Cell phones are distracting, they say. You don't look at your mirrors as often while you're talking on the phone. While talking on a cell phone, the argument goes, you're a liability and a danger to us all.
But let's step back from all of that for a second and look at what the real motive is.
If talking on the phone while driving is so dangerous, why are we still allowed to use hands-free devices? Is it because cell phones are dangerous because you don't have both hands on the wheel? Why aren't we ticketing people for driving without their hands strictly at 10-and-2?
We banned cell phones because, for some reason, we all turn into assholes when we're on the road, and in that visceral, anti-intellectual state, we're especially prone to horrifically fallacious logic. We get cut off by someone, or we're stuck behind someone who's driving especially slow, or something else equally frivolous, and our first reaction is to check if they're old, or if they're a woman, or if they're young, or if they're on a cell phone.
Admit it. We've all been there. Some asshole is driving waaay too slow and, as we pass them, we roll our eyes and say, "Oh, of course, it's a <whatever stereotype they happen to be>"
The ban on cellphones (and the lack of a ban on bluetooth, one-handed steering, car radios, people in the passenger seat, babies, or anything else distracting) is simply the result of irrational scapegoating. It's logically inconsistent with the rest of the laws we have, and does nothing more than pander to the irate hillbillies and their confirmation bias.
Now, I know what you're thinking: "He's just pissed because he got a ticket for using a cell phone, and he's bitching on his blog about it."
No, actually. I've been ticketed for speeding, but not for cell phone use. And if I had just been caught on a cell phone, would it really matter?
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Blogger is one of three websites that constitute my browser's homepage, which means it's very likely I'll read your comment within an hour of you posting it.