Banning driving and texting is logical but unrealistic
Texting while driving will soon be illegal. Our elected officials — most of who are old white men who couldn’t send a text message if they had to — will likely pass legislation to ban the practice. These are the same people who can’t seem to understand how to use their blinkers. Even so, eliminating texting while driving could be a good thing, as studies now show that drivers who text while on the road are 23 times more likely to have an accident than undistracted drivers. And if states don’t enact text-banning laws, they could lose 25 percent of their federal highway funds, much like with the seat belt legislation from years past. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia already have laws banning texting while driving: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington. So expect the ban to eventually pass here, too. And don’t waste time fighting it.
But this leads to another problem — enforcement. Imagine cops trying to nail drivers on this one. This isn’t a radar gun recording speed limits; it’s one person trying to peer into another’s car while it passes by at a high rate of speed and being able to recognize — without a shadow of a doubt — that what was in the driver’s hands was a cell phone. Not a wallet, a pack of cigarettes or a CD case — a cell phone.
Few could effectively argue that sending text messages while driving does not impair a driver’s ability to navigate. But why stop there? Many other activities that are completed while driving are distractions, too, and a ban on those practices should be up for consideration, too.
Let’s start with smoking. Not only is the act of smoking a distraction from the road, but this activity also creates a cloud of smoke and fire, which certainly don’t help keep drivers focused. Ban smoking while driving.
Drinking should be banned while driving, too, and not just alcohol; that law is already in place. We’re talking about drinking anything — soda, coffee and even those landfill-clogging bottled waters. These items not only are visual distractions for drivers who continually grab for them, but they create a need to frequently urinate, which can be one of the greatest factors in speeding. Ban drinking anything while driving.
What about eating? Do drivers really need to have three slices of sausage pizza, two cups of popcorn chicken and a half pound of beef jerky within reach to make it to Omaha? Save the hunger for the truck stop cafe. Ban eating while driving.
Applying makeup? Please. If this isn’t already illegal, it should be. Ban it.
Using GPS systems? Whoever came up with this device should be banned. Can drivers who own these things honestly say that they aren’t using them while driving down the road? Might as well pump in MTV on a flat screen in the dashboard.
While we are on the subject of music, let’s ban stereos. The thumping and pumping of Lil Wayne on the subwoofers is a distraction to not only the driver, but also to anyone within a couple hundred yards. Ban listening to music while driving. Especially rap.
Ban air conditioning. Drivers are consistently fiddling with the temperature control from too hot to too cold. Roll the windows down and get used to the outside temperature. It was good enough for our grandpas, and it’s good enough for us.
Ban bumper stickers, personalized license plates and billboards, especially those fancy electronic ones. These things tempt us to read them while driving, and that’s not only annoying but clearly a distraction.
Ban oral sex while driving. OK, maybe not.
So here’s our serious message to our elected officials: Go ahead and ban texting while driving; we know you are going to do it anyway. Just know that it won’t work. Texting is too much of a part of the way people communicate with each other. And with people spending more time in their vehicles than ever before, the two are inseparable. To think that drivers will not look at their phones when they hear the chime of a new text message’s arrival is ignorant. And to think that the driver will pull over to respond to the message is absurd. These things just won’t happen.
If text messaging while driving is a real concern — and it looks like it is — then pass legislation banning cell phone usage while driving altogether. Telling drivers to get their hands off their cell phones and back on the wheel is like telling little Johnny to keep his hands out of the cookie jar. You might catch him once — maybe twice — but as long as the jar is there, the temptation will be, too. CV
