Posted on 01/14/2009 5:17:04 AM PST by shortstop
Do you sing in the car?
Or shout at the bonehead on your radio?
If so, you could get pulled over.
That's one of the potentical consequences of a stupid suggestion this week -- by the self-proclaimed National Safety Council -- that cell phones be banned in cars.
They want them done away with. They say that the piecemeal banning of cell phones -- mostly in our most liberal states -- doesn't go far enough. They won't be happy until every cell phone in every car is turned off or broken.
Specifically, they say that talking on a cell phone while driving is a dangerous as being drunk -- that cell phones in cares are the same thing as a DWI.
Which is, of course, preposterous. Their claim is not based in reality, but in the exageration of the activist, in the made-up nonsense they pump out in an effort to get people to surrender their freedom. Talking on a cell phone while driving is potentially, for some, distracting. It is, however, in no way like being drunk. It is, in fact, an activity that is, for most drivers, very easily manageable.
People talk on the cell phone all the time while driving. Even in states that outlaw it, talking on the cell while driving is common and safe.
That is proven by the fact that cars aren't piled into one another or into bridge abutments all over the place. Tens of millions of Americans talk and drive safely every day.
In fact, over the last decade plus, as this technology has become part of the mainstream of American life, the rate of highway accidents and fatalities has gone down. Over the period we've had more phones -- countless more phones -- and yet we've had fewer accidents. That is part of an uninterrupted trend toward safer highways resulting from evolving road and car design. Phones have not had an impact on traffic accidents or deaths, and yet these busybodies want to take them out of the hands of drivers.
And not just out of the hands.The National Safety Council says that hands-free phones must also be outlawed. That means the OnStar microphone in the rearview mirror, and the Blue Tooth in the ear. You simply can't talk while driving. Any form of telecommunications device used in any way while you are driving the car is going to be banned.
You break their rule, and they're going to have a cop pull you over and write you up.
Which is where the singing comes in.
How possibly do these morons propose to impose their new rules on your life? How is an officer alongside the road going to be able to tell if you are singing to the radio or talking on a hands-free phone?
Of what if you have a child in the car with you, someone small who doesn't reach up above the windows, and you're talking to him? Or to your dog. Or are hashing out an argument you had with your spouse. Or maybe you just like to talk to yourself.
Will running your mouth behind the wheel now be Fourth Amendment probable cause to pull you over? What about mouth breathers, will Big Brother hold them forever suspect?
This is all just nonsense. It shows what mischief can arise from these freedom-grabbing jerks who want to cram their rules down our throats.
And that's all that's happening here. This is about the piecemeal stripping of freedom from the American people. There remain few corners of life where people can actually choose what they want to do. Freedom of choice ends when you walk out the abortionist's front door.
So let me tell you how it should be.
If you want to talk on your cell phone while driving in your car, it's your business.
And the heck with anybody who says different. These freaking busybodies and their domineering arrogance. They feel completely entitled to play with your life like you are a rat in a cage.
But we should tell them to bug off. It's not their job to protect us, or to define what protection is. We have laws that define safe driving. They tell us how fast to go, and how to pass, and not to leave our lane, and how close to follow, when to yield and where to stop. If we violate any of those laws, ticket us. If we are not violating any of those laws then we, no matter what we are doing, are driving safely.
It is up to us to decide if we can do a certain activity and operate a vehicle safely. If the vehicle actually operates unsafely, pull us over. Until then, it's none of anybody's business.
If you want to eat while you drive, or listen to the radio, or talk on the phone, it's none of anybody's business.
Especially these unelected do-gooders.
We've got to keep the government off our backs. And we've got to recognize that by "protecting" us the government is doing nothing but enslaving us. Because the government can't give you safety without taking away freedom.
And this is America -- the land of the free.
At least it used to be.
I agree completely. They should be banned. I actually had a guy in a truck with a trailer almost crash into the side of my pickup in a gas station at 5 mph. He was busy trying to talk while pulling out and obviously could not walk and chew gum at the same time.
I think they should be banned in grocery stores having been run into by a woman’s cart who was busy describing to someone the cereal she was buying.
You'd think it was a no-brainer. The roads are full of such morons. They drift out of their lanes on the highway. Don't signal when changing lanes because their one free hand is 'busy' doing something else. Often they're going 10 miles or so below the speed limit while 'chatting' on the phone. The police really need to crack down harder on this. It's an extremely dangerous thing to do.
“Anyone” should be “any driver who caused the fatal wreck while yakkking on the phone.
She probably would have had the wreck even if she wasn’t ‘texting’.
And you know this how ? Other than projection of your own conversational style onto everyone else,I mean ?
Unless you are omnipresent ?
If using a cell phone while driving actually did cause any sort of increased accident rate, wouldn't insurance companies be charging more for it ? They are on the ball for anything else that shows up as increasing accidents. Insured a male teenageer lately ?
Why not ban GPS devices? Looking at TV maps while listening to directions is very distracting....while they’re at it they can ban radios. I’ve found myself screaming at mine while listening to liberal radio on a number of occasions.
Why haven’t these dumb azzes at the National Safety Council been screaming to ban CB radios?
“Any business that uses service trucks....”
!!!!!!!!!!!Pull over.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hands free; same thing, ban the cell phone drivers.
Cellphone don’t kill people; cellphone drivers do!
I’ve read that flying in an airplane is safer than traveling in a car. Thus, driving should be banned, at least for long distances. It’ll save lives and taxpayer money.
Come to think of it, flying is not that safe either. Let’s limit transportation to foot travel. And only by designated, licensed walkers. Everyone else stays home.
I’ve read that most accidents occur at home, though...
There was a thread on this subject the other day:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2163165/posts
I’m on 24 emergency call as the chief operator of a public utility(Public water supply). I’ll get an exemption if this bs passes. Probably another sticker on my plates will identify my need to be in communication with the water plant. I don’t take any other types of calls when I’m driving anyway.
Simple solution: Move!!
The crux of the issue is not the cell phones, per se, but rather those that drive badly while on them (and many that drive badly while not on them). The Police used to respond to poor driving, and not be seat-belt/cell phone nanny staters.
Enforce the driving rules, IMO.
Yep! Like the lady next door when she leaves the house - gets in her car and before she gets to the end of the driveway she has the cellphone glued to her ear.
LOL!
“No problem, so long as anyone involved in a fatality accident while talking on the phone is executed on the spot.”
I know that your proposed punishment is said in jest, that said why would you only want to punish the drivers who cause a car wreck while talking on a cell phone?
I believe that the root cause of the horrible driving we see today is that the only “bad driving” ever discussed is “drunk” driving. People now figure that as long as they aren’t “drunk” then they can not drive poorly.
I would like to see ALL drivers that cause damage to persons or property held equally accountable. A person is no less dead if they get killed by a “drunk” driver, a cell phone using driver or a general speeder. Yet the punishment for the killing is different for each of those drivers. In fact, a “drunk” driver can be punished very severely without causing any damage to persons or property, yet a texter can get off when committing vehicular manslaughter.
If all dangerous driving was held to the same standard, we might end up having a safer driving environment.
Perhaps. but four dead, and a couple more seriously injured demonstrates the need for full concentration when driving a motor vehicle.
UNC published research that didn’t even have taliking on a cell phone in the top eight reasons for accidents. Changing the radio station ranked highest.
Enforce the driving rules, IMO.
*********************
Best post of the thread.
“Enforce the driving rules, IMO.”
Exactly!
I am omnipresent. I know all, I see all, I judge all.
j/k.
I am however an insurance underwriter. Amidst our various state approved uprates is one for accidents caused by cell phone use, which has a special little extra premium attached. :-) Why? Old habits die hard and previous offenders frequently become repeat offenders. Enough so the industry can statistically support the uprate in a court of law.
And I still fully ssupport this ban.
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