Turn that ringtone off on TheBUS

Honolulu HI - Poor Maile Spencer, she's going to turn off her cell phone ringer when she's on the bus. The Honolulu Star Bulletin highlights her sob story in a news story regarding a new law requiring cell phone ringers and other electronic noises be silenced on public transit vehicles.

"It sucks" and "That's not fair..." are some of the feelings the 18 year old had regarding no longer being allowed to have her cell phone ringer on maximum volume so she can hear it. I have an idea, how about putting it on vibrate like the many out there that realize how annoying cell phone sounds and ringers can be in public.

What people like Miss Spencer refuse to understand is that the driver of the bus needs to pay attention to driving to get you safely to your destination. Sudden loud sounds can be and are very distracting. Most cell phones just don't ring anymore, they are complete with a preponderance of annoying noises such as screams, gun shots, loud music and other distracting sounds.

I personally have been on a bus where some idiot had a gun shot ring tone. The driver almost wrecked when the cell phone of the idiot (who was sitting behind the driver) started ringing on maximum volume with the pleasant sound of a gun being fired.

Wake up Maile. You'd be among the first to file a lawsuit against TheBUS if you were on a bus and the bus driver was involved in an accident over suddenly being distracted from someones loud cell phone ring tone. The law is for everybody's safety whether you realize it or not.

People yakking loudly on their cell phones, as well as the loud ring tones, is among one of the top reasons people cite regarding why they don't take public transit unless absolutely necessary.

What is sad about this whole thing is that nobody has any common courtesy anymore. This law probably wouldn't have even had to be created if people actually showed some common courtesy towards each other. In the "it's all about me" mentality of the general public these days, it's a wonder there aren't more cities looking at this type of law.