Wednesday, September 30, 2009

While Driving




While driving down the road one day, in the very, merry month of May September, I was taken by surprise by a pair of texting eyes, and in a moment my whole world was upside down.

Or at least that's what the statist propaganda would have you believe. The problem is that the arguments and the legislation that is being justified by them are entirely arbitrary and subjective. We aren't supposed to be able (or to have the objective expertise) to know what is safe to do while driving and what isn't. Unfortunately, government doesn't have a clue either. The focus now, from listening to the government's "news" channels (CNN, MSNBC, et al.) is on text messaging, an activity that presumably takes your eyes off the road while you're engaged in it. Now all I'm hearing about is the texting issue

But when California passed its first anti-cell phone use while driving bill, it failed to include texting in its prohibited-behind-the-wheel behavior. So there then existed the infamous text messaging "loophole", until it was corrected by amending the legislation to explicitly mention text messaging. But, the California law allows "hands-free" cell phone use (in fact, it appears that no state has so far banned all use of cell phones while driving), even though studies supposedly show that using hands-free cell-phone devices is no safer. So government makes it a crime for me to answer my cell phone by hand, but okay to answer it if I've got a bluetooth headset stuck in my ear. But the state is all-knowing (or should be, if its advocates are to make a coherent case for it) and decides these things for me, telling me I'll be fined if a pick up my phone and talk on it, but the guy in the lane next to me can go on his merry way without police harassment if he looks like a schizophrenic talking to himself. But again, it's completely arbitrary and therefore unjustified and immoral.

If your answer is that we should just go ahead and ban all use of cell phones completely, you will shortly find yourself in epic fail land. A "safety" bill covering what drivers can and cannot do behind the wheel would have to be extended to cover anything deemed a "distraction" to qualify as non-arbitrary. So put that hamburger that you just collected at the drive-thru window down, fatso, and forget about reaching for a CD to pop into your CD player, or combing your hair or adjusting your make-up, or yelling at the brats in the back seat. Don't even think about listening to your favorite radio talk show while driving either; too much agreeing or disagreeing with the neocon right-wing host will take your attention off the road, and taking one hand off the wheel to change the station to a music option is no solution, you one-hand-on-the-wheel, one-eye-on-the-radio-dial menace to society! (There was an actual incident-and not the only one of its kind, I'm sure-of a group of teenagers killed when the teen driver reached over to change radio stations while going down a steep grade, with the result that the car went sailing off the road and into a rocky canyon).

So let's pass a real law that bans CD players and radios in vehicles, and open containers of food (as some states now ban open containers of alcohol in the passenger compartment) and anything else (saw a lady with a dog in her lap the other day, the dog with its head out the window as the car sped down the highway) that "distracts" the driver. Don't think anyone out there would take such a proposal seriously? Think again:


They should be banning ANY use of cell phones or text pagers while driving. Most drivers are doing one of these while headed to work each day...eating, drinking, talking on a cell phone, shaving, putting on makeup, working their radio/CD player, wearing headphones, etc. Anything but DRIVING and paying attention to the road! What a novel idea that would be!


That comment, found here, was by "Mr. Nibbles", just another little Nazi who wants to micro-manage your life. And by the way, what's up with AAA? They're now lobbying for bigger government by "launching an initiative to get state and federal laws passed that will ban texting while driving in all 50 states"? Go to hell, AAA. You deserve a boycott, big time, and anyone with a membership in your sorry "club" should immediately cancel it until you end your alliance with our enemy the State.

Think about it; do we really want to give the pigs cops more excuses to pull innocent people over, considering the power-trip most cops now seem to be on, and the dramatic rise in recent years in outright police brutality?

12 comments:

  1. So... you're encouraging people to text while driving?

    This seems retarded. Traffic accidents in the US are routinely one of the leadng causes of death, and the #1 cause among young people.

    Are you one of these "people should be able to drive as fast as they want" dumb asses? If so, maybe I shouldn't bother wasting my time trying to change your mind, since it will likely end up on your dashboard.

    Why do you hate Americans so much you want them dead?

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  2. Where did I say I was encouraging people to text while driving?

    Obviously you didn't really read the post, so I'm the one wasting my time.

    I'm sure you're completely focused every time you're behind the wheel, and never eat, drink coffee or listen to the radio (or use your cell phone hands-free set) while driving.

    Why do you hate Americans so much that you want to treat them like little children, with Mommy government looking over their shoulder every minute?

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  3. Because time and again people prove that we aren't all perfect, and even childishly demand our way even at the risk of others.

    Tyranny begins in individual action, not in some nebulous group or government. Deciding that it's too important to waity to eat or use a cell phone puts every other person on the road, driver or pedestrian, at risk.

    No, I don't do any of those things while driving because I'm not a douchebag, sorry to disappoint you. I don't speed either. Maybe if everyone did those things we wouldn't need traffic cops, but we do because people drive like shit.

    Libertarianism works in the magical world where everyone is responsible, or in the magical world where there are no negative consequences for irresponsible behavior. We live in this world, where people do stupid shit, and apparently sometimes they risk people's lives so they can LOL back at their friend's text message.

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  4. Listen to radio, yes, and even have my dog in the car (back seat) yes. I don't think listening to music has been shown to distract unless you on nearly he same scale as eating or using electronic devices of any kind.

    And what makes me a bigger wuss? I pull over to mess with the radio if I want to change something, I won't even do it while driving.

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  5. "eat, drink coffee or listen to the radio (or use your cell phone hands-free set) while driving"

    Come on, that's like "Have you ever punched a hooker, kicked a puppy, gotten a blowjob, or thrown eggs at a nun?"

    You can't go lumping things together like that. There have been studies done to show what effects driving most, and listening to the radio isn't even near those other things.

    Also, coffee is bad for you.

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  6. ... may cause over-zealous morning posting.

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  7. This nickle-and-diming (focusing on distractions to driving) is taking too long. If they simply ban driving then all the other activities become perfectly acceptable at any time.

    Yeesh, but people make things so complicated...

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  8. Doug, the real solution, of course, is to ban those steel death machines called automobiles altogether.

    Because even if all distractions are outlawed, there will no doubt still be thousands of deaths a year on the highways.

    Ban cars! It's the compassionate thing to do (and if you're against that, I have to ask, why do you hate Americans so much).

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  9. We regulate seat belt usage and other driving behaviors, and do so fairly successfully.

    That said, if driving while on a cell-phone were only a minor distraction, no big deal. But, Eye, I'm sure you've read the studies. It's not a minor distraction.

    I think you are lumping apples and oranges, per Ginx.

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  10. Gadfly, thanks for the comment.


    We regulate seat belt usage and other driving behaviors, and do so fairly successfully.

    But we shouldn't. I wear a seat belt because I know it makes me safer (not safe, as there is no absolute safety in any automobile) but I have no right to force that on others, same with motorcycle helmet laws.

    That said, if driving while on a cell-phone were only a minor distraction, no big deal. But, Eye, I'm sure you've read the studies. It's not a minor distraction.

    And those same studies say that hands-free cell-phone use is not any safer, so why haven't any states outlawed the practice? The state is not all-knowing and we should never give it more power.

    The issue with driving is one of punishing people for an act or condition (as with the absurd "drunk" driving laws) unrelated to how they're actually driving. People drive recklessly everyday without any "distractions" at all, yet if I'm driving the speed limit, staying in my lane and doing every other "good driver" thing, but its illegal to use a cell phone (or have a sandwich in one hand) and I'm doing the forbidden activity, then I can be pulled over and ticketed. Yeah, makes a lot of sense!

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  11. You are stupid if you're afraid of geting fined by the police. You should be afraid of getting involved in an accident. The law isn't perfect and will never be. You should use your sense in order to drive safely. If using a hand free phone distracts you from driving, don't use it, no matter what the law says.

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  12. David, you're an idiot! Did you even read the post or my comments, you moron? Do you want the government to be your nanny, micromanaging your whole life, you stupid diaper-wearing wussy?

    I don't want to get in an accident so I drive safely. But no one, not even the lying, murdering cops (or a statist loser like yourself) has the right to pull me over or fine me for something I'm doing inside my car that isn't harming anyone, so shove it up your ass.

    If you think you can't drive safe while taking a sip of water, then don't do that either, just don't try and force your incompetence on the rest of us by passing one of your phony "laws".

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