"Nick Hull" wrote
Accidents occur while the driver is drinking coffee, we should ban
drive-up windows.
Well, Nick. A University of Utah study showed that drunk drivers drive
better than people who are driving while talking on a cell phone.
While crotch burning coffee has probably caused some wrecks and a landmark
Stella style lawsuit, it doesn't have a lot to do with the real world
subject of someone talking on the cell while driving.
We already have laws on the books regarding "failure to give full time and
attention" to driving. Citations have been issued in the past. Where the
law enforcement community missed the bus is when they didn't start writing
citations as soon as cell phones came on the market. People should also be
cited for putting on makeup, eating, slapping their kids, reading, working
their palm pilot, or doing anything that takes them away from their driving.
This subject is close to my heart, as a child of a friend of mine died in an
accident where the driver of the other car was absorbed in a cell phone
conversation and didn't see the red light. We are not talking about what-if
cases. We are talking about bodies in the morgue that look like someone
attacked them with a chainsaw.
And all needless.
How many cell phone conversations are needless? How many people have you
seen wandering the aisles of the grocery store, spouting all manner of
personal, intimate, delicate conversation that would make a therapist blush?
Or just "Hi ..... what you doin' .......... oh, nothin .......... " And a
lot of them talking at double volume. Who in the hell needs 1,000 minutes
of talk time a month besides a telemarketer or a real estate agent, or
businessman? That's 16.6 HOURS a month. If you have to talk that much, you
need a shrink.
If you are guiding a 3,000# vehicle at 50 mph while talking on a cell, you
are a total idiot. You shouldn't be allowed to go out of the house without
adult supervision, let alone have a driver's license. Is it so important
that you would have the life of a seven year old on your conscience for the
rest of your life? Or would that bother you at all, because your girlfriend
calling about her new lingerie is more important than a seven year old?
Each man sets his own standard.
Or not.
Steve
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