Balko On Texting While Driving
Regular visitors here know that, while I opposed laws against talking on cell phones while driving when they were first proposed, I've been more than happy to see people get tickets for such behavior now that those laws have been passed. Now some states have passed- or are trying to pass- laws against even dumber behavior: Texting while driving.
Radley Balko, from The Agitator blog, gives a really good argument against such proposals in the U.S. News and World Report. Here's the counterpoint argument. I say Balko wins.
Addendum: Just out of curiosity, I thought I'd put up a poll for all of you on the issue of cell phone use while driving. Be honest now:
posted by Fred Mangels @ 8:02 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
True, the government can save lives by passing laws against fast foods, soft drinks, smoking, riding while unseatbelted (except in school buses and on motorcycles?!?), riding a bike without a helmet, skate boarding, marijuana, opium, untaxed whiskey, tightrope walking over raging rivers......but where does personal responsibility enter the picture?
Maybe it's best we simply pass a law against driving? It is, after all, a privilege, not a right, eh? And more Americans are killed in that endeavor than have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, for the most part our troops don't drive over there. Case in point?
How about a law restricting us from leaving home unless absolutely imperative for work or grocery shopping or medical purposes? Where does it end? Who draws the parameters?
OK, I digress.....what would the state do with all it's free time if we just lived and let live freely, left responsible for our mistakes and even to learn from them? Lay off bureaucrats? Heaven forbid! More laws, more lawyers, more cops, more judges, more prisons until we are so deep in them no one can decipher them. Then everyone would be guilty.....of something!
http://www.motorauthority.com/blog/1029714_text-messaging-deemed-more-dangerous-than-alcohol-or-cannabis-behind-the-wheel
Drivers slightly impaired by mild intoxicants can have their license suspended and face thousands of dollars in fines, court fees, drug/alcohol class fees, and insurance premium hikes.
Drivers extremely impaired by cell phone use face a small fine.
Wow! I realize that shouldn't be considered a scientifically accurate poll, but with 6 people out of 22 saying they talk or text while driving, I'll bet that's not too far off the mark of what goes on with the entire population.
I don't why people like to text while driving. I don't even drive, yet doing this AND driving seems impossible.
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