Legislators in New Jersey are set to put the finishing touches on a law that would make it illegal to text message while driving. I would assume that inattentive driving is already against the law and that if a police officer saw a person texting while driving that he could write a ticket. But, given the stupidity of the general public and the nanny state of government, NJ is about to get a law that will soon be picked up by other states looking for a way to increase revenue under the guise of public safety.
Perhaps the NJ law comes because of allegations that the Governor’s driver was using a Blackberry when he wrecked the car (the fact he was doing over 90 mph contributed nothing to the accident?). I don’t know but I will agree that people who use text messaging while driving are nuisances and are dangerous. It does not mean there should be a separate law for them. Is there a separate law that says a person may not read while driving, or have sex while driving, or any other thing that causes people to lose focus?
I remember driving from Anniston to Birmingham to catch a plane. As I was driving along I noticed that up ahead all traffic was moving to the left lane and it looked like there was some problem with the right. That lane was really moving slowly as people tried to move over. I made my way past the obstacle which turned out to be a jackass driving 30 mph with his hands over the steering wheel typing on a Blackberry. I really don’t think a special law was needed to hammer this guy for what he was doing. The thing that is needed is for people to get caught. All the laws in the world would have made no difference that day (unless he had an accident and they could prove what he was doing) because there was no cop to stop him.
We do not need laws for stuff like this. Common Sense indicates that one should not text message while driving so people should not be doing that.
Unfortunately, common sense is not that common.