You can’t legislate common sense [Jonn]
My morning perusal of the news brought this little gem to light from Fox News/AP about the National Safety Council’s push for a national cell phone ban for drivers;
A national safety group is advocating a total ban on cell phone use while driving, saying the practice is clearly dangerous and leads to fatalities.
States should ban drivers from using hand-held and hands-free cell phones, and businesses should prohibit employees from using cell phones while driving on the job, the congressionally chartered National Safety Council says, taking those positions for the first time.
The group’s president and chief executive, Janet Froetscher, likened talking on cell phones to drunken driving, saying cell phone use increases the risk of a crash fourfold.
I’m convinced that the reason we have so many law breakers in our society is because we have so many laws. People used to do the right things because it was polite or because it made sense. Now, nearly every aspect of our lives is regulated, it’s easy to break a law or regulation without even realizing it. Once a person breaks one law, it’s easier to break the next one.
In Washington, DC, we banned cell phone use while driving without a “hands-free” device in 2004. A local TV station did an “observational” survey on DuPont Circle a few weeks ago. Here’s their results;
Cell phone use had dropped about 50% in 2004. About six months later that was sustained but we don’t really know if that has been sustained over the long term yet. We have to go back and take another study, but based on the experience in other places where we have done these surveys, it’s unlikely these laws are having much effect,” said Russ Rader, a spokesman for The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
So what’s the answer? Write more laws that no one will obey. Doesn’t that make sense? I guarantee if we made our legislative bodies part time (and paid them part time wages) the result would be a whole lot less writing laws to make themselves feel good, but having little effect. Maybe they’d just use their brief time in session to focus on their duties instead of intruding on our private lives.
Category: Politics
Shoot, Jonn. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been around for a very long time, lobbying every legislative body in the country for stricter and stricter traffic laws.
From my own experiences, I notice far more people driving at highway speeds pre-occupied by their cellphone, a laptop powered up and in use (Law Enforcement are guilty of it too) or an in vehicle entertainment system.
I don’t advocate tougher laws however I do advocate that people wake up and be responsible for their own safety and those around them on an interstate highway.
A fair number of crashes are caused by driver inattention.
Just my observations from a lot of miles driving on the highways and byways of Texas…
Why Jonn Lilyea ~ I cannot believe you actually said:
“People used to do the right things because it was polite or because it made sense.”
Wasn’t that before people were told/taught that THEIR rights supercede ANYONE elses rights? Ya know…me, me, me
I do agree with you – gotta stop writing more laws and concentrate more on dealing with real issues that we already have.
From my observation of driving in NoVA, the hand-held cells are the major reason people drive 40 in the left lane with a posted 55 speed limit or change lanes without using their turn signal… but I would say this is a typical American (sorry!) behavior – firm belief that they are alone on the road… quite different from the pure craziness of drivers in NYC
olga, don’t blame the lack of a turn signal on cell phones. When we used to live in California we used to cuss the people who would change lanes w/o signaling. Then we moved back home to South Dakota and found manufacturers somehow neglected to put the darned signals on these cars too. And this was all before the advent of cell phones. Anything can be a distraction in a car. I’ve known people who were killed because their kids distracted them. So, no kids in cars now?
All hail the nanny state! I find it ironic that our society bends over backwards to ensure the “rights” and “civil liberties” of Gitmo detainees, but when it comes to laws infringing on regular citizens (seatbelt laws, minimum drinking age, etc.) we just keep piling them on…
We’ve had a “No Cellphone While Driving” law in place for a year, and I STILL see at least a half-dozen people every day on their phones while driving on the streets and highways of my area.
La plus qui change, le plus qui la meme chose.
Well, usnretwife, every time I have to go around a slow-moving vehicle in the left lane, I look and see a woman (mostly) blabbering on her hand-held cell and every time an asshat swerves into my lane w/o a turn signal, the driver is on a hand-held cell, too :o)
I am not against cell phones in the car and I am not for the base’s requirement to pull over when you taking/making a call, however, I am against using hand-held cell phones while driving a car, especially when every dog and their mother can buy a cheap bluetooth earpiece.
Mostly, we should realize that driving a car is a responsibility not only to oneself but to the others around us.
sorry, but the way the Americans drive is my pet peeve…
Officer, can you tell the court how you knew the accused was using a cell phone.
It looked like a cell phone and their lips were moving.
What does a cell phone look like in your opinion, officer?
Small, gray or black, about 2″ by 4″.
Was the accused talking on a cell phone when you approached the vehicle on foot?
No.
Did you hear the accused talking on a cell phone?
No
Did you see a cell phone when you were standing beside the car talking to my client?
No.
Could my client possibly have had his/her wallet or a similar object in their hand, scratching their ear and maybe singing along with a song n the radio?
Yes.
Your honor, we have established reasonable doubt and I ask for a dismissal of the charge against my client.
Case Disimissed. Officer, the court suggests you spend your time on duty pursuing more serious offenses.
Olga,
I understand your angst about annoying cell-phone drivers. I feel the same way about fat people wearing sweat pants in public. But that doesn’t mean there needs to be a federal law against lardbutts wearing them.
LT Nixon said: “I feel the same way about fat people wearing sweat pants in public. But that doesn’t mean there needs to be a federal law against lardbutts wearing them.”
Now spandex, on the other hand….
LT Nixon,
May be we should :o) This one would be much easier to enforce :o)