What's Next? Can Senators Ban Stupidity While Driving?
from the legislating-while-grandstanding dept
A whole bunch of people have been submitting the story that some US Senators are now pushing a law that would effectively ban texting while driving across the country. Now, you may note that this is a state issue, rather than a federal issue, so the Senators have a sneaky way around that: they basically say that if states don't pass such a law, they'll withhold federal highway money. Now, let's be very clear here: texting while driving is moronic. It's obviously incredibly stupid and dangerous and you would have to be an idiot to do it. There was a recent study that wasn't even worth mentioning because of course trying to type a message on your phone while you're driving is going to massively diminish your driving skills and put everyone around you in danger.That said, it's unclear what good a "ban" on this does. It's like trying to ban stupidity. There are a bunch of driver distractions, and people will continue to do them with or without a "ban." The real answer is a combination of (a) education and (b) potentially technological solutions (voice control with voice-to-text?). Perhaps you could make the argument that a regulatory ban would serve to educate, but it seems like there should be more effective ways to teach people that it's incredibly dumb to try to type out a text message while driving.
Filed Under: driver distractions, stupidity, texting while driving
