Re: A study calls phone use risky as driving drunk.

Michael R. Kesti wrote:
timeOday wrote:


P.Roehling wrote:

"timeOday" <timeOday-UNSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote


A study calls phone use risky as driving drunk.

The California Highway Patrol has been saying the same thing for a long
time now, but the cellphone companys have a *lot* of money to pay for
lobbyists in Sacramento, so nothing is likely to be done about the
problem in the forseeable future.

And of course, the CHP doesn't want to give up their own radios either.

Huh? Police radios aren't cellphones, and cellphone legislation wouldn't
affect them in any way.

You're not in favor of allowing police to drive around drunk are you?
Or even worse than drunk?


Of course not, but I am in favor of allowing them to use tools that allow
them to do their job effectively. Allowing them to using radios while
driving seems as justifiable as allowing them to carry and use guns.


Right. And I think the true spirit of America is to entrust private citizens at least as much as the government. (At least to err on the side of freedom, that is. Yes, I realize there are limits and no, I am not in favor of private ownership of nuclear bombs.)

I am skeptical of this study. With the proliferation of cell phones over the past 10 years, we should have seen mass mayhem on the streets (unless drunk driving is a lot safer than I thought.)

Also, it would be a mistake to make new laws on the basis of safety alone, without regard to the benefits of cell phone usage. The phones reclaim millions of otherwise wasted man-hours every year. If convenience and effectiveness didn't matter, if only safety was important, we wouldn't even have private ownership of vehicles in the first place.

And if you're wondering what my personal interest in this is, I don't own a cell phone. I had one 10 years ago, but I'm disappointed they haven't come down in price more, and it's not worth the money to me personally. But that's a separate issue.
.

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