February 02, 2005
Driving like Miss Daisy
I heard on the radio today that the State is considering a bill to ban driving-while-phoning for people ages 16-21, apparently in light of a recent study which "found that when 18-to-25-year-olds were placed in a driving simulator and talked on a cellular phone, they reacted to brake lights from a car in front of them as slowly as 65- to 74-year-olds who were not using a cell phone."
So what? We let 65- to 74- year-olds drive don't we? So that level of vehicular operation must be acceptable, why do we need to legislate against it? Let's look at the real danger which can be extrapolated from this study: Where's the bill to keep the 65- to 74-year-olds from yakking on the cell?
Posted by David at February 2, 2005 09:28 PM | EditThe real bottom line here is: let's make it illegal to drive if you're not capable of driving safely.
Put ages 1-99 in the simulator, with cell phones and hot coffee and everything else that might be a distraction, and if you're proven unsafe yank their freaking license. Roads are safer, and there's less traffic too.