I don't like it.
Of course, I've done it. Hell, what other kinds of dangerous things have I done behind the wheel? I've made phone calls, sent text messages, read text messages, read maps, played with a GPS, played with my iPod, found and plugged in my wireless earpiece, eaten Chicken McNuggets, adjusted the car stereo, adjusted the HVAC settings, held conversations with pretty girls in the passenger seat...yeah, that should cover it. Oh, and I got my mom to run a red light once when she thought I said "go," though I'm not sure how she thought my command over the phone referred to her particular traffic light.
Most of those, you can do blindly, or with a stray glance. You know, spin the iPod wheel, see you're on "Poker Face" by Lady GaGa, and know that you're about a spin and two clicks from a good song. By default, that makes texting while driving probably one of the more dangerous things I've done. Particularly when you care about spelling and grammar, texting on a non-QWERTY keyboard is not something that you can do as an auxiliary function. I know this, and I try to minimize it. "OK" is a fine text response when driving. A complete sentence isn't. And if conversation is needed, I'll simply call (my cell phone does have voice capabilities, after all) or pull over (some people don't talk).
But that's a decision that I, as an adult with common sense, can recognize for myself. It's like the iPod. The iPod is best adjusted at a traffic light or an open, clear stretch of highway. While zipping around my parents' neighborhood or downtown Manchester? Not so much. I think most people can evaluate when something is a bad idea and when something is not. Granted, some are better at this than others, and some are genuinely bad at it, but if you don't have losers, you never know who the winners are.
I don't think we need someone else deciding for us, based on a few bad decisions people have made. It always takes one dumbass T operator in Boston or a carload of cute white girls to turn this into some lawmaker's cause célèbre. Now, we're a step closer from having a law on the books that means an officer can pull you over because you were texting. Oh, but there's an exception for entering a phone number or choosing a person to call! How can an officer tell the difference at speed? Furthermore, can you prove you didn't delete a text you chose not to send when the blue lights fired up? What if it's an iPod you're distracted by? Can you prove it was really your iPod and not that phone in the cupholder? What if you're at a stop light, or stopped anywhere? You're on the road, in an at-duty position to drive...aren't you just as guilty? We're talking about a driving environment where simply not having your eyes on the bumper in front of you could be evidence to pull you over.
Realistically, I don't think the enforcement would be so strong that cops would be suddenly inundated with text-messaging scofflaws to rival Nick Angel's take in the first 15 minutes of "Hot Fuzz." But it's about principle and precedents. We're allowing people to create legislation to govern the minutiae of our daily life, things like seatbelts and texting and cell phone calls and motorcycle helmets that should only be governed by common sense and, harsh as it sounds, a little Darwinism. The more control and independence we cede away in these smaller battles, it makes it ever easier to tackle the bigger ones. Some people use firearms in a manner that harms others. You see where I'm going here.
And what gets me is that the pro-law crowd doesn't quite get it, either. I'll read the Union Leader articles online, and the reader comments. They're tossing around a primary-offense seatbelt law now. The minute someone objects to the legislation, someone counters with, "How can you say seatbelts aren't a good idea? They save lives!" That's not the point at all. The point is, we don't want a law to tell us we have to do it. I admit, texting while driving is one of the dumber things I do in my car. I try to avoid it. But I don't think I need a law to guide me in that direction. I can make that decision for myself, just like I choose to wear my seatbelt every time I get into a car. I think the majority of people are smart enough to figure that out for themselves, too. They don't need a law, either.
I mean, if you really stop and think about it, driving is a pretty distracting activity. I'm just talking about road signs, construction crews, billboards, funny license plates and/or bumper stickers, wildlife, pedestrians and cyclists, emergency vehicles, potholes, speed bumps, and benefit car washes for the Podunk High cheerleading squad. That's just the stuff we can't legislate away. When you consider the above, it's a wonder we can stay on the road at all.
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