Outlawing texting while driving is stupid

Posted
by
Steve St. Pierre
on March 22, 2007, at 12:46 PM
in Editorials
.
Comments: 12 responses
12 Comments

cellphonelady.jpgThat’s both my opinion and that of a recent post over at ProphetsPlace.com (and I’d imagine we’re not the only ones).

While, yes, I’m all about safety and whatnot (I’ve even been rear-ended pretty fiercly by a 17-year old texter while driving), I still think the idea to outlaw texting while driving is pretty ridiculous. As is the case with things like this, there are exceptions that need to be made.

Your wife’s preggers? You need that phone at all times. Some sort of natural disaster? Phone. Kidnapped woman randomly tapping wires on a broken rotary phone and is only able to reach your cell number and relies on you to save her and her family?… Ok, so that movie Cellular sucked, but still – it could happen, right?

What does Prophet’s Place have to say?

“Again, the problem isn’t inherent to Blackberry devices but rather the distraction they cause in some drivers. Some drivers, as I noted above, are simply more easily distracted while driving. And I’d be willing to wager that the biggest cause of distraction while driving is a political sacred cow–

I’d strongly suggest that the #1 cause of distraction that leads to traffic accidents is children. I’d also suspect that a number of other sources of distraction–including passengers, food and drink, CD and tape players, pets–are responsible for a far greater number of accidents than cellphones, and certainly Blackberry use.”

So essentially, a car should just be four wheels, some gears and whatnot, and maybe a seatbelt. Why? Because every other thing in those gas-guzzlers is a distraction. I keep reading about BMW and whoever else cramming more stuff into a dashboard and I wonder why BlackBerrys keep getting the heave-ho. How about banning elaborate dashboards?

Here’s the thing. We may have been fine without cell phones in cars years ago. But now, with FOX and other networks constantly feeding fear into the hearts and souls of the general public, connectivity is becoming more and more of a must. How about developing technology to make the process safer instead of outlawing it? Understand the problem and try to fix it instead of abolishing it first – that’s my suggestion.

Anyone else want to weigh in?

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  • http://www.prophetsplace.com/ The Prophet

    Thanks for the link–my mom made the point that #2 on the list of in-car distractions would be applying makeup which I neglected to put on my list. So do politicians go after lipstick next?

  • http://www.prophetsplace.com The Prophet

    Thanks for the link–my mom made the point that #2 on the list of in-car distractions would be applying makeup which I neglected to put on my list. So do politicians go after lipstick next?

  • http://www.kradest.com/ Krad

    Call me crazy.. but I also believe that txting and emailing should be illegal when driving a car.

    I can’t tell you how many times my boss almost killed me while he was driving and answering emails… not to mention the fact that he needs magnifying eye glasses to see the screen.

    I have nightmares!

    But seriously, a car is not a recreational toy. It is a 2 ton metal machine. It can easily kill. People should take cars more seriously. Sure there are people who are talented and can drive a car, eat a sandwich and read a book all at the same time, but it is not a good idea.

  • http://www.kradest.com Krad

    Call me crazy.. but I also believe that txting and emailing should be illegal when driving a car.

    I can’t tell you how many times my boss almost killed me while he was driving and answering emails… not to mention the fact that he needs magnifying eye glasses to see the screen.

    I have nightmares!

    But seriously, a car is not a recreational toy. It is a 2 ton metal machine. It can easily kill. People should take cars more seriously. Sure there are people who are talented and can drive a car, eat a sandwich and read a book all at the same time, but it is not a good idea.

  • http://www.rimarkable.com/ Robb (RIMarkable)

    I think that a law specifically against driving while texting is stupid too, however, I gather for very different reasons.

    My take is that there should be general law against doing things while behind the wheel that distract you PERIOD. Why single out the people with mobile devices.

    I swear the other day, I saw a lady painting her fingernails while I was trying to merge onto the freeway on the way to work.

    Why shouldn’t that Darwin Award candidate be subject to extra fines and points on her license when she causes a 6 car pile-up that makes me late to where I need to be?

  • http://www.rimarkable.com Robb (RIMarkable)

    I think that a law specifically against driving while texting is stupid too, however, I gather for very different reasons.

    My take is that there should be general law against doing things while behind the wheel that distract you PERIOD. Why single out the people with mobile devices.

    I swear the other day, I saw a lady painting her fingernails while I was trying to merge onto the freeway on the way to work.

    Why shouldn’t that Darwin Award candidate be subject to extra fines and points on her license when she causes a 6 car pile-up that makes me late to where I need to be?

  • OT

    How many times have you seen people with their pets hanging out the drivers window? Maybe we need a law for distraction, any type!

    How about a law for courtesy, is there any left on the road? I rarely see any, left lane creepers, left turn bolter’s. I am guilty of lack of courtesy as well for those left turners but why have a law for everything, talk about big brother!

  • OT

    How many times have you seen people with their pets hanging out the drivers window? Maybe we need a law for distraction, any type!

    How about a law for courtesy, is there any left on the road? I rarely see any, left lane creepers, left turn bolter’s. I am guilty of lack of courtesy as well for those left turners but why have a law for everything, talk about big brother!

  • jason

    We are reaching a point when when we need to say, “Hey, personal responsibity is more important than government intrusion.”
    Sure, I would like a law against every pet peeve of mine, I just left a restaurant tonight with a screaming kid at a table next to my wife and I. Can we get a law against babies in sushi places? Or can we go back to when we were responsible for ourselves and and acted like adults even if a law didn’t demand it?
    On the other hand, doing a short stint in the ‘big house’ for driving-while-txting would be great. Sign me up. . .maybe I need a 12 step program for that.

  • jason

    We are reaching a point when when we need to say, “Hey, personal responsibity is more important than government intrusion.”
    Sure, I would like a law against every pet peeve of mine, I just left a restaurant tonight with a screaming kid at a table next to my wife and I. Can we get a law against babies in sushi places? Or can we go back to when we were responsible for ourselves and and acted like adults even if a law didn’t demand it?
    On the other hand, doing a short stint in the ‘big house’ for driving-while-txting would be great. Sign me up. . .maybe I need a 12 step program for that.

  • asdf

    the problem isn’t the law or lack of laws….laws do nothing. it’s pretty obvious that people do as they wish. another misconception is that laws are their to provide justice…yea right. the intention of law is to provide societal stability. but a few laws go a long way. unfortunately a country of 350 million people, a large portion of them stupid equals more laws then you can shake a stick at. currently there are some places with in excess of 50 individual laws of the things you can’t do in a motor vehicle. what should happen is that when someone kills another person using their car or suv, that person should be dragged out of the vehicle, whether it’s grandma who couldn’t see, or some ditzy 16 year old blonde, and stone to death. people don’t respect the gravity of a neighbor being prosecuted. but your neighbor getting stoned to death tends to stick in even the mushiest of gray matter.

  • http://asdf asdf

    the problem isn’t the law or lack of laws….laws do nothing. it’s pretty obvious that people do as they wish. another misconception is that laws are their to provide justice…yea right. the intention of law is to provide societal stability. but a few laws go a long way. unfortunately a country of 350 million people, a large portion of them stupid equals more laws then you can shake a stick at. currently there are some places with in excess of 50 individual laws of the things you can’t do in a motor vehicle. what should happen is that when someone kills another person using their car or suv, that person should be dragged out of the vehicle, whether it’s grandma who couldn’t see, or some ditzy 16 year old blonde, and stone to death. people don’t respect the gravity of a neighbor being prosecuted. but your neighbor getting stoned to death tends to stick in even the mushiest of gray matter.