Crazy Like a Fox - Rants from a tech madman

Look Ma ... No Handsfree!

Increasingly, cell phone legislation is being enacted to curb the distracting use of cell phones while driving. Now this has been widely regarded as a "bad move" by the slippery slope crowd and I couldn't be more on their side!

Far be it for me to shout at the wind, but, once again, governments are attempting to justify departmental existances by enacting legislation that costs consumers more money and will not save lives. If saving lives was truly at stake here, then Mr. Policy Maker, you'd be pushing Microsoft and Ford Motorcars to stop the roll-out of Sync (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2080527,00.asp ) this fall. Forget about just talking on your phone while driving, how about checking your email and IMing people. Audio or not, some drivers have trouble just talking to their passengers without being distracted. How about we make it illegal to eat in our cars (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwlZP3LbuqM ), apply make-up in our cars and heaven forbid, make it illegal to have sex in our cars (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2bU04oCir4 ) ... ok that may be illegal in some states.

British studies have shown that talking on the phone while driving makes drivers 3.8 times more likely to get into a car accident while using handheld phones only makes you 4.9 times more likely to hit the neighbors cat.  All this commerce for 1.1%?  I wonder how much more likely I am to wrap my BMW around a telephone pole while trying to change the AC settings using IDrive? 

The crux of the issue is that there is an economic burden being forced down people's throats. Why should I be forced to shell out $50+ dollars for an earpiece that'll break the first time it falls off my big ears.  Furthermore, it'll contribute to global smugness and that will eventually kill us all.  Ok I stole that one from Southpark but it's as true about pretentious earpiece wearers as it is about hybrid cars.  That air of self-importance that says I have to be reachable immediately and at all times sends we wanting to go drive off a cliff (http://www.ifilm.com/video/2703814).  Now clearly there are many people out there that shouldn't be driving and talking at the same time. Coincidentally, these are the same people that shouldn't be driving at all. Driving is about analyzing situations around you and making the right choices amidst the chaos. Good and courteous drivers can factor one more element into that equation. We are again legislating to the bottom 25% that can't. After all, you don't actually have to be in your car, for talking on a cell phone while driving, to be dangerous (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2816300574685733913&q=cellphone+car+accident&hl=en ).