Once again the NH Legislature is showing its increasingly anti-freedom bent by trying to ban the use of handheld cellphones while driving.
The following paragraph is from www.stateline.org:
“A University of Utah study released in February found that 18- to 25-year-old drivers talking on a cell phone with a headset reacted as slowly as 65- to 74-year-old drivers without cell phones. Older drivers also reacted more slowly while talking on cell phone, the report said. Wireless phone companies, on the other hand, point to research that using a cell phone is among the least common distractions for drivers. A 2003 study funded by AAA found that fiddling with radio dials, eating and drinking, talking with passengers, grooming, reading and writing were more common activities for drivers than talking on a phone.”
Allow me to put this another way. Almost all car accidents occur while the radio is on-but you don’t see anyone banning car audio. This is another case of the State trying to protect us from ourselves despite deeply flawed assumptions and disproven theories. The studies mentioned in the previous paragraph show that “it’s the conversation, stupid”…not the phone. Even if we all had hands-free kits, how do you dial? I’ve had lots of cellphones with a supposed voice dialing feature-and not one has ever worked in the noisy interior of a car. Let’s not forget finding and connecting the wires of the hands-free kit at 65mph is quite probably less safe than just answering the damn thing. All of this despite the fact NH already has a distracted-driver law on the books! Why then, would anyone sponsor a bill to outlaw something that is already illegal? Obviously our government thinks we are mindless drones unable to make the most basic of decisions ourselves-see the previous post about Rep. Burridge’s comments to see the thin veneer of civility which hides the arrogant superiority complex of far too many in Concord.
If this ban passes I can just see the future. Somebody drops a sandwich and while distracted, has an accident. Then he/she will sue fast food restaurants because the jumbo-burger they bought at the drive through didn’t come with a warning label not to eat it while driving.
Let’s all take a step back and remember one thing: A little common sense can go a long way. It’s a real shame our state government doesn’t see that.
