Re: [ST] Re: Cell Phones

[Ben Snyder <bensnyder@xxxxxxxxx>]

>     We have a saying that your right to swing your
> fist ends at my nose. The
> question is whether or not cell phone usage while
> driving is a danger to
> others. If not, then talk away, but if so then
> you're violating the rights
> of others by endangering them with your reckless
> behavior.

I tend to agree with you, and all studies that I've
read lead to no conclusion.  This can be either
because these devices are no more of a distraction
than anything else, or people skew the story while
reporting it.

I've seen the same people on the road that you've seen
unable to drive because they have a phone plastered to
the side of their head...although I've seen those same
people without the phone.  They are *JUST AS*
wreckless when they are not on the phone, so I'm not
convinced.

My standpoint - if you dont feel safe dont do it.  If
you think others are not safe, keep your distance from
them.
People will try to gain sympathy for their cause by
telling you about little Tiffany or Joey that died in
a car wreck where a driver was talking on a cell
phone.  It's a tragic event, but it's an *isolated*
event (or a smattering of isolated events).  There's
no statistical backing to prove otherwise.  

If you think people only run red lights and stop signs
because they are on a phone, then think again
sometimes people are distracted by thinking about the
girlfriend dumping them, or they're stressed because
their boss called them on the carpet for screwing up. 
If I were to run a light because I was in an off mood
and my girlfriend had dumped me, are you going to make
it illegal to dump someone?  If I'd been yelled at by
my boss and was thinking about whether or not I was
going to lose my job, are you going to make those
situations inpossible by passing a law?

Some may say that people should not drive in such
condition.  Maybe those people are right, but then we
have to be realistic and realize that I have to go to
work, we have to get back home, we have to drive in
many cases to provide/get the things we need to live.

I guess this is a long-winded way for me to say, "GET
OVER IT."  At least for now.  If someone produces
reliable statistics that prove that cell phone use
dramatically increase accident rates and/or fatal
accidents, then I *might* support legislation.  Until
then, I still live in America where, last I checked,
it was a free country...

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