Chicago to ban cyclists from using hand-held mobile phone while riding

Cycling while using a cellphone is a stupid thing to do. The chances are that a cyclist will come off worst since the most likely scenario is an extremely physical encounter with a car, truck or bus. A collision with a pedestrian might also cause an injury to someone old and frail or young and small. Banning mobile phone use while cycling is a common-sense move that brings cyclists into line with vehicle drivers. It is worth noting though that as motor vehicles are larger and heavier and usually travel faster, the risks of using a cellphone at the wheel are higher and this would suggest that the same should apply to the fines/sentencing.

Hi there, So it won't hurt if you get a 12 stone cyclist riding at 10 MPH in your midriff? Well if you're a 14 stone fitness freak it might not, but what if that victim is a 7 stone old person with osteoporosis, whammo, shttered femur, never able to walk again? Do we just say "OOP'S"? I think not! Safety must take priority at all times whatever the mode of transport. Wise up Dummo's.

That last post was in reply to Cat1 oops

The fall leading to the fatality on Kew Bridge was caused or exacerbated by the rider's apparent use of a mobile. (Witnessed)

It's very simple: using a mobile phone whilst driving has been shown to have the same effect on driving ability as being drunk. You can be prosecuted (in the UK at least) for being drunk in charge of a bicycle so it makes perfect sense that cyclists (or any road users for that matter) be sanctioned if they choose to use a mobile phone. I've certainly seen enough idiot cyclists exhibiting the same reduced level of road-awareness as mobile wielding motorists to be convinced that a change in the law is long overdue.

Any such change in the law is, as we all know, only as effective as those enforcing it. If the current level of motorist mobile use is anything to go by (coupled with the derisory fines imposed) the lack of any significant policing of the matter will ensure that the rampant infringement now experienced will undoubtedly continue for some time to come.

lol get an iphone 4gs with siri and a bluetooth headset and don't worry about replying texts/ calls again.. haha..

Certainly, where there are other traffic or pedestrians around, the scientific evidence about mobile phone use while driving must surely apply to cyclists too.

It's common-sense, don't see this as a big deal.

What is really needed is a crackdown on smartphone users as revealed by the RAC. They are the real danger now. It's like alcohol recently being discovered and becoming popular with drivers.

If one hasn't seen this, it makes for salutary reading.

Almost half of younger drivers distracted by smartphone apps, ipods and email while driving

http://www.rac.co.uk/press-centre/press-releases/post/2011/9/almost-half...

it seems to be more about being distracted for longer periods of time while operating a phone rather than taking your hands off the bars for a one moment to push a button. A hands free in a car also (usually) requires the push of a button. But then, so does indicating etc.

As for the car VS bike danger debate, its interesting that many have assumed it is mainly for pedestrian safety over the safety of the cyclists themselves.

oh, and even with a handsfree device on a nextel, you STILL have to press the button for direct connect.

and for those still doing open channel radios...you STILL have to press the button to broadcast.

so actually, handfree would only work on regular cellphones.

unless it's hi priority, there would be no panting: when you're delivering all day, every day, you have to keep moving, but you're pacing yourself and staying in zone 3 or below unless it's ultra urgent (and pays more)

...the pro roadies don't go 100% all day either, delivering is more like one long stage race than an ITT (though on bad days it's like a track meet, sit around bored waiting for work, then sprint to shake off the boredom, than get bored again)

anyways, panting's never as big an issue as car/motorcycle/lorry/sirens noize.

handsfree would work fine for verbal comm, but not for receiving text-based pickup instructions which typically involve unholstering the device.

guess they need to make a cyclist's heads-up display, which courier companies can afford. Ahem.

Interesting point about couriers/messengers dontcoast, I suppose motorised messengers are supposed to use hands free setups? just wondering if an earpiece and a mike might not work on a bike too… if the person on the other end of the line could put up with all the panting

At face value, it sounds fair enough, although bikes are never as dangerous as cars.

But what about bike couriers? I remember Advanced Messenger Service and a couple others use cellphones, and where does a Nextel on the bag strap fall into the code? (you still need to press the button, taking your hand off the bars, to direct-connect) And what about finding out pickup info on your nextel or pager?
I was a courier (we say messenger) in Chicago, and it would have been impossible to do my work without using mobile telecom devices while riding.

There needs to be some sort of exception for licensed professionals.

And what about skilled road cyclists eating goos, 'nanas or sandwiches on their road rides? is that illegal too?

And what about on the Chicago lakefront path where all the unskilled cyclists are allready a danger to other cyclists and pedestrians, but where rules of the road don't really apply? (much more of a problem than unskilled cyclists putting themselves at risk from cars!)

So, really, could this be to make motorists feel good about cyclists not having more rights?

Top of Pentonville Road today, rush hour, dusk and cyclist in front of me wobbling between two lanes of traffic whilst trying to speak on his mobile, he almost rode into the back of the 73 bus, swerved / wobbled cutting me up then a car in the next lane. A hazard to himself and me and the car driver and another example of how our behaviours as cyclists perpetuate this 'them and us' mentality. I often joke to cyclist friends that a car driver on their mobile will be the death of me, the irony is it may well be another cyclist on their mobile. I agree that on the whole the laws that apply to other road users should apply to cyclists too.

giff77, I disagree. In your scenario, changes are that injuries will be minor. A bike just doesn't have the kinetic energy of a car.

@Cat1 not quite sure about the level of risk being lower! Anyone I've seen on a bike and using the phone tends to be on the pavement as well. It just takes somebody to step out of a shop and bam - one serious injury!! And you then have the Daily Hate tarring cyclists with the same brush.

Motorists are in charge of a lethal vehicle, but cyclists aren't. As a cyclist you have to try hard to seriously injure someone, but whilst driving all it requires is a moment's inattention. It isn't sensible to use a mobile phone while cycling, but the level of risk is much lower compared to driving.

oh yeah I think AA Streetwatch said lots of drivers were on the phone didn't it?

don't know about Illinois but surely this could be done here by simply issuing some guidance that handheld mobile phone use is indeed careless and should have a 50 quid fine, rather than yet another law? Keep it simple.

Fair enough, but I wonder how well the ban for cars is enforced and will this one be any different.

Also why do the americans mangle the word cyclists into bicyclists? It;s longer and sounds aweful.

It strikes me that cycling while using a mobile, or indeed with anything else going into your ears, is at best stupid, and certainly should be a specific offence as it is for cars. For two reasons - because "careless cycling" is subjective and thus relatively difficult to prosecute successfully, while using/not using a mobile is an objective bright-line test, and because the available penalties should be aligned. It is not fair that the few cycling offenders who are caught should face a £1k penalty while motorists get only a FPN of around £50.