Last updated on 2012.08.17
Want some real entitlement mentality? Don't study the French election (which will lead to an orgy of some sort); study the meathead comments on KELO's report on a new push for a local texting-while-driving ban.
"Ill thinkkk about not using my cell while driving. And once any person over the age 60 has to take a driving exam every year," says one Zane Mathis. Obviously Mr. Mathis thinks that behaving responsibly is entirely contingent on the behavior of others, not one's own sense of duty to public safety. Until everyone else behaves perfectly, don't expect Mathis to stop doing whatever the heck he wants to do.
(Mathis also gripes about food stamps and not being able to get super-size fries. Such is the political philosophy available on Facebook.)
I'd like to believe that we could skip a texting-while-driving ban and simply enforce our reckless driving statutes on all instances of distracted driving, whether caused by phones, donuts, or Bohemian Rhapsody. But we can't even get our local cops to pull that trigger when a driver admits he rear-ended someone because he was reaching for his phone.
KELO lists the following organizations as backing a Sioux Falls ordinance to ban texting while driving. Go get 'em, folks... and send Mr. Mathis some extra fries to shut him up.
Citizens for Cell Phone Safety While Driving Members:
- AAA South Dakota
- All State Insurance Company
- Augustana College
- Avera McKennan
- Midcontinent Communications
- Sanford Health
- 7th District Medical Society
- South Dakota Auto Dealers Association
- South Dakota Insurance Alliance
- South Dakota State medical Association
- South Dakota Truckers Association
- South Dakota Voices for Children
- State Farm Insurance
- University of Sioux Falls
- Verizon Wireless
- Vern Eide Motorcars
Nebraska has a state-wide ban on texting while driving. While yes, it is difficult to enforce as it is a secondary violation, it has been enforced. I used to be guilty of texting while driving. And the mere thought of that very expensive ticket caused me to stop. If a police officer sees you texting while driving, they can pull you over for another offense and then ticket you. If you are texting while driving, you are most likely going to do something to get yourself pulled over (swerving, speeding, etc.).
Before this law went into effect in Nebraska, my husband was rear-ended by a teenager going full-speed, even though traffic was stopped. My husband ended up in a lot of pain as it messed up his back. Now, guess why the teen driver did not see that traffic was stopped and he was about to rear-end someone. That's right...he admitted he was texting on his phone and didn't see what was going on. He ended up getting charged with careless driving and failure to stop, but the fines were no where near what he would have been slapped with had the accident happened one year later when the law was in place. Perhaps that would have been a deterrent....or at least afterwards, he would have been more careful and not injured someone else by texting while driving.
Just a few stats...
http://www.aaafoundation.org/multimedia/distracteddriving.cfm?gclid=COevm8jz8K8CFQaxnQod6nAUXg
• Using a cell phone while driving quadruples your risk of crashing.
• A majority of drivers – 94% – agree that texting or emailing while driving is unacceptable and 87% support laws against reading, typing or sending text messages or emails while driving, according to the AAA Foundation’s 2011 Traffic Safety Culture Index
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500163_162-5274193.html
• A study ... by the VirginiaTech Transportation Institute found that truck drivers who were texting were 23 times more at risk of a "crash or near crash event" than "nondistracted driving." As per talking on a cell phone, the same study found no increased risk for truck drivers and 1.3 times the risk for car drivers.
• ...the study also found that "texting took a driver's focus away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds--enough time...to travel the length of a football field at 55 mph."
• A December 2007 simulator study by Clemson University found that "text messaging and using iPods caused drivers to leave their lanes 10 percent more often."
• Paul Green, research professor at University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute who has done a decade's worth of research on driver distraction, said "from the science so far, it's very clearly a problem. We don't have exact statistics yet, we have enough information to say that texting shouldn't be permitted while driving."
http://www.nationwide.com/newsroom/dwd-facts-figures.jsp
• Distraction from cell phone use while driving (hand held or hands free) extends a driver's reaction as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (University of Utah)
• The No.1 source of driver inattention is use of a wireless device. (Virginia Tech/NHTSA)
• Drivers that use cell phones are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (NHTSA, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
• 10 percent of drivers aged 16 to 24 years old are on their phone at any one time.
• Driving while distracted is a factor in 25 percent of police reported crashes.
• Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent (Carnegie Mellon)
We cannot assume that all texters are teenagers. I see plenty of older drivers texting and driving. The only true reliable solution is to block all texting features from your cell phone plan.
No, not all those who drive and text are teenagers. But a large part of teenagers who drive, do text while driving. I believe there is a device out there (I recall seeing something on the news) that does disable your phone while the car is running. I would love to have that when my soon-to-be-teen starts driving. However, I hope that my husband and I have set a good example by not texting and driving ourselves so she will follow suit. I believe the bottom line is this...doing anything on your phone while driving is extremely dangerous and there should be legal consequences for doing so.
My granddaughter got me a cell phone so I can call but I don't have this texting. I don't understand why people do it just seems slow and akward when I see people poking away at those fancy phones. Try to call somebody and talk. That's part of whats wrong in this world. You are becoming mutants.
Right on, Grudz!
As for the ban on texting, I say let's do it.
While driving, of course.
And let's throw in some real consequences while we're at it, huh? None of this $150 ticket that mommy and daddy pay so you can get back on the road. Text while you drive and lose your license for 6 months. Gotta do something to make sure people know that their actions have consequences.
I'm all about taking the license. You can text, or you can drive. Take your pick... or the judge will pick for you.
Having nearly been t-boned a few times here in Madison by people (of all ages but elderly) texting while driving, whatever it takes to stop it, great. (By the way, they really get irate when you honk at them after they've nearly taken out your front end.)
I've never had a problem with that in Madison. I have a problem with people not understanding what a 4-way stop is. You'd think it required a Bachelor's to figure out who goes first. I hate when people think they need to play traffic cop every time there's a 4-way stop.
Maybe we should just remove all the signs.
Carter, in Miami where I spent the better part of the 80s and 90s, it wouldn't matter whether the signs were there or not.
Stupid, stupid law. It's the kind of "feel good" legislating that had turned us in to a nation of scofflaws. Seriously, texting on your mobile device is crime but watching a movie is perfectly legal? Who would ever take such a law seriously?
We need to strengthen distracted driving laws instead. Repeat offenses should track DUI laws: third DD offense is a misdemeanor with jail time. Make having an accident while doing any activity on a mobile device a class II misdemeanor, not just a traffic offense, with injury accident a class 1. Potential jail time, not fines, will have far more impact than the mis-directed "public education" laws like they propose.
I'm Famous :D
I'm always happy to boost the Web presence of others. (Of course, Julie Gross would say that disproves Darwin... or maybe Adam Smith?)
Why not troll on kelo? Not a big enough home crowd?
You clearly have trolling covered on KELO, Zane. Sloppy thinking, too. I don't need to replicate your exertions. Now, would you like to comment on the issue at hand, perhaps rectify your weak logic and explain why other bad drivers justify your putting my life at risk by texting while driving?
Well as it seems you seem to keep an up to date profile on me, I'm sure you have all my post saved, printed and hung on your wall or your mom’s fridge. I see no reason in having to repost all my points on why this is such a redic concept. I have been driving and texting for 6 years now. I have yet to get a ticket, parking violation, accident etc etc etc.
A mother drives with 3 kids in the back seat of the minivan. Kids yelling, playing, watching a movie (list goes on and on) she adapted to it over time, a smokers cigarette falls on his lap and he wipes it off without a challenge. I grew up in a generation of texting with my hands in my pocket while in high school, sorry it was a harder challenge to send a msg to your buddy in school with a rock slap and chisel.
Fine, Zane. Kids are a huge distraction as well. I have one. I know this.
So why do those statements justify your engaging in dangerous behavior that makes it 23 times more likely that you won't see me or some kid on a bike? What message do you have to send from your car that is so important that you can't wait until you get there, or pull over and send? Don't you recognize that what you're saying is something like, "Hey, other people are drinking alcohol and driving, so it's o.k. for me to smoke crack and drive"?
Sir, you can throw all these numbers out at the world, but they numbers were not based off of my driving. For all we know they were based of someone like yourself, one from a different generation trying to attempt to adapt to today’s technology. I’m not saying it’s okay to smoke crack, nor have I ever said its okay to smoke crack in general as well as driving while intoxicated. I’m just saying that it’s pointless to try and attempt to create a law that can’t be enforceable. Bad drivers existed 10 years ago without phones, they will exist with phones. I don’t work or live in a bubble. I can die at work or trip and fall down my stairs at home. Accidents happen and will happen people die / get hurt every day, whether it’s from a drunk driver, a person texting and driving, walking down a street, someone breaking into your house.
Texting and driving isn’t illegal, driving while intoxicated and doing crack in general is. So to answer your question no it’s not o.k. for you to do so.
Adultery isn't illegal, either, but it's still a bad idea.
Any individual can beat the odds. And you can continue to believe that you are somehow an exception to the rule, that you are somehow superior to others in your ability to text and drive safely. Lots of people think multitasking improves their productivity as well... and research shows they are wrong.
We are bad judges of our own skills. You are not better than everyone else, Zack. Put down the phone and drive.
My name is Zane... thought you would have known that by trying to call me out already.
I know I'm not better than everyone else, nor do I try.
Next time you wanna write about me I would love to get an updated post about it after you write it...
Kicks rocks, I would wear shoes.- but thats just my logic.
Real classy calling out a guy about his opinions whether you agree or not. No matter if this texting and driving gets banned or not people will still do it. Yes there is a certain time and place that people should not text and drive.(rush hour) But these people getting into accidents while texting were clueless to begin with and should not be driving. Like mathis I have and will continue to text and drive whether this law gets passed or not and have never been in an accident. Are they going to take out radios next because we look down at them to change the station dont we? Driving will continue to be the most dangerous form of transportation and if you don't agree with texting and driving, then keep your eyes open because 85% of people are still doing it. (Which probably excludes the old people driving 15 mph under the speed limit, obese people eating a hamburger and fries at the same time, middle aged women putting on makeup) I am missing a few here but you get the point right? If they are not texting they are doing something just as dangerous and careless. Just pick your poison people.
He also missed the handful of supporters I seem to get from every post I make. Glad I'm the only one thinking about myself according to him.
Is a Liberal homemade site though-- so I'm not expecting anything more from this.
I really don't understand why people think it is so important to text while driving. I am addicted to my phone, can barely put it down...there are actually pictures of me texting while at my own wedding (before the ceremony, of course). But when I am driving, that phone is sitting in my purse, untouched. Maybe it is because I know that driving a vehicle is a serious responsibility and should be your only responsibility during that time. Which is also why I don't change the radio station or why if I am using my iPod it is started before I put the car in gear and it is not touched again until I reach my destination.
Maybe it is because I know from experience that these people who supposedly grew up in a more technological age (I'm only 31 for God's sake) are really not as great at texting and driving as they seem to think they are. We were rear-ended by a 22-year old who was texting on his phone and did not see us stop for a light. I'm sure he had spent years texting on his phone and driving without incident too.
There have been plenty of stories lately around here of younger people killing people in accidents that happened because they were texting and driving. So, if you are not going to stop texting and driving to save yourself the hassle of an accident, please stop doing it so you don't kill me, my family and/or friends.
Bottom line - is it really that important to text while you are driving? Especially in areas like Madison where your longest trip is probably 10 minutes? I think whatever it is can even wait the 45-50 minutes until you get to Sioux Falls. Heck, my phone goes unanswered in the 4 hours it takes for me to drive from Omaha to Sioux Falls.
Zane, I apologize for getting your name wrong.
Now, fellas, why is it so vital that you conduct this distracting activity while you drive? Why do you think you are superior to everyone else and able to deny the science that shows your behavior is dangerous?
In a way, Zane's denialism epitomizes Republican denialism on taxes, climate change, etc. Zane, Kody, and the GOP want to do what they want to do. They are selfish. They don't like being told they are selfish. They don't like facts that point out the harm their actions do. They thus demonize folks pointing out the facts in order to justify their continued selfishness.
Basically, their point boils down to "I'm not a bad person; you are!" It's the childhood strategy that my six-year-old uses regularly: criticize her behavior, point out she's doing something wrong, and she will try to change the subject.
Zane's selfishness also shines through in his perception that he is the central focus of this blog post. He is not. How many followers Zane or Kody or I have is irrelevant to the facts. If you text and drive, you put other people at risk for your own selfish purposes. You really haven't offered any good reason not to put down the phone and drive.