More “distracted driving” bills considered
State legislatures all over the United States are considering bills that will keep drivers from using devices in the car which will distract them, such as cell phones and navigation systems.
This is not a new trend. In all, lawmakers have already proposed over 200 bills to keep the distracted driver from injuring himself or others while fiddling with electronic devices at the same time they are driving. This spate of state actions, especially when coupled with significant new activity by federal legislators and regulators (plus some by the cell phone and auto industries) is placing renewed attention on the very real risks of using phones and other devices behind the wheel, according to a New York Times article.
In fact, Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, says of the driver distraction issue that, “It’s the hottest safety issue in the states right now by far.” No one can tell how many of the bills might become law. However, the numbers make it clear that the total of new bills is running slightly ahead of last year’s tally. At the same time, analysts say that those bills are encountering smoother sailing on their way through the process, and that help from auto makers and cell phone manufacturers is making the job easier as well.
Steve Farley, an Arizona state representative, says that the attitude of the public is changing. Farley introduced a failed bill last year to ban texting while driving. He expects to do better with that same bill this year. Farley says, “People are starting to see it like drunk driving, and that’s the comparison we need to continue to make. It’s amazing to me that, after getting hammered since 2007, so many people are taking up the cause.”
Most of us have seen a driver on a cell phone, driving too slowly for the road, swerving in their lane (or others), driving erratically, or otherwise being a potential accident in the making because their attention was divided between the task at hand and the electronic device. It would appear that people are not very objective when they look at their own performance in these situations and it is possible that this is one of those situations, just like drunk driving, that would benefit from legal intervention and enforcement.
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January 6th, 2010
Too bad these Luddite Laws won’t do a damn bit of good. As I’ve been saying for a long time, texting and emailing etc. wile driving was already illegal under the existing distracted / dangerous / reckless driving laws. What needs to happen is to have law enforcement budgets increased to allow more officers to enforce the laws already on the books.