Curmudgeon's Corner
cur-mud-geon: anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner
Cell Phone Debate...
There seems a perpetual debate over the use of cell phones while driving. Likewise, there seems the general thought that a new law ought be devised to ban the use of cell phones while driving.
I seldom use my cell phone while driving because I recognize that I am not as attentive as I otherwise would be while doing so. If I had a hands-free option, I might be more tempted to use the phone but I suspect I'd still feel less attentive than I'd prefer while driving.
My casual observations include the lady who was using her left hand to hold the phone, while eating a sandwich that was being held in her right hand, while driving with her elbows. It also includes the men who are multi-tasking during driving snow storms on slippery roads.
There are some who seem adept at this practice and there are others who beg for intervention. Do we need a new law to stop this practice? I don't think so. I think we already have a law that involves stops for inattentive driving. That law ought be invoked more often although there may be some 'issues' for law enforcement over what constitutes inattentive driving and its defense in a courtroom. Maybe some of our officer readers can shed light on this issue if it is an 'issue'.
If that law is 'unenforceable' as written, then it needs be tightened/revised and it needs be used regularly. The fact that stops are being made for 'inattentive driving' will become known very quickly and probably will have the desired effect without a new law being placed on the books in a knee-jerk response.
The newly minted drivers (16 to 18, at least) should be charged with not using anything that detracts from their attentive driving. I would be far more concerned with text messaging in that age group, but it is a group that needs to remain fully focused on what it is doing...driving.
And, finally, that group of which I've become a part, the older group...not just the bald group, needs be reminded that we must be fully attentive while driving. Our skills, as a group, are not quite so good as they used to be in spite of our protestations to the contrary.
A new law? No. A reinvigorated use of existing law? Yes. A better sense of individual responsibility? Absolutely.
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