Bad Call

Cell phone bans are all the rage, thanks in part to this mess in Washington. The National Transportation Safety Board is bent on blaming youth (though the driver was 20, not 16) and obsessive cell phone use (for some reason, it is relevant that the driver received 15 calls in the four hours before the crash). In my experience driving through cell-phone-wary and ticket-happy NYC, cell phone bans only add another distraction from the road; between driving and talking, motorists also have to keep an eye out for cops. Of course, if cell phones need to go, so do screaming kids, morning coffee, FM radio and climate control. This AAA report rates cell phones surprisingly low on a long list of more hazardous distractions.

Comments

[Douglas Fletcher]

Cell phone driving laws are just more of the usual useless crap laws we get from legislatures. The law already is that when you drive you are supposed to devote your attention to driving so that you don't cause an accident; to not do so is called "reckless driving."

I don't know why they feel the need to fill up a big bucket with little buckets, but I suppose it does make your average prosecutor's job easier having all these little fly-paper laws.

[Croesus]

From my experience, getting a blowjob while driving is more distracting than using your cellphone.

[Tim Stich]

I was going the mention the blowjob thing. Well, sort of. Think single occupant cars.

But I suspect those of you who believe that one AAA rating are going to be proven wrong. I'll bet cell phone usage is eventually going to rate very high on driving distractions. It is entirely dependent on the nature of the call, of course, and other factors. But primarily it's hand held cell phone usage that should be banned. Headsets and speakerphone units are fine. I don't see how that's any worse than talking to your passenger.

[Croesus]

EASTON -- Richard James Clader felt neglected by his mother and wife, and Tuesday in Northampton County Court, he admitted he had an unusual way of dealing with those feelings.

Police said the 38-year-old Wilson Borough man repeatedly drove on Routes 22 and 33 blaring his horn so other drivers would see him masturbate while he drove.

After September 2002 news reports publicized Clader's behavior, more than two dozen people told investigators they saw Clader pleasuring himself between January and September 2002 on highways in Stockertown, Easton and Bethlehem, Lower Nazareth and Bushkill townships.

http://pennlive.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1054717632299800.xml

[Anonymous]

Bad call for sure, Kerry Howley. It attracted the low-lifes.

[Easy Rider]

Notice that the control freaks focus on banning a piece of plastic against your ear -- not the outdated median barriers that we tend to fly across.

It's always our fault; never the fault of gubmint highway "engineers."

[Merciless Zupyr]

Yes, well a lot of people can't do two things at once....excessive use of your cell phone should be illegal....I can't begin to list all of the morons that I have been around who can't concentrate on driving while they blab on the phone to someone about who they fucked the night before. I've already lost two friends because of people like you who think there's nothing wrong with it.