Texting Ban Unenforceable

House Bill 1094, which bans texting while driving, is set to go into effect December 1, 2009. But local sheriffs across the state are skeptical of the bill's impact, saying it will be "extremely difficult" to enforce.

http://facethestate.com/articles/17082-sheriffs-say-ban-texting-while-driving-will-be-tough-enforce

Of course it will be hard to enforce, but you know what is not hard to enforce, driving recklessly. This bill should have never been written or passed. If someone is driving dangerously it is easy to spot and a police officer certainly can pull them over for that. If someone is placing other drivers in danger, does it really matter what that reckless driver is doing at that time?

This type of law also contributes to the general dumbing down of people. When you have a broad law like “don’t drive recklessly”, it forces people to evaluate everything they do and they must ask themselves if what they are doing is causing them to drive recklessly, but when the government starts making more specific laws like “don’t text while driving” then some people will simply not text, but will engage in other reckless behavior and justify it in their minds as “if this were dangerous it would be illegal, just like texting”.

Humans seem to have a certain tolerance for danger and will generally gravitate to the level of danger they are comfortable with. So as roads and cars have become safer, drivers have generally become less safe. New technology has made driving easier and this has increased the likelihood of people trying to do other things while driving. Think about the difficulty of trying to text and drive if you are driving a car with a manual transmission, it would be nearly impossible except under very specific circumstances. However, if you are driving a car with an automatic transmission the idea of texting while driving might not seem so daunting. 

Comments

[Jake]

It'll be hard to enforce, but not hard to enforce selectively. If a cop doesn't like you for some reason, I'm sure she'll incorporate it into her list of things to check for when seeking an excuse to give you a ticket.