In general I agree with you, Dave. What should be punished is bad
driving. And there are lots of laws to do that. But in this case I
think that outlawing driving while talking on a cell phone is
reasonable. My reasoning is that most drivers don't drive as well
while using a cell phone. In fact
I suspect that all drivers drive less well. Excellent drivers may
still be good drivers, but still not as good as when they are not using
a cell phone.
But average drivens become sub-average.

Now the problem is that all drivens think they are above average ( or
if they are really poor, they think they are average ). So if you
permit driving while talking on cell phones, close to all drivers will
do it.

Now while I consider myself as an above average driver, I really don't
want to contend with a lot of average drivers driving while talking on
a cell phone.

Dan


Dave Hinz wrote:



Talking on a cellphone is only unsafe for people who are
unsafe drivers.



You keep missing the basic difference between your examples
and a cell phone, so I don't see that there's any point, do you?



Those are examples of the _BAD DRIVING_ that I'm saying should
be the punishable offense, Jim.



So punish the bad driving, Jim. It's very simple.
First you say it's so hard to define, then you go and define
it. Those are the things to give tickets to people for, not
the guy who is doing none of that.





If the cops don't pull her over for driving like an idiot, why
would they pull her over for the phone, Jim?