Which is the government’s responsibility to protect: you from yourself or your freedom to be an idiot?
For some lawmakers, Cathy Cruz Marrero’s now-infamous fall into a fountain while texting couldn’t have come at a better time.
In California, State Sen. Joe Simitian has reintroduced a bill that would fine cyclists $20 for texting. In Oregon, State Rep. Michael Schaufler wants to fine cyclists $90 for wearing headphones or earbuds. In Virginia, lawmakers are considering whether to broaden such a ban to include any handheld communication device.
And in New York, a bill before the legislature’s transportation committee would ban the use of electronic devices while crossing streets.
[…]
Setting aside the obvious debate over whether a person should retain the basic right to walk or jog distracted, the next questions include whether this kind of ban will work to save lives, and if so, at what cost? […] Expect to see a range of legal questions about the finer details of the ban, including what, exactly, constitutes a street, and a crossing of the street, and which electronic devices, if any, may be excused from said ban.
Will there be increasing penalties for repeat offenders, including jail time?
“What you in for, kid? Bank robbery? Multiple murders? Demanding to ‘opt out’ with no junk touching at the airport?”
“Wearing earbuds while crossing the street.”
“Ah, huh. In that case, bend over.”
Seems like a good idea – find all the lawmakers with too much time on their hands, fire them, save money!
It is direct consequence of Progressive mind-set: assuming that every single person who is not in charge in Govt. is absolute moron and that it is Govt. duty to control such morons for their own good.
Sorry, but the highest proportion of morons among the population can be found in Govt. workforce, peaking at leadership and governing positions.
Time to strike back at all this nonsense: remove any food, drink and smoking (of any kind) oppressions; “physical protections” enforcements as seat belts or helmets; thought limits (FCC?); social engineering by our money (electric car or “green appliances” “rebates”, “investments” in friends of current Administration,…);… Any politician proposing any of this BS should be forced to resign in short order. Enough is enough.
Yeah.. that’s terrible.
What’s next? Laws against drinking and driving?
You can not legislate common sense.
Darwin is at work and that’s OK except for the innocent victims that suffer for the stupidity of others.
I hang up on friends that call me from their cars: “Call me when you aren’t driving.”
Indeed, laws cannot legislate common sense. Good thing that is totally irrelevant. What laws do do is require physical actions like wearing a seat belt or having lights at night. Oh the inhumanity and violation of basic human freedoms???? Dolts.
Long past time for these laws including smoking cigarettes by the driver be on the books. After that, people with common sense can follow the law.
Stupid Hoomans.
“Distracted Walking”? I say let the Darwin Award potential nominees strut their stuff.
The issue here is not personal liberty, it is public safety. That asshat driving while texting can hurt many more people than themselves. Ditto the idiot who walks into busy traffic. Pitching this as a personal issue is ridiculous.
What with so many big cities strapped for cash with no relief in sight, it’s probably as much about “revenue enhancement” as it is about safety. Think of it as a “hidden tax” on electronic devices.
Although a $20 fine doesn’t sound like it would pay for its own enforcement…
Just another stupidity tax. Like taxes on cigarettes and fines for speeding. To bad you can’t fine legislators for stupid ideas we could pay off our national debt.
Don’t confusing driving while on the phone/texting with doing the same thing while walking. Distracted driving is vastly more dangerous to others than walking. The pedestrian normally only ends up mangling themselves.
I’d happily turn the people doing this while driving into pedestrians for a while. I think law enforcement has better things to do than ticket people for this unless you have way to many police.
Sounds a bit excessive but we do need certain laws to protect sheeples from themselves and one another in public places. This includes jaywalking, smoking, seat belts, motorcycle helmut and even showing your ass when a grandma might be looking. Certain laws are needed in densely populated areas so sheeple can coexist happily.
Well all it takes is one person to do something stupid. AKA: texting gal who fell in fountain. Then our progressive politicians seem to think this is happening all the time everywhere. And something needs to be done about it.
Last year we had a politician, who was a fanatical bicyclist, propose mandatory helmets for adults. He was given a State Police body guard, who stuck with him for awhile even after he withdrew the legislation.
Electronic addicts. Probably somebody could make some money setting up a detox facility for addicted texters and smart phone users.
#5/Bobbo said ‘I hang up on friends that call me from their cars: “Call me when you aren’t driving.”’
So.. When you are sitting in a car I assume you tell everyone to not talk and you have no radio on.
Sorry, but talking to your passenger or listening to a radio program on how Bush Era taxes bankrupted the country is just as danger as talking on cell phone with a headset.
Both are distracting you from what you should be doing.. DRIVING.
#15–Mourning the loss of common sense==I don’t talk on the phone while driving. Its unsafe.
Got any facts for the relative dangers of non-driving activities or are you just bloviating? Yes, I know, every new idea is equally wrong in your book. You got some deep thinking going on there.
Obviously a Puke voter.
I truthfully have mixed feelings on this subject. That woman falling into the fountain was funny, but she could have stepped into traffic doing the same thing, causing an accident getting herself or others killed.
Everyone seems to focus on the government’s actions, I think we should take this as a wake-up call to examine our addiction/obsession to our technology.
Distracted driving killed about 5,000 people last year, and caused a staggering half a million accidents. But while that’s a big number, and a big problem, it’s not a growing problem. Accidents due to distracted driving have stayed about the same for years.
Adrian Lund is President of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. He says his group fully expected distracted driving accidents to go up once people started using cell phones in their cars in large numbers. But it didn’t happen. And distracted driving accidents didn’t go down in states that banned cell phone use in cars.
Michigan Radio NPR
http://tinyurl.com/6lam64b
Laws do not prevent crimes. They punish people after the fact. These laws are pretty much fund-raising efforts by the state and enforced by their thugs the police. So, people will continue to text, and the state will be out there collecting revenue.
IF THERE IS NO VICTIM, THERE IS NO CRIME.
It’s ridiculous the way pre-crime is becoming more and more prevelant. And the courts are backed up and jails are filled with innocent people while there are less and less resources to book real criminals who have actually hurt other people. But what’s more important? Liberty and Freedom, or the state’s coffers?
I see people all the time wearing the white corded Apple headphones (both sides) while driving.
When I see some monkey-stupid driving there is almost ALWAYS a cell phone involved.
Bicyclists too. Yesterday I saw a guy go straight through a busy intersection (4 lanes) against a light. I yelled “Hope you get hit” so he’d hear it in the middle of the intersection. Didn’t happen, though.
You could fine these people, or just shoot them. I care less. Punish them, because they ARE dangerous. There is a moral strike against drunk drivers. Cellphone drivers are even worse. They aren’t impaired, they just flat out choose not to pay attention.
I don’t really get the controversy … For as long as I remember, here in Canada it’s been illegal to wear earphones while driving or riding a bicycle.
The thing is : police officers in metropolitan areas don’t enforce these laws because they have better things to do. Isn;t it Einstein who said : no law that cannot be enforced is an insult to the judicial system? No need to be Einstein to get this one.
The other thing is : It’s not just a matter of common sense, it’s a matter of respect. YES, you are a public danger when you text and walk with your earphones at maximum volume. I so want to punch anyone who does this on the sidewalk or in any public area.
I think it’s about time we rewrite the book of good manners, or “bienséance” as the French says.
Dvorak you need an edit function for your forum posts … in the meantime try to make some sense out of my previous quote :p
#20
“Laws do not prevent crimes… So, people will continue to text, and the state will be out there collecting revenue. THERE IS NO VICTIM. THERE IS NO CRIME.”
You are wrong at least once per sentence. Laws do increase crime because you can’t violate a law that doesn’t exist. Who cares?
Your idea of ‘victimless crimes’ is warped. In a proper victimless crime the dangers are introduced BECAUSE the industry is illegal, and therefore unregulated.
Texting while driving IS dangerous, in and of itself. You CAN’T type and drive well.
This isn’t an underground. Just a bunch of self-impressed idiots that can’t prioritize facebook and surviving the trip to work and back.
Cell phones and texting should be banned in general or heavily restricted. For emergency uses only. The potential risk to bees alone justifies the ban, then you have the wasted energy.
Alfie and others: The real problem with using cell phones and other electronic handheld toys, is that a driver is heavily distracted from driving, by his or her handheld toy. I’ve seen people swerving all over a freeway or exit ramp while they play with their toy. I do agree that tickets should only be handed out to distracted drivers. Not doing this will make the driver subject of the slings and arrows of dangerous driving.
# 9 said what I came here to say myself, but it was a comment so far up that I feel it bears repeating.
All it will do effectively is add a new revenue stream for the state. It’s just another reason for you to be fined some random sum of money. People will act without common sense regardless.
We already have laws to deal with this – it’s called the Tort Law of Negligence. If you are texting and trip into a fountain (and as the Black Sheep said at #20), there is no victim except for your own silly ass. But if you are texting and run into an old lady and break her hip, then there is a victim and you will likely be seen as negligent and therefore liable. But even this is not an offense against the public and should not be a crime.
I agree with #28.
Until it become illegal to be an idiot, that’s about the best we can hope for.
Does anybody remember my earlier comment about how unrepresentative our government is and how idiot lawyers and politicians responses to anything is to pass another useless law?
Prime example.
“I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
— Thomas Jefferson
#27, #28, #29
Wrong.
#30
Irrelevant.
When operating a car your primary focus needs to be on driving. There is no unfair or scary political aspect to that.
Drunks can’t drive, so we give them weekend jail and monitoring. Distracted cellphone people are EXACTLY THE SAME.
Once you are generating enough kinetic energy to seriously injure or kill someone the rules need to change.
I strongly suspect that everyone who gets a jaywalking ticket deserves it. Who actually gets these tickets? If you are getting tickets like this it is probably because you are being a complete asshole in some other way.
It would be a lot safer and easier to drive and text if they wouldn’t make those damned keyboards so small.
It’s the manufacturers’ fault.