State Bans Texting While Driving

netbuzz writes "The state of Washington yesterday became the first in the nation to ban text-messaging while driving. The law could use sharper teeth, but it's a natural and necessary progression of the movement to clamp down on those who find the need to constantly communicate more important than the safety of their fellow travelers."

Comments

Reckless driving

[b0s0z0ku]

Texting while driving is reckless driving IMHO. Charge them with *that* instead of a new, more minor, traffic offense. The fines and demerit points for reckless driving are _steep._

-b.

Re:Reckless driving

[Score Whore]

So what distinguishes a cell phone from having a conversation with a passenger? Or someone trying to find the right station on the radio. Or smoking a cigarette (assuming you are not just hanging the butt from your mouth and letting it ash all down your front.) Or trying to shush their screaming kid in the back seat. Or fishing around in a bag of fast food for a hamburger. Or trying to tip the last bit of coffee out of your spill-proof mug. Or listening attentively to their GPS navigation system. Or attempting to decipher driving directions scribbled on a napkin. Or listening to their books on tape.

The problem isn't cell phones or texting. It's people not being engaged with the task of driving.

If your only concern is safety then it makes more sense to lower the speed limit to 25 MPH and eliminate any car larger than a golf cart than it does to fine/ban cell phones.

This is a First Amendment Issue!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

This is just more liberal do-gooding and interference with our everyday lives. This is by the same people who want to ban smoking, force our kids to learn junk science, and stifle honest American toil.

We can only pray, before these nannying socialists force us to use inferior and dangerous operating systems.

Re:This is a First Amendment Issue!!!

[Tuoqui]

If you want to exercise your first amendment rights pull off to the side of the road and do it.

It has been proven that talking on the cell phone while driving is almost as bad as driving drunk. I can only imagine how much worse 'texting while driving' is.

Remember that you have your rights only up until you become a danger or menace to society. And since society as a whole is not apparently capable of something called 'common sense' we have to legislate common sense unfortunately for the people who are 'common sense deficient' to put it in policially correct terms as not to offend people by calling them what they really are *cough*STUPID*cough*

Re:Cel Phone = **EVIL**

[AsnFkr]

Once every car contains only one hermetically sealed individual we should be 100% safe.

Even at that, you'd have to limit the access driver has to his or her genitals.

....I used to have a truck that rode pretty high, I've seen things.

Re:Whatever happened to common sense?

[glenstar]

I used to think most drivers had at least a modicum of common sense until the other day when I was out having a smoke in front of my local bar and watched a lady in her 50s literally brushing her teeth while driving westbound on 45th. She was doing all of about 5 miles an hour and there was a huge line of cars behind her. When she got pretty much in front of where I was standing, she came to a complete stop (a good couple hundred feet before the light) and really started to brush. She was completely and totally oblivious. The guy behind her looked like he was about to explode, compounded by the fact that I yelled out to him: "She's brushing her fucking teeth!". He turned a color of red I haven't seen before and started honking wildly. It took the lady a good 20 seconds to finally realize she had backed up traffic all the way back to I-5. The absolute best part was that she sped up for several yards until she was right behind another car and then HONKED at that car for not going fast enough. I wished for something Darwinian to happen, but alas, god must have been busy that day.

Re:Whatever happened to common sense?

[Sanguis Mortuum]

[quote]I wished for something Darwinian to happen, but alas, god must have been busy that day.[/quote]

Am I the only one that sees the irony in this statement? God carrying out Darwins theories? Im sure those intelligent design nuts wont like that one bit...