Jersey wants you to drive, not text

March 29th, 2007 • 1 comment legal, phones

I know that a number of states already have laws in place about driving while talking on the phone and I for one am all for them. The laws in most states basically state that it is illegal to drive while talking to someone on the phone while holding it but if you’re using a wireless or wired headset, it’s OK because you are “less” distracted by physically holding the phone. I think these laws are fantastic because I know most people drive poorly but when you add a phone conversation into the mix, they drive about a million times worse (scientific fact!). The only problem with these laws? Enforcement. Most cops have a hard enough time catching speeders let alone people that are blabbing away on their phone about who knows what. And frankly, down here in Boca, getting a cop to catch anyone is a feat of wonderment.

I read the following article at TechDirt when I found out that Jersey is now trying to enact a law similar to Washington State’s no texting while driving law. This is yet another law I support that really doesn’t even need to be a law. I’m guilty of this as well considering how much easier it is for me to pop out a quick text message than it is for me to find my headset (which is always at home, mind you) and make a call. And I can usually be found making some slight swerves while doing this as well with my new phone simply because I’m not used to the keyboard. However, if you have a regular phone (non-Smartphone/-Treo/-Crackberry), this shouldn’t even be a problem. Using predicted text on a regular handset is quite simple and should not require one to take their eyes off the road. Amazingly, it seems most people can’t text to save their life so they have to look down at the phone to make sure they’re hitting H instead of typing a G. Here’s a hint: watch your kids/friends/friends’s kids/young person do it and you’ll pretty much see how easy it is to text without looking or paying attention to it.

It’s humourous to see laws put in place to save us from our own stupidity but it’s even more funny to see how they’re properly enforced.