...and there are already laws against using hand held devices while driving, unfortunately, the laws aren't enforced. Something needs to be done because it's getting out of hand...

 

Keep in mind, driving is a privilege, not a right

 

We all survived just fine before cell phones. Even better than now. No call is more important than a life, even to let you know someone died. Eventually you will find out everything you need to know.. Doubling the fine for an inattentive cell phone user after you have been killed by him really isn't going to do you much good, is it? Stopping the behavior before he kills someone makes more sense. Not slapping his wrist afterward.

Cells phones are creating a culture of brain dead idiots.

 

:agree: There is no reason in any of the cases stated that one could not get beeped and pull over to take the call. Can you imagine how funny it would be if phones only worked if GPS was stationery? The highways would be littered with tire-laden phone booths! I have driven over one-million miles in Corvettes alone and never had a Cell Phone - I am still alive!

 

I was riding with a female friend and she was texting while driving, making a left turn, her rear driver's side wheel hit and went over the median on the road she had just turned on, it went BAM and her SUV jumped hard and my head hit the window, I said damn!

Not 3 minutes later she was still texting and her vehicle drifted into the other lane with a car coming at us!

I said "look out your going in the opposite lane!"

I told her she is going to kill someone over texting, and she acted like I'm the idiot and I worry too much.

Now every time I see a car weaving into my lane, or driving weird, if possible I glance over and see a phone being texted on, happens often!

 

That can't be true. You must be dead.

 

Except, if the phone is deactivated while in the car, how would you get a beep?
Yes, cell phones can be distracting, but so can turning around to yell at the kids in the back seat, changing the setting of the radio or air conditioning, having an argument with your spouse or significant other, as well as so many other things. I'm concerned with where and how to draw the line.
We went many years without a cell phone - Until the day my son was in the hospital after being accidentally shot at the shooting range and his wife had been trying for 5 hours to contact us. We signed up for a cell phones that day! After that, our younger son made 11 combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. If we were not immediately near our home phone, my wife and I had our cell phones wherever we went. Silly to some, perhaps, but not to us. We were blessed that on every one of his deployments he returned at least half way healthy; the same can't be said for all those in his unit.

 

https://patch.com/minnesota/stillwat...mother-charges

This happened last year near me. Was that text really necessary?

 

in DC and Maryland if you have a cell phone in your hand you are getting a ticket.

its a good law

 

Trust me, they could rig Smartphones to beep and show caller without allowing phone calls to connect while in motion inside cars if they wanted to - they perform far more complicated tasks now, but have no fear...it won't happen! The current generation cannot even function without their Smartphones, part of their brains have completely been offloaded at this point.

I used to think how stupid people looked as they walked around staring at their cellphones until it dawned on me that they have cameras integrated now and they were probably just looking down at their screens to see where they were going instead of looking up... then they started falling into fountains, so I guess that was not it!


The old adage "Aim High In Your Steering", now means to occasionally glance up at your hood ornament!

No, I just play dead in real life!

 

 

There are plenty of hands free options out there but I think the people in question are probably texting which makes no since.

I try to drive more defensively like a cyclist.

I wont drive next to buses or big trucks either. They cant see you.

 

You really can't do much to stop the morons playing with their phones. Women in SUVs are the offenders 9 times out of 10. I had one passing me in the fast lane on the highway, when I saw her looking down on her phone as she passes me going 85 MPH I laid on the horn for a few seconds. She looked around for a bit, then went right back to staring at her phone. Awful.

My truck has integrated bluetooth so you can make calls and respond to/hear texts read to you all verbally. This is really the way to go since getting idiots to stop playing with their phones is not going to happen. There are laws against it in my state and I see cops pass right by people texting, they do nothing about it.

 

The lady in question was driving a Newer Toyota Maxis and she said she tried to stop but it just locked up and slid.

There were skid marks to back up her story and while I know nothing about the Toyota's I just assume everything now days has anti-lock brakes. I think hers were not working.

So a question to people who know more about it......

Once they fix or replace the rear end and paint it where do I go from there? I assume I have to be happy with the paint matching the rest of the car? The original paint is 18 years old and obviously faded somewhat from original and when they paint the rear end it isn't going to match so....?
Should I settle for them trying to blend it to the old paint or should they paint the whole car or what? I would hate to have the rear section be basically a different color or shade from the rest of it.

How does that work? Because tomorrow I have to go see them at the body shop. What questions should I be asking because if I don't like their answers I will take it to Phoenix and find a shop that maybe does more work with Corvettes.
This shop is the closest one to me and the insurance kinda picked it because of that, but THEY SAID I can take it where I want to, it's my choice.
So.....

What are some questions to ask them tomorrow?
What should I expect from them?
And if needed anyone have recommendations for a good shop in the Phoenix area.

I don't want to drop it off and get it back 6 months later....