Eminent Domain Stuff
New London Update (2/24/06)
Bad NLDC!
Coverage of the Rally at New London's City Hall (w/ pics)
Monday, August 02, 2004
Eeeevil Cell Phones
I blogged back in April about the issue of cell phones while driving. NY passed a law making it illegal to talk on a hand-held cell phone while driving almost three years ago (but the law has been largely ignorned). It is still legal, however, to talk on a hands-free cell phone while driving.
Here's a quick list of other things one can do while driving: Dial a "hands-free" cell phone (with one or both hands), look at the Caller ID on a "hands-free" cell phone, adjust the radio, eat, apply makeup, shave (with or without shaving cream)...you get the idea.
Well, it now looks like Washington DC is going to join the ranks of places one can no longer hold a cell phone while driving (hands-free phones are ok, of course) (via Michelle).
The problem I have with these laws is simple: The Government has decided to restrict my freedom and has not made me one drop safer. Proof? Try this:
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Here's a quick list of other things one can do while driving: Dial a "hands-free" cell phone (with one or both hands), look at the Caller ID on a "hands-free" cell phone, adjust the radio, eat, apply makeup, shave (with or without shaving cream)...you get the idea.
Well, it now looks like Washington DC is going to join the ranks of places one can no longer hold a cell phone while driving (hands-free phones are ok, of course) (via Michelle).
The problem I have with these laws is simple: The Government has decided to restrict my freedom and has not made me one drop safer. Proof? Try this:
Cell Phone Users Drive 'Blind'; Study Explains Why Hands-Free Phones Just As Bad As Hand-heldBut hey, when science doesn't mesh with the cause du jour, who cares...right?
Jan. 27, 2003 - Motorists are more accident-prone and slower to react when they talk on cellular telephones - even hands-free models - because "inattention blindness" makes the drivers less able to process visual information, University of Utah researchers found.
[...]
The earlier study also found there was no impairment of drivers who either conversed with a passenger or who listened to the radio or to books on tape.
[...]
"Our data further suggest that legislative initiatives to restrict hand-held devices but permit hands-free devices are not likely to eliminate problems associated with using cell phones while driving because these problems are attributed in large part to the distracting effects of the phone conversations themselves."
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