Henry Payne for December 17, 2011

Hell, let everyone do what they want that is dangers.Then take them to court. If alive.

In my car/truck, everyone wears a seatbelt. I’ve had 2 wrecks that I probably wouldn’t have survived if it hadn’t been for the seatbelt holding me in place. As a consequence, I require all riding with me to wear thiers: My vehicle, my rules. But this doesn’t have any effect on the safety of other on or near the road. This is why I don’t believe any government should require seatbelt or helmet use. Yes, they save lives (since such laws have been instituted the survival rate is measurably higher), but it’s our life to risk, even stupidly so.

The destracted driving issue is different though. When you’re talking/texting, eating, applying make-up, etc, you’re putting other lives at risk (as if driving isn’t already risky enough). The government is well within it’s pervue to require drivers to pay attention to this dangerous activity while on roads payed for through tax dollars. What you do in your driveway is your business. When on highways, you have a duty to give all your attention to not killing/maiming the others who paid for the pavement. This point seems to escape Mr. Payne.

payed!? oops, I meant PAID.

Texting kills.

Texting and cell phone use is killing people, period. Using a cell phone for lengthy and distracting conversations, hand held or hands free, is dangerous. When police etc use radios and 10 codes, “conversation” is brief and to the point of the need at hand. Even microphone conversations on CB radios were more limited, and less dangerous. Because the “band hogs” were condemned by other users, it was NOT the same as cell phone use.

EVERY study and test has shown that texting is FAR more dangerous than drunk driving, and hand held cell phones are just as bad as drunk.

Let’s indeed do away with the “nanny state”. NO drunk driving laws, speed limits (especially in school zones), school buses, stop signs, FDA, FBI, law enforcement, fire protection, restaurant inspections, or silly “government provided” clean water to our cities, OR sewer systems!

A couple of months ago I ended up driving across someone’s lawn to avoid a head on collision with a fool who was talking on his cell phone. I’m all for doing away with laws and regulations that are overboard but when you are driving, you should only be driving, not multitasking. You may think you can handle both at once but trust me, you can’t.

In one study in 2003, “cell-phone drivers exhibited greater impairment than intoxicated drivers.” And that’s just talking on a cell-phone, what about checking the web or texting……if we are regulating drinking and driving, then after all the data that states cell-phone use in the car could be as dangerous, it’s time to regulate use by the driver. -————http://www.psych.utah.edu/AppliedCognitionLab/DrivingAssessment2003.pdf

This cartoon would make a lot more sense if the driver was drawn as a mindless baby. It’s the idiots that ruin everything for the rest of us. The nanny state exists only because so many people do so many stupid things, that lead to the lawyers getting involved. You want to eliminate the nanny state? Eliminate lawyers that take on victim’s lawsuits just for the fast buck.

Agreed. Easily the most stupid cartoon internationally this year. I am not from the USA. We accuse ourselves of living in in a “nanny state” but I have yet to meet anyone who condones texting, calling, shaving (!) while driving. They are not the same thing as chatting with passengers or listening to music. Eating is also suspect, you can’t drive with one hand. What I say is not mere opinion but solidly based research. Some countries have banned hands free phones. It is not a matter of freedom, you are obligated to be safe for other road users.

I take that the inference is that currently it is legal to drive and text at the same time in the USA? And if so, there is contentious issue with banning it?Utterly unbelievable if so. I work hard to love and respect the USA, but it is very hard not to sound abusive in describing what I think right now. Gobsmacked.