Pay attention and it won’t be an issue

So SJ-R.com actually had an “Our Opinion” article that actually made some sense. SOME sense. I can’t give them too much credit, given their past track record with their “opinions”, and especially since their reasoning for this opinion was ever so slightly flawed.

Anyway, apparently, your state legislators are working up a bill to ban the use of cell phones while driving. Don’t get me wrong- I think cell phones (specifically, the use thereof while driving) are a major, major distraction. But is it up to the Gubment to tell us we can’t use them, and even if it does wind up being up to the Gubment, do you really think it will change anything?

Let me start by dogging the article’s reasoning. Basically, they start by comparing the seat-belt law to the cell-phone ban. I quote:

But seat belts and cell phones aren’t exactly comparable. It’s no trouble to buckle up, and it only makes you safer. Not talking while driving might mean you miss a business call, can’t tell your kids you’re on your way, can’t tell your date you’re running late. Will drivers adopt a cell phone law as they adopted the seat belt law?

I was with them 100% until the “not talking while driving…” part. So you miss a business call? Are you really that indispensable to your company? So you can’t tell your kids you’re on your way? Why are you checking in with them? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? So you can’t tell your date you’re running late? If you’re running that late, you’re already in deep shit as it is. Will calling really make things any better? Bottom line: in ANY of these scenarios, how freakin’ hard is it to pull off the road for 30 seconds, make or take your call, and get back on the road? Answer: not very.

Buuuuut, I don’t know that a ban will accomplish anything significant. We have a law requiring the wearing of seatbelts in the state of Illinois. I think everyone should wear seatbelts, but it’s not up to the Gubment to tell us we “have” to. Hey, if people want to splatter themselves all over the road in an accident because they didn’t wear their seatbelt, let them. Same as with motorcycle helmets. The herd needs thinned out anyway. You can’t legislate stupidity, people. Besides, making it a “law” doesn’t magically make people obey it. (I’ll bitch about THAT later.) Some people still don’t wear seatbelts; you think nobody’s going to use their cell phones while driving just because it’s a “law”?

Look at it like this: we have speed limits, and people still speed. We have “strict” DUI laws (give me a break), but people still drink and drive. Hell, we have laws against killing people and people still do THAT every day. Is a cell phone ban going to strike fear into ANYONE? Plus, it’s a tad hypocritical, considering the Popo apparently have immunity on most laws (or at least with regard to IVC regulations) that the rest of us have to follow, and lawmakers will themselves immune from any and all laws as they see fit.

People argue it’s a distraction, talking on the phone while you’re driving. I concur 100% and even go so far as to call that “fact”. But when it boils down to it, so is putting on make-up while driving. Let’s ban that, while we’re so quick to ban distractions. How about a ban on shaving while driving? Or using one’s laptop? Or reading? Playing with the dog, cat, ferret, parrot, pot-bellied pig, duck, moose, wildebeest, dolphin, or whatever pet you have sitting on your lap? Or when it boils right down to it, how is listening to the radio not considered a distraction? Or talking with a passenger in the car? How is talking with someone in the car any less distracting than talking with someone on a cell phone (for sake of argument, let’s make it as even as possible and assume you’re using a hands-free device)? What about having a child or children in the car? As a father of two, I know firsthand what kind of distraction kids can present. Are we going to ban children from riding in cars now? Then, since we’re already going down Ridiculous Road, let’s ban billboards, neon signs, flashing lights, and all other marquees, advertising, and signs- even traffic signs- whose sole purpose is to grab one’s attention (and thus take it away from the task at hand- driving). Or what about simply thinking? If one’s mind is preoccupied with something else, they’re not paying full attention to the road.

Honestly, I’m better with people actually using the phone while driving as opposed to sending text messages. At least with a call, once the number is dialed and you push SEND, you can at least still watch the road.

Look, people, it’s not the cell phones; it’s the drivers. Let’s actually punish people for the serious stuff (rape, murder, DUI resulting in the injury or death of someone, shit like that). If people get in a collision because of talking on the phone, deal with that individually. If people get in a collision due to dicking around with the radio or iPod or in-dash DVD (which are also “banned” but people still have them) or other assorted electronic distraction, deal with them individually.

The fact of the matter is that most people are distracted easily, and can’t (and probably shouldn’t) do two things at once, i.e. drive and talk on the phone. But if you ban one distraction you must ban them all, and punish violators equally. (Make-up putter-onners, drive-thru patrons tonsil-deep in their Big McWhopper Sancho ThickBurger, Mr. Can’t Miss the Wall St. Journal So I’ll Read It On The Way To Work Because It Makes Me Look Like I’m Impotent Important guy, the mid-50’s spoiled rich wife getting “wuvum’s from widdle Mr. Schnookums” on her lap in The Lexus™, whatever). But regardless, there will always be people who will not follow laws and/or rules, either because they think they’re above everyone else and that laws and rules don’t pertain to them, or because they feel it’s only illegal if they get caught.

Like I said, I think talking on cell phones while driving is a HUGE distraction and I don’t think people should do it. But I don’t feel it’s up to the Gubment to tell me I can’t do it, especially when there’s other problems just as severe if not more so that aren’t being addressed.