Car Phones

Re “Drivers Dialing for Danger With Cellular Phones,” Feb. 13: Of course cellular phones in cars are a menace. We didn’t need a Canadian study to determine that.

Never mind what they do to a driver’s concentration, they also make it virtually impossible to use the turn signal. But that’s something that drivers in L.A. seldom, if ever, use. It’s maddening. If the LAPD had turn signal patrols and ticketed drivers who failed to use them, it would more than make up for the city’s budget deficit. But then I rarely see police cars use them.

Until I moved out here, I thought drivers in New York were the worst.

MICHAEL MINDLIN

Los Angeles

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While talking on the phone while driving is not of itself illegal, the driver could be cited for driving at an unsafe speed for the conditions (talking on the phone, having only one hand on the wheel while turning, weaving within the lanes, etc.)

California’s vehicle code states, “No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.” Given the fact that cell phone users are four times as likely to have an accident, according to the findings reported in the article, it would seem that the basic speed limit for someone driving and talking on the phone at the same time is 0 mph. Therefore, driving 65 mph on the freeway where the speed limit is 65 mph could get the driver cited for “speeding.” It happens every day to people driving while reading newspapers, or applying makeup.

ANDRE’ BELOTTO

Los Angeles