Michael
enthusiast
Posts: 1982
Loc: Allen
Reg: 05-20-02
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06-21-11 06:17 PM - Post#133718
In response to Al C
I'm on the fence on this one. On the one hand, texting while driving is stupid and dangerous. On the other hand, if this bill went through making it a crime, what would be next? What else would they start taking away from drivers?
And like someone else said ... making it illegal won't stop some people from doing it. You can't outlaw stupid.
Exactly! It's already been proven that talking on the phone is as bad as or worse than drunk drivers. I'm not talking about the "holding" of the phone. It's the holding a conversation that requires more concentration when the person is not there in the car with you.
So we need to outlaw (while driving):
Talking on a phone
Eating
Changing radio channels
Fiddling with iPods
Fiddling with iTouch
Applying makeup
Shaving
etc. The list could go on forever.
| I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it! |
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Maurice
Community Expert
Posts: 3981
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 12-03-01
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06-21-11 10:24 PM - Post#133732
In response to carygold
I can't tell you how many times I've seen people driving down the street swerving all over the place as they drive with their knees and use both hands to text message. It's incredibly stupid and dangerous.
Add to that my wife and I being involved in an accident that was due to a teen texting while driving, if my wife didn't swerve quickly enough it would have been head on with a suburban. Instead, she just took out the entire drivers side, blew out the windows and totally our car and then went into 5 others. Of course, she walked away from it fine, there were several other injuries and of course she got squat out of it other than a ticket and higher insurance fees her parents had to pay. That's what happens when you're so engrossed in texting that you fail to notice traffic ahead of you is stopped and then swerve into oncoming traffic where you're both going 50MPH.
If someone wants to wrap themselves around a telephone pole to answer a text, I have no pity on them. I do feel sorry for those who suffer due to that all important text message caused by the idiot that NEEDS to respond to while driving.
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MissingChico
enthusiast
Posts: 2228
Reg: 02-13-06
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07-18-11 09:10 AM - Post#134975
In response to Maurice
When you have to toe the ignorant Tea Party "No Big Gubmit" line, you're going to see irrational decisions like this simply to save face. Nobody is going to accuse Perry of allowing big government to keep us from texting when and where we want, at least during an election cycle.
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Maurice
Community Expert
Posts: 3981
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 12-03-01
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07-18-11 12:55 PM - Post#135008
In response to MissingChico
That's one of the reasons I have no use for the tea party, it started as a good idea and has been warped into a conservative version of a liberal PAC. They claim to be conservatives but haven't got a clue what it's really about.
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mgrayar
enthusiast
Posts: 3162
Reg: 09-25-09
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07-18-11 03:13 PM - Post#135016
In response to carygold
I just think we are getting to the point that we are trying to outlaw stupidity. You cannot ban everything that is dangerous if done incorrectly. At some point, we have to accept that idiots will be idiots, no matter if it's illegal or not.
Trans Fat is a much more serious threat on our nation as a whole than texting while driving. Trans Fat kills in so many ways it would be impossible to list them all here. Are we going to see legislation soon banning this killer from public consumption?
At some point, the government needs to accept that they cannot protect idiots from themselves.
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Edited by mgrayar on 07-18-11 03:14 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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carygold
enthusiast
Posts: 4942
Reg: 05-30-08
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07-18-11 03:54 PM - Post#135019
In response to mgrayar
I just think we are getting to the point that we are trying to outlaw stupidity. You cannot ban everything that is dangerous if done incorrectly. At some point, we have to accept that idiots will be idiots, no matter if it's illegal or not.
Trans Fat is a much more serious threat on our nation as a whole than texting while driving. Trans Fat kills in so many ways it would be impossible to list them all here. Are we going to see legislation soon banning this killer from public consumption?
At some point, the government needs to accept that they cannot protect idiots from themselves.
You have a good point. However I can choose not to eat Oreo Cookies, and save my veins, I cannot stop a teenager from texting her way into the side of my car. Not that a law would do it either, it doesn't stop drunk driving.
I think just the fact it is illegal will reduce the chances that the next set of 16 year olds will be texting while driving. Its not a bullet proof law, but it might save some lives, maybe mine.
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mgrayar
enthusiast
Posts: 3162
Reg: 09-25-09
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07-18-11 08:03 PM - Post#135039
In response to carygold
Good points.
Learn more about Cystic Fibrosis and how you can help at:
http://www.cff.org
Everyone can make a difference! |
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Maurice
Community Expert
Posts: 3981
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 12-03-01
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07-19-11 08:39 AM - Post#135059
In response to mgrayar
No, you can't outlaw stupid, if that were the case our jails would be really overrun. By making what should already be common sense (a diminishing commodity in the world) against the law, it should limit the amount of people texting that can smack right into your car.
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carygold
enthusiast
Posts: 4942
Reg: 05-30-08
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07-19-11 03:52 PM - Post#135085
In response to Maurice
Follow the money...
Like seat belts, when insurance companies have seen that texting is costing them money in increased claims and law suits...then texting will be illegal.
If CEO's increased their pay at the same rate as Average Americans
their pay would average $1,384,890 not $10,621,000 |
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Maurice
Community Expert
Posts: 3981
Loc: Allen, TX
Reg: 12-03-01
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07-20-11 02:25 PM - Post#135143
In response to carygold
It'll be like the old stop sign deal, they won't make it illegal until it kills the right amount of people. Just like they don't put in a stop light until enough people get killed by those ignoring the stop signs.
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