The Terminator has signed into law a bill outlawing text messaging while driving. It comes after a similar law outlawing driving while holding your cell phone to your ear which, um, doesn't strike me as more dangerous than driving while trying to change your t9 autospeller's choice from "of" to "me." That seems a bit like outlawing assault a few months before your outlaw battery. Anyway, here's the bill's esteemed author's explanation of its necessity.
"Texting while driving seems so obviously unsafe, it's hard to believe anyone would attempt it, yet everyday observation tells us it's all too common," Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, said. "I think this bill is a lifesaver."
The bold is mine, just to give you an idea of the rationale behind lawmaking. Anecdotal evidence before data, that's the ticket.
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I am wondering when it will be "illegal" to change the radio station, eat while driving, apply makeup while driving, look at a map while driving, yell at your GPS while driving, give your baby a bottle while driving, have an argument with your passengers while driving, light a cigarette while driving, look for street numbers while driving...
I think it should be illegal to eat Junior Mints out of a box while driving because when you dig way down for that last one stuck in the corner it's quite a distraction.
After our conversation I felt compelled to do a quick Google search: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080918100933.qj8ms49l&show_article=1
I also did a Google search and came across this. It does give the argument weight, although it is not really compelling enough to persuade me. I would need a study that actually shows a significant number of accidents are being caused by texting (in comparison to other distractions), and I didn't find anything like that in my search. Otherwise, it still seems a little arbitrary to me and I could always cite a counter example (http://www.motorauthority.com/eating-or-drinking-while-driving-becomes-deadly.html). Still, I concede that this is probably persuasive enough for most people.
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